 Ranger Bill. Warrior of the woodland. Striking against extreme odds. Traveling dangerous trails. Fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill. Pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Howdy boys and girls. Say, what would you think of a man who wouldn't show kindness and consideration in business, but expected it to be shown to himself when he got in a spot? I think we agree this individual needs to be taught a lesson. When our Lord gave his Sermon on the Mount, he said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. But a certain man named Horace Butler never read the Sermon on the Mount. He never reads anything but dollar signs and mortgage notes. Let's find out how this mean and merciless man was taught a lesson he would never forget. Here's the story, The Law of the Golden Rule. Our story opens at the small ranch of Knuthobson, not so far from Naughty Pine. His visitor is Horace Butler, the man who holds the mortgage on Knuth's ranch. Yeah, well, how are you today, Horace? Fine, thank you. Yeah, it's been quite a while since I've seen your last. You should drop around and have a cup of coffee once in a while. I'm a businessman, Knuth. I have work to do. I don't have time for social calls. I see. Well, man has to have friends and talk better once in a while. Money is my friend. I see. Talking about money, Knuth. I've been waiting for the annual installment on your mortgage note. Didn't get lost in the mail, I hope. No, no, it didn't, Horace. I just didn't have it. I'm afraid it'll be about two months late this year. Two months? Yes, I'm mighty sorry, but I'm sure I'll have enough by then to make the payment of two thousand. The payment is due today, Knuth, Hobson. Not two months from now. Yeah, I know that, Horace, but, well, the missus was sick in the spring and I had a lot of big doctor bills and had a poor crop of grain in the spring, too. Of course, my cattle are doing fine and they'll be ready for the market in two months. Well, of course, that leaves me, but one alternative. And that is to foreclose your mortgage, Knuth. Foreclose? You mean you won't give me the two month extension until I can sell my cattle? This is a business proposition, Knuth. You promise to pay on this date and that's what you'll do or suffer the consequences. Well, how do you expect me to get the money? Sell your cattle now. Well, they're not ready for market. I'd lose five thousand dollars if I sold them now. You'll lose your ranch if you don't. Horace, you know my credit is good. I always pay my bills. This is the first time in 14 years that I couldn't meet the mortgage payment. Have a heart, man. Knuth, I found out a long time ago that there's no room for heart. So you call it in business. It's the money that counts. I wish you knew how wrong you are, Horace Butler. If only money counted, I wouldn't be here. And let me tell you this. If you throw me off of my farm, the lord will see that you reap what you sow. Let's leave religion out of this. Religion? You're not human. For 14 years I've... I won't be able to file the foreclosure papers until Monday. If you then raise the money by then, I'll accept it. This is Friday. How can I get money over the weekend? That's your problem. You agreed to make your payments on this date. This is a business proposition. Good day! While this is going on, Bill, Henry, Gray, Wolf and Stumpy are getting ready for an inspection trip. It's to be an inspection of all private land bordering on government ranges and forests. Let's drop over to headquarters and find out how it's done. Are you sure you've got all the maps and charts, pal? Yep. I checked them against your list before I started bundling them up. Stumpy, be sure you bring along all the first inspection reports we made six months ago. What do you think? It got in my hands. Old newspapers? That could well be. I remember the time you were carrying one around dated back to 1910. Oh, Stumpy. And you were reading it. I've caught up since then. Now I'm reading them from 1940. No wonder he tells old-time jokes. Wait a minute, young fellow! Listen, fellas, let's wait until we get on the trail before we start the horseplay. I want to get started today. Let's saddle up now and hit the trail. Marty, I want to talk to you. Sure, dude. What's on your mind? Marty, you've been working for me for a long time. And what I've got to say to you doesn't make me very happy. What do you mean, boss? Something wrong? Yeah. Yeah, something is wrong. Of course, you had nothing to do with it. Well, that's too bad. I mean, it's too bad something's wrong. Can I help? No. Marty, I'm going to have to let you and the boys go. What? Don't you like the way I handle the cattle? That's what I'm saying. It's nothing you did or didn't do. Well, what is it then? I'm glad to not say, but I'm losing the ranch. Huh? I guess the cattle ball into my ears hasn't done them any good. I thought you said you're losing the ranch, but then I must have heard wrong. You heard right, Marty. Well, how