 with the speed of light, the cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the lone ranger. With his faithful Indian companion, Tuttle, the masked rider of the planes led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. The stories of his strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness have come down to us through the generations, and 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, Silver! There's trouble in this! It was a night of wind, rain, and thunder, the worst kind of a night for the horses that had to haul the overland stage towards Greggsville in Grant County. But in spite of the rain, the mail was coming through, and with it, two passengers. A flash of lightning revealed the oncoming stage to men who crouched at the side of the trail. Did you see it? Yeah, sure, sir. Do you think I'm blind? I've been watching that trail long enough. It's time we saw that stage. The rest of the boys are ready, aren't they? Expect them to fall asleep in this kind of weather. Not suspecting what was ahead, the driver urged the six strong horses on, then suddenly without warning, there were cracks of guns. Get a mind where you shoot, don't get careless! Then the short time later, a rider on a white horse drew alongside the stage. One man sat in a seat, lashing the horses on their way. He saw the white horse range alongside. A flash of lightning revealed the fact that the rider wore a mask. Then masked man and white horse passed the stage and swept ahead. Masked rider's voice rang out in the teeming rain. The horse sped on, unmindful of a slippery mud and water-filled holes beneath the flying hoops. In the county seat, Sheriff Morton sat at home with his daughter. His face heavily lined with worry and his eyes red-rimmed and tired from lack of sleep. Now, Paul, why don't you go to bed and get what sleep you can? And I've got to think, Betty. Put bills on the job, and it's not likely that gang will hit tonight. Well, they wouldn't go out in the storm. Those honorary crooks would use this kind of a night to their advantage, Betty. They know they couldn't be trailed. If I could only figure out why they're doing so many things, stage robin, busting in the stores, burning houses, stealing cattle, everything including murder. Oh, such a storm. I'm not going to talk any more about it. You had it all, you like it more. You'd grab a gun and go hunting crooks yourself, if I let you. And that reminds me, I'll let it be known that no one is to give you information. You're to keep out of this affair. Oh, Paul, I could help if you'd let me. No. That storm, I don't... That dog-gone wind is blowing open. It almost seemed as if someone had broken it open. Where's the wind? I'll fix it so it'll stay closed. Hurry, Paul, the rain's coming in and buckets full. I'll have it fixed in the jiffy. Paul, what is it? Is there something out there? Wait, I'll help you fix the window. Stay where you are, Betty. Get wet. Well, I don't mind that. I'd sooner change my dress and have the rain all over the floor. Stay there. Oh, all right, Paul. You're dippin'. Let him in. Hey, Sheriff, something's... Stay where you are, Bill. I'm fixin' this window. Stay there and drift. Don't move around. You stay there, I said. I want water all over the floor again. Paul, when the lightning flashed that last time, I saw a man's face. Sure, if I came to tell you... Wait a minute, Bill. I did see a face. It was out there in the dark, beyond the window. It looked like an Indian. It's your imagination, Betty. Forget it. Bill, what's up? It's a stagecoach. Just came in. In a sorrier sight you never saw in all your life. What do you mean? Murder. Murder? Don't go on your hide, Bill. How many times have I got to tell you not to talk about things like that except in the office? Then get to the office. The sooner, the better. Things are getting to a fine pass here in town. The garden driver of the stage was both killed and the mail was taken. Colonel Jackson drove the stage in. Oh, this hunter is Colonel Jackson. Well, he ain't really a colonel now. I reckon he was once, but he's here to investigate things. He came from Washington. Where is he? In your office. He's waiting there and he says it's mighty important that he sees you right away. I'll be long in a minute as soon as I get some boots on. I won't keep you waiting. Oh, sakes alive. I've never seen a worse storm, Miss Betty. Bill, didn't you see a face outside the window? Well, I weren't looking, ma'am. Oh, I know there was someone there. Oh, now it's sharks, Miss Betty. It might have been the wet leaves on a tree or something. Well, your Pa's still right at the window. If there'd been anyone there, he'd have seen him. I wonder if he did. He was an awful long time at that window. Excuse me a minute, Bill. Now, where are you going? To