 horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust in the hearty Pio Silver, the lone ranger. When gold was discovered in the western United States, thousands of miners and prospectors, farmers, criminals, and clerks poured into the new territory. Greed and violence ruled the mining camps, and it was there that the masked rider of the plains did some of his greatest work in the cause of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days when the west was young. Among the past come the thundering hoofbeats, the great silver, the lone ranger rides again. High in the hills, the lone ranger in Tondo stopped to purchase supplies from old Silas Fawcett. Silas, a prospector for years, had finally struck it rich, but he worked his claim alone and seemed to resent the masked man's intrusion. There's your bacon, there's your beans, there's a flower you asked for. Is that enough? Are you going to keep on pestering me? How much do we owe you, Silas? Nothing. Take it and get it. We can't accept gifts. We'll pay for what we receive. Who wants your cash? Perhaps my mask has misled you. We're not outlaws. This isn't stolen money. Don't tell me who you are. Injun, your name's Tondo, ain't it? You're the lone ranger. How did you recognize us? I ain't no fool. Maybe you think I am, but I ain't. Has anything gone wrong? Huh? What made you ask a local question like that? I thought maybe something had happened to irritate you. Look here, Mr. Lone Ranger. Yes? I'm all about a temper. It's a matter of principle with me. I wasn't knee-high to a grasshopper, for I found out there's only idiots and feeble-minded folks in a good natured. Well, I ain't no idiot. I ain't feeble-minded. I'm dog-gone mad nearly every day of my life. And mornings I wake up feeling pleasant. I just think back in all the bad times I've had to learn to get mad again. That's a strange way to feel. You're well-off. You want so few and easy to provide for. You're healthy. I doubt that you've done anything to make your conscience bother you to any extent. I should think you'd be as happy as it's possible for most men to be. You don't agree? I don't. But are you going to argue it? How wrong are you two going to keep me from getting at my work? We're leaving now. Take the flower, Tondo. I'll pack the rest. Ah, me take it. Silas. Well? I suggest you be more careful how you talk in the future. Someday you're going to tell all that to someone who believes you. Isn't he funny? He's one of those people who are so big-hearted. I don't dare let others know how generous they really are. Not right. Living alone for so many years makes him seem more gruff than he really is. One of these days, Tondo, we'll make it a point to look up Silas again. Several months passed. Then late one afternoon, a boy of 13 rained in his horse at the rear of a small cottage, about a mile from the town of Hilldale. He was hot and dusty, but filled with excitement he could scarcely contain. He dismounted, let his horse to lean too stable, looked diggerly around him and then called... Dixie! Hi, Dixie, where are you? Here I am. Oh, thank you. You're welcome. Hurry. I was coming. Faster. I was coming as fast as I can. I'm here. Now where for all the rush, Jimmy? Where's Ma? She's by the back window, is she? Your Ma's in the parlor. Say, where you all been all day? Your Ma was asking for you a dozen times. Dixie, can you keep a secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Secret? Why is the closest Ma's Color gentlemen in the whole county? No, I mean it, Dixie, if you won't promise to tell nobody, anybody at all, even Ma, well, you can't know about it. I won't say a word. Cross my heart who wants. Well, I've been up in the hills. Huh? See? You all took that pickaxe with you again. Jimmy, was you prospecting? Uh-huh. You all went clean to the hills? Ah, weren't much of a trip for a husband like me. But why, boy, you get so excited, just tell me that. Blossie, if you all said you hadn't been in them hills after being gone all day, that'd be something. But wait till I show you. What's that in your pocket? I'll show you. Wait. Here. Now just take a look at that. Man. Dixie, I found it. I found gold. You sure enough did. Here. Let me handle that. Mm, mm, ah. Ain't it pretty, though? All gleaming and sparkling like candles. Loss and messy. And there's heaps more where that came from. You don't say. Think of it, Dixie. Guy shouldn't mean new things for mom. Pretty dresses. All kinds of swell grub pretty. Why, golly, I bet there's enough there to fix it so she'll never have to work out again. My, oh my. Jimmy, I didn't know they ever did