 with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a heart of high old silver, the lone ranger. In the early days of the Western United States, gun law ruled the range. The local sheriffs did their best to preserve the peace, but men were quick to lose their tempers and even quicker on the draw. It was during this period of Western history that the masked rider of the planes led the fight for justice. Fearless in the face of danger, tireless in the face of a thousand obstacles, he gave no quarter to criminals and in time brought law and order to the frontier. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past, from the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver, the lone ranger rides again. One morning, Steve Craig, a deputy sheriff, was riding near old Nate Cooley's ranch house. Suddenly, he noticed a riderless horse grazing at the side of the trail. Well, I'll be. What's Lynn Bishop's horse doing over this way? Where's Lynn? I'm looking into this. Get up there, boy. Get moving. I can't figure what Lynn would be doing on Nate's range, the way them fellas hate each other. Get along there. Hit him. Well, dog gone. Whoa, whoa, there, whoa, whoa, boy. Lynn. And shot through the back. Let me see. Yeah, if he's done for all right. So Nate finally got mad enough to drill him. Well, if he did, he'll pay for it. I'll get the sheriff and bring him back to see things for himself. Hold still there, fella. Now move your fastest. We're heading for town. Get up there. Get up. Whoa, Silver. Whoa, Silver. Tyler, this is why the deputy was riding toward town so fast. Lynn Bishop murdered. This is going to mean trouble, Tyler. And Nate Cooley will be blamed for it. He would have been blamed no matter where the shooting took place. But with Lynn killed so close to Nate's ranch house, it'll look worse than ever. You look him not shot here. You see sign? There where deputy stopped. Yes. You can see where the deputy rained up. He must have been galloping. There's where he mounted again and rode off toward town. Ah, and you see other sign? Wait. Here's the hoof. Prince of Lynn's horse. Look, there he is. Don't be frightened, old fellow. We didn't harm you, master. Yes, and there was still a third horse here, Tyler. Look, you can see where the third horse in Lynn's mouth came this way side by side. Ah, not all you see. What else is it, Kimosabe? Third horse must have been the killer's mouth, of course. You look at hoof print. Horse leave now. Lynn's horse? I don't see anything about them. Then you look here where him make print when him come this way. Wait, Tyler. Now I see what you mean. The prince left by Lynn's horse as he came toward here, supposedly with Lynn riding him, are no deeper than these the horse made after Lynn fell to the ground. That's right. But the prince left by the third horse are especially deep. Maybe him big horse. Maybe him carry double. That's it, Tyler. It must be. Lynn was shot somewhere else. Then the killer put him across his own saddle and brought him here. That's right. Tyler, we're going to find out where the shooting really took place. Here, sir, whisk out. We'll back trail until we come to the point where the hoof print's a Lynn's horse or we was carrying a rider. If we find that place, we may find evidence pointing to the murderer. Come on, let's go. Here we are, boy. Go there. Go right. Say that, fella. I'll be needing you soon again. Sheriff. What's the idea, boss? Something to matter, Steve? Well, howdy, Ted. Didn't see you at first. You bet there's something to matter. And as long as you're Lynn's foreman, I reckon you'll be interested. Your boss has been killed. Are you sure of that, Steve? I've seen him myself. I found him and his horse over near the rock basins. Right close to Nate Cooley's place. Then Nate done it. And it's just what I've been expecting. Steve, what'd you do with him? He's right where I found him. I figured you'd want to go look for yourself. Good. I'll do that. I'll try if he ain't too far away by now. Steve's going to move on. Round up some fellas for the bossy. I'll do that. There's some fellas just outside. Tell them they got a ride after a killer. Right. Nate and that boy, his wasn't satisfied with just wrestling our cows. They had to turn killers, too. Now, don't you get to talking hasty, Ted. It wasn't never proved that Nate and the boy was wrestling. If it had been, I'd have arrested them. As a matter of fact, it ain't even proved yet that either one of them done this shooting. You mean to say they didn't? No such thing. I figured Nate done it all right. But we ain't got proof yet. Then by heaven's your better. We'll most likely talk once we catch him. And if he don't, it'll be the worst for him. And if it ain't Nate that done it, then it must have been his boy. Shucks. I wouldn't