come? I mean, are you sure? Yeah. Horace Butler told me this afternoon. He holds the mortgage. Who are that mean old wh-who are out of punch him right in the nose? Yeah, that wouldn't do any good, Marty. Well, I guess you're right, boss. Won't he give you an extension? No. Did he give you a date? Not yet, but I've got to sell the cattle and start packing as soon as possible. Well, I am staying right here until you move out. For free, if you like. You've been a wonderful boss, and that's the least I can do. Well, thanks, Marty. I appreciate it. But now I'm off to town to see Ed Banker. Maybe he can help me. Easy, boy. How are you fellas doing? Oh, I have plenty of time to keep up with Storm. He's a fast horse. How far are we going, Bill? Halfway to Africa, by the looks of things. Yeah. Maybe you've got a point there, Stumpy. Now we're going over to the northwest corner of the Big Mesa Range. We've got 20 miles to go. Of course, any. I want to check up on Horace Butler's boundaries, bordering Big Mesa Range. When we inspect his place six months ago, it's plenty of bad shape. That's why I want to make another inspection. I hope he's fixed up his boundaries like he's supposed to. What if he hasn't, Bill? I'll make it my business to see that he does. Reed? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, I can read, Patrick O'Rourke. I'm not the man of much education, but I can read. Well, now as I live and breathe, if it ain't me old friend, how are ya, canute? Not so good, Patrick. Oh, you said right. Here's your rheumatism, gotcha, Donny. It's not my rheumatism. It's paralysis. Paralysis? And how can that be? I saw you walk from your car as I was walking me beat. Financial paralysis, Patrick. Oh, so that's why you're trying to break down the bank door. You need money. Yeah, I need $2,000. They're going to foreclose my mortgage on Monday if I don't have the money. You mean Horace Butler? Yeah, that's the one. Great day in the morning, wouldn't that skin fin take your edge? Yeah, that's right, Patrick. I do know if Ed Banker's still inside. Ah, that I don't. But there's a private wire to the station. Now, if you'd like to walk with me to the office, I'll call into the bank and talk with the guard. Good place, Bill. Yes, Grey Wolf. We'll continue on to the Big Mesa Range first thing Monday morning. Yeah, that's a good idea. Thank the Lord. Tomorrow's a day of worship and rest. Ah, that's right. There's plenty of good place to worship and rest. Right, Grey Wolf. Well, let's make camp, fellas. I'm hungry. This is O'Rourke. Sir, there's a gentleman here who wants to see Ed Banker. Now listen, Mike. This is O'Rourke. He is. All right, I'll send him over. His name's Knut Habsson. Yeah, Ed knows him. Yeah, thanks a million, Mike. Goodbye. So, that's the whole story, Ed. You see the fix, I mean. Well, let me get your loan file, Knut. Excuse me a minute. Do you think you can help me out, Ed? Well, just let me refresh my memory on your loans with us first before I give you an answer, Knut. Yeah, yeah, sure, Ed. Knut, you borrowed $10,000 from us to buy a cattle last spring. Yeah, that's right. How much do you think your cattle would bring on the market right now? Well, the cattle I'm fattening now would bring $15,000 in two more months. But I doubt if they would bring more than $10,000 or $10,500 right now. Well, you see the problem up against here, Knut. Yeah, but this is an emergency yet. Well, please don't misunderstand me, but I'd really like to help you, Knut. I wish I could let you borrow the $2,000 you need, but you need collateral for a loan of that size. The only collateral you have are your cattle, and we've loaned to the limit already. Well, I guess I'm licked. I'll tell you what you can do. Yeah, well, what's that, Ed? Why don't you have a cattle buyer, come out to your ranch first thing Monday morning and find out right to the penny just what he'll give you. Well, how will that help, Ed? Well, if he'll give you $11,500, I'll personally guarantee a loan to you for the additional $500 that you need. That's the best I can do. Oh, why do we have to have Monday mornings? Hey, wait a minute. Isn't as bad as all that, is it, Bell? No, Bell. I'm just a little bit off this morning. Well, I'm ready to go if you are. Good. Stumpy, let's see the first inspection report for Boris Butler's ranch. Yeah, just a moment, sonny, I'll get it. Butler, wasn't he the rancher we found had about 15 violations of the law show up on inspection? Ah, you're right about that. Here you are, sonny. This here piece of paper has more X marks, huh, than a good game of tic-tac-toe. It's got you right, old timer. Look at this report. Let me see, one, two, three, four, 17 infractions minor most of them, of course, are charged against him. I wonder if he fixed them all. That's why we're out here, Powell, to find out. What's the tally, Mr. Hobson? They're good. Okay, Marty, let them back out to their age. All right, boss. Bell, what's your offer, Mr. Cole? $9,800. If you