fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty high-o silver, the Lone Ranger. The recovery of gold in the western United States brought wealth and prosperity to many of the early settlers. But greed for the precious metal led to violence and bloodshed. And it was in the hill country that the masked rider of the plains met his greatest opposition in the fight for law and order. 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 heading for Roaring Branch! In one corner of Blackie Sherman's general store at Roaring Branch, the Lone Ranger and Tonto stood at the counter. The proprietor was at the far side of the store so busy talking that he had not noticed his customers' end. We came in here for supplies, Tonto. But I have a hunch we're getting more than we bargained for. I don't care for the owner. Do you? Look at him. Him looking bad. The man he's talking to is no better. They haven't noticed us yet. That's right. In this case, I think eavesdropping will do no harm. We'll get a little closer, Tonto. I might just learn what they're talking about that makes them act so suspicious. Yeah, that a little boy. Are you certain for sure you know what you're talking about? Sure, the crack's been damned up, Blackie. I tell you, young Chad Wilkins is toting gold around town. Gold, I seen it. That good for nothing? Do I care if he's good for nothing? There ought to be somewhere we could find out about that gold, Blackie. You and me. Anybody else seen it? No, just me. When he get off his pony, his poke fell out of his pocket. I seen some of the gold spill out of what he grabbed after. I wonder if his folks are wise to him. No, sir. I'm betting he ain't told nobody, least of all his folks. He sure pulls the wool over there. I'd like to get that gold, providing there is gold. Yeah. What's so funny? I was just thinking, that kid's the apple of his folks' eye. It'd make me feel good to use their own no-good maverick to cheat him, wouldn't it, huh? Yeah, ain't got no use for him if that's what you mean. Yeah, that song singing go-to-meeting folks always make me mad. And the way they took that stretch of land and turned it into good property. Does it? That's what it was. Worthless sand. And they proved up on it, too. It's the best patch of grease in this side of the Rockies. They could have had that land. You didn't want it. How was that to know they could damn up Roan Branch Creek? Anyone could have seen it. The valley narrows right down to a narrow canyon, sort of. All they had to do was dump stones and dirt and trees at the head of the narrow part and the whole creek backed up. They can spread that water all over the valley, irrigation ditches and everything. Yeah, sure. It's easy to see now, but you didn't and I didn't. And the whole parcel of men here in town didn't. No. It took Lodge Wilkins to do it. Dad read him. Yeah, and the way he's got his ranch out of set right in that hollow where the creek bed used to be. Pretty. Yeah, and every time I see it, I get madder and madder. Yeah, but this ain't getting us no gold, Blackie. Now, what we gotta do is... What'd you stand at? Well, reach for our afternoon and it rocks right in your fist. Here he comes now. Uh-huh. Chad Wilkins is coming to your store. Is there a chance to learn about that gold, huh? None better, Blackie. Yeah, but how are we gonna do it? You leave that to me. Just follow my lead. Sure. Here he comes. I come in to buy some stuff, Sherman. You come to the right place, Bob. They got vittles, weapons, clothes for man and horse. Shelter for them as can pay for it. Throw that in your saddlebag, will you? Ain't it bad enough my maw makes a grown man do a shopping for her without you? Hey, let go. There it is. That's my poke. You took it out of my pocket. Keep your hands off. I thought I'd seen you with a poke of dust this morning. That's mine. Yeah? You recollect, Blackie, what I was just saying to you? Hey. Oh, yeah, sure. I lost a poke of dust last night, Chad. And this is it. You're playing the wrong brand, Bull. It's mine. I even recognize the dust. It's the very same I got over behind the mountain. It ain't neither. That come from the creek on Paul's land below the dam. It belongs to... Oh. It belongs to the dam, huh? Never mind. That's my dust. Yeah. Yeah. Now that I look at it, this ain't my poke anyhow. Mine