suspicion Doug Mears as soon as he would the old man. I don't reckon I would either. Doug's young and husky. He'd a lot sooner do he's fighting with fish instead of guns. But Nate's getting old and crippled up. And he always was too ready with the shooting iron. News of a killing always does that. Where are we going to look for Nate first, Sheriff? How about heading for his range? Come on, Sheriff, you take the lead. Steady there, fellas. First we'll go out to Nate's place. If he ain't there, which wouldn't surprise me none, half of you will go with me and half with Steve. We'll spread out and search the country. Let's get going, Sheriff. All right, all ready, man? Wait! It's Doug. I got something to tell you. You sure got your nerve, Doug. That's what I want to tell you about Sheriff. You know where he's hiding out? He ain't hiding. Then he's a bigger fool than I figured it first. He ain't hiding because he didn't do the shooting. Now look here, Doug. Sheriff, don't listen to him. What else would you expect him to say? We can't take your word for it, Doug. But I know he didn't. Yeah? He couldn't have drilled in Bishop because it was me that done it. Your confession? You heard me, didn't you? Then get your hands up, you scoundrel. And Pronto. I ain't gonna make no trouble. Doug, if you kill Lynn, you'll pay for it. But why in places did you do it anyhow? Well, we met up near Buffalo Basin. Just where I found him. Come on, Doug. When we started arguing about the rustling, he's been blaming and pawing me. I sort of lost my head, I reckon. He called us rustlers just once too often. So I drawed and let him have it. You turkeys. Keep still, Ted. Then why didn't you lie it out, Doug, instead of giving yourself up? I should run away and leave poor to be blamed. Maybe even lynched. That's so. I've done it and I'll take my medicine. So go ahead and throw me in jail if that's what you're mine to. You just bet I will. Man, a posse won't be needed after all. But thanks for all from to ride just the same. I don't know about any of that. It's locked up. And Steve. Yeah? You and Ted go back and bring Lynn into town. This is one killer that's been cleared up in a hurry anyhow. And Doug, just to make sure, there won't be no illegal lynching. I'll see that you're hung first thing tomorrow morning. The killing of Lynn Bishop and Doug Cooley's confession were almost the only subjects discussed in town that day. Men gathered in groups to talk over the affair and paid little attention to the silent Indian who in the early afternoon entered town and went from group to group, listening and observing. Later, he rode back to a small, well-hidden camp near Buffalo Basin. Santo, have you heard the truth? I doubt that Doug is guilty. In the first place, he told the sheriff he shot Lynn near Buffalo Basin. That's where Lynn was found, but it isn't where he was shot. That's right. I can't see that he'd have any possible motive for lying about that. There's another point. What? From what you heard, Doug told the sheriff that he suddenly lost his head and shot Lynn. But all the signs we read on the trail show that the killing was deliberate. The killer even put Lynn across his saddle and carried him closer to the Cooley ranch house. And why Doug Pellar say him guilty? Because, Taddo, I'm afraid he believes his father guilty. He knows better than anyone else the trouble there has been between his father and Lynn Bishop. And when he heard about the murder, his first thought must have been that his father did it. He confessed to protect Nate. Then maybe Lohman hanged Longpiller. Now that we can help it, Taddo. What we do? We're going to try to find Nate, and if he's guilty, he's the one who should pay. That's right. We'll try his rights first. To be isn't there, we'll have to get on his trail as soon as possible. An innocent man's life depends on finding Nate before morning. Get him up. Go. Come on, Silver. There's the house, Taddo. Uh-huh. There are fours outside. I don't know who it could belong to unless it's Nate. Uh-huh. But we'll soon find out. Here we are. Come on, Taddo. Come on, Taddo. Uh-huh. Get down. If Nate's here, it'll surprise me. Open up. Just a minute. What are you outlawing? You own Nate Cooley? Sure I am, but... I didn't expect to find you here, Nate. Step back inside. It isn't. I want to know why you let your son go to jail for a crime he didn't do. Huh? What's that? You're sitting here safely at home. Well, he's waiting to be hung in the morning. Hung? Dug hung? For the murder of Lynn Bishop. Oh, stranger, that can't be. Why are you making up a story like that? You mean to say you haven't heard of his confession and arrest? I ain't heard no such thing. This long way from town. That's so, Taddo. No one may have thought to ride out here yet. Mister, what's this about? You...you