 A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hai hai o silver! The Low Ranger! Before this exciting adventure, a word from our sponsor. General Mills, makers of Cheerios, the ready-to-eat oat cereal that gives you go-power, and Wheaties, the breakfast of champions, present by special recording, The Low Ranger! All over the country, in every direction, how you, how you do it is a question, and here's what the happy people have to say. Wheaties, then to do, do, do, and okay, okay. Right, that's something champions know everywhere, wherever you go. Take part, bust, and Sammy Snead, born in Old Virginia. Slammin' Sam has been up on top for years, and eaten his Wheaties regularly. And Al Rosen, born in sunny South Carolina, clutch hitter with the Cleveland Indians. There's Al at the plate. Here's a pitch. Another solid sock for a solid champ, and say Al Rosen's been eating Wheaties for 23 baseball seasons. That's the way it goes, South, North, East, West, Wheaties. Why, there's a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties' plate. Keep party, do your Wheaties, and you, we do, do, do, and okay, okay. With his faithful Indian companion, Toto, the daring and resourceful masquerader of the plains, let 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, Silver, let's go, Big Brother! The ranger's Indian friend, Toto, grew rain in the stable behind Maw Hank's Henry House hotels in Modoc City, in the Southern part of Texas. The good-natured generous landlady was an old friend of the masked man. Leaving scout in the stable, the Indian moved soundlessly toward the kitchen. He looked forward to seeing Ma, her husband Uncle Homer Potts, a distinguished New York lawyer, her young houseboy Ned, lawman Marshall Jim Fraser, and all his other Modoc City friends. Knowing Ma's first question would concern the absent loan ranger, Trottle grinned to himself as he opened the kitchen door softly. Ma's arms were buried to the elbows in bread dough, while Uncle Homer sat on a chair near the stove, reading Hamlet Alive. Alive for your time! Great seats to live, Homer! Look who's here! That's what Trottle! How? Come in, come in, friend! We're going to ring him! Him reach town sometime tomorrow. Me expect to meet him on outskirts of town. Good! Fine! I figured you and the loan ranger'd come to town as soon as you heard about the stage robberies. What stage robberies? You haven't heard of them, Trottle? No. I thought for sure that was what brought you here. Oh, have some coffee. We come to Modoc City to try a fine crook named Scar Pickett. Do you think he's in town? We not know for sure where him hide. Loan ranger in mule jaw now, trying to learn more about pickens. Mule jaws are good hundred miles north of here. Loan ranger, no sheriff there. Say, I wonder if that Scar Critter had anything to do with the stage robberies. He might have. When stage robbed? Two weeks ago, Thursday, Trottle, $15,000 in paper money and a month before that, $5,000 in gold was taken. Marshall Jim Frazier's done his best to trail the thieves from the scene of the robberies, but he hasn't had much luck. Those crooks are too dog-on slick to leave a trail anyone can follow. Whit Roscoe claims he'll go broke if the hold-ups don't stop. Who Whit Roscoe? Oh, he owns the stage line, Tonto. Oh, he's also one of our permanent guests. Oh! What infunders! Oh, alcoholers! Step inside, Ned. You two are fast. You two howling hyenas, trying to raise the dead on boot heels. Don't say that, ma. What's wrong with you boys? You look plenty pale. I know. I'm glad to see you. What happened to you? We saw a ghost. Oh, no. Oh, is that all? It's the truth, ma. Don't go right at it. We saw it as planes were seeing new Uncle Homer and Tonto. In that case, suppose you describe this apparition. It's the scariest-looking thing you can imagine, Uncle Homer. About my size, I'd say. Yeah, it stood there, off the trail. It glowed with the most awful-looking light you ever saw. What color was the last day? I thought of a bluish-wear. By George, now I understand. You know, I believe what you saw was nothing but a dead tree. You know, sometimes dead trees kind of rot, a fungus attacks them. That's right, that's right, Homer. You know better than to believe in ghosts? Well, of course, it's a growth that spreads all over trees like that. I've forgotten the name, but the light you boys saw was Foxfire. Now tell me, where did you see this tree? Well, mom gave me the evening off. So we left early to fish in Furnace River. Your fish weren't buttoned, so we decided to head for Eyeglass Crick. But we never got as far as the Crick. Right through