 A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty hyo silver. The lone ranger. With his faithful Indian companion, Tuttle, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. The lone ranger rides again. Come on, Tilly. Let's go be close. Tilly! The old adobe prison of San Pablo was about to be abandoned as worthless. In another week the governor would grant a general parole to all trustees and the other prisoners would be transferred to an up-to-date penitentiary in the capital. One man accepted. He was Tug Spencer, an notorious desperado doomed to die in the morning. For him young Denny York, a mess hall trustee, had brought a last supper to the death cell. As Denny entered, a guard locked the door. Denny, you stay in there while I go back and finish my own stuff. Yes, sir. Here's your chuck, Tug. The condemned man turned a gaunt face from a caged canary at which he'd been looking. It looks good, Denny. Almost good enough to get hung for. Get a cracker for Billy Bird? Sure. Here, Billy. Both you fellas are mighty chipper. Nothing worries us. We both like you. You're the only square shooting in this hole. Maybe it's cause I'm the only innocent con here. Maybe so, but you took chances for me and Flip all last year and we were in solitary. You smuggled matches and candles and smokes to us. You took care of the bird, too. You even patched him up when a guard broke his leg with a stone. Ah, forget it. No, no, not me. I'm leaving you, the bird, and something else. Where's the guard? He can't hear us. Go ahead. Why do you think me and Flip kept getting sent back into solitary every time we got out? You busted rules, of course. We did that purposely. We wanted back. Huh? You wanted back in those filthy dungeons where the Spaniards used to torture engines? You and Flip must have been local. Yeah, like a couple of foxes, mate. We were digging out. So that was it? I worked my way into Flip's cell. Then we started tunneling from under the floor there, thinking it hit a drain. Too bad you didn't make it. We got careless. Guard surprised us just as we were putting a stone back over the hole. Everybody knows the rest. Yeah, he killed Flip and you killed him. Right. Flip swung its son up. That's not the point. One night while Flip and I were digging, my shovel hit something hard. Flip, we might get stoned. Must be the drain. Get hold of it, Paul. I'll pull with you. It's coming. There. It's open ahead. I'm crawling through. I'm coming too. Light another candle. All right. What are we in? We've got the dungeon only deeper. Yeah, come on. Step down something. Here's a skeleton. Never mind the old bones. Let's see what this junk is. Old armor, swords, muskets, torch irons. Good. We knew some of this stuff to dig with from now on. This place will hold all the dirt. Spaniers must have had their magazine here before the engines wiped them out. There are all the old powder barrels and boxes. Here's an iron box for the lock on it. Here's a big sword. Bust it open. Here goes. Keep on here. Yeah, that's festive. She's open. Tug. Tug. Look there. What is it? Gold. Spanish gold. Spanish gold. It was, Denny. And there it still is. The very next night we got caught. Imagine it. Yeah, funny, isn't it? All us cons have got in for robbing and stealing. They've been doing our time on top of a treasure. Now it's yours. It's all yours. Mine? Yeah, sure. When they turn you loose and close this dump, all you got to do is come back and lift it. Break it up. Denny, take my dishes as you leave. All right, sir. Here's the bird, Denny. So long, fellas. So long, Tug. I'll take good care of Billy. See you both in fitless green. It was late the following week when the Lone Ranger and Toto, returning from a patrol of the troubled border country, turned their horses into a trail which led from San Pablo prison to the town of Caballero. They rode slowly for the day was hot, and their attention had been attracted by fresh boot prints. Toto was saying, That fellow will be Kimosabe. This is a bad place for any man to be afoot. We'll follow him. Come on, Toto. Get him up to count. Go barefoot. Can't be far ahead. There, let me see him. He's sitting by a rock with a bird cage. Puzzle for food. Watch out, Billy Bird. Teddy friend, we're not outlaws. As if that mattered one way or the other. I'm just out of San Pablo. So I see from your sunburn and misfit clothes and boots. Can we help you? Yeah. How about sparing this boot a drink? You both need water. Easy, steady, big foot. Here's my canteen. Thanks, mister. Looky here, Billy. Did you walk all the way from San Pablo? I couldn't do anything else except squat there and die. There wasn't anyone to meet me. I suppose you're headed for Caballero. That's right. The town I was sent up from. I got a dirty deal. Oh, tell us about