see gold before. Not real sparkling gold like this. Now remember, you promised you wouldn't tell. Ain't you even going to tell your mom? We've got to keep it a secret, Dixie. What for? Well, I ain't old enough to file on the claim. I wouldn't trust nobody but you to file on it for me. As far as mom's concerned, what I want to do is wait till we've got all the gold that's there, then tell her for a surprise. We sure will sneak away every chance we'll get. We'll sack the ore and pack it back, and then hide it someplace. Maybe up in the loft of the barn. The claim's all worked out. Well, then we'll take a sample to town to be assayed. And after that, we'll come back and tell my how rich he is. Of course, Dixie, you'll get your share too. Jimmy, I was practically speaking as I sure am. Don't settle for me and rob Blackie down, will you? I'm going inside. You all go right ahead. Come on, Blackie. Gold, eh? Oh, damn gold and silver. Ma. Is that Houston? Gosh, Ma, you look tired. Oh, cut you no more another day, sir. Where'd you work today? Oh, I helped Miss Wilkins out most of fall noon, and there was a big wash over the Clements place. Ah, they do live fine there, folks. Gee, I hate to see you come home looking so all done in. No, folks have got to work to live, Jimmy. Well, you won't have too for long. Well, what nonsense is there? Tain nonsense. I can't tell you now, because it's a secret. But Ma, just you wait. It ain't going to be long till you can tell all them folks you don't need to work for them anymore. Jimmy, you're the limit. All right, laugh at me. But just you wait and see. Nearly three weeks later, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, who were camped in the foothills, heard the sound of pigs digging into rock. What's that, Tonto? Someone digging rock. That's what it sounds like. Certainly can't be gold hunters, though. There's no gold around here. Maybe we'd look, huh? Must be just beyond that outcropping. Come on. Ah. Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig. One of them is just a boy from the sound of his voice, Tonto. Don't alarm them. They'll see what they're up to. Dig. Dig. Dig. That's enough for today. Ain't such an awful lot as your gold left, Jimmy. Nope. Couple more chips, and I reckon we'll have it all. You want a sack up? Wouldn't we dug out? Better not. We'll have to be getting back to beat my home. It'll be safe enough. I reckon. Gee, I wonder how much this is going to bring. I couldn't even make a guess. Would it be a million, you think? Don't be crazy. A million's a lot of cash. A thousand? A thousand's a lot more, too. But maybe there just might be. I was going to buy me a gold watch with what I'd take for my share. Just the biggest gold watch I can find. What I get's going for my. She'll be a mighty, pleased woman. Only trouble is I can't make up a mind exactly what to get her. You think she'd like to spend it on dresses or fixing up the house? Or if we're taking a trip somewhere, is there what? Maybe her mom'll have her own notions about that. Well, likely she will. Only there's one thing, sure. She ain't going to do one more like a work for the folks around town. I won't have it. Your mom's getting to the age where she can't work much longer, Jimmy. That's what I mean. Well, let's get going. Come on. I'm coming. Yes, sir. I'll just about get home in time. Get up to me. Get up on that. Get on it, you cubs. Get up there. If there's gold here, Tado, it's the first I've heard of it. Prospectors all claim you have to go further into the hills. You look. Fool's gold. Iron parities. Ah. Poor youngster. Afraid he's in for a bad disappointment. I like the boy from the little I heard. Ah. Him sound like good boy. I wonder what you think. Tado, I've got an idea. Let's get back to the horses. We'll do a little investigating. Perhaps we can take a hand in this. At the end of two more days, Jimmy and Dixie were satisfied that they had exhausted the possibilities of the vain Jimmy had located. It was in the evening. Jimmy and his mother had finished their supper and were stacking the dishes before washing them went. Jimmy. Gosh, I'm sorry, Mark. What even? The world's got into you. Well, yes, the fidgety and nervous, I've never saw the like. You've been up to something. Mark, I've got to tell you. You've done something? Oh, no, Mark. It's my secret I've been telling you about. Oh, there. Please, Mark, let the dishes go till I show you. Come on, please. Oh, landscape, I don't suppose I'll have any peace till I do. Now, where do I have to go to see this big secret? Just out to the barn. Come on, Mark, hurry up. Dixie. Yes, sir? Did