horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty, hi-yo, silver, the Lone Ranger. It was the first great industry in the western United States, but the ranchers lived in constant fear of the outlaw bands that roamed the border country. It was not until the masked rider of the plains started his great fight for justice that rustlers were driven from the new territory, and the frontier became 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! We're on the trail of rustlers! A young woman riding a red bay raced along the rough and broken trail. Suddenly, a masked man on a white stallion flashed from the cover of a grove of trees and started after her. Get up! Get along, Bear! Get along! Come on, Silver! Get away from me! Get back! Let me alone or I'll shoot! Warning you! Get away! Come on, down your gun! You can't shoot at this speed! Go away and let me be! Hold that! Hold on! Let go of that bridle! Let me be! By a thunder, I will tell you! Now let go of it! You listen to me! You can do what you want in the way of risking your neck. That's up to you. But it isn't fair to risk the life of a horse as fine as that one of yours. What? I'll stop anyone I see riding a horse as you were. Well, I'll be. It's the horse you're thinking of, not me. I've heard that Ann Beckwood can't take care of herself. Oh, you know my name. Owner of the box, Bee Ranch. Oh, and that's the answer. Push your hands. Put your gun away. Reach, I say. It all fits in. I lose cattle. Follow the trail here and get stopped by a masked man that knows me. All right, Misty, we'll have it out right here now. I'll have to take that gun away from you, Mrs. Beckwood, if you don't put it in your holster. Where's the stolen cattle? Speak faster, I swear to mercy, I'll let you have a square between the eyes. I'd better take that. Get back. Get away or else I'll... There. You, you... Oh, why didn't I have the nerve to shoot? Now, put this gun away, Mrs. Beckwood, and remember that you can't fire a gun until it's cocked. That wasn't a very good bluff. Bluff? Oh, what a stupid idiot I am. Now, what's this story about stolen cattle? You didn't try to act innocent. That's odd. Huh? I'm not acting, and you think I am. You are acting, and you think I don't know it. What do you mean? One minute, you'll speak like a girl who's never seen the inside of a school. The next minute, you forget yourself and speak very well. You're crazy. You're a crazy crooked sidewinder. Suppose you forget your acting and tell me if you're really serious about cattle being stolen. Yes. Look, mister, whatever your name is, I can't afford to lose those steers. Four head of cattle won't bring much to you, you and your gang. Where are they? I don't know anything about your stolen cattle. Please help me. You don't understand how important it is. Jimmy followed the trail here, but he's not strong. His eyes aren't good. He came back with crazy notions. Jimmy is your husband, isn't he? How do you know so much about me? I hear things about people in this part of the country. You and your husband took over the Boxby just about two years ago. Yes. You've lost four head of cattle out of over 200 head. Don't waste time. Look, if you'll return those four head... What did Jimmy say when he followed the trail? It doesn't make sense. And what did he say? If you didn't steal the cattle, you wouldn't believe his story any more than I did. If you did steal the cattle, there's no use telling you what you already know. Come, speak up. If you want those longhorns back, tell me about this trail. I suppose you won't let me go ahead unless I do. Tell me. Well, the longhorn steers were rustled away the night before last. Yes? Jimmy was almost beside himself yesterday morning when he found it out. Saddled up and started out following a trail that leads through this valley. He got as far as the canyon over that way and then came back. Ann. Ann, if anyone told me about that trail, I'd have said they were crazy. What do you mean, Jimmy? The trail was easy to follow. It led right into the canyon and I could see the marks of the cattle as clear as anything on the soft ground. And all of a sudden, the trail just stopped. Stopped? Disappeared. It was just as if something had reached down from above and picked that cattle off the ground. Could that have been done? No. The nearest wall of the canyon was over a hundred yards away. Perhaps the ground became too hard to take a print. But it didn't. I tried every way to figure it out and I couldn't. Ann, I tell you, it's almost supernatural. It couldn't happen. Jimmy told Sheriff Bates about the trail and the sheriff didn't take him seriously. Jimmy was furiously angry and decided to go to Shelby and get the rangers to help find the cattle. Oh, I know it seems like an awful fuss over four steers, but they are important. Your husband is still at Shelby? I suppose so. Time is so short, I thought I'd follow the trail myself. Well, why don't you laugh the same as the sheriff did? You're too much in earnest to be laughed at. Thanks for that at any rate. Do you know where the cattle is? No, I don't. What are you