the other room. I want to make sure Pa dresses warm enough. The way things have been going late, he's likely to forget his head if somebody doesn't mind him of it. Yeah. Oh, well, Betty. Pa, I didn't mean to startle you. Well, uh, it is I've just seen if there's any pipe to back in this jar. You haven't had pipe to back in there for years. Oh, that's so. Forget about it. You couldn't smoke in rain like this. Oh, of course not. Well, I'll get along. Get the house shut tight, Betty. I'll be back as soon as I can. Yes, Pa. Come on, Bill, let's get going. Right. Good night, Miss Betty. Good night. Good night, Pa. Good night, honey. Pa fibbed to me. He fibbed twice inside of ten minutes. Now, he saw someone outside. He must have. He wasn't looking for tobacco. Why was he in that jar? It's a bullet. But that's a sign of war when an Indian sends a bullet or an arrow. Pa was trying to keep it from me. Now, I know. The Indian was outside talking to Pa. That's why he didn't want me near the window. He gave Pa this bullet. A warning. Well, I'll be ready for him. Just let him show himself again. I'll have Pa's rifle and I'll shoot to kill. Thunder's going down some, but the rain's still bad. It ain't the rain, I mind, Sheriff, as much as this mud. Go on it, I'm sinking ankle deep at every step. The officer's right here. Did you leave the lamp going? Uh-huh. The Colonel was in there. He was going to wait there for you. I told you, didn't I? I guess you did, Bill. You need to ask if he saw the outlaws. Too dark to see anything. What's the matter here? The door is bolted. Someone was afraid the crooks had come for him. Either. Colonel Jackson, it's the Sheriff. Open the door, Colonel. The Sheriff Morton. Couldn't have gone out and left the door locked that way. The bar is on the inside. Well, this window over on the side of the porch has generally unlocked Sheriff. I'll see you then. What's the matter? Sheriff. Sheriff, look here. Take a look. That's the Colonel sprawling the floor. Come on. Keep your gun handy. Come in after me. He's alive. He's moaning, Bill. Get some water from that bucket over there. Right. What happened to him? Is he in shot? What kind of injury? What hit me? Now, take it easy. Colonel, you all right? Here's the water. Here, Colonel. Take a drink of water. You're not hurt much. Can you tell what happened? Thanks. Take another drink. You'll feel better. Well, I guess I'll be all right. What happened to you, Colonel Jackson? Talk to her so much, Bill. Close that window at the rear before her flooded out of here. That's the way the sneaking crook got out. Sheriff, I'm Colonel Jackson. Here. This credential is proof of my identity. My deputy told me about you. But what happened? I don't know. Let me help you to a chair. That's it. Now, lean on me. That's the ticket. If you like talking now. I sat here waiting for you. I didn't hear anything at all, until it was too late. I heard someone, a faint creak, back of me. I turned and someone struck me from behind. That's all I know. Cracky. That don't help much. Hey, Sheriff, dog gone and all, someone has stole a lot of stuff from your desk. What? Look here. All these papers you had here, the ones that dealt with the crooks you were working against. They're all gone. Gone? So that's what the crook was after. Now, wait until I get my bearings. The head stops spinning and we can talk. Sheriff Morton reasoned that whoever had knocked the Colonel down had stolen papers from his desk, then escaped by the window in the rear of the office. When the man from the east was able to talk, the lawman and he compared notes. We've been up against an organized gang, Colonel Jackson. They've done everything they can be thought of. Just reached a point where nobody feels safe. Conditions here have become known in the east, Sheriff. That's why I'm here. I'm something of a special investigator. If you'll read my credentials, you'll see that I'm empowered to take whatever action is considered necessary. I read that. Even though it means calling in the troopers or appointing new law enforcement officers, you don't seem to have many deputies. Don't have many? No, of course we don't. Dog gone and look here. Wait till I show you in my drawer here. There's Lemperkin's badge. He's dead. Here's Jim LeFever's. He's dead. And here's Gus Oldman's and eight children's. I've lost four deputies since this gang started. Have you no clues? No. I had some papers with statements from folks in town and I had a few leads that I was working on and notes and things. They've all been stolen. Stolen by the critters that snuck in here by that back window and knocked you out. I see. It seems like a deliberate move on the part of a gang to get everyone to move away from here. If it keeps on, this won't be anything but a ghost town. I disagree. I