A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty, hi-yo, silver, the Lone Ranger. In the smallest days of the early western United States, a man's life depended on the quickness of his draw. Violence and bloodshed were common, and it was not until the masked rider of the plains started his great fight for justice that the frontier was made safe for honest men and women. Return with us now to those thrilling days when the west was young. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Silver! Tunnel's waiting on the trail ahead! We've got to hurry! In the dead of night, two men raced across the desolate, broken country near the foot of the hills. Cal, hold on! Rain up! Cal! Get away from me, Josh! Get away! Give me that horse! Whoa! Whoa up there! Whoa up there! There go them reins! I tell you, I hid it! Whoa up! Whoa, boy! Whoa, whoa! There! Where'd you think she was going? Ain't no use in stopping me, Josh! Let go, my pony! I'm... Oh, fool! Riding off into the moonlight? What's biting you? I can't stand it no more! Let go! I'll bite! You won't do nothing! Getting up in the middle of the night and riding away? Hadn't been for the noise you made, roping your horse, I'd never knowed you was gone! Josh, I tell you, this place is haunted! Huh? Haunted! That's what I said, haunted! The only haunt you got is in your mind! You've been chowing too much buffalo meat! Hell, you don't believe me, huh? Non-real sidewinder, of course I don't! But I keep hearing him, I tell you! Night and day, I keep hearing him! His voice screaming at me, kind of thin and far away, like it was that day he... that day he drowned it! Me, you're standing on the shore, and him, you're swirling down the stream, screaming at me to help him, to help him! I keep hearing him, I tell you! I keep hearing him! I can't see him, but I keep hearing him! I look and he ain't there! Seems like he's coming from the sky, calling at me, calling at me! It's him again! I don't hear nothing! Are you deep? You've got to hear him! You've got to! Your ears ain't so good, but I still think that you... That was him! I hid it as plain as plain! I could have shaved him, throwed him a rope, and I didn't! I let him drown in the water, swirling and calling, waving his arms in the water, sucking him under! Cal, you've got to stop me! Maybe it's in my head! Maybe I keep hearing him on account, I deserve to die! I deserve to... Yeah, hey, old friend! Let go of me! Let go! I'll knock you off your horse! Don't tell! Let go! I tell you! Let go! I'll knock you off! Don't tell! He ain't stopping me! Get him, boy! Get him! I deserve to die! You got my horse! Bring back my horse! I'm coming back! I'm coming! Cal, come back, Edgis! Cal! The crazy coot! He's heading right for the quicksand! Knocked me off my pony! Heading right for the quicksand, and I can't stop him! Haven't there! Oh, Silver! Oh, he's gone! Oh, he's gone! Oh, he's gone! Oh, he's gone! Oh, he's gone! Oh, he's gone! Oh, it's the cabin all right, Hunter! Just must have come back here after he trailed his partner, Cal! Ah, him go out on horse, come back on foot, trail, speak plain! Come along! We left town to come here! Might as well go in and make ourselves acquainted! Ah, you lead, Tonto Fono! Come on, Silver! Get him up, Scum! Come on, boy! Get him up! We can find out a lot we want to know about! Look out! Him in the door! Hold that! Hold the fire! Get back! Don't come no closer! Hold the fire! We're friends! I ain't got no friends! Keep your distance! Put out that gun! Make tracks! You and that engine make tracks before I let you have it! What we do? That man answers the description, Tonto! That's Josh! I'll give you three! If you don't dust, I'm going to make you! One! We've got to see that man! Got to talk to him! Give Scout his head, Tonto! When I give, the word go in! Two! Now, Tonto! Come on, Silver! Get him up, Scout! Come on, nation! Get back! I swear I'll let you have it! Give me that gun! Let go! Your gun! There! That's better! Darn you? Did you want me to plug that horse of yours? I knew you wouldn't shoot, Silver! You ducked behind the horse! I couldn't see nothing to aim at! You and the engine! That's an old Indian trick, Josh! I'd have shot you, but not them horses! You figured that way, didn't you? You'd... Hey! Did you call me by name? I did! But I don't know you! You couldn't... What name did you say? Your name is Josh! Josh Carey! Yeah! That's what I thought you said! I'm a mite deep, but