you bring something down from the loft to show, Mark? I did. There it is, right there in that sack. Whatever you two talking about. You all do for a big surprise, man. Just put your hand in that sack, Mark. Take a look at what you find there. What? What is it? Gee, can't you tell? It's getting dark. Oh, that's gold, Mark. Gold. Jimmy, no. Indeed it is, Mark. That's just part of it, Mark. We've got all kinds of sacks full of it. We got them hid up in the loft. Well, I never... Now tell me, I didn't have a real secret. Where's these sacks? I don't know what to say. It ain't going to work no more. You're going to take it easy and rest and have things you want, like you all should have had. You're a good boy, Jimmy. First thing in the morning, I'm taking a sample into the assay office. I bet this will test out just as rich as any they've ever seen. Me, oh my. I can just hear them dollars clinking in my pockets now. Bless you, Jimmy. I wish your poor living to see you. You'd have been mighty proud. I owe silver. Silver? Get him on Scout, get him on. It'll be almost morning before we reach Solace's place, Heather. I wonder if he'll pretend to be as bad-natured as the last time. Maybe. Very silver, old fellow. All through the night, the masked man and the Indian raced along the winding trail that climbed higher and higher into the hills. Then, just a dawn. He's up already. There's smoke coming from the chimney. Who's that? Friends. I ain't got no friends. Don't expect to have no friends. Don't want no friends. Oh, old two fellas again, is it? Mind if we step inside? Plain enough, you don't care what I think. You wouldn't even be here bothering me. You know better than me. Well, well, come in, come in. Don't stand there like dummies. Thanks. Well, what do you laugh at, Indian? Me laugh at you. Like me, have all the nerve. Just goes to show what crush you got. Well, all right. What do you fellas want? Something to tell you, Silas. That's what most folks think. And I want you to listen to me. Yeah, they always expect me to listen to. Well, spill it. I will. When I've finished, you can make your own decision. I won't urge you either way. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger story. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now to continue our story. The Lone Ranger told the old prospector all about Jim and his mother. I investigated them thoroughly, Silas. The mother's a widow who was left with a home but no money. She had the boy to raise, and she supported him and herself by what housework she could get. And what I had in mind was the boy's disappointment and his mother's. Obviously, neither one of them knows the first thing about gold. The mother can't help but realize how much extra money would ease her burden. The boy's so proud to think that he's done something to make his mother happier that he's going to be heartbroken when he finds out the truth. You red-skinned pesky nuisance. To all my born days, I've never seen such nuisance as you are. Red-skinned, you quit laughing at me. Take good manners. Then you refuse? Go puttin' words into my mouth and never said. What will you do? I'm going to do something. You do? Just like he asked me. Good. But mind you, don't go gettin' notions. In course, I'm big-hearted or anything simple like that. No? I'm handed over that door for just one reason. And that? So when I feel myself slipping in the good nature, I can think back to today and remember what a soft-headed engine it was. And if that don't get my dad, wrap nothin' will. The same morning, young Jimmy and Dixie headed for town. In a cardboard box, wrapped in brown paper, the boy carried his precious burden, a sample of the oar. At last, the government office was reached. But just as they were about to enter, Dixie touched Jimmy's arm. What is it, Dixie? You all better go in there alone, Jimmy. I just can't stand the excitement. My heart won't hool up on this. All right. Wait for me here. Well, don't go on if it ain't young Jimmy. Hey, what do you got in that there box, Jimmy? I bet the kid's been prospecting. There's Mr. Quillen here. I got something going to report on. I bet the kid struck it rich. Let us in on it. Will you kid? Hey, maybe he'd be willing to teach us something about prospecting. Now leave Jimmy be. I'm gettin' tired of you loafers hangin' around here anyhow. Hey, let me have that box he got there, Jimmy. You got it wrapped up real well, eh? It's a mighty valuable arm, Mr. Quillen. Well, you can leave it here with me and I'll have a report for it pretty soon. I kind of thought you could give me an idea right