didn't mean it when you said Doug was jailed, did you? Nate, Lynn Bishop was shot this morning and your son confessed to the crime. But he wouldn't have done a thing like that. I know he wouldn't. Taddo and I also have reason to believe he's innocent. You have? We decided Doug confessed to protect you. Me? But I never shot Lynn, neither. But your son must think you did. I did too, at first. At first? If you were guilty, I doubt that you'd have stayed around here to be picked up by the law. Blamed right I wouldn't. But I have an even better reason for believing you innocent. Nate, what's in that chest over there? Huh? Why, just some old bridles and some other gear that I didn't want scattered around. I'll see how heavy it is. What intonation are you doing? His is heavy enough. Nate, I want you to pick up that chest and place it on this table. Are you local? Go ahead. Gosh, mister. I could never lift nothing as heavy as that. Maybe some years back I could, but... I thought so. Oh, now, look here, stranger. Quit this foolishness and tell me what I can do about my boy. I didn't ask you that just to waste time. Now then, I suppose you know that everyone around here is convinced that either you or Doug killed Lynn. Well, he was always saying we were stealing his cows. But I reckon he changed his mind about that. He had? You see, stranger, I met up with Lynn the other day when I was right in line where his range is alongside ours. First off, I started telling him he'd better stop the kind of talk he was spreading around about me and the boy. Then he said something that changed things a heap. Yes. He said he'd been doing some investigating on his own. And he as much as admitted he'd run across evidence that pointed a different way. Lynn said that? He did. And what's more, he said just as soon as he found out who the rustler was, he'd tell me first. Then that's it. The rustler learned he'd been discovered and shot Lynn before he could tell what he knew. My God, you must be right. Which means that when we find who's been stealing Lynn's cattle, we'll find the murderer. Oh, but while we're looking for the skunk, Doug will be hung. None of you will do what I tell you tonight. Listen to me. I think I have a way to save your boy. Steve, did you stop to tell Nate what's happened when you went after Lynn? Carly, I didn't, Sheriff. Then maybe you better right out there now. That won't be necessary, Sheriff. What's up, Ted? Because here comes Nate now. You've just seen him get off his horse out in front. That must be him. Come on in, Nate. Who cares, Sheriff? What do you mean by jailing my boy? If he jailed him for a killin', that's what. You crazy idiot. Huh? Doug never drilled Lynn. And why not? Because I done it. And I'm here to see that you let Doug go free. The curtain falls on the first act of our thrilling Lone Ranger drama. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. To continue our story, Nate Cooley has just entered the Sheriff's office with the statement that he himself committed the crime for which his son was to be hung. Nate, say that again. Are you deep? I said I shot Lynn, Bishop, and you can't hang Doug for what I done. Well, that beats all. It's the first time I ever heard of two fellas each trying to save the other from hanging by being hung himself. Well, Sheriff, what are you standing there doing nothing for? Tell Doug he's free and put me in his place. Fine, Thunder, we'll get to the bottom of this. Steve. Yeah? Get Doug and bring him here and keep him covered. I'll do that. Sheriff, what's the idea telling your deputy to keep Doug covered when you're going to let him go? Blast it. I ain't letting anybody go. But look here. Maybe you're guilty and maybe ain't. Maybe Doug's guilty and maybe he ain't. With the two of you doing your best to swing, I don't know what's what no more. But there's one thing, sure. I ain't letting either one of you get away till I find out the truth of things. Do you think I confess if I didn't do it? Your boy confessed, too, didn't he? Yeah, but that's... Why should I believe you before I believe him? Steve, hurry up with that fella. We're coming. Bob, what are you doing here? What I want to know is what you're doing here. What's the idea telling the sheriff alive? But I was going to... Give me the shot in. And I just told the sheriff so. Boy, you don't know what you're talking about. Now listen to me. I drilled in. You couldn't. I did. It was me, I tell you. Oh, is that the way I brung him up? To make out in front of other folks that your pa ain't telling the truth? Well... Shut up. Shut up the both of you. If I hear much more of this, I'll go local. A dog gun and sheriff. Blast it. Shut up. And give me your guns. There you are. Guns and belt both. Now the two of you. You, Nate, and you, Doug, march ahead of me