the woods, we saw that light. And skedadders for home, Tonto. Well, at Tamora, before Lone Ranger Common, you throw me plates where you see light. In daytime, you see light as only dead trees. Jolly, Tonto, I'd like to see it in the daytime, of course. In the daytime it's bright. I don't want to go back there in the dark. Well, now that you're looking more like yourselves, how about some pie and milk? That sounds good, Marley. Oh, that's Marshall Jim Fraser. He's coming through the lobby. It's Marley Keith, not a deputy with Roswell right away. Tonto! Oh, Marshall Jim. How gone am I glad to see you. Where's the Lone Ranger? Him, not in town yet. Hey, Marshall, did you change the Lone Ranger? That's right, Pete. Tonto, this is Pete Wiggins, the stage driver. How? Glad to know you, Tonto. And this is Harry Wilson, the shotgun gun. How? You boys know Uncle Homer and Mark. Pete, I thought you and Harry left town on the five o'clock stage. I was robbed. Three fellas stopped us at Jackknife Rock. He's with Roscoe around the hotel. I want to tell him about the robbery. I'll go and see if he's in his room, Marshall Jim. Fine, thanks, Uncle Homer. Hey, heard you mentioned my name, Marshall Jim. It's Mr. Roscoe. You're due for some more bad news, Whit. Yeah, I was afraid of that. I was opening my bedroom window when I saw Harry and Pete coming this way with the Marshal. The same three fellas robbed us again, Mr. Roscoe. $10,000 in golden paper money was in that strongbox, Marshall Jim. It's another serious loss. We'll try to get it back, Whit. And with Tonto in town, our chances look mighty good. Tonto? The lone rangers, Indian friends. Tonto meet Whit Roscoe. Oh, well, let it know you. The masked man himself will be in town tomorrow. Oh, from now on you'll see some real action, Whit. We'll start by riding to the scene of the robbery right now to look for tracks. The gang never leaves tracks, Marshall Jim. They just haven't had eyes sharp enough to see their tracks. But Tonto will cut their time. Well, me try buying tracks, Marshall Jim. Good. Then let's go. Come on, Whit. You two, Pete and Harry. I'll ride with you boys. Good. Come along, Uncle Homer. See you later, Ma. All right, Marshall Jim. You be careful, Homer. Don't worry, my dear. I'm a dead shot and an expert enforcement. Dead shot, my eye. You're staying right here in town. Oh, Ma. Now, you've had enough excitement for one day with your ghost. Besides, I need help in the kitchen. Put some more wood in the stove, Ned. I've bread to bake. Yes. We'll continue our lone ranger adventure in just a moment. Jenny is 10 and is she good? She'd skip rope champ of the neighborhood. She's so quick because she knows she's got good friends. Because she knows she's got go power from Cheerios. Yes, she's got go power. There she goes. She's feeling her Cheerios. Cheerios. Cheerios. That makes sense. Try Cheerios, the wonderful old cereal that shaped like a little letter O. And you'll agree. You like that delicious toasted old flavor and Cheerios is ready to eat. Just pour out a big bowl full. Get in and start getting your go power. Because a Cheerios breakfast is full of vitamins, proteins, and minerals. And those are the good things you need to help build red blood, healthy bodies, and strong muscles. So enjoy your breakfast every day with delicious Cheerios and milk and get that good go power. Then folks will say She's feeling her Cheerios. Now to continue. Darkness made it impossible for Tato to find the well-covered trail of the stage robbers. So he and Marshall Jim resumed the search at daybreak. Shortly after noon, Tato returns a town where Inky and Ned persuaded him to ride with them to the tree that had frightened them the night before. 20 minutes later, they blew rain in a dense wood, a short distance from the stump of a tree that had been struck by lightning. As he dismounted, Tato noticed a hole in the stump and saw that the stump itself had become covered with a growth of fungus. It was an ugly sight. There, tree. Just an ordinary old tree stump. Fungus on trees glow in dark. So that's what we saw. That's right. Golly, if I'd have known that's what it would have been. Can we take some of that stuff off the tree? What stuff? That fox fire stuff. Take it if you want. But what to do with it? We'll scare someone else with it if they were scared. What do you mean? We could play a lot of jokes on the folks in town with this. Just think of what would happen if we put this stuff on a tree near Boothill. It's not a good idea. Try and scare people like that. We'll tell them what it is after we've had the laugh on them, Tato. Give me a