it. Well, I'm Denny York. My folks are dead. My dad used to own the Bar X Ranch. He was a real man. I have no doubt of it. A couple of years back, there was a shooting in the dance hall. And I got arrested, though I wasn't there. And thought I could prove it. Did you have a good lawyer? Sure. Gideon Hague, the same fellow who handled my inheritance. Smart as a whip. What happened? Well, Jim Stanton, the kid I was with at the time of the shooting, let me down. He was my best friend. One word from him at my trial would have cleared me. But he wasn't there to say it. How do you account for his failure to appear? Like I account for a lot of things. The world's full of varmints. You find some decent people left? Yeah. Yeah, I found one last week. The fella who gave me this crooked-legged bird. They hung him the next morning. Denny, I don't blame you for being bitter. But that attitude is apt to put you back in prison. I'll do all right, mister. I'll be a millionaire in a little while. A millionaire savvy. The kind of umbraid a law don't dare touch. Then I'll square accounts. I see. Are you in shape to ride now? Sure, why? Honno, give Denny your horse and you ride Silver. I'll wait here while you take Denny and his bird to Caballero. Oh, Silver, what's going on? You made a fast trip, Honno. He wants you to know about that young fella. Oh, what do you do? Well, first, he meet girl on street. Yes. Her nail-tucker, sheriff's daughter. Were they friendly? Girl, heap-friendly. Her take care of canary bird while Denny go to land office. Him file homestead claim on old prison. The old prison? Well, that's strange. And after that him buy gun. For old convict has no right to carry a weapon. Denny is headed for trouble. Ah, then what we do? Look him up tonight and disarm him. Meanwhile, the people in Denny's hometown talked of his return. Gideon Hague, the lantern-jawed lawyer who had represented the young ex-convict in all legal matters, heard the news from Cat Eye Jack, a gunman and office hangar on. Cat Eye was saying... Get that fella's ass to plug you. If he suspicions you let him go to San Pablo just so as you could fleece him. No one knows that except you and I. And you would better forget it. Wait, he's coming in now. Watch him. Well, if it isn't Denny, you ought to sit down, sir. I can do without the chair and handshake, Gideon. I need money. Yes, I suppose you do. But there's no descent of your inheritance left. What? Ted's ranch was worth 15 or 20,000 dollars. So it was, Denny. But these are hard times. Land prices are down. It took all I could get out of the property to pay for your defense. If you doubt me, look at the court records. So I've been lured out of everything. Well, you got enough out of it that you should be good for a loan. You're anything but a good risk now as you should know, Denny. All I want is enough to buy a couple of horses and gear. I'll pay you back within a week. Not with the proceeds of a holdup. It'll be honest money. I'll even pay a double. I did like to help you. Suppose you come back tomorrow. All right, Gideon. Be seeing you. Poor fish. He still don't know he was hooked. So what's the idea of fooling with him now? Catay, you can bank on his word. What of it? He'd paid just as he promised. That means he knows where to find money and needs horses to get it. So he aimed to look him again. I think... Leave this thinking to me. Find out what he's been doing and watch what he does. Well, Catay, what did you discover? Something mighty funny. That fellow's filed a claim on San Pablo. The old prison? I've got it. What? The money or whatever he expects to use to repay a loan is in San Pablo. Why else would an ex-convict of old people want the place? There's an old yarn about the Spaniards leaving a treasure here. Yes, I've heard the legend. I never believed it. But now... Say, Gideon, there's something else. Young York's got a gun. Good. Now I know how to play him. How? You tell the sheriff he's armed and he'll be arrested for violating his parole. Yeah, I say, he'll have to hire you to keep from being sent up again. That's it. Of course, I'll lose the case, but not before I learn his secret. Now get busy. It was after dark when the lone ranger and tato reached town. While the Indian searched the business places for the parolee, the masked man stationed himself in an alley entrance. As he watched, Denny left a cafe and headed toward him. Denny, stop where you are. You! Release me. Give me that gun you bought today. What for? The sheriff finds it on you. You go back to prison. I need it for protection. It's under your shirt. I'm taking it. No, you're taking this. You ask for this? Fight! Fight! Sorry, Denny, but this is it. Denny York is down. Stand back, you man. I'll help him up. All right. Here, Denny. That guy's got a mask on. He's running for his horse. Hey, what's going on here? Here comes the sheriff. Denny York was fighting with a mask. Yeah, a mask. There he goes now. Where does the masked man go? What are you talking about? Denny York's the man I want. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger adventure. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now to continue. When the sheriff, acting on information supplied by cat eyes, searched Denny York. He found no gun, so Denny was released. A short time later, the canary of San Pablo chirped inquisitively. As Denny and Nell, the sheriff's daughter, sat under its cage in the living room of the sheriff's home. The Lone Ranger's fists and Nell's kisses had cracked and melted Denny's prison-grown shell. He had unburdened himself to the girl, telling her of the treasure and of his efforts to raise money through lawyer Hague. He was saying, I'm the leery of that lawyer now. Cat eye is his man, Friday, and he blabbed to your dad about that gun. I know. That stranger hadn't snatched the gun when he picked me up and I'd be behind bars again. I never trusted Gideon Hague. Anyhow, you don't need him. I can help you get that gold out. You, Nell? I have two horses of my very own. I have money enough to rent more and buy gear. And those guns in the corner over there, they're all mine. I'd have to go on arm the way things stand. That's too dangerous. A lot of people are wondering about you claiming the old prison. You might be followed and robbed or killed. Yeah. Yeah, I've been thinking of that. No one can do anything about it if you take my gun. Me too. You? Why, you... I was a woman, sure. But dad and mother crossed the stakeplanes alone when the Indians were bad. They were married. Preacher Lake lives right across the street. All right, you win, Nell. I'll marry you for your guns. As Denny and Nell embraced, the Lone Ranger and Tuttle rode out of town. The San Pablo trail lay ahead of them. Looking back, the Indian asked, You think Denny's safe now? I took his gun just in time. He isn't likely to risk carrying another. Oh, not good. Give your horses head. We're a day behind our schedule, Tuttle. On to it! Denny York and Nell Tucker were married. It was the next day they arrived at the unlocked and keyless prison. In high spirits, they stable their animals in the warden's office and stowed their supplies in a mess hall. They had brought the canary along and Denny had its cage door open. He was calling. Come out, Billy Bird. See what it looks like here without guard. Darling, is it safe to let him loose? Sure. He knows this big bird cage just like his little one. There he goes. He'll be back when he gets tired. Now let's find the gold. What are you doing, dear? Sounded for a hollow place under this dungeon floor. This was flip sell. Tuttle the truth. Hear that? The stone's loose there. Just let me get my pinch bar into a crack. Here, I've started it. What do you see? It's the tunnel. What I think, slam. It'll stand up, ended. It's awfully dark in that hole. Give me a lantern, I'm going in. Darling, do be careful. For several hours, the honeymooners labored to remove the treasure. Denny passing out the heavy bars of bullion while Nell stacked them near the mouth of the tunnel. With what one in got left to be salvaged, the young wife begged to see the vault. Reluctantly, Denny helped her through the tunnel. Emerging in the torture-haunted chamber where skeletons lay in rusty armor and the dust of ancient days swirled through the lantern beams in phantom forms, she gasped. Denny. You scared, dear? I guess so, but I wouldn't have missed seeing it. Well, here's the last bar, so let's get out. I need air. Listen, I thought I heard steps up above. Denny, you're... Steps, Lawyer, hey. He followed us. How much gold is left? What's that to you? It's all mine. You varmints, I'll show you. Now, wait a minute. No, Denny, he'll shoot us the moment we show ourselves. It's better than smothering it. We can live for an hour or so, and dad made trailers. All right, dear. I'm putting out the light. Now, lie down and don't talk. That way the air will last longer. They're coming. They won't answer. All right, close the hole. As stifling darkness closed in on the bridal chamber of death, the Lawyer sent Cat Eye above to watch while he waited for the imprisoned couple to suffocate. A few minutes later, Cat Eye dashed down a nearby stairway. Get it. Two riders are coming. Who are they? I couldn't see. Maybe the sheriff is looking for his daughter. Well, let's stay here. I'll meet them. The lone ranger and tunnel had turned their horses toward the old prison after finding that the waterholes on the trail were dry. The masked man was saying, There must be water here. Oh, there. The gate. It's