going to do? My friend will be here in a few minutes. I'm going to leave a message for him and then follow that trail. Those stones you're piling up? Tyler will understand the meaning. Is that the way you leave a message? Well, that's one way. Now let's follow the trail together, unless you prefer to go home and wait there for your husband. I want to go with you. Very well. Come on, Silver. Yes, sir. Jimmy Beckwood never reached the town of Shelby. He was stopped on the trail by two masked men who tied him up and carried him to a cave in the canyon. What do you want of me anyway? How long you two crooks figure to keep me hawk-tied in this hole? He'll find out. What's matter, Beckwood? Don't you like it here? No, I don't. Now, ain't that a shame? He don't like it here. Maybe we ought to get him a feather bed and go and hunt some wild turkey so as to feed him better. That'll do. The agreement don't call for making him sore at us. Well, what's the odds? We got our money. Yeah, and we're going to get more when our job's done. What is your job? Only a business, Beckwood. Did the boss tell you to waylay me? Maybe. Then it's the sheriff. Oh, yeah? I see it all now. Sheriff Bates was the only one that knew I was heading for Shelby and the Rangers. He's the cattle stealing crook. Oh, just let me out of here and I'll break him. Take it easy, son. You needn't think you're going to get out for a while yet. Not for a good while. Just you stay sitting and keep your trap shut. Come here, Pa. They've got to speak with you. All right. What is it? Jinks, he's mentioned Sheriff Bates. Well? Now, we don't dare take the risk of letting him loose, do we? We do what's ordered, Hood, and nothing more and nothing less. Just what's ordered, that's all. But we better get word to Bates that Beckwood knows he's the one that ordered us. Hmm, maybe so. Well, we'll see that Bates knows it before we let the kid get loose. Maybe Bates will tell us not to let the kid get loose. Hey, look. Someone coming into the valley. A girl. Hey, ain't that Jimmy's wife? So tears. Who's the mass man with her? What's that? Grab the kid. My wife, let me out of here. Shut up! You'll give away the hideout. Get a gag on him. Right. I said let him. You can see how clear and sharp the tracks are here. Yes, I see. Even Jimmy, who doesn't know a thing about following a trail, came this far. The tracks seem almost too sharp. What do you mean? Look, right ahead, the tracks seem to stop. Rain up, Mrs. Beckwood. Whoa, whoa there. We'll keep our horses back here so their tracks won't be mixed in with the others. Looks as if Jimmy rode this far and dismounted. Yes. When he started for Shelby, of course, he rode along the top of the canyon. He didn't come down here at all. Look, you can see how deep the cattle's hoofs sunk in. They go right along here and then, then they stop. See? It's just like Jimmy said. Why, I can't believe it. How do you know, Mrs. Beckwood, that these prints were made by your steers? Jimmy followed them all the way from our ranch. I see. There can't be any mistake about it. I followed them myself. And these tracks are the same as the ones that you followed from the start? The same. Is there any way you can recognize these marks as the marks made by your stolen cattle? Well, all steers make the same sort of marks, don't they? Tonto will know more about that. We'll get back to the horses and ride back to meet Tonto. But what about the stolen cattle? Where could it have gone to? The ground couldn't just open up and swallow four heavy longhorns. Well, why is it so important to you to get these four steers back? I can't tell you. Why? I can't. I don't know who you are. I don't... Oh, you... you do talk like an Easterner. Oh, what have I said? I don't understand. You've misled me. You've been spying. Spying? Oh, you beast. You... you spy. I wish I'd shot you. Hold on. I don't know what you're talking about. Leave me alone. Just leave me alone. That's all. Get out. Well, fella, that girl has a mighty mysterious problem. Disappearing cattle. Eastern spies. I wonder what's behind it. Ah, there ain't no use struggling backwards. That gag's tied so it'll hold tight. Now, what do you make of it, Pard? That woman's rid off alone and the masked man's standing there studying the ground real close. I don't know what to make of it. Reckon he sports anything about those cattle tracks? I don't know. If he does, though, and spoils things for Bates, there ain't but one thing we can do about it. I hate to drill the kid. Shucks, he ain't the sort that needs killing. If only he had the sense to vermoose. Well, he ain't. And the sooner we see Sheriff Bates... Hey, look. Now, what in thunder? Who's that redskin? I don't know, but he rode right up to the mast, gent. Now, the two were talking. And the tracks end right here, Kemosabe. Ah, Tonto, follow him. Then track, plenty strange. Tonto, take a close look. Did Ann Beckwood pass you on the trail? That right. Tonto, meet girl. Her not speak. Tonto, come this way. Girl, go other way. And what are you looking at now? Ah, this plenty strange. What is it? Track, stop