think this gang has simply been on taking as much money and property as it can. Well, I don't know. What benefit would it be to a gang to have everyone leave here? I don't know, but a lot of people have already moved over to Hawkinsville. There's another thing, Mr. Colonel Jackson. Yes? I've had information that some Easterners behind the whole thing. Might have been that army that was in the stage with you, the one that was killed. An Easterner behind the crimes of these outlaws out here? Preposterous. If that's the way you reason, Sheriff Morton, perhaps you're not as efficient as you might be. I'm just telling you what was told to me. That's all. This fellow is supposed to prove who he is to the rest of the gang by a silver dollar that's been polished smooth on one side. There's some leather on that smooth side. When did you hear that, Sheriff? Well, I got it in sort of a roundabout way. I... I'm going to see who that is, Bill. Who's that? Me, Indian. You want to see Sheriff? It's plenty important. Open door. There's been another hole up or something. I'll see that he don't waste none of our time. Well, Redskin, what's up? Oh! Great gun. Who fired that shot? Protect me. Where could I hide? Is someone over there, Sheriff? That's where the shot came from. I got him. I got him, Pa. Betty, what the carnation are you doing? Yeah. Let me lift this Redskin and put him over here where he can be spread out. Pa. Betty, you'd better have a doggone good reason for shooting as you're done. A reason for being out of the house in the first place. But he was after you, Pa. I know he was. I told you I saw him outside our house, and there's no use trying to keep things from me. I knew he was talking to you. He was warning you. He gave you a bullet. I saw the bullet. What? You tried to fib out of it, but I knew you were up to something more than looking for tobacco. You see, I looked in that jar. Betty, by the tunderation, I ought to tan your hide. But it's true, isn't it? I knew you were in danger, so I came out here to make sure you weren't caught unaware. When I saw the engine at the door, I fired. But hang it all. Oh, if you only hadn't done it, Betty'd doggone it all. I know that redskin. His name is Cardo. 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. I'll continue our story. Betty explained why she had fired a tonic, while Bill, the deputy, laid the unconscious Indian gently on a sofa at one side of the office. How's he now, Bill? He's winged, that's all. He'll be all right. Honest, I didn't aim to hurt him bad. I just wanted to hit his gun arm. You'd better get for home, Betty, and stay there. And the bullet just grazed his head. I think it's just clipped the skin a little. Is the colonel still in hiding? Hey, Colonel Jackson. I, uh, I wasn't armed, so I thought it better to keep out of the way. Could you just hold that redskin? Sure, he won't hurt nobody. Jeff, he's coming around now. He wants to talk to you privately. All right. Betty, did you hear me? Go home and stay there. You're making it into something you don't understand. You'd better keep out of it. Pa, I only wanted to protect you. Get bandages and water, Bill. I'll fix the redskin up. Betty, you do what I say. Oh. Well, all right then. I'll go. Come over here, Colonel Jackson. The sheriff will be through with the redskin in a minute. This office doesn't strike me as being very efficient. And you not worry. Me not hurt that. Doggone, I'm sorry about it. Tondo, mighty sorry. You've got bullets on the lone ranger. He'll tell you he may help. Yeah, he's the one that told me that the head man of the crux was coming out here and had the silver dollar with him. Oh, that's right. Has there been anything new since I talked to the lone ranger? Him at work now. Him ride plenty long way. Then come back. Why did you come here? You brought information for me, didn't you? That's right. You leave wind in back open. Leave the front door open. You savvy. You're starting right now. I should leave him open. That's right. Wait then. Bill, the engine wants more air. Get the door open. Yeah, but the rain. Never mind the rain. Do what I say and open that back window too. At the air suite through. Are you sure you're all right? But you tell a girl not to shoot again. Tonto hit bad. All plans go wrong. She won't shoot again. I'll promise you that. There's the door and window. Both wide open. Good enough. Now what, Tonto? Now we wait. Plenty happen. Plenty soon. As time passed, Tonto regained his strength that remained quiet on the couch. He watched the dark window at the rear of the room. Saw the rain beating upon the floor. Then, turning slightly, he looked out the window and looked out the window. He looked out the window and looked out the window. He looked out the window and looked out the window. He looked out