that's what you said! Who are you? We're friends, Josh! What do you want here, anyways? Masked man and an engine! Why were you and Cal staying out here alone? Why weren't you closer to town? Dad, blame it! You keep circling like a roped steer! I ask the question, answer it! What do you want here? I wear a mask for a reason, Josh! My friend and I are on the trail of two bad men! We learned of them in town! Ah! Them come this way! Huh? I suppose you're joining up with them! On the contrary! We want to catch them! Josh, the story in town is that you and Cal had some valuable furs hidden away! I ain't saying! If you have, those men are after them! Have you seen any strangers? Only you! And I'll soon see the last of you! There's another story in town, Josh! A story that deals with voices! Voices that keep calling! Oh, I never heard them! But Cal... Cal, he claimed he did! Clearly... There ain't no spirits! We'd like to hear about you and Cal, Josh! And your old partner, Bart! No! We've ridden a long way, all night! We're hungry! You can trust us! I reckon I ain't got no choice! You got my gun! Besides, I ain't never turn away anyone that's hungry! Man or beast! Come on! Duck your head, mask man! The door wasn't built high enough for you! I'll rassle up some grub for you! Thanks, Josh! I'm good! But I ain't telling nothing! How about Cal or Bart or any fur? You savvy? I ain't gonna tell nothing! Cal and me! Seems like a long time ago we went out crappin' and fur huntin'. We was real parts! Cal and me growed up together! And Bart, he sort of wandered in long about the time we was getting grown pains! Never was much for talking, Bart, wasn't? Seems like at times there might have been something in his past he was trying to forget! But me and Cal, all we cared about was that Bart was a right good pard! You collected many skins, Josh? Always run into trouble we did! We'd make a good catch, then we'd lose it! Up north in the game country! Then we'd done good three winters ago! We caught and skinned a... Well, we did all right! That was when you moved down here! Well, it was right after that when... When Bart grounded! Fell into the stream right after a spring cloud burst! But it wasn't Cal's fault! He couldn't have saved Bart! Even if he'd had his robe with him, which he didn't! It preyed on Cal's mind? Yeah! Claimed he heard Bart! Me, I'm kinda hard of hearing! But I didn't hear it no how! What, Pat? Hello, it's the voice! Old timer listened! Huh? You heard that, you must have! It... There it is again! Oh, uh... Listen, Josh, who was that? Huh? You're gonna plumb loco! I don't hear nothing! It's a bitter voice! What you staring at me for? I hear a little something! Sounds like a coyote! No use arguing with you! Here, Silver! Here, boy! Here, Scout! Up, Tonto! Steady, Silver! We leave here! There, boy, sir! There! Yeah! Get out and stay out! We're going, Josh! But you'll hear from us again! Come on, Silver! Get him up, Scout! Get him up, Silver! All right, that's enough! Now, Gunner, careful! Slide down behind the ridge! Don't want anybody to spot you again in the skyline! Yeah! Careful! Sit right on that horn! We ought to get some more bark and make us another one, Slag! This one's shredding away! Yeah, maybe so! We used it up, getting cow scared! Yeah, it sure makes a voice scary, doesn't it? Yeah, so we used it for... Throws your voice way out! Makes it kind of echo! Yeah! It scared cow into going to the quicksand! Are you sure he's a goner? Of course I'm sure! Didn't I see him right out last night? The moon was plenty bright to see by! Maybe he didn't get to the quicksand! He got there! I seen the tracks going right in! Yeah, but did you see him? How could I, you fool? That quicksand pulls him way down under! You know that! Think we're going to get that pile of fuzz? You think we ate it? I don't know! We've been working on him! But the only one who'd fail for it was Cal! It won't take long for Josh Carey to get scared! You're forgetting he's all alone now! I ain't forgetting nothing, Slag! But I say move in! But for... Because we ain't getting no place! I can make that old gopher come across about them furs! Tie him up and put a hot eye onto his toes! It won't work! All this spirit stuff ain't working! Carey's stubborn as a pack mule, Gunner! He'd rather die before he lets go of them pelts! From all account, he's got a fortune in that furs! I say move in! You're forgetting who's boss? Now look! I'm bossing this and I say