here. Other mark on ground, go this way. But the cattle couldn't have gone that way without leaving more of a track than that. I can't even see any marks heading that way. Grass bent this way. Something moved this way. I'll bring the horses. I seem to head right to the wall of the canyon. Not right. Even the man walking on this ground needs a track. Now, look, Tonto, you, even though you're wearing moccasins, have left footprints on the soft ground. Ah. And what could have made a track that's so faint that I couldn't even see it? Tonto not know yet. Maybe soon we find out. Here, where track come close to wall. Yes. Now, fella, come to a hard stone. You'll never be able to follow the track along the shale here, Tonto. If it had been made recently, the stones that were turned over would mark the trail. But it's two days old. You wait. And you still see something to follow? It go this way. Near cave, yonder. Oh. Maybe fella hide in cave. Gonna have no choice, Jenks. Sure as you're born, they're coming this way. I say the best thing is to shoot them now before they get closer. That one is masked, Jenks. Likely there'll be a reward for him. Stop using my name. The kid is back deep in the cave. He can't hear us. Stop it anyway. I don't like it. Hang it all. Bates won't like us having to do some shooting. Well, that's just too doggone bad. If he don't like it, then he'll have to not like it. But I don't hanker to have a couple of slugs put through my hide just because the sheriff don't like shooting. If we gotta shoot, we gotta, and that's all there is to it. I reckon so. Them two are right up close now, and they can't miss the cave. And we can't afford to miss them. What shall you take, the masked man or the redskins? Redskins? What's that? Becker's fired a shot somehow. Now we're in for it. That masked man's hurt. Start shooting. He's on guard now. Hurry before he hits cover. They're shooting wild. Take aim. Drop him. Get the two of them. Hold on. Look, there's Bates. I got you covered. Drop your guns and heist your head. Then stop that shooting from the cave. Hold your fire, boys. I got them covered. Right. Now stand up, mister, and turn this way real slow. Very well. That's it. Sheriff Bates. So you're in on this, huh? I'm in on it is right. And you've got me in a doggone bad position by sticking your nose into things it ain't your business. Now, Dad Ratatouille, I've got to do something about you. 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. How to continue our story. When the Lone Ranger and Tonto followed the trail of the sheriff's men to the cave where Jimmy Beckwood was being held, they were surprised by the sheriff himself and taken prisoners. Now, there ain't no use you trying to fight or get away, stranger, because I ain't in this canyon alone. My men are coming from behind you. Your men welcomed us with bullets, Sheriff Bates. You're lucky they ain't better shots. And just what is your reason for stealing the Beckwood cattle? That's my affair. No, it's an affair of justice. For some reason, the loss of those four steers means a great deal to Ann Beckwood. We're going to see that they're returned. Oh, yeah. Well, we'll see about that. Should we toss ropes about them, Sheriff? Sure. One minute. Keep them covered. You're not going to rope us and you're not going to capture us. Bates, you've been an honest sheriff. It is natural for you to turn this on us for four head of cattle. If you were involved in a large enough robbery to make you wealthy, I might think you'd be tempted by ambition. But that isn't the case. Rope them and be done with it. You'd better hear me out. We aren't here alone. I'm giving you the chance to talk. If you don't, you'll have to pay the price for cattle stealing. Big talk for a critter that's facing shooting nines. Yeah. Get them a rope. All right, then. Come on, Silver. Look out. That them, Tonto. I'm going to get them. Use their own ropes. That horse. That horse. Look out. Get him off of me. He'll kill me. Tonto, bring a gun up. Rope them down, Silver. That's enough, boy. I'm doggone near killed. Too bad. But you're going to be roped just the same as the sheriff, Tonto. Him come to bind by. Not hurt bad. We'll put them in the cave and leave them there until we've looked around some more. You can walk hood. I'm hurt, I tell you. I'm hurt bad. Get up. That horse was like to kill me. Come on. Now head for the cave. Now put your pal on my horse and me get sheriff on scout. Now to the cave. All right, Tonto. Unload scout. Hood, you'll have to have your feet tied until we come back. What hit me? Sheriff, wake up now. Good enough. You'll be jailed for life for this. You wait till we get loose. Stop making threats you can't back up. What is it, Tonto? Wyatt. I ain't going to take this sort of thing. Look out. Don't knife me. You keep quiet. I heard something then, Tonto. Ah, that's right. Someone back here. Me hear him make sound. See who it is. And if it's a trap, we'll make these lawmen sorry. Ah. I'm out here with Gag. Tonto, take Gag away. Let me out of here. I saw you two before. I saw you talking to my wife. Let me