was made of buffalo hide and this one's antelope. Give me that. Sure, son, sure. No odd feelings? I reckon the old man feels pretty good discovering gold, huh? That's none of your business. I'll be back later for that stuff, Blackie. You sure done a bull slick as a colt skin. Yeah. Now we know where the gold is, maybe we can do something about it, huh? This old man don't know neither. Did you see the way the kid covered up? This is getting right interesting, Blackie. You and me shouldn't have no trouble about it. We done stuff like this often enough before. I reckon you ought to close up shop, Blackie. We might take a pass here up around that canyon just below the dam. Gold. Yes, sir, we... What in tarnation? Come out of there, stranger. I see you on that engine. We came in to buy some supplies, Blackie. You were skulking behind that pile of buffalo skins. I seen you. You're masked. I am. Stranger, if you heard what was being said up here at the counter, you should be the best judge of that. Well, I'm warning you. Whether you did hear or not, remember this, masked man. We don't want no stranger sticking their nose in what ain't their business. Just what were you talking about? What were we... Get. Get out of here. I don't give a hang whether you're an outlaw or whatever you wear that mask for. There's the door. Take your engine, part, and get out. There, Moose, before you're took in for trespasses. That suits me. Come along, Tonto. Ah, we go. I sure told that hombre off trying to get himself an earful. What he get'll be the end of a rope around his neck. Blackie, that there was the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger. If he heard what we was talking about. He didn't hear besides your loco. That weren't the Lone Ranger. I tell you, Blackie... Listen. There, I told you. Did you hear that? It was the Lone Ranger. Well, maybe so. Maybe you're right. But he didn't hear nothing. And Lone Ranger, no Lone Ranger. There ain't nobody gonna stop me from getting that gold dust. We're going out there now. Where we go, Kimosabe? I want to take a look at that gold field. The creek below the dam. When we hurry, we can look it over and perhaps talk to Wilkins himself before Blackie and Bull get very far. That's true. Scalp and Silver, plenty fast. So we can go faster. Get up, Silver. Stretch those legs all the way. Get him up, Scalp. Get him up. Bull. Hey, Bull. Come running. Got something? Come here. Let me see. Here, take a look at the pan. Yes, sir. That's dust sure as I'm a foot high. Plenty heavy, too. Most an inch of it settle in the bottom of the pan. I wonder where the mother load is. Mother load nothing. This here dust is good enough even washed down. We ain't spending all our time trying to find any outcrop in a rock that's been took off it. Just run your fingers through this here. What the... Hey, what's this? Something in the gold? Yeah, heavy, too. It didn't get sifted out with the other stuff. What is it? We'd love to fish around here for... Maybe it's a nugget. Maybe it's one of those... Got it, idiot. Look at this here. It's a silver bullet. A silver bullet. I looked around at the ground at the head of the canyon, Mr. Wilkins. I scattered some silver bullets there as a warning just in case Blackie and Bull decided to do some illegal prospecting. Ma, you hear what this masked man's got to say? I hear him, Pa. I don't know how much store you set by your son Chad, Mrs. Wilkins, but I... Now, you stop right there, mister. Chad's my boy and ain't nobody can run him down. Oh, I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings, Mrs. Wilkins. Never mind that. We... Well, we're beholden to you for telling us about the gold and all. That when you insinuate that Chad might be... that he might be fooling his folks, well, thank you kindly, but be on your way. I reckon Ma's got the bit in her teeth, mister. If an eye was you... That's all right, Wilkins. I understand. I may see you again. Here, Silver. I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilkins. I know how hard you want to be proud of your boy. Perhaps he won't disappoint you after all. Lige. How'd he know it was just my pride that kept me from admitting we got a worthless, no good boy for our son? How'd he know? Now, Ma, like he says, Chad maybe'll pull out of it. There's very few colts don't