wait! Now! You want to back up your idea with gunplay or not? Oh, sure, sure, Slag! I didn't mean nothing! You're the boss! Only I... Only that's settled! There's more of them voices and... Yeah? Gunner! Look over the red. Hmm? Careful now. You see them? Yeah, two of them. Hey, look at that white horse. Yeah. And that's the engine on the paint. Them two was at Carrie's cabin. Ha, ha, ha, ha! I guess my boy scared him off, huh? You fool, not them. Gunner, I changed my mind. We're going to bust in on Carrie tonight. If you want action, you're going to get it. But you said just now... Use your eyes, bless you. Them two is going right past the ridge. An engine and a white man on a white horse. There ain't but one outfit like that. We're going after Josh because we got her before that hombre stops us. Good to know that there's a lone ranger. Keep your eyes front, Tonto. Uh-huh. Don't look toward that ridge. Something there? That voice didn't come from any spirit, Tonto. It was real, even though Josh couldn't hear it. Uh-huh. Tonto hear it? It was hard to locate the direction it came from, but I think I know it now. Just before, I caught a flash of light from metal. Probably a sombrero belt, a buckle or something. Not bad. We might circle around and surprise whoever's up there. But if we do, there might be bloodshed. They're up on a hill. It would be dangerous to go after them. What do then? Josh must be saved from those crooks, Tonto. But it must be done so that he realizes how foolhardy he is to keep valuable furs where they can be stolen. Isn't that true? We head for town? Yes, for town. Let them think we're leaving, but they weren't seen. I have a plan, and let's hope it works. Come on, Silver. Get him up, Scott! Kyle, Silver, away! The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger drama. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. How to continue our story. A short time later, as darkness settled over the town, men began to gather in the Silver Dollar Cafe and... Did you hear? This engine says he's seen Cal's ghost. Just rode into town. His horse was all lather. Hey there, you fellas. Here's Dave. Have you heard the news? You heard anything, Dave? Shut up and listen to me now. Quiet. It's that spirit, Tonto. Cal's ghost. Don't know how Josh can stick it out there. Quiet! Yeah, I heard all about it. I seen the engine. You have? He rode into town, plumb tuckered out. Least ways he acted that way. He's over to Ma Barden's now, catching his bread. Did he see the ghost? He said so. I don't believe it. That whole country's haunted, I tell you. Now, wait up. Yeah, yeah. He babbled something about Cal's ghost. Wasn't Cal drowned in the quicksand? Sure, sure he was. And with all them voices Cal was a-hearing, it's no wonder to me that he can't stay put. All or more reason for staying out of there. Yeah, that's the engine story. Now, I don't hold much truck with redskins, but... Hey, look. It's him. It's the engine. Me. Me, Tonto. Me come tell you. Now, here, give him room. What for? He's just an engine. That's enough out of you, stranger. Yeah, let him talk. You seen Cal's ghost? Ah. Me ride from cannon. Here. Me hear spirit in sky. Spirit all around. Me ride fast. There you are. I told you. All right, engine. There's plenty of us here that have heard them voices. That's how come we don't ride out that way much. Man there in cabin. Who? What man? You're talking about Josh? Him alone now. Not bad. You go. Bring him back. What? What's he saying? Go out there? Train up, engine. You mean we should go out and bring Josh into town? Ah. Him be safe here. No spirit. No voice. You bring him. No, sirree. Not me. Let him do his own bringing. You're riding the wrong herd, engine. There ain't none of us who's going to ride out there this time of night. Not even to save Josh. Him need help. We warned him plenty before about that place. What you say about spirits? Well, maybe we don't believe in spirits, but we ain't going to find out. Yeah, maybe in daylight, but not when it's dark. Ah. I ain't hanging around listening, no engine. Argue me into nothing. I'm getting on about my business. Sorry, engine. Much as we'd like to help you, that stranger had the right idea. Yeah. You. You wait. You listen. We had enough of this here spirit stuff. You go out. Bring man back. That's enough, Redskin. We got other things to think about besides helping out a stubborn old gopher who's too cranky for his own good. I say you go. Now looker