go. Bring him here, Tonto. Good. Get this through your head. Keep your trap shot. See? I ain't said nothing. I see that you don't. This fellow tied in back a cave. Tonto, let him loose. Who are you? What was my wife telling you? You're Jim Beckwood? I am. I was riding for the ranges at Shelby when these two captured me. They had their faces covered until they left to help the sheriff, but I knew that Bates was the ringleader. You followed the trail of the stolen cattle and it brought you here, huh? Yeah. Then I went to Bates and he laughed at me, so I started for Shelby. Hey, hold on. Who are you? I'm trying to be your friend, Beckwood. You're a spy. Now look here. Your wife said the same thing. I want to know what I'd be spying on and why that cattle was taken. None of your business. I'm leaving. Oh, no, you're not. Let go of me. You're staying right here until you tell me a few things. The sheriff has turned into a cattle thief for some mighty important reason. What was there about those four steers? I won't talk. Maybe it'll be a surprise to you to know that you didn't follow the track of the steers. What? The track of the steers led into Colby Creek. Sure. And out the other side. No, Jim. The tracks that came out on the other side were not the tracks of your steers. They weren't? Then what in thunder were they? Those tracks were made by men who wore wooden cleats on their boots to make tracks that looked like cattle. They walked beside their horses until they reached this canyon. For what? To mislead you, of course. Why, that dog gone. Then they simply mounted their horses and rode away. You saw the tracks of the horses going to the edge of the canyon where the ground was rocky. But you were puzzled by the way the steer tracks stopped. Yeah. The marks weren't made as steers would make them. And they weren't nearly as deep in the ground as the hoof marks of horses. And that, you see, was the giveaway. When the men mounted, the hoof marks of the horses were deeper than before because of the extra weight. Then where are the steers? If the steers were driven into the creek, they were probably taken down or upstream. Now, why would Bates want you to lose track of your steers for a time? I can't tell you. He knew that if the rangers came, they'd see something that you wouldn't notice. Just what you outlined, huh? Exactly. That's why he had you captured and held here. Look, I'll pay if you find that cattle. I'll pay you all the cash I've got. Why must it be found? I won't tell you that. Hang it all, stranger. Can't you help me find it? It's got to be found before tomorrow morning. Then you talk, Sheriff. All right. No, you won't. I'll get you if you talk. You stand back. All right. If you've got to have the story, I'll give it to you. That's more like it, Beckwood. Well, my wife's father was against our living in the West. Why? Well, he said it wasn't the right sort of a place to bring up a family. Ann and I made a deal with him. If we could start out here with so many head of cattle and live for a certain term and finish with so many head, he'd figure we could make a go of it. But he thought the West would lick us. Oh, so you were close to winning, huh? We'd win with those four steers back in our range. Part of the deal was that neither of us, Ann or me, was to say a word about the agreement. Well, now you've got the story. Bates, did the girl's father get in touch with you? Sure he did. And he said he'd give us the cash for a new courthouse and sheriff's office if I'd help him get his youngsters back east. Don't you think Beckwood is the right sort for this country? Maybe, maybe not. But we need a new courthouse more than we do him. Well, it's all off now. I've told the story. Why were you to say nothing about it? Because the old man figured if folks knew about it, they might help us. Now my knowing about it can't help you. No, I'll have to tell Mr. Stevens that we didn't live up to the agreement. I see. Jim, you have a horse around here, haven't you? It's tied at the top of the gap with the horses of those two deputies. Get the horse and go back home. If you'll follow both banks of the creek, I think you'll find the real tracks of your steers. You lost anyhow by telling, so you may as well know where at their head. Look about a half mile downstream near a clump of cottonwoods. You'll find them tied there. All right. If you'd only kept out of this, I might have got three and brought the rangers. Hang it all. Well, what about us? Bates, I don't know yet whether Beckwood belongs in the west or not. Neither do I. But that there courthouse... Yes, but how do you know the courthouse is more important than a brave young couple? It isn't for you to decide. Unrope us and save the talk. No. I think I'll leave you here for the time being. I suppose this man, Stevens, will be coming on the stage in the morning. He will, and he'll expect me to meet him. Well, well. Come on, Tonto. Hey, don't leave us here. Let us go. We'll send someone to untie you tomorrow. What we do? Tonto, we'll meet Stevens in the morning when he gets off the stage. I'll send him up, Scout. The