kick over the traces a while before they grow up. No, Lige, no. I ain't never said it before, not even to you. I ain't even admitted it to myself, but now, Chad's no good. Plum no good. Now, Ma, don't you go crying. It won't help matters none. And besides, didn't that masked man say something about Blackie and Bull trespassing our land? Get my Winchester. I've got business to do. Gold is worth a plenty. If I don't get Lige Wilkins off this land, my name is... But that shot went right through the pen. I heard you talking, you know, good rattlesnake. Wilkins. Steady, don't go reaching for no weapons. Two against one, Wilkins. Not while I'm behind you, Dane. Ah, got us surrounded, eh, Wilkins? Well, we was just looking around, kind of. Yeah, so I see. Hey, I was wondering if you might be willing to sell your land, Wilkins. We, uh, give you a right fair price for it. Is that so? Sugar wouldn't melt in your mouth, what did Blackie Sherman? I suppose you think Chad didn't tell us about there being gold up here. Huh? Oh, told you, huh? Maybe did and maybe didn't. Let me see that. Hmm, just like I figured. Is it fool's gold, Paul? No, no, it ain't fool's gold, just placer gold. Why, if you was to work on this day in and day out, it wouldn't bring in more than the land brings me now, which ain't much anyhow. So you'd be wasting your time. Get before I put a rifle bullet where it'll do the most good. Get! Black night, bull. Good thing, too. Otherwise, Wilkins, my spot, is coming back here. Yeah, you can see the light from his house down there, Blackie. You think he was right about this here gold? Ah, there's plenty of gold. Plenty. He just didn't want us to get it. Most likely, he's going to work on himself and get rich. Oh, if there was any way to... I wonder maybe there is a way. Hmm? Suppose Wilkins was to die. Wilkins and his wife and his kid, the whole shebang. We could, uh, get this land. You ain't thinking of murder. I'm thinking of plenty of things. But it would be, uh, what you could call murder. Not exactly. You see where that house sits, Bull? Sure, right spanking the valley. Yeah. There weren't separate purpose at the head of the canyon. Where the dam Wilkins built. Yeah, the dam. Suppose that dam was to go out. Huh? If that dam was to go out, the water would be a raging flood. It would sweep down the valley and they'd be killed, drowned in the beds, all of them. And we could get that gold all for ourselves. What do you say, Bull? Bull? Yeah, Blackie. Yeah. It wouldn't be murder, would it? Sure not. It would be an accident. Just an accident. And you know something, Bull? I got a feeling it's going to happen real soon. 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. Now to continue our story. In the Wilkins cabin that night, Lige and his wife watched Chad, hoping the boy would take them into his confidence. But not a word was spoken until finally Mrs. Wilkins lost her patience and... Chad Wilkins, a body can stand just so much even from a son. Stop staring down at your boot tops and act like a decent man. Oh, let me alone. You knew there was gold there, didn't you? What if I did? And you didn't tell us. Us that brung you up. Brung me up. What kind of home is this? It ain't fit for even a skunk. It ain't no governor's mansion, but someday... Someday, someday. I'm sick of hearing that someday stuff. I've been hearing it since I was old enough to talk, slaving and working and sweating. There must be easier ways to get money and I'm looking for them. There's honest ways, son. We learned you plenty about them. Honest. What's the difference so long as you get it? By gravy, I've heard enough. You're a worthless, tumbleweed tramp. No, Martha. We've been fooling ourselves long enough. There ain't no good in him. Just a worthless desert bum. I used to think maybe your maw's tenderness and kindness would bring out some good in you. Like panning the river bring up gold. But there ain't no use talking. You've aggravated your maw for the last time. I won't get no place here anyhow. You ain't a gonna get no place. I'm a going to the town. There's Blackie and Bull and them fellas. They got the right idea. Blackie and Bull. They wouldn't know honest thought if they was to trip over one. I'm giving you a horse. You can take him. Now get out. Get out before I forget you, my born