 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, showing rare courage in the face of disaster, in the air, on horseback or in a screaming squad car. Ranger Bill, his mind alert, already smile, unswerving, loyal to his mission. All this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Come on, Tangerine. You gotta get you all moved in here. This is gonna be your home until tomorrow. At least until you win the contest. Right. Okay, Jill, you can shut the gate. I've got Tangerine in. Tangerine is the prettiest pig I've ever seen in my life. I know she'll win the contest. You'd better let the judges decide that, young lady. Ranger Bill! I've been so careful with her ever since she was a little piglet. Well, we sure have. I know you have. I don't believe I've ever seen a pig raised with so much TLC. TLC? Well, what's that? That's the magic ingredient in child training, I'm told. Tender, loving care. Oh boy, we sure used a lot of that. We've just got to win, Bill. You know how things have been going for our folks on the farm. They'd like to get us a lot of things, but they just haven't been able to. Yeah, we figured if we could win that prize money, we could get a lot of the things we needed. And then mom and dad wouldn't have to worry about us. You should have seen the trouble we had even getting the money to enter Tangerine. I think that's money nice of you two. Want to help your folks out that way? I sure hope you do win. Should you be saying that? What do you mean? Yeah. Hey, maybe we shouldn't even be seen talking to you. Aren't you a judge or something? Oh, that. Well, don't worry. I'm only judging the handcrafts this year. I have nothing at all to do with the livestock competition. I was worried for a minute. You know, we want to win this fair and square. Well, Jody, if you do, it'll be just that way. I can hardly wait till tomorrow. Hey, that's right. The judging is taking place then, isn't it? Tomorrow afternoon. But Jill and I are coming here early in the morning to give Tangerine a good scrubbing and get her all purtied up. Well, you better be careful. You'll get that pig of yours to looking so good. She'll sweep the judges right off their feet. I think Tangerine are all ready for Tangerine. What is it, Jill? Is something the matter with me? Where's Tangerine? No, no, no. Take it easy, Jill. Maybe we're looking in the wrong stall. Who would want to do a thing like that? I don't know what to think. It doesn't look like the gate's been messed with. Well, I don't know. Maybe she just pushed her way out of here and ran away. How could she? She shut that gate hard last night. But did we push that little peg through the lock? I don't remember. I really can't figure anyone doing a thing like that. Well, they all know how we can't afford to lose Tangerine. Wait till you see Tangerine, Stumbie. She's really a beautiful pig. If there is such a thing as a beautiful pig, well, good morning, you do. Here you are bright and early. Bill, should we look at her? You can't. Why not? She's taking her bath. I got here this morning when she was gone. We don't know how or where, but she's gone. Well, that sure is a shame. There's more than that, Stumbie. We were counting a lot on winning that prize money. And what about poor Tangerine? We can find her. What do you think you can? I don't know, Jody, but we can try. We know that she's either on the fairground somewhere, or at least we know which way she left the area. That nice new fence the city fathers put up around the grounds is a very effective way of keeping animals around. Every year at least one animal decides to go for a walk, and the townspeople were worried that someday it might be a bull. Well, then you think Tangerine might still be somewhere on the grounds? Well, I guess if she was able to leave, she'd have to leave by the front gate. Someone would be sure to see her. Well, let's find her. Stumbie, why don't you and Jill go and check the gate, and Jody and I will make a quick search of the grounds. Whatever you say, Bill. Come on, Jill. I'm Bill Jill. In fact, she'll probably run the other way. Jody, let's start over by the fence and work our way across the grounds. Okay, Bill. Boy, we just gotta find Tangerine. We've covered every inch of the area. And no Tangerine. I sure hope that Jill and Stumpy had better luck. If we only knew what time Tangerine went for a walk, we'd know about how far she could have gotten. Hey look, here comes Jill. She's all alone. Come in a hurry. Somebody saw Tangerine this morning, and she was leaving the grounds. She was heading toward the highway. The highway? Oh no, she might get hit. No, don't. Go getting all excited about something you don't know anything about. Let's just get over there and give Stumpy a hand in searching for her. I think it much faster along these road here with these bumps and curves all over the place and then be pushing a little too hard right now. Sometimes I think I ought to be sitting behind a big desk somewhere with nothing like this to worry about. The night, hey, looks like some bump coming up. I can't slow her. Hang on, here we go. Hold onto your hats. Off all the luck. Sprung the doors right open. Get back in there, all of you. Come on. What's going on here? Hello, Ranger. These washboards you call roads just about cleaning me out of a job. Where'd all these pigs come from? That's what I'm telling you. I'm supposed to be delivering all these hogs to the slaughterhouse in Notty Pine but I hit a bump a little too fast and it sprung the back doors of my truck open. Maybe you can help me get these critters in here, huh? I ain't so sure I'd better. What? Why not? Well, I'm looking for runaway pig right now and for all I know it just might be one of these. We'd better wait. Wait nothing. I'll wait till later ready. This accident