load them first thing in the morning. $9,800. Is that the best you can do, Mr. Cole? It's too bad you can't hold them two months until they get their prime finish. Market may be up then. How wide is the fire laying back of his fence line, fellas? It's 65 feet, Bill. Well, it has to be 90. What's the big idea, I wondered? There ain't chopped one stick of that scrub growth out of his standard timber since we last warned him, sonny. Boy, a forest fire sure could get started easy in that stuff. Bill, look at that fence line. Well, Horace ain't strung a new piece of bond wire in three years. Bill, this looks like Drennit's ditch along here. That's what he uses it for, but it's illegal. He's got to use underground tile. Well, sonny, it looks like Horace Butler hasn't paid one bit of attention to your first inspection report. That's right, old timer. Are you going to get rough with him, Bill? And how? When we get back, I'm going to send him a final warning in a registered mail envelope. He has three days from the time he signs the receipt to fix his fence lines, and two weeks to get the rest of the work done. I'm terribly sorry, boss, that things aren't working out for you and the Mrs. Bill, I appreciate your sympathy, Marty. The boys and I wish we could help financially, but you haven't got $200 between us. No, that's all right, Marty. You, you fellas need your money. And I guess I'd better get to the house and help the Mrs. with the packing. Yeah, well, say, is that Butler's car coming down the road? Yeah, yeah, that's him, all right. Yeah, he's coming to serve the papers, I guess. I'll serve him papers. I'll run him off of here at the end of a pitchfork. Yeah, please, Marty. You and the boys let me handle this. Yeah. Okay, boss, have it your way. But if you need help, just holler. It'd be a real pleasure to give him a good sock right in the nose. Here are the foreclosure papers, Canute. All right. Are you going to fight this in court? You've got a lot to nerve asking a question like that. It's a perfectly legitimate question. You know I haven't the money to fight this. If I had that much money, I could pay off the mortgage. Well, you'll have to be out of here by the end of the week. Here, how come Horace Butler is the only one who didn't fix his place up after the first inspection, Bill? I don't know the answer, pal. This letter ought to bring out the reasons, excuses, or what have you. Very strange. Him have big ranch, but not keep it up. Oh, he keeps up the front of it where people can see it. But the bar that's not seen, he doesn't bother with. Well, he's going to find out that he can't ignore Uncle Sam. Yep. Because Uncle Sam doesn't like to be ignored. He's got teeth, and he shows it once in a while. Hey, say, do you want me to take the letter down to the post office and have it registered, Bill? I'd appreciate that, Henry. I've got lots of work to do. Well, I'm on my way. Henry, be sure you have the lettermarked return receipt requested. Okay. I want to be sure Horace signs for the letter himself. And there'll be no questions as to whether he received notice or not. Oh, Patrick, how are you? I have not hit the pink today, Henry. What's the matter, Pat? Have you heard what Horace's skin fit butlers do under Canute? Huh? Oh, come again, Pat. I said, have you heard what Horace's butlers do under Canute Hobson? Oh, no, I haven't. Give me the rest of the details, Patrick. Don't cut me off in the middle. But you'd better grab hold of the lab post. Is it that bad? Horace butlers foreclosing the mortgage on Canute's ranch. No joking. And the nasty part about it is that Horace won't give Canute a two-month extension until Canute's cattle are ready for the market. Canute says he could pay him off easily after two months. Well, thanks for the information, Pat. Hey, where do you go in such a hurry? I've got a mail-a-letter. Well, so now you've been brought up to date on Horace Butler, fellas. It's about time somebody teaches that miserly skin-fliin' how to be a human being. Why, he wants to treat Canute that way is mystery. Everybody knows Canute is honest man. He always pays bills. Sure, Canute hasn't got an enemy in the whole country around here. But I know plenty of people who wouldn't be sorry if Horace Butler... Henry? Well, he should be ashamed of himself. Yep, he's the kind of fella who'd foreclose the mortgage on his father's nightshirt in the dead of winter. Ah, him plenty mean. Hey, Bill, how come you're not talking? Mine'll come later, Henry. What do you mean? I'm just waiting till Horace storms in here and answer to my final inspection morning and asked for an extension of time to get the infractions corrected on his property. Are you gonna give him an extension? You think he deserves it? No. He's already had the full extent of grace. Now it's time for the golden rule to lay down the law. I want to talk to you. Come in, Horace. Have a chair. What I have to say can be said standing up. Suit yourself. What's on your mind? This! Time limit