the window and looked out the window. Turning slightly, he looked out to the doorway at the black night. The sheriff remained at Tonto's side while across the room built off for the colonel. The sheriff seems to be spending a lot of time with that Indian. Morton. Yes, sir. I want to speak to you. Yes, sir. I'm coming, colonel. I'm satisfied that you're not very concerned about these crimes. What? The men who robbed that stage are still at large. The men who robbed your offices too. We're working on things. I suppose just because it's raining, the citizens who pay your salary aren't entitled to your efforts. If you don't come by and stop around looking for footprints or something, this ground won't hold, colonel. What do you propose to do with that Indian? Nothing. I reckon he can take care of himself. The bullets just grazed him. I'm going to sure a shoot and tell Betty a few things when I get home. The idea hurt traipsing out in the rain and gunning for a red skin. Dog on it. I shot. Someone shot the lamb. Get under the desk. This way. Down fast. Holy mackerel, what's next? There's a horse, a horse in here. Stop you. Stay where you are and shoot him. Shoot him. Shoot him. He's moving about in here. Maybe I could get the door closed and trap him in. Why don't you shoot? Let go of my hand. Let me fire. You will hit one of us. I'll find a lamb. Now he's going, Sheriff. He's going out now. Get a light. A light, I say. Hurry and get a light. I'm fine in one. Just told your horse that's colonel Jackson. He might be shot in the dark. Bill, we'll get the light. There you are. Now we can see. Close that door, Bill. Get it closed. I'll close the window. No more of this sort of thing no matter who says they want fresh air. What happened next? What's that you've got, colonel? A bullet. It was here on the table. A ginger. It looks like silver. A bullet of silver? Yes. Is that all that was there? Yes. You sure there was nothing else? See for yourself. The top of the desk is bare. Well, it seems like there might have been a note or a letter or something of this sort. Hey, Sheriff. Look. Huh? That Indian. He's gone. Yeah, I just noticed it. Where did he go? He must have left while the light was out. I wonder if he went alone or if that man on the horse captured him. He went to the entrance to the hotel. Jackson, the colonel, secured a large room in the rear of the first floor. See that I'm not disturbed. I'm tired. I lost it to you tomorrow and I want a good night's sleep. Outside in the rain, men watched the window of the large rear room. They saw the lamp lightened and saw a shade pulled over the window. All right, but sir, now we move forward. Where's the rest of the boys, Critch? Send them somewhere. I told them to get to the rooms and wait for orders. Come on. There's a gent we got to see in fact of that third curtain. Yeah, and the sooner the better. I'm getting anxious for the showdown on this job. The windows should be open a little. I'm not first to stick the barrel of a gun through. Yeah, if it ain't, we'll poke a hole in the glass. You won't do no such thing. You let me handle this. I want no noise. Is it open? Yeah. A couple of inches. Now wait, I'll open it some more. Hey, what does this mean? Quiet. What gun, eh? We're coming in there. Come ahead. What's stopping you? You sure are soaking wet. What do you want? We're looking for a certain party supposed to be in this room. Well, who are you looking for? He'll know. He's supposed to show us a silver dollar, Savvy. And where to turn that dollar over to the other side. Not so loud. What if I didn't have any silver dollars? Well, if you didn't have them, you wouldn't be in this room. It's pure luck that I have. I got rid of the silver dollar once. You got to be too Jane dangerous to carry. What are you talking about? Well, I wrote. I told you to hold up the stage tonight. I had inside information in the east. A special investigator was coming here. His name was Colonel Jackson. Is he a passenger on the stage? Yes. And from him, I learned that a man known as the Lone Ranger was going to combat us. Lone Ranger? I don't like that. It had become known that the head of the organization would identify himself with a certain kind of coin. So when you attacked the stage, I took care of the Colonel. I put the coin in his pocket. Took his credentials and assumed his identity when I came here. But you got the coin now. Yes, here it is. Where'd you get it? Someone shot the lights out in the sheriff's office. When a lamp was lighted, this coin was on the desk beside a silver bullet. I was able to get it without being seen. I didn't want the sheriff to get it first. He knew what it meant. What if they find that on you? He won't. I'll get rid of it first. I'll find a way to put it among the possessions at the real