is making me even later. Come on, get in there. Let's go. Hold on there, sonny. I told you I can't wait. Just a few more. Come on, let's go. You know what I think, old man? I think you're out of your mind. That's what I think. Whoever heard of looking for a pig out here in the highway would even want to. We've got a whole truck full of them and I don't spend my time running around looking for more. Why don't you just go home and go to bed? When you wake up you'll feel lots better, believe me. Why you young whippersnapper? There's nothing wrong with my think tank. I told you that I'm looking for a pig. Yeah, I know a pig. Well, I got all I need. Whatever you can find you're welcome to keep. I gotta be on my way. Those fellas at the slaughterhouse sure get impatient if they have to wait very long. Hey, but, but, but... Keep trying, old man. Maybe you get it started. We'll be when that pig gets together real soon. Hey, Stumpy. Hey, did you find her? Have you fallen, tangerine? Is she all right? We saw that big truck and thought maybe something had happened. I don't know if it has or not. What do you mean? Have you seen tangerine? I don't know. I just saw a whole lot of pigs. What are you talking about, old timer? That truck, Bill. It was full of pigs. Well, why was it stopped here? Did he try to take tangerine? Stumpy wouldn't let the guy do that, Jill. I don't know whether it did or not. You keep saying things like that, Stumpy, but you don't explain yourself. Well, that's because I'm not sure that fella doesn't have the kid's pick. I want to know. And on the other hand, I ain't so sure he does. I wouldn't have known tangerine if I had seen her or I couldn't tell. Perhaps you'd better tell us the whole thing, Stumpy. Right from the beginning. Well, I was looking through that field over there for tangerine when I heard this sort of crash coming from here on the highway. So I rushed over to see what happened. And here's this truck and driver and a whole mess of pigs running all over the highway. Where'd he come from? He didn't say. He just said that somehow the back door of his big truck had sprung open and all the pigs were running around. He chased them all back in shut the door and go off. What if he put tangerine in there with all the other pigs? Didn't you try to stop him? Of course I did. Only he didn't seem to believe I had all my marbles. I guess he couldn't see how anyone would be interested in finding just one pig. Especially since all of the pigs he had were giving him such a hard time. Well, you can at least understand why he felt the way he felt. Yeah, but that doesn't get his tangerine back. We don't really know whether or not that truck actually took her. It's possible that she wasn't even around here at the time he stopped. But we know she came this way. Somebody saw her. Bill, please try to catch that truck and let us look through all the pigs and see if she's there. I'm afraid it wouldn't be as easy as all that, Jill. Why not? By the time we'd get back to the car and start after him he could have gone to any number of places. He was driving into Naughty Pine, you know. Yeah, but what if he's got tangerine? You don't need to worry about not being able to trace him, Bill. Oh. He did mention where it was that he was going. As a matter of fact, he said he was late getting there. Where? The, uh, slaughterhouse. The slaughterhouse? Where they kill pigs? Now, don't worry, kids. If that man has tangerine I'll stop him before anything happens to her. You stay here and keep looking just in case. I'm going to the slaughterhouse. I'm the double. Ranger, we're going to throw that gate open. Oh, thanks, fella. Okay, Mike, blood it all. What can I do for you, Ranger? As your name, Hank. That's right. Well, they told me that you were the one to check with concerning a shipment of hogs that came in here earlier. I guess so. All the life stock that comes in here comes by me. But you needn't know. Well, I'm, uh, afraid I haven't got very much to go on. I am looking for just one pig. Ha, ha, ha. Yeah. Yeah, I know how that sounds. Especially since you must see plenty of them in one day. Plenty in one hour is more like it. I'm looking at hogs all morning. We just started bringing in these air stares to bring them in. Well, the pig I'm looking for might have come in here with a shipment of hogs in the last hour. Uh, they came by truck. That's the way all the hogs come in here this morning, Ranger. Last of them come in about 20 minutes ago. That might have been just the shipment I'm interested in. Have there been many in the last hour? Just a minute now. Hey, Mike, hold it right there. Let's go inside for a while. Fine. Right in here. Sit down, Ranger. Thanks, Hank. Well, what can I do for you? I could hardly hear you out there. Well, briefly, this is it. Some friends of mine lost a pig. They were entering in competition over at the livestock fair. And, uh, we have good reason to believe that it found its way into a shipment of hogs that was coming here. I doubt that. Why do you say that? Well, the hogs that come in here are good animals and all, but they just ain't prize animals. They was, their owners wouldn't send them to us. But this one might have gotten in with the others by accident. Even so, if we did see a prize animal around here, we'd take special notice. No, Ranger, I don't think there's much chance of him getting in the air. Well, I wish there was a way we could check for certain. If the hogs went running by you as fast as those cattle did, I don't think you could notice every one of them. Well, it wouldn't have to. You know how, when you look at a lot of things, they look pretty much the same. When all of a sudden something comes along that's different, well, it seems to stand out by itself. Mm-hmm, yes, you're right. Of course, to