away. Hey, hey, look. Jimmy, did you bring this here just for a joke? A joke? What do you mean, Mr. Quillen? You mean you really thought this was gold or? Well, ain't it? Well, Jimmy, this ain't nothin' but fool's gold. Can't you tell the difference yet? Fool's gold. Look what the youngin' thought was paydirt. That's not me. My friends, look what the kid brought in for the sake. I write these. I thought it was... Oh, I'm sorry, Jimmy. That's all right. I guess you think I'm an awful greenhorn. You ain't the first one to make the same mistake. Some of these wise acres here done the same thing in their time. Yeah, yeah, I guess. Well, thank you. Bye. What do men say, Jimmy? It's fool's gold, Texas. Fool's gold. Only I'm the fool. And after all me and Mod planned to do with the cash we was gonna have... I don't know what to tell her. No, no, Jimmy. You know, it ain't so bad. Well, what does folks like us do with gold if we was to have it anyhow? I never really wanted to have cash. I mean, not special. Dixie, I can't go back to tell Mom about this. I just can't. Now, don't you take on so. Your mom thinks just as much as gold and no gold. Now, you all come home with me. Jimmy and Dixie rode slowly home. A disappointment made them silent. Suddenly, as they drew near the house, Jimmy shouted, Dixie, look at... What? Two fellas with a wagon. They've been loading it with sacks from our barn. Dixie, they're stealing our gold. Sure, they're welcome to it, ain't they? Team nothing but fool's gold, you said. I don't care what it is. They ain't gonna steal it. Get up, get up, Blackie. It's peaceful. I ain't going to meddle with no mask, man. Come on, Dixie. Hi there. Leave that alone. You get away from that. Get up, get up there. That's going south. Get him up, get him up. You come back with that. Hold on. Come on, so many. Oh, oh, Blackie, oh. You know, you're just not trying to catch them fellas, Blackie. You're crooks, you thieves. I'll get even. Dixie, you were scared. You never even tried to help me. Oh, oh, oh. I wasn't scared, Jimmy. It wasn't. I was just cautious, that's all. You were scared, and you needn't say you wasn't. What, why should we fight over that fool's gold, huh? They didn't think it was fool's gold. They're like they just didn't know no better, that's all. I'll bet they did. They wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to bring a wagon if they didn't. But, but, Jimmy... Dixie, I'll bet anything I know just what happened. I'll bet when I picked out samples to take to the assay office, I just got fool's gold mixed up by mistake. What do you all mean? It wouldn't surprise me none at all if the rest of that ore was real gold. Golly, I'm crook-steaked away with it. I'm going back to the sheriff. Get up, Blackie, get up there. What can I do for you? Sheriff Crook's just stole gold from me. What's that? There was two of them. One was a masked man, and one was a red skinned and a head of wagon. Oh, up there. Stand still and get your breath and try to make it a might easier. But you gotta do something quick, Sheriff. Every second you're sitting there, they're getting farther away and harder to catch. Now, in the first place, where would you get gold for them to steal, Jimmy? Sheriff, ain't you heard? Jimmy, what's going on? You heard? Jimmy was in his say office while at gold to have a sample of fool's gold valued. The gold he claimed he stole is just that worthless stuff he brought to town with him. All right, if that's so, then why did they steal it? Of course I'm just a kid. I could be fool-easy on something like that. But they don't explain how two grown men can fool ourselves. Oh, Jimmy, you just got the gold fever, that's all. You better head for home and cool off a bit. Well, hold on. Say, you ain't taking these serious, are you? Well, the kid has got something there. I've yet to meet the engine around these parts that couldn't tell real gold from the other kind. Jimmy, how much did they get off with? A whole wagon load, Sheriff. Honest. What I think is that stuff I brought to the say office, I just grabbed accidental. Well, I bet all the rest of it was high-grade ore. Hey, well, watch that. I hear something said about high-grade ore? That he said is. The young in here was just telling us he had a wagon load of ore stolen from him. Well, then, well, what are you setting there? Polishing the city of Britchesford. Why don't you get after it? There's some more things I'd like to know about first. Jimmy, you said it was a masked man and a red-skinned stole that gold. Uh-huh, I've seen him plain. Are you sure? I sure am. You know them crooks? Well, I did hear