son, and do something I'll be sorry for. Get out. Marty. Marcy. You're done right, Lodge. There weren't nothing else to do. You're done right. I just wonder where he's going, that's all. We'll have that gold right in our sombreros. We'll blow that damn kingdom come higher than... Blackie. My kid. What are you talking about, Blackie? What are you doing here? What damn are you going to blow to kingdom come, huh? I left home and I want to go in with you. What damn are you going to... Hey, Sid, what are you doing here? I'm sick of living with my folks. They don't understand nothing about... Huh. I see you got blasting powder already. Say, I... I'd sure like to go along with you and... Well, what are you staring at? That powder. Blowing up a dam. No. No what? No, no, you can't be meaning to... There ain't but one dam in the county. Pa's dam. You're fixing to blow up Pa's dam. What do you care? You left home, did you? You can't do it, Blackie. It's murder. Ma and Pa... That's it. You figured on getting us out of the way so you could get the gold. Why, you dirty sidewiner! Blackie Sherman's store? That's right. Sherman, bull, him come out. Chad Wilkin, him not come out. He's still in there? Maybe him not come out. Come on, Silver! Come up, scound! I don't like this kimosabi. We're going to see what's keeping that boy in there. Blackie and Bull have left. Ah, we go after them but you say... Yes, I know, I said you would have watched the boy, not those men. Here we are. Kimosabi. Off your horse. If the door's locked, knock it in. Armie. Door, him open. Tonto. Armie, see? Tie it up. All right, son, take it easy. We'll have you out of here in just a moment. Cut those ropes, Tonto. Armie, do it. Work this gag loose. There. Mister, mister, you've got to warn Pa. Where are Blackie and Bull doing? Get them ropes off. Get me untied. They're going to the dam. They're going to blast it wide open. What in that? Let me loose. That water will drown Ma and Pa. They'll be drowning in their sleep. They won't have a chance. Rope cut now. We've got to stop Blackie and Bull. We've got to hurry. All we can, Chad. Tonto, the horses. Here, Scout. That's all my doing. If I hadn't got that gold ma and Pa wouldn't be in danger. It's too late for talk, Chad. Yep, on your horse. Hurry. Here, boy. Come here, boy. Come on, Scouts. Come on, boy. Come on. Hell, Silver. Tonto, Chad, pull up. No, we've got to ride. Pull up. Go, Scouts. Pull up. What are we stopping for? We ain't got much time. They'll set off the powder. I've changed our plans, Chad. They had a long head start. Perhaps that blast will go off forks here. To the right, the dam. To the left, the trail of your home, Chad. Which do you want to take? You mean... That blast goes off. Anyone riding to the cabin will be right on the path of the water. The rider won't stand a chance. I don't care. It's a chance I've got to take. I've got to try them more and more and more. You go after Bull and Blackie. I'll ride for the cabin. Wait, Chad. Stop. Stop. I tell you. You proved yourself, Chad. I wanted to learn just how much your parents really meant to you. You go on my reins. I got to... No, Chad. Chad, your horse isn't fast enough. Silver, cover the ground faster. Now head for the cabin. Tonto. Huh? You and Chad ride for the dam. Try to stop Blackie and Bull. It's the safest way. At last. It's the dam. They set it off. It's the dam. All right, Tonto. You and Chad, get going. I'm riding for the cabin. You heard that boy, Silver. Run, old fellow. Run, Silver, as you never did before. Come on, Silver. Look at that water ball. Yeah, we sure put a hole in the dam, Blackie. It's going fast in the spring freshet. Yeah, let's do it roll. Sweeping every then before. Fifteen feet of solid water. Tons and tons of weight racing down the valley. Ha-ha! Sure going to hit Wilkins' cabin when awful smack. Ma, are you ready to turn in? No. Just sitting there rocking, thinking about Chad. I reckon I can't help it, Lodge. He's the only child we got. Ma, you remember that time Chad got caught in a thunderstorm? It is way back when... I remember it. Chad was five years old. That sound we heard a couple minutes ago put me in mind of it. Sounded like thunder, didn't it? Yeah, that's what brung it to my mind, too. Funny, there wasn't no sign of rain at sundown. Remember how worried we was about Chad that time? Him getting lost in the storm? Night and night drowned. Yeah. That is when he fell in a stony creek. I've got to get him back tomorrow, Lodge. Yeah, Ma. Even he'll come back. It's a funny thing, Ma, about that thunder, kind of. You keep hearing it? Oh, it seems like I hear something. Something way off. Kind of Russian growling sound, Lodge. It ain't like thunder. Ma. Ma, that noise. That Russian sound. That's water, Ma. Water? It's a sound I heard before and I don't never forget it. That was no thunder. That was a dam going on. Lodge, the valley. It'll come right down the valley. A wall of water 15 feet high. Hurry, Ma. Wilkins! Wilkins! Oh, get the horse. Wilkins, get your horse. There's a flood coming down the valley. Get your horse. It's a mask, man. I ain't got but one horse. Get him. Ride him yourself. Silver can carry double. Come on, Mrs. Wilkins. Up in front of me. Hurry, the water's coming fast. Don't wait for me. Get Ma. Let's be safe, mister. None of us will be safe unless we hurry. Up the slope. Climb your horse. Up, Silver. Get up, old fellow. You'll never make it carrying double. It's just to make it. Come on, boy. Come on. Hold his plumb more out, mister. Can't climb much more. Stop. All right, Wilkins. Rain up. You sure this is high enough? That water's boiling along. This is high enough. Look, the wall of water's hitting your cabin. Go on. She went down like Kimberl. Mister, we sure want to thank you. That horse of yours is a one of the way he carried a double load. Me and Martha could never have made it. We'd be rolling and twisting in that water right now if it hadn't have been for you and that horse. Hear that, Silver? You did a good job. Looks like me and Martha ride back where we started from. No home. Nothing. Yes, Paul. Only this time we're too old to start over again. Too old. Perhaps you won't have to start over again, Mrs. Wilkins. What are you saying, mister? You mean... When we rest the horses, suppose we ride up toward where the valley narrows down into the canyon. It should be daylight when we get there. Perhaps you won't have to start over again. Reach the canyon, mister. It's not quite dawn yet. I don't want dawn to come. Never. Wouldn't show us nothing but mud and dirt and ruined land. Now there ain't nothing. Is a rider coming this way, Mrs. Wilkins? Yeah, a rider. Can't make out who it is. Too dark to tell you yet. Lige. Lige. I got a feeling. I got a feeling it's someone we've been hoping to see. Hello! Marcy, did you hear that? Lige is our son. It's Chad. You can dismount now, Mrs. Wilkins. It's Chad! Chad! Chad! Oh, boy, is that you? Are you all right? Chad! Oh, boy. Son, we found you. You'll come back. Oh, gosh, boy. Gosh, it's so good to see you both. The masked man saved our lives, son. What are you doing up here? Oh, Paul, Blackie and Bull put Potter into the dam. They wanted to kill you to get the gold, but I learned about it. The masked man had the fastest horse, so he went after you. Blackie and Bull. The sheriff's got him now, Paul. The engine took him to town, but... Well, I... I had to see you. I had to find out how you were. Oh, you both gotta forgive me. I... I've been an awful fool, but... last night when I thought you was gonna die, I... I knew I couldn't ever live apart from you both. Not ever. Chad. Why, son, that's all we've been aching to hear. It don't matter that we ain't got no home to go to, nothing to live on or to eat, as long as we got you. That's all that matters. But... Oh, gosh, I... I was so excited seeing you I plump forgot about the gold. We ain't poor, Ma. We're rich. Gold? What gold? Plenty of gold, Pa. A whole solid vein of it. What on earth are you talking about? It's true, Ma. It's right up the canyon. A vein of solid gold. Chad, it weren't there before. Oh, sure it weren't, Pa, but it's there now. When the dam broke, the water came down so hard it plump scraped it clean. You can see it sparkling and glittering just as soon as the sun comes up. And, Pa... Yes, um... You know what the engine said? The mask man's pardoned, Chad? He... He said the mask man found out about that gold before. Gosh, you know it. It almost seems like the mask man might have figured everything out just so things had happened this way. Where you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