Colonel Jackson. Hold on. Do you say a silver bullet? Yes. Why? That's a sign of the Lone Ranger. He's the one to put it there. He put the bullet in the dollar there. He knows about it. He couldn't. How could he? Don't ask me how he knows things. He does. That's all. All right, then we've got to work fast. We've got to get everyone busy right away. What's he doing at the door? Watch. All right. You let me go. The Indian. I got him. Stop the door. I thought I heard someone moving outside that door. You, the same Indian. He was in the sheriff's office. Yeah. See if he's got guns. I'll search him. Oh, no, you don't. Time to put something in your mouth, huh? See what that is, Gritch. I just knocked it out in his hand in time. Oh, it's a note of some sort. Let me read it. Hey, boss, did you take something from the sheriff's desk? Yes, I bolted the door while I was there alone. I got some papers the sheriff had around about our work. I burned them in the fireplace. I opened the window to make it look like someone had come in and made believe I'd been knocked out. Listen to this. Tonneau, I think the colonel is a fake. How could anyone go into the office and knock him out without leaving wet tracks on the floor? All right. I'm in a terrible sleep. And here's more. Now, listen to the rest. He says, I've taken the dollar from the dead man. I'll go to the office and leave it. You tell the sheriff to leave the door open and let the colonel have a chance to steal the dollar. If he takes it, follow him. Report to me at Potter's Cave. All of us are meeting there. Why, he suspected it. Now he knows. That was why you went there, Redskin. You told the sheriff to let me find the dollar. And you're going right into trap. Gritch, do you know where Potter's Cave is? Sure. Get the boys rounded up. You have powder? There are lots of it. They're planning to use blast and powder when everything else has been done. Get the men in the powder. We're going to blow up Potter's Cave tonight. We'll trap them all there. All the men are working with us. This lone ranger. Got to move fast, Betty. My rifle and extra gun belt. Here it is, Pa. Potter's Cave. When Bill comes, tell him to get there fast. The lone ranger's taking hold now. The lone ranger? Yes. And listen, honey, he told me the whole thing. Businessmen, crooked ones, want to boost the town of Hawkinsville. They'll make it clean up, sell a land if they can get folks there. And they've got other irons in the fire, too. Yes, Pa. Is that why they've been terrorizing everybody? The gang was told it could have all it could steal. An extra pay for damaging property. But get this, the lone ranger found a dead man at the scene of the hold-up. He thought it was the colonel. Then he found a badge, a coin, that is, one he'd been told about. Yes. He came to see me, talked to me at the window, without showing himself. You did see the Indian all. I know I did. He had to make sure the man that came here was the imposter and not the colonel. Well, he made sure of it. We know the man that caused himself Colonel Jackson is the leader of the gang. He's here to pay them off. Now I've got to go, honey. It's the big meeting to end things. Got to get all the deputies and special deputies together. I'll see you later. Going to light the fuse and drive the wagon into the cave? Oh, yeah. Rain up here, man. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can't send the wagon back all the way. Is there another entrance to that cave? No. All we got to do is get the wagon in the entrance and let the powder go. That'll seal her up. All right. All right. All right, boys. Now that's enough. Take the horses away and light the fuse. All right. Stay here a minute. Oh, not back where they are. I've been in that cave and I know what it's like. Light the fuse now. Maybe you'll not light it. What's that? You heard the Indian. Morton, the sheriff. Hold on, you guns. Here's one for you, you pole cat. Get out of this. Let me go. This is all a mistake. The only mistake you see is the one you made. We got a lot of it. Well, Betty, we got them all, including the ringleader. Tell me some more, Pa. Did the long ranger want Tonter to be captured so they'd find that note? Sure he did. And then he left a light in the cave so they think we were all in their meeting. Well, we captured the pole cats as they were trying to blow us up. The long ranger went through the fake colonel's room and got a fortune in folding cash. He'd go to pay folks for some of the damage that gang did. It was sure a great roundup. The dog on, I shouldn't be chucking about things to you. I've got to scold you plenty for taking a shot at Tonter. Oh, I'd take more in a scolding for a chance to meet him. Tonter? No. The long ranger. I've just heard, is a copyrighted feature of the long ranger incorporated.