me, all pigs look alike except for the colors. Well, if you'd like, Ranger, we can make a check of the records of this morning. I really don't think you'd do any good, though. Even if we did discover an extra one, you wouldn't be able to retrieve it. Why not? Well, we keep a pretty tight schedule around here. All the hogs that come in here this morning have been killed already. Living you two don't finish your lunch. You won't be able to make it through the afternoon. It doesn't matter. Tangerine is gone. Doesn't matter. It's funny, you know. I used to like hamburgers. This one just tastes awful. It sticks right in my throat. Well, sometimes it don't take a lot of care making them at fairs like this, you know? That isn't that. It's tangerine. Listen here, you young whippersnappers. You ought to take a little more optimistic mood about all this. What's that? Well, I mean, you should try to see the brighter side. What is the brighter side, Stumpy? Well, it's... Well, I can't think of it right now, but you ought to look at it. Probably. Dad. No, what kind of talk is that? I think she's right. I wish I could figure some other answer. Hey, Ranger, you the fellow who was looking for a pig this morning? Yeah, why? Well, there's three of them over in the field across the highway. Maybe one of them is the one you're after. Oh, Jody, did you hear that? I sure did. Well, that's not just it here. Talking about it, let's go have a look. Maybe this is that brighter side I was telling you about. Here's the invoices and the shipments we received this morning. For the most part, they all seemed to be in order. Well, this driver was said to have been complaining about being late, Hank. And the accident slowed him up even more. So he's probably one of the last to come in. The accident? Oh, didn't I mention that? He had a small accident down on the highway near the fairground. That's how the pig I'm after might have gotten mixed in with his. Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? That was Hennessy. He was still complaining when he arrived here. Just a minute now here. Let's see here. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah, here it is. And there is a difference in what he was supposed to be bringing and what he did deliver. Then I guess I'd better forget about it, huh? I mean, the pig has probably been taken care of. No, no, maybe not, Ranger. And I'll look at you here. You see that he didn't bring in one more hog than he was supposed to. He really brought in two less. It might be that the pig you're after didn't have anything to do with Hennessy's truck at all. Well, that's hopeful news, Hank. Thanks a lot. Of course. What's that? No, just thinking here. If that pig of yours was around the accident, it just might be that he was playing with the rest and the missing ones were all from the original shipment. That's a nice way to end the conversation. I hope that ain't the case. So do I. The owners of that pig were counting pretty hard on entering and winning that competition. Thanks very much for your help, Hank. I guess I'd better be getting back. Man said he saw those pigs across the highway. Yeah, somewhere over there. Stumpy, do you think we'll... I really know what I'd like to think, but I do think we'd better wait to see. Better take my hand crossing the highway here. Three of them anywhere. Well, let's wait till we get to the field. Right now, we'd better watch out for the traffic. Oh, no. What is it? What do you see? Look at Stumpy's watch. Look what time it is. What time? Well, it's 1.15. The judging is going to start at 1.30 in the door. Now, hold on. We can find the pigs in a hurry, even they're still here, and then we can run back with tangerine. Yeah, besides, we have to clean her up and make her look good for the judging. Don't worry. I'll think of something. Let's just find out if tangerine is around here. Hey! Hey! Stumpy, can't you get her to move faster? Sometimes she gets moving after some food if you hold it out in front of her. Come on, the judging has already started. The dog's to be entered. We might as well get to the choosing. Just a minute, Judge. Here comes the police car. I wonder what they want. I don't know where the judges can see her. Please stop the judging until we can get tangerine here for you to see. You've done a pretty good job of stopping the judging already, young lady. Well, let's see her pig. Here she is, Judge. Hmm, I can see why you were so anxious to get her here. She's been officially entered in the competition? Yes, sir. We did it yesterday. Paid the fee and everything. Do you like her? Well, now, young lady, I have to check a few specific things first. But offhand, I'd say she was very impressive. Yes, indeed, very impressive. Stumpy, Bill, did you hear that? The judge likes tangerine. I'm not surprised. Afternoon, Judge. Hello, Bill. Since when have you been a chauffeur for livestock? It's a long story, Judge. It's only as we not only made like a truck, we made like a powder room for this celebrity. What's that? We had to clean tangerine up on the way here. Luckily, Bill had a canteen full of water, so we gave her a quick bath. In the car? Right in the back seat. You ought to see that back seat. Well, I can imagine. I guess tangerine didn't much like to be washed. That doesn't make her too different from most youngsters, does it? What are you laughing at, Stumpy? Speaking about baths reminded me of a conversation I overheard the other day. Girls, just as you hoped, the prize wasn't missing either. Jill and Jodie did win it, and we're able to help out at home by buying some of their own things. I'm always happy when I see a family where everyone helps each other. And if your family is like that, I'm sure you know what I mean. Well, see you next week for more adventure with...