here. Who you giving orders to? Who do you think you are? If when Josh wants to take his chances, that's his affairs, not ours. Wait. Tonto. What the? A masked man. It's a holdup. Don't slap, mother. The first man who starts to draw won't finish it. Did you see that? Them guns jumped into his hands. Please, I... I have a feeling, Tonto, wouldn't be able to persuade you to go out after Josh Carey. That's why I'm here. Aim to make a stranger? I only drew my guns because I had to. I won't use them. I hear you say you're a friend of this Redskin. We travel together. And we listen to the engine. Working with a masked man. Yeah, it's a trap. There isn't time to explain. You're going out to Josh Carey's cabin. Now hold on. If you're aiming to force him... I told you, I won't need guns. Then who are you? You're busting here masked. You're with his engine. Need tell. Him, Lone Ranger. He's Lone Ranger. That's right. You'll have to prove that claim, stranger. Just because your masks don't signify you the Lone Ranger. There's plenty of masked hombres, but there ain't but one Lone Ranger. All right. You ask for proof. Here, look for yourselves. My horse is out here tied to the hitching rail. Come here and look at him. Any of you fellas ever seen the Lone Ranger? Yeah. I've seen him. You two men. You might not know me because of the mask, but you couldn't mistake Silver. Look out the door. Hey, that horse is a beauty. I ain't never seen one like that before. Well, you two. Do you recognize him? Here, Silver. Yep, that's him all right. Couldn't forget that horse. Well, that settles it. You can put up them guns. You're the Lone Ranger, all right. Good enough. Now get your horses. We're going out to the cabin. Well? Look, Ranger. We know you. We want to do what's right. But them spirits, that voice. That voice is not a spirit. I've heard it and I know. Josh needs your help. He has to be convinced he belongs in town with people who know him and like him. This kind of country is courting danger. You mean that voice is real? It ain't, Ghost. I give you my word on that. You do, huh? Well, that's enough for me. How about it, boys? Good. Now hurry. Get your mounts. Hot to it, boys. 15 minutes. That's all we need and we'll be ready to ride. Need talk now? What is it, Tonto? One man, him here for. Him go for you come. One man? I saw one man riding hard as I came up. I think he left here. What about him? Tonto Noam. Him, crook. What? You knew him? Him, voice. You mean, Tonto, it was the voice that we heard out at the cabin? That's right. Tonto Noam. And he knows we're going out there. He must be planning to get to Josh ahead of us. You! You there! You following me, Ranger? I ain't got my horse yet. I'm going on ahead. Follow as soon as you can. Me get Scout. No way, Tonto. You're staying with the men to lead them. I'll take Scout with me. He isn't winded. You just made it appear as if he'd come a long way. Not right, but where is Scout? Him at Maul Barton. All right. I'll get him on the way. Here, Silver. But Ranger, I don't serve you. What in tarnation you want an extra horse for? I want him for Cal, Josh's partner. Steady, boy. For Cal? But Cal's dead. He went into the quicksand. Everybody knows that. I haven't time to explain now. You'll learn later. But don't be surprised if he isn't dead. Come on, Silver. Follow as soon as you can. Come on, boy. We're heading for Josh's cabin. We've got to get there in time. Who's there? It's me, Slag. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Come on, boy. Whoa, whoa. I almost put a bullet into you. Get your horse, Prano. Hey. I just come from town, Slag. That engine was in there talking to the men. I seen the Lone Ranger, too. Oh, we've seen him heading for town this afternoon. Yeah, but that trick voice ain't acting like we figured. Yeah. Them men are coming out here. They're coming to Josh Carey's cabin. If we want them first, we've got to move fast. Get your horse. Give me that horn. I'll hide behind the door. When I get set, you do the voice. Yeah, I'll make it plenty loud so you can hear it in his sleep. Start it now. Josh. Josh Carey. Again, he's moving. It's Bart's spirit. Get him, Gunner. Inside. Jump inside. Go on. He slumped it off. Now you sit down. What a tarnation you mean. I heard Bart. I heard his voice. We want them first. But you. It was your voice. You sound like Bart. You even look like him. But you ain't Bart. You can't be. No, I ain't him. I am his son. His