warning letter I sent you. Well, I don't see any need to talk this over, Horace. The letter is self-explanatory. Oh, it's self-explanatory, all right. But who are you to demand immediate action? I'm the ranger in charge of this forest redistrict, Horace. Dad, don't cut no ice with me. What I want to know is who do you think you are to demand that I fix these infractions as you call them? Perhaps you'd rather have a court order from Judge Simpkins. So now you're trying to coerce me into doing what you aren't done. Is that right? I'm only doing what I'm paid to do, Horace. See that the law is complied with. Well, let me tell you something. I can't afford to correct these so-called infractions as you call them, and you haven't given me enough time. Three days, two weeks. What kind of an inhuman beast are you? I have in my file a carbon copy of my first inspection report. The original of this was mailed to you six months ago. I don't remember receiving it. Perhaps you don't remember. But I have your signature on the post office form receipt. I'll be glad to show you the receipt in question if you'd like. That won't be necessary. Will you give me more time to get this work done? Why should I? Six months is all that's allowed by law unless there are extenuating circumstances. Well, why can't that apply in my case? For what reasons? I don't have the money to pay for the work. Do you know how much it would cost to have this work done? I'm fully aware of the expense involved. If you'd keep your boundary lines up, the expense would be small. I can't afford it right now. Do I understand that you intend to ignore this time limit warning, Horace? I do, unless you give me an extension of time. You'll correct those infractions according to the time limit set by me, or you can explain to the court why you can't. Bill Jefferson, people in this town think a lot of you. They hold you on a pedestal. They say you're a Christian. They all think differently when I tell them how inconsiderate and inhuman you are. You have an ounce of mercy in your blood. Your heart is made of stone. You call yourself a Christian. Are you through now, Horace? One thing more. I'm leaving. Just a minute, Horace. What? Before you leave, I'd like to tell you a story. A true story I heard just a short time ago. I haven't time to listen any of your fables. It may be worth your while to listen to this one, Horace. You want to? Oh, you have the upper hand. Go ahead. It's the story of two men. A true story, Horace. The one man has been a rancher all his life. He's a fine Christian gentleman. His men have always liked him. They say he's a good boss. Now, this fella doesn't make a barrel of money, but he's respected. Let's say he's poor but honest. Every year, this rancher makes his mortgage payment like clockwork. And he's done that for a long time. But one particular year, he can't do it because of, well, let's say, unfortunate circumstances. So he tells the man who holds his mortgage that he won't be able to pay him for several months. And he asks for an extension of time. But the man who holds the mortgage refuses to give it to him and begins foreclosure proceedings. What do you think of a fella like that? That's a miserable trick, I'd say. What should be done about it? Well, why couldn't the mortgage holder wait until the several months passed and then foreclose if he had to? Exactly. That's what I thought. Well, what's this fella's name? I was getting around to that, Horace. Well, who is he? His name is Horace Butler. Me? Yes, you. Excuse me, Bill. Well, I've got to go out and see somebody. Right away. Here comes that old skin foot again. Can't he leave you alone? Is he getting enough out of you? Yeah, I guess he likes to keep rubbing it in. Well, I wonder what he wants now. Maybe you haven't signed enough papers. He seems to be carrying some in his hand. Uh, hello, Knud. Hello, Horace. I thought it was all over but the sheriff. Not quite, Knud. I've got to tear up these foreclosure papers. They weren't filled out correctly. So you make mistakes too, huh, Butler? Hold your tongue, Marty. What wasn't filled out correctly, Horace? The date of the foreclosure, Knud. I don't understand. It should have made the date two months from now. Two... Did you say two months from now, Horace? Yes, and just to be on the safe side, we're going to make it three. Horace, are you all right? Yes, I'm all right. Why? Well, I mean, why the sudden change? Knud, I've got something to tell you. A mutual friend of ours has taught me the greatest lesson of my life. He gave me the golden rule. The golden rule? Yes, the golden rule. Do unto others as you were that they should do unto you. You're sure you're not yawking? I was never more serious in my life. Here's the foreclosure paper. Tear it up. I'll get a new one. On second thought, let's not bother. To me, your word is as good as gold. That's the story, boys and girls, of how the golden rule laid down the law. See you next week for more adventure with... ...Horace!