back to the cell. But, Sheriff, what about in the morning? You mean, hanging, Steve? Sure I do. And what I want to know is, which one will it be? You don't want to know any worse than I do. But now, blast it. We'll have to wait until we find out which one is telling the truth and which is lying. I'm telling the truth. Now what? Come in. I want to talk to you, Sheriff. Then come in here. I want to see you alone. All right, all right. Steve, you see that them fellas are locked up. I'll handle them, Sheriff. I'll see what they sound like they want. Now what's your business, Mr. Wright? You'll come in, Sheriff. Close that door. Man, don't pull in, Crickers. You're coming with me. Look here, you know. Hurry up. There's no time to lose. Steady, sir. Yep, with you, Sheriff. You can't get away with this. Yep, but I am. Hi, oh, silver. The masked man carried the sheriff to the spot where Lynn Bishop had been found. And then again followed the back trail as he had with Fonto. So Lynn wasn't shot where he's found, stranger. You see what that means, Sheriff? Well, I don't know. Doug told you it shot Lynn at the same place. You're a deputy. This covered him later. There could have been only one reason for his doing that. Yeah? That reason was that Doug didn't know where Lynn was really shot. I was under you, Wright. And so Nate's the one that done it after all. You can decide that for yourself when we reach the place Lynn was murdered. How far we got to go yet? Just to those trees there. What I can't see is, why didn't you just tell me all this without drawing a gun on me and making me come along? Would you have believed me if I had told you? Well, with that masked and all, I might not have, maybe. You know you wouldn't. What's more, a word of what I told you would have gone around the whole town. And the killer would have been warned. But we've got Nate prisoner. Yes. Here we are, Sheriff. Who? Who, sir? Come over here, Sheriff. What is it? This is a place where Lynn fell from his horse when the shot was fired. Can you make it out? Uh-huh. You can see where Lynn's horse jumped around. Someone was scared by the sound of a gun. And there's where Lynn fell. Right. And these prints, do you see them? Sure. They were made by the killer. He dismounted and left his horse over by the trees. He'd probably use the trees for cover when he fired. Uh-huh. He walked over here to see if Lynn was dead or not. Those are the boot prints you're looking at. Now, here's the prints he made going back to his horse. Sorry, they're the same prints, all right, but twice as deep. Because he was carrying Lynn. He picked Lynn up, carried him almost 30 yards to where he left his horse, threw Lynn across the saddle and rode away, taking Lynn's horse along. You can sure read signs, stranger. And here's something to think about, Sheriff. Well, what's that? Lynn Bishop was a big man. He weighed close to 200 pounds. He was a husky father, all right. But the killer was strong enough to pick Lynn up, walk at least 30 yards and then lift him to the saddle. You mean? I mean that Nate is not only a small man, but crippled with age besides. Can you imagine him doing this? He couldn't have, never in a million years. Do you still believe Nate Gilly? Stranger, if anything else happens, I'm resigning office. Doug says he done it. Then Nate claims the same. You show me where Doug didn't drill, Bishop, and then you turn right around and flew for Nate, didn't either. Mr. Whaton Blazes, can I believe? Hear me out, Sheriff, and I think you'll understand. After talking further with the Sheriff, the masked man took him back to the edge of town and then raced toward the secret camp where Tonto was waiting. Oh, Silver! Oh, Silver! Oh, boy! You hanged long. I did, Tonto. I persuaded him to follow our plan. Oh, that good. And now, Kimisabi, it's your turn to act. Tonto, do that. Here, Scout. But be careful, Tonto. Don't take unnecessary risks. Oh, maybe heep careful. And remember, no matter how long it takes, I'll be keeping close watch. Now, Tonto, hone your way. Get him out. Tonto, hone your way. Get him up, Scout! For several days, nothing happened, and the townspeople puzzled because the Sheriff had made no progress toward solving the mystery of Lynn Bishop's death, began to ask pointed questions. It is night as our next scene opens and a group of men are lounging in front of the Sheriff's office. Seems funny to me, Sheriff. You ain't been able to lay the blame on one of them fellows. That's my business. Yeah? I say to the business of all of us that's paying taxes so you can get a salary. Lay the Sheriff be, why don't you? Oh, you'd say that, Steve. Being his deputy, I got an idea you'd just as soon as we wouldn't ask questions. If you fellas knew what you was talking about, it'd be different. That's been a heap of