son? Yeah. He didn't talk about me none, did he? Sure he didn't. On a contrary, he didn't like the way I turned out. Him and his honesty. And Bart's son. No wonder he didn't say nothing about his past. And your maw. He died when I was born. That's enough of this. We want them first. You won't get them. No. No. Where are they? Go on. You can hit me all you want to. I won't tell. They're murderers, that's what. You drove Cal to his death in the quicksail. Sure we did. We heard about them first. We heard about how he was honest blaming himself for Bart's death. So we thought of this little scheme. Only now we ain't got time for play acting. Get that rope, Kelly. Yeah. Sit still, you old buzzard. What are you going to do? They're tying you up, see? You call us murderers. That's what you are. Ornery, no good murdering skunks. Tighter with them rope slags. They're tight. Sure we're murderers, Josh. Before we're through with you, you're going to hand over them furs and the same goes for you. If I had my gun, I'd blow you. What'd you stop for? You ain't tied yet. Did you hear nothing? Huh? Seems like a head steps outside. Look out the window. Hey, that's oil paper, not glass. Can't see through it. Hey. What the devil? That's Cal's voice. It can't be. He's dead in the quicksand. We've seen the tracks. He's come back from the dead. Cal. There's a ghost. I'm getting out. Where's the door? I'm getting out too. Don't move. What the? It's a ranger. The lone ranger. Shoot it down. The next time it'll be you instead of your gun, Slag. Get back against the wall. Sure, sure. Anything you say. You're one of the crimes all over the territory. This time your trail's ended. You've been at this for a month. And you're caught. Don't worry, Josh. It's all over. But that voice. It was Cal. Was you making that voice, Ranger? No, I wasn't. But dead, my ranger. I heard it plain as plain. It was Cal's voice. But it couldn't be. Less than it was his spirit. It was done the same way these two made it appear that Bart's voice was talking. Yeah, but this one's Bart's son. The voice is the same. This time it had to be Cal's spirit. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. I'd tell you it was... Cal, you can come in now. Huh? You're calling the ghost. Was you calling me, lone ranger? Hello, Josh. I'll be dead, burn. Well, you're on real, poor cat. Ain't you glad to see me? Cal, you're real. I'm sure I am. But the quicksand. You went loco and rode right for the quicksand. Yeah, I'd have been in it, too. Only the lone ranger come along. Him and that engine of his'n. They roped me and pulled me out. I've had Cal hidden away, Josh. We let these two believe he was dead. Me? I believed it, too. You'd better untie him, Cal. Yeah. Oh, Josh, I'm sorry we had to fool you. Well, you should be. All the time he's thinking you was gone. You get these ropes off. I... I could if I could see him better. Get him off and I'll whiff you with an inch of your life. Letting me think you was... Oh, Cal, during your height, I never thought I'd see you again. You're alive. Alive. I hope this teaches you a lesson, both of you. It sure does, Ranger. You're getting on in years. You're turning cranky from being alone. Why, you'd gotten so that you distrusted all your fellow men. I reckon so. That's why we was holed up out here instead of being in town. Yet those people are willing to help you. And we'll get them first out of the hiding place and sell them for what we can get. And be... Huh? What did you say? I said the people in town are willing to help you. You mean that they... Listen and you'll hear them. Posses. It's a posse. Granted, I can't hear nothing. Sure you can't, because your ears are just as bad as your temper, you old coyote. They're a-coming like a house afire, the whole town. You think you can hold these two prisoners till they get here? Them two, let them move one finger and I'll blast them loose from the boot. You're doing right, I kid. And watch them, Cal. I'm leaving. Oh, there goes a real man, Josh. He sure saved us a plenty. Josh, you all right? What's going on? What the... Cal! Cal! Now, now take it easy, boys. I ain't no ghost. I'm alive. Well, sure we are. Cal didn't get in no quicksand. It was all a crooked scheme of these two polecats. Sure we're alive. We ain't kicking. No, sir. From now on, me and Cal's moving to town. We aim to be the kind of folks you fellas are. We aim to be friends. The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