hand, Ned. We'll put as much of this as we can into our saddle bag. Right. I have a pen knife that'll make the job easier. Filled with mischievous glee, the boys worked rapidly. Soon they had one saddle bag filled with pieces of the dead tree. Then Inky reached into the hole in the stump. There must be lots of loose pieces of that fox fire in here, Ned. The saddle bag's full now. Then we'll fill another one. No. No, there's not time for that. We start back to town now. Meet mask friends. All right. Hey, what's wrong? I just a piece of paper. It's a note, Ned. What note say? It says, keep out of sight until I contact you. Tano, Indian friend of Lone Ranger in town. Mask man arrived this afternoon. Who signed, though? There's no name on it, see? It doesn't make sense. What matter, Ned? I know who wrote that note. I've seen his handwriting lots of times. Huh? Mr. Roscoe wrote it. Is that a home, stage line? Yeah. He lives at the Henry House. I've seen his writing and printing on letters on mail for him. He must have brought that here early this morning. The tracks on the ground show writer come this way three, four hours ago. Other tracks seems... Tato didn't finish the sentence for he suddenly realized what the tracks on the ground meant. Silently blaming himself for not having noticed them sooner, he reached for his gun. Suddenly a twig snapped behind him and Scar Pickin stepped from the screening trees and brushed with his gun brawn. Don't finish that throwing, Judy. All right, get your hands up. That's just for you youngsters, too. Scar Pickin. Recognize me, huh? Well, that makes us even, Redskins. Tano, who is this fellow? Him, crook, inky. Laura wanted him for a long time. You're there. Me? Drop it and kick it this way. Still, you're told to be quick about it. It's all right, Ned. You do like him face. If not pay, take chances with killer. After Ned disarmed Tato, Scar ordered the Indian to tie the boys' hands behind their backs and gag them. Rather than risk a fight that would endanger Ned and Inky, Tato obeyed. Then the killer checked the ropes and gags. Yeah, they... They're not too tight. They'll do until we reach a hideout. They're saddles. First, Tato lifted Ned to the back of his horse. As he helped Inky mount, he noticed a split seam in the saddlebag holding a small piece of wood from the dead tree. A piece of the fungus-covered wood fell from the opening to the ground. Tato grinned and whispered, You're not worthy, Inky. We think we get help, Sue. Hey, what are you talking about? Me, just make sure. Flap one saddlebag, passage. Now that the boys are in the saddle... Scar swung his gun barrel upward suddenly. The blow caught Tato on the side of the head. He fell to the ground unconscious, helplessly bound and gagged. Ned and Inky watched the killer tie and gag their Indian friend. I'll toss the engine across the horse's back. Then we'll start for the hideout. Meanwhile, the lone ranger reached the meeting place he and Tato had chosen on the outskirts of town. The masked man waited half an hour for his Indian friend, then headed for town. With the brim of his hat drawn low to conceal his mask as much as possible, he made his way through back streets and alleys to the Henry House. Leading silver ground hitched, he entered Mohanck's kitchen. The Buxom landlady greeted him warmly, but she knew nothing of Tato's whereabouts. He left town early this morning with Marshall Jim, but I know Doggone well. He planned to leave the Marshall in time to meet you. Have you seen him since then? Nope, and I haven't seen the Marshall either. Hey, Ma, Homer, look who's here! Well, mister, how are you? Hi, Uncle Homer. Right now he's worried about Tato. Say, have you seen him, Homer? Not since this morning, but someone else in town might have seen him. Well, then start asking questions. We've got to find him. Shortly after dusk, Uncle Homer returned to report. Oh, I must have talked everyone in town. What did you learn? When Uli Evans saw town or north of town early this afternoon with Inky and Ned, but no one seen the three of them since then. What kind of trouble could they've gotten into looking at a dead tree? Is that where they went? Yep. The boys told me all about it before they left town. Well, where is the dead tree? Ned told Ma and me where it is. I might be able to find it. They said it's covered with a fungus called Foxfire. Then let's go look for it. We should be able to see it easily in the dark. Right! Oh! Darkness was falling rapidly when Uncle Homer and the Lone Ranger reached the woods where Toto, Ned, and Inky had been captured. The small easterner pointed to the