something about a pair answering that description being seen in the neighborhood, but I understand it was that they were just as far from being crooks as two fellas could be. Oh, masked men are outlawed ain't they? I don't know. Please, Sheriff, please. You've got to do something. Don't you know your duty, Sheriff? Even if it was fool's gold, they stole it, didn't they? And stealing and stealing. No matter what it was, they took. Oh, gosh, ain't been this mad in a real long time. It makes me feel just dandy. Well, I'll look into it. Come along, Deputy. Yeah, I'm going, too. All right. We'll pick up Quillen on the way. Don't go on if I don't tag along. Maybe I'll be able to give you a hand at trailing the skunk. In the meantime, we're torn to the range and the lone range are rotting alongside. The wagon had been driven to an isolated spot where a great pile of gravel had been dumped. The masked man and the Indian worked hard. Then, finally. I think that does it, Tuddu. Already now. Well, Jimmy's going to think pretty hard of his chemo savvy, but I'd rather enjoy what we've done. Then come soon now. If Silas plays his part, huh? Well, keep watch, Tuddu. There's nothing more to do now except wait. Hour later, a group of writers, Jimmy, Silas, the government clerk, the sheriff, and his deputy, followed the broad trail left for the wagon. It led to a woods just where the hills began then. Sheriff! Yeah, Jimmy? In that woods there. Don't you see something? Well, I don't know it. Well, that's the end of the trail, Sheriff. There's a wagon in there. Hurry before they get away again. Come on, then. Get up there. Get up there. Get up there. Get up there. Come on. Hey, they've seen it. They've done it. They ain't firing at us. Ride them down. Come on, Silas. They ain't gonna stay to fight. They're making a run for it. Come on, keep after them. Won't you, Sheriff? See the way they're traveling? Let's just try and catch them all, please. That's the wagon, all right. Yeah, there's all in it, too. Pull up! Whoa! It's all here. Dog gone if it don't look like real gold or two. Look at it, Mr. Quillen. This thing pulls gold, too, is it? Give me a few chunks of that, will you? Just a second. Here you are. Well, well, tell the young man, don't keep him waiting. Is it worth anything, or is it? I don't know how come you brought me the samples you did, but I'm here to say this, oh, and the wagon is worth plenty. I ain't seen any to compare with it from around here, except for what Silas found. Is there more where this came from? That was all of it, Mr. Quillen. Oh, golly, wait till I tell him more about this. Dixie, he'll just about have a fit. Well, I'd say you'll get enough gold from that load right there to net you a real sizable sum. Gee. Hey, say, young man. Huh? I've done a sight of prospecting my day. If you're dead sight and looking for more gold, well, maybe you'll more than let you come up to my place where I could give you a few pointers. Oh, golly, would you? Would you really? Well, that is if you didn't insist on me acting sociable to get my principles. How don't you be pestering me, Sheriff? Just step over here for a second, will you? What do you want? Just a few words with you, sir. Better be mighty few. Yeah, we can't be hurt from here. Well, say this, is there anything you'd like to tell me about this need? Can you? What could I? Oh, I thought maybe you could explain a few points. Huh? Ha, ha, ha. Rest since, uh, every time we lost the trail on hard ground, you was able to pick it right up again. Coach, I'm a, uh, I'm a better trainer than you, that's why. And, uh, how come that happens to be your wagon with your horses' heads to it? Huh? Say, now, don't that beat all. I never even noticed it till you pointed it out. Why have them crooks? Maybe you could explain why this war looks uncommonly like what I've seen took from your place. Anything else you want to ask me that ain't none of your business? There's just one thing. Well, you fellas was looking over the wagon, and I moved it over where them trees are real thick. Funny thing, but, uh, I seen where somebody going to dump a whole lot of fools go there. And recent too. Why, I, I don't know a thing about it. You're exceeding your duty bullying me like this? Sadly, sir, an awful old crab. You bet I am. On top, but underneath, you got a heart as soft as mush. Hey! That was fighting words! Well, sadly, she can rant and sputter all you want. But I got a hunch that you and the maswan done something today that, it had been mighty proud to have thought of doing myself. The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.