next morning, the stage from St. Joe arrived on schedule, and the tall Easterner stepped down. Tonto was waiting with a buckboard, and... You fellow named Stevens? Eh? Why, yes, yes, my name is Stevens. Where's Sheriff Bates? And me take you to ranch. I'm waiting for Bates. Him not come. You go see Beckwood? Hmm, annoying. Bates was to meet me. Well, all right, then. I'll ride with you. Throw my bags on the wagon, won't you? Come on. That all? That's all. Now drive those horses careful. Get them up. Tonto drove the team for about a quarter of a mile. Then a masked man riding a white horse pulled along the stage. What's this? What is this? A robbery? It's all right, Stevens. Get away. Get away from here. I'll change over and ride with you for a time. This is not... It's all right. I just want to speak to you. That mask. A crook. An outlaw. Nothing of the sort. Bates couldn't meet you because I tied him up. I borrowed the buckboard from Jim Beckwood, so Tonto could meet you. But I... Beckwood had no other way of meeting the stage. You see, he didn't know I'd taken his rig. Stevens, I won't have a talk with you. I won't tolerate this sort of thing. Never in my life have I... I'm afraid you'll have to tolerate it for a little while, because you see, I have something mighty important to tell you. Cattle stealing is dangerous business around here. What about it? Sometimes they hang cattle thieves, especially when the cattle is taken from a man who's well-liked. Popular, like Jim Beckwood. I don't know what you mean. See that tree? What about it? That's where they hanged the last man who was caught stealing cattle. He hired someone to do his stealing for him. What? What? How would you like to hang? Let me out of this wagon. I won't stand for this... You'll be quiet and listen to what I tell you. We have much time, because we'll be at the Beckwoods in a few minutes. I reckon there's no use trying to figure a way out, Anne. Now, on top of everything else, you not being able to meet Father at the stage station, you'll be mighty mad. It doesn't matter. We'll have to go back anyway. But why? We have the cattle now. Yeah, we have the cattle. Just enough to meet Dad's terms. Only, well, I had to tell that masked man. Yes. Jimmy, it means a lot to us to stay here. I love the West. Me too. I wonder... You're thinking the same I am. I'm afraid so, Jimmy. You were at the point of a gun when you talked, weren't you? Well, that masked man had me a prisoner. If I hadn't told about the agreement, Sheriff Bates would have. And I wanted that masked man to get it straight. Get our side of it. In court trials, when a man's made to say something at the point of a gun, it doesn't count. Gosh, I... No one would know. Can I come in? Dad! Well, girl... Oh, Dad, it's good to see you. It's been so long. How'd you get here? Our rig was stolen out of it. I got a rig in town. Rode myself the last part of the way. You sure look fit, daughter. Looks like the West agrees with you. It does. We love it here. Son, how are you? Fine. Fine, sir. Well, I guess today is the day our agreement ends, eh? You young folks ready to go back with me? No. No? We can talk about that later on, Dad. Jimmy will bring in your bags and I'll get some lunch ready. Hold on a minute. There's just one thing I want to get straight first off. How about that agreement? Who won? Oh, we have the number of head of cattle you said we should. Uh-huh. That's good. Hope you haven't forgotten there was more of the agreement. We own the cattle, Dad, and it's all paid for. I didn't have any help and neither did Jim. I didn't tell a soul about the agreement. You've got a lot of friends around here, though, haven't you? We hope so. They'd help you if you needed help, wouldn't they? Yes, but we didn't need help. How about it, Jim? Did you tell anyone about the agreement? Well, sir, we didn't take any help. That's not the point, son. Did you keep quiet or did you tell? Out with it now. Oh, it's no use, sir. I guess we'll have to admit you won. Eh? It's better, Jimmy. Tell the truth. What truth? Well, there was a masked man who put me on the trail if some cattle that were stolen. We kept our part of the agreement till yesterday and then I went... Good boy! Good boy! Ha-ha! That's the staff! What? You'll do, son. You'll do. The Lone Ranger said so. The Lone Ranger? He told me the whole story. But if you were strictly honest, you do for the West. You were honest, so you will do. But if you lied about it, you wouldn't have been the right sort for the West. But you didn't. You didn't. So if you want to stay right here, you stay. Oh, Dad, you darling. Oh, you darling. Here, Anne. Great Scott, Anne. Don't. Wait. Don't. Anne. Don't thank me. That masked man made me decide this way. Said if I didn't, he'd set your friends on me for hiring men to steal your cattle. Dad. He said that I... I should let you say if you told the truth. And I guess he knew you would. Now, if you want to smother someone with grateful kisses, Anne Stevens Beckwood, find the Lone Ranger. Just show him to me. The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