glowing stump. There it is! The tree covered with Foxfire! Easy, that's a big fella. The Lone Ranger dismounted and struck a match. Its brief light revealed the tracks on the ground. You'll not be able to see much by match life, mister. And the moon doesn't penetrate these woods. I look there on the ground. A small glowing object. What is it? A piece taken from the tree stump. There's another piece on the trail ahead. Let's study the tracks. This way, sir. In the hideout where Scar and Blaze held Toto and the two boys' prisoners, Mike Rowe returned from a trip to town to report. I couldn't find the boss, Scar. He wasn't in his office or at the hotel. All the dead were added and up there quietly. Sounds like Ryder's heading this way. Get set for trouble, boy. I'll take a look outside. It's the boss. What brings you here, boss? What a job. A lawman. Keep your hands high, Marshal. You'll pay for this, Whit. You'll not live to see the Purdue. How'd you capture the Marshal? I found out at noon that he and an Indian named Tondo left town at daybreak to look for your tracks at the scene of the robbery. With the Indian to help him cut sign, I was afraid he might find your trail. Well, he did. By the time I caught up with him, the Indian had lifted. But he had already shown Marshal Jim your tracks, so that's it. I joined the Marshal, thinking I might be able to throw him off the trail. When I saw I couldn't, I got the drop on him and headed here. It would have been only a matter of time until they found this place himself. You got the Indian to help him find our tracks. You kept your tunnel? Him and a couple of youngsters. One of them recognized your hand, writing on the note you left in the pre-stump first. Where are they? In the next room. Bring them out. Steals hide and gag. The three prisoners were brought before Whit Roscoe. Marshal Jim Fraser turned on the outlaw leader. You dirty skunk. That's savvy this whole thing now. You tipped off the gang about the gold chip and your stage carried. Not being responsible for the losses, I lost nothing but the good will of my clients. You, however, will lose your life. So we'll cut on these two boys. Well, you've bitten off more than you can chew this time. The lone rangers in Modak City? Well, really about him when you and the Indian are out of the way, not before then. You're wrong. Watch out the window. And I'm at this window, you coyote. Get them! Before Whit Roscoe could chew her silver bullet was already on its way. It struck the outlaw leader's shoulder, knocking him to the floor. A masked man's left hand done blaze, smashing Scar's revolver. While Uncle Homer fired from the opposite side of the room at Nightcrow, who felt the impact of a wound in the shoulder, a silver bullet brushed the hand of the outlaw blaze. I'll get this gun. Marshal Jim screwed up the gun Whit Roscoe had dropped and pointed it at the writhing, groaning killers. Scar whipped out a long-bladed knife and cried, I'll kill you, but the last thing I do is cut the knife. Ignoring the warning, Scar gripped the blade as he hurled it, the masked man fired. The knife shattered. I never stopped but shooting. Keep them covered, Marshal. Uncle Homer, I come inside. You bet I will, Mr. Half an hour later, Toto, Ned and Inky were free and Whit Roscoe and his killers were tied. Well, their wounds are all bandaged. They're set for the trip to jail, Mr. Good. If you and Uncle Homer hadn't come when you did, those cooks would have killed all of us. How'd you find us? That was easy, Ned. We followed a trail of foxfire. Foxfire? Pieces of wood from the tree stump guided us. Hey, so would we took from the tree, Inky. He must have fallen from the saddlebag. Glory in the dark. Literally blazing a trail straight to this cabin. Literally blazing a trail straight to this cabin. Well, me make hole in saddlebag vigor. So fallen pieces show away. Fine, Toto. Marshal, you and Uncle Homer will be able to take care of the prisoners, won't you? We'll have no trouble with them on the trip to town. Now that they're disarmed and hog-tied. Then, Toto, I'll be on our way. Adios, Toto. That's mess, man. We view the thank for being captured scar. If you hadn't bought that engine and those junsters here, we'd still be free. You made a magnificent blunder when you captured the friend of the Lone Ranger. A copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated is produced by Kendall Campbell Muir Incorporated. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer, your announcer, Fred Boy. Listen to the Lone Ranger brought to you by Special Recording Mondays through Fridays at this same time.