talk. Yeah? Yeah. Some of it has to do with Nate being worth quite a bit of cash. Well, what about it? Some folks have been wondering if maybe their cash didn't have a little to do where they're not going to try. Why are you... Now, hold on, Sheriff. I never said it. That's just what some other folks are saying. Better to pay him to keep the mouse shut. And here's another thing, Sheriff. Did you ever stop to think that maybe the both of them was in the right when they confessed? How could that be? What was to stop Nate and the boy both being there when Lynn was killed? There was only one shot fire. Maybe if they were together then they'd both be guilty, just the same. Well, I happen to know only one fellow killed Lynn and there wasn't nobody else wrong, either. If you know that much, Sheriff, if it's a dog gone pit, you don't know more. Hey. What's the matter? Sheriff, there ain't no engines around here, is there? Now what's troubling you? That light in the hills. See it? Looks like the kind of fire red skin sometimes burns for signals. Did you just notice that? Well, it's been burning for 10 minutes or more. I never seen it. I wonder what it means. Nothing, most likely. Now, like I was saying, Sheriff, what's that? Somebody yell him. That's down near the cafe. Never, there's been a hold up. Listen, he's heading this way. Here is horse. Come on, boy. There he is. On a white horse. Ain't that a mask he's wearing? A crook. Sheriff, get down there. There's a signal. The signal. What's that, he said, Sheriff? You never mind. Get your horses. And don't give me an argument. Every last armed ray here is writing. Come on. What's it all about, Sheriff? There ain't no time for answering questions. Not at the end to follow that horse the way it's traveling. We gotta follow it. All set? Right, Sheriff. And come on. Get up there. Come on. Get up there. Come on. Get up there. Who'd be moving cattle this time of night? Couldn't be. Nobody but rustlers. There must be. And there's stealing pitters from off the Bishop ring. And the mask fell in this part. They're heading right firm. Get moving, man. Sheriff, is a mad fellow one of the gang. Did you warn them off? Not by a blame sight. Him and the engine are leading us to the cruise. And they've seen us. Come on. Throw down your guns. The first one of you crooks to fire a shot will be blasted out of his saddle. They ain't going to put up no fight. The Masked Man is fired. They've got him covered already. Sheriff, make the Masked Man let us go. We can move our own cattle, can't we? Well, I'll be dog gone. It's Ted Dawson and Lynn's form. Listen, Sheriff. You listen, Ted. You're under arrest. You and all are crooks with him. But blasted these cows is from our outfit. You can't do it. What were you taking the cows to the pass for? Well, I... And by what right I'd like to know? Well, we're taking them to mark at night. We're lying. No matter whether you're taking them to sell or not, it's Ruslan just the same. Ted, you know as well as I do that not a critter can be legally sold from off this place till Lynn's estate is settled. I didn't know I could... And don't give me that kind of a story. Of course, I told you myself. Sheriff, I'll bet it was Ted and his gang who were stealing Lynn's critters all the time while Nate and Doug were getting the blame. It was. That's why I'm arresting the whole pack for Ruslan and murder. I approve to the sheriff and he can show you that proof that neither Nate nor his son could have killed Lynn. What's more, Nate can testify that Lynn most likely found out who you fellas was. And there wasn't no other reason for his killing than to keep him from talking. He ain't gonna charge us all with murder, are you, sheriff? You just bet I am. But you can't. Shut up, I said. It was you that I said. You can't make us angry. I'll fix your blabbermouth. Oh, yes. I... Your hand's all right. I just shot your gun away to keep you from another killing. But how did the mass brother get on to these crooks, Sheriff? I know how to read sign and using these heads to the jump into conclusion. Huh? The killer's trail showed that Nate couldn't have killed Lynn and it wasn't likely dug it either. What's more, the trail showed the killer rode out from Lynn Bishop's ranch. Yeah. So when the mass brother found out that Lynn was likely killed by the wrestler, and when he seen the killer coming from Lynn's own ranch, he had his red skin part watched, heading the rest of them, till he seen they was gonna steal more credit. Then it was a red skin at the signal. Uh-huh. The mass brother seen it and running us along. Charlie, the stranger sure used his head to figure this out. That's right. He put two and two together and got a whole gang of wrestlers. Hello, Silver! How are you? The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.