open. Hold on there. Look, they're in front of what's gone. We're friends. Close the hole. Close the hole. Don't let that disturb you. All we want is water. There's a reservoir outside the north wall. Maybe that's why Denny York wants a place. Right. Is he here? No. I'm his lawyer, Gideon Hague. I've been looking the place over with a view of making him alone. See, I heard he was beaten by a masked man last night. Oh, we had a misunderstanding. How do I, uh, let's water our horses and be on our way. Kimusabi, you see bird on the wall? Yes, I see. Monterey! In a month's count! Around the corner of the wall, stop here. That bird got crooked leg. Him, Denny's. That means Denny is here. Hague lied to us. Why you get larry? We're going over the wall. I want to know what Hague is up to. Will cat eye the nice man in the Indianagon? I can't figure out their tie-up with young York. It doesn't matter. If York and that girl aren't dead now, they soon will be in. I don't hear any noises under the stone. And they'll never be found unless one of us talks. And it won't be me. I'll never say anything. You're right. You never will. What are you pointing your gun at me for? Two can keep a secret. If one's dead? Are you shyster? Meanwhile, the masked man in Indian had scaled the wall and were inside the old prison. As Hague shots reverberated through the dungeons, they slipped down the stairway. The lawyer still stood over the body of his henchman, gun in hand. Got that gun, Hague? Masked man. Hague dove behind a pile of rocks which Denny had dug out of the tunnel in order to facilitate the removal of the gold. He turned his gun on the Lone Ranger. At the same instant, Toto put a bullet through the ladder and plunged the cell into darkness. Silver bullets from the masked man's gun ricocheted from the rocks that hid the crook. Fraud from their daylight sleep, hundreds of bats flitted through lower levels of the ancient building, squeaking in terror. Hague was yelling. You'll never get me. How we get him out? Keep firing. Move around and use two guns. What you do? I'm going after him. While Hague and the Indian exchanged shots, the Lone Ranger slowly wormed his way across the flagstones, guided by the flashes of the crook's gun and the sound of his voice. And you'll never get the gold. The masked man's hands touched a slimy wall. He was inside the dungeon. As he reached the gold, he raised himself a little. Just above him, the lawyer's gun blazed, revealing his head. Hague yelled. Now I'll fix you. No, you won't. The Lone Ranger came up from his crouch and dove over the pile of rocks, bringing Hague around the waist. Again, the lawyer fired. Hotter sparks through the masked man's hand. Then his fingers closed on the lawyer's gun arm. All right, I've got you. Are you breaking my arm? Let the loose of that gun. There it goes. Hague, where's Denny? I told you before. He wasn't here. I know better. Talk and talk fast. I stand on my constitutional right to say nothing. That voice came from under the floor. Somebody shut in there. Keep an eye on Hague. Toto, I'll strike a match. There's a loose stone in the crowbar. Let it go. Each man. Hurry. We'll soon have you out. The stone's giving her. There it comes. Denny, where are you? I'll take her. Is she all right? Just faint from lack of air. Here's a lantern. Me like it. Well, Nell, it's the masked man again. You found us just in time. Miss him. Someone's coming. Nell! Nell! It's dad. Save Denny and me. Get Hague had her shot under the floor. Look at the gold. And there's Cat Eye Jack. Dead as a mackerel. Yes. Hague murdered him. Now let's get out into the air. A few minutes later, everything had been explained to the sheriff's satisfaction. The canary had flown down from the wall to perch on Denny's head. As a chirp, he asked, Sheriff, will you forgive Nell and me for a loaf of bread? There's nothing to forgive, son. I'm an ex-convict. That gold we found doesn't change that. Well, something else does. The reason I came a harken out here after you was to tell you I'd heard from Jim Stanton. Jim? When I couldn't locate him anywhere else, I tried the army. I'm sure enough he was there. Been fighting engines in Dakota. He let me down. Lawyer Hague's to blame. He told Jim to go ahead and join the army because his testimony wasn't needed to save you. Then the crook left you to be convicted so as he could steal your inheritance. Oh, Danny, you're clear. Darling, we've got everything. Everything but the answer to one question. Who is that mask man? The Indian told me. He's the Lone Ranger. This is a feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated. Created and produced by George W. Twendle. Directed by Charles D. Livingston. And edited by Fran Stryker. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer.