A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty high-o silver, the Lone Ranger. In the western United States, the stagecoach drivers face many dangers, from storms and landslides, hostile Indians, and worst of all, the bands of outlaws that roam the new territory. It was not until the masked rider of the plane started his great fight for law and order that travel became safe on the frontier. It was only his strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness, that made possible the winning of the West. 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! We're on the trail of the Sagebrush Gang! Two middle-aged women were sitting on the front porch of one of the weather-beaten houses that lined the main street of Osage. You know, Cassie, I'll never get over the marvel of these modern times. Well, don't tell me there's something else that's new. I thought the grandest thing I ever heard of was a telegraph they got over to Appleby. Well, my man Jim, being branch manager of the stage line, gets to hear all the latest. I expect he does. Them stage drivers are just plum-filled of ballin' over with news from the East. That and the Pony Express. Just so. Oh, my sakes, what's coming next? Wait till you hear. Now, Maggie, don't keep me on tender hooks. Tell me. Well, Jim had a letter by the pony rider no later than yesterday about the next shipment coming through on the stage line. It's silk. Silk? My word of honor. Oh, my soul. That ain't the news, though. Who around here could afford to buy silk? Taint fur around here. Taint? No. Oh, no, it isn't. It's for the Gold Coast. Folks out there are fairly rollin' and reekin' with cash. I expect they pay as high as five, six hundred dollars for a silk dress. Hmm. Just to put on airs with. I expect so. Anyways, what do you think's special about that silk? Well, any kind of silk out this fur west, somethin' special. Oh, there's more than that. This silk can't be stole by engines or highwaymen. Can't be stole? Hmm. These critters out here can steal anything up to and includin' a house and property. Well, what I mean to say is the man that sent that silk can't lose nothin'. And neither can the stage line. How's that they want? Oh, some newfangled thing that's called insurance. Called... In what? Insurance. It keeps folks from losin' money when there's somethin' stole. I don't know much about it. My land. Whoever thunk that of? Oh, I heard it's come from all the ways across the ocean. From England. Someplace it's known as Lloyd's. Oh, here's Jim now. Morning, Cassie. Good morning, Jim. You're lookin' right pert this morning. Oh, you? Jim, I was just tellin' Cassie about that insurance that's comin' with the silk. Well, I sure ain't good to get a peek at this insurance thing. What's it like? Somethin' like a six-shooter? Well, no. What you been tellin' Cassie about it, Maggie? Oh, just what I knowed. If the silk on the stage is stole, nobody loses nothin'. Well, how's it work? Sounds most like magic to me. Just don't make sense. If somethin' stole, I always thought somebody had to lose. I can't figure it no other way. You women. Sakes alive, don't go tryin' the savvy big business. Tain't ladylike. Well, ladylike or not, I crave to see an insurance workin'. All there's to it's this. The men that own the silk pay some cash to men that sell insurance. Cash? Money? Yeah. Then if the silk gets through safe, all well and good. The insurance people keep the cash. But if the silk gets stole, then the insurance people pay for it. Well, the owners of the silk have to pay the insurance folks. Why don't they just keep the cash to pay for the silk if it gets stole? Then if it ain't stole, they're that much in. Well, sakes alive, they might just well have the cash as the insurance folks. Oh, the schemes these men dream up. But listen, they don't pay as much for the insurance as the silk's worth. Then where's insurance men gettin' off it and they pay out more than they got comin' in? But maybe they don't. They insure things everywhere. It's all kinds of things. And they keep on... Seems like a losin' proposition to me. But dead redder, Cassie... At any rate, it sounds a heap like gambler. Cassie! It's big business, that's what it is. Hmm. Big business. I don't save it neither, Cassie. It just ain't sand. You women. I should know better than to try to tell you... Look, there comes a stage, Jim. You better hurry over to the station. Well, she's right on time. Look at it bowling along. Land sakes, I guess I better get over there. Come on, Cassie! All right, I see it. I'm comin' over. Come on, Cassie. Maybe we can see that sale. We'll sure like to see that insurance thing... If they got it aboard. Cassie, I told you insurance was big business. Hey, think it loud, Meg. It's most too good to be fooled... Bringing silk out here in the state. Do you suppose we could touch it? Oh, poor man. Oh, Bill. Oh, I see. Poor man. Poor. Put it away there, you folks. Where's Jim? I got something to tell him. Here I am. You're right on time, driver. Jim, what do you want... That load of silk we were springing in. Where is it? It appears to me you're loaded mighty light. Where's that silk? I don't know. You don't know? What do you mean? That silk's plenty valuable property and I was... It's stalled, Jim. It's a lie. Stalled? That's what I said. We were stuck up. You mean it was robbed? You hear that, Maggie? How could the two of you be robbed? Who done it? Where did it happen? Where's that silk now? Who'd want a lot of silk anyhow? What good is it around here? Come on, driver, talk fast. What are the true facts? Give me a chance to talk, will you? And make sure you tell the true facts. Let me get down from here. The guard will back up when I tell you. We stopped for a fallen tree in the roadway. And then a man steps up with a mask. A mask covering his face and sticks us up. There was at least a dozen others with him. The Sagebrush gang. Yeah, like is not. The rest was hit on both sides of the trail. Squitting at us from over their rifles. We're no use trying to put up a fight. We didn't have a chance. Did the mask critter look like Sagebrush Charlie? I couldn't tell what he looked like. But he spoke with an Eastern style of talk. Made us throw the silk off the stage. Then made us move the tree aside and go past it. Then he made us stop again and put the tree back across the trail again. It was true facts, Jim. Every word of it. They made you put the tree back, you say. Looks like he aims to stop the next stage in the same way, don't it? Looks true. The next stage? For what? What's on that one? You women will stop gabbling at me, I'll tell you. Good talk. There was so much silk to get on the first stage, Coach, that it couldn't be done. So they had to hold some back to go on the next one. And that one's due to get stuck up, too. Yeah, like is not. They're probably in the same place. And same way. Hey, Jake. Yeah, Jim? Get for Sheriff Brandon. Get him here to get fast. And we need a posse. Tell him that. A big one, too. Tell him it's Sagebush Charlie's gang that robbed us. Jake, never mind. Hank, you take care of the horses. I'll go see the Sheriff my own self. We've got to get after these highwaymen, the ordinary crooks. They steal just for the sake of stealing, that's what. That's the truth. What good would a lot of silk be to them? Can't sell it around here. Well, of course they can't. What's more, they wouldn't have no way of taking to the coast without being seen and catched. Well, never mind. Stand there making guesses. Come on with me. We've got to get set to ride and hunt them crooks. Come on. Oh, my sink's alive, Cassie. Ain't it exciting? I don't see where this year insurance thing's worked out. The silk was stole in spite of it. Get him up, Scarl. Tonto, the faithful Indian companion of the Lone Ranger, was in the crowd that watched the arrival of the stagecoach. As Jim started for the Sheriff's office, he rode away to join the masked man in a small camp a few miles to the east. There, he reported what he had seen and heard. Tonto, let me make sure of a couple of points. There was too much silk to send on one stage, so the next stagecoach will also carry a load. Is that it? Not right. The outlaws made the guard and driver put the tree back on the trail, so the next stage would have to stop. Oh, not right. But they let the driver and guard live to get to town and tell about it. That white fella from town ride out. They'll be laying in wait to catch the sagebrush gang when they stop the next stage. Oh. Come on, Tonto. There's no time to lose. Here, Sylvie. And get my saddle cinch while I pack her things. There's plenty of feller there already. But the stage won't be held up where those fellas think it will. Not be held up there? No. That was the plan of the outlaws. They'd never have let the driver tell about it. Uh-huh. But by making everyone think that was their plan and go there, the robbers will have no trouble stopping the stage somewhere else along the trail. Steady, silver feller. Steady. Strap those things behind the saddle. Uh-huh. Time to fix it. They won't rob the stage between the scene of the last robbery and town. So, we must get beyond the scene of the last robbery. That's right. Tonto, you said the only hold-up man that showed himself spoke like an Easterner? Um, that's what drivers say. All right, Tonto. Get your saddle. Tonto ready. Come on, then. I'll see you all my hold-up. Riding like the wind, the Lone Ranger headed east, hoping to prevent a second hold-up. Right ahead is where the tree was put across the road. Tonto said. That's where the posse is waiting for the robbers. That's right. There they are now. Uh-huh. That posse. We don't want them to see us, Tonto. We'll cut south. This way. Come, Scott. Come on, Silver. Tonto, you said there were about a dozen men in the sagebrush gang? That's what drivers say. But only one of them spoke. That's right. And he spoke like an Easterner? That's right. Talked some like you. Very well. Come on, Silver. Tell us where those men are waiting, Tonto. You may have to ride back there with a message. What message? I'm not sure yet, Kimasami. But I have an idea that may solve this robbery. We'll see later on. Uh-huh. We find out when we find stage, huh? Yes, Tonto. Get him up, scound. The sheriff, the guard and driver of the robbed stage, a dozen other men took cover near the spot where the first holdup had taken place. As they waited for the bandits to return, the afternoon slipped by, and they grew more and more impatient. Oh, I don't know what's delaying it. It ain't much past you, boss. Maybe it'll be getting inside any minute now. Yeah, and there's so many things that could slow it up. Ain't nothing to worry about. It's a few hours late. I thought we'd see something of the outlaws. That's a point. If Sagebrush Charlie and his gang plan to stick up the next stage here, they should be getting on the job, shouldn't they? Sounds like good sense. I wonder if they could have known we come here and got scared away. Dead dreaded. I bet that's exactly what happened. Well, in that case... Hmm? What if that's the case, driver? If they found out that we was to be here, they'd have had a man in town when we left. Some man in town would have to be a member of the Sagebrush gang. Hey, there's a man riding down here. Yeah, coming fast, too. Hey, that their engine was in town. So he was. Hey, seen him there. Maybe he's one of the gang. Get your guns on him. Stand where you are. Heist your hands. Stick him up. We got you covered. Put guns down. Who are you? Speak up and speak fast. Me come tell about outlaws. Sage. Me find out plenty. Well, what'd you learn? Sage get robbed. Tonight, you come. Ride plenty fast. Get them up, scouts. Come on, fellas. Let's follow that red skid. Let's get to a horse. Let's get to the saddle. You heard what I said. Come on. Come on. 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. The tunnel led the posse away from the spot where the first stage had been held up. The Lone Ranger was waiting at the side of the trail a few miles farther to the east. Quiet, Silver. This looks like a man coming now. Yes, it's Smith, all right. Come on, boy. Rain up there. Don't reach for your gun. You're covered. Masked. Your name is Henry Smith, isn't it? I haven't any money. Just answer my question. You're Henry Smith, the manager of the eastern office of the stagecoach line. That's true, isn't it? Yes, it's true. What do you want? Where are you heading, Mr. Smith? That's my business. Does it have anything to do with the stagecoach robbery? What do you mean? Don't you know? I don't know what you're talking about. One of your coaches was held up about five miles from here. You're sure? What was taken? You should be able to tell me what was carried. Oh, I see. The silk. You stole the silk, but now that you found out what's in the bales, you realize you can't dispose of it. I suppose you want me to buy it back. I had nothing to do with the robbery. Only outlaws wear masks. There are exceptions to that rule. If you're not an outlaw, why have you stopped me? I want you to follow me. Where? In the direction of town. The posse's been formed and they're heading this way. Then I'd advise you to make tracks. No, Mr. Smith. You and I are going to meet that posse. If you refuse... Why should I refuse? Just remember that you're still covered. Of course. Perhaps I've made a mistake about you, stranger. Perhaps you have. If you're not afraid to meet that posse, you must be on the side of the law. I am. Then I'll be glad to ride with you. Let's go. Come on, Silver. Meanwhile, the posse was following Tonto in close pursuit. Maybe that engine does know something. Just keep after him or don't shoot him. I don't aim to shoot him. He's keeping a doggone fast pace. That's some horse he's riding. What do you mean by saying the stage we brought tonight? The only way to find out what he meant is to keep after him. It'll soon be dark, too, drat and all. Ain't nothing to lose by keeping on the trail. We'll meet the stage sooner or later. If the stage is on the trail, we'll meet it. Hey, the Redskins stopped. There's the stagecoach. That's the one. It's coming this way. Pull off your horses by the engine. Thank goodness the guard and driver ain't been killed. If the stilk's still aboard, we'll ride alongside it till it's out in the danger zone. What do you mean by saying the stage was to be robbed tonight, engine? Fine, fine. You'll find out. Well, I'll hold my hand up and stop the stage. Good idea. Hi there, boys. Have any trouble? No, there ain't no trouble. Who are you? Pete is the division boss. Howdy there. What you doing way out here? The stage ahead of you was robbed. Rob? Say, that one had a pile of silk in it, the same as we got. It did, and that same silk was stolen. Ain't that the driver and guard of it with you? Just so. Ain't you had no trouble? Not a bit. There was some mighty heavy going where the roads is a might bad, but that's all. And the silks inside the coach all safe and sound? Sure. What you worried about it for, anyhow, boss? This year's silk's covered with that new thing they call insurance, ain't it? Yeah. Then the stage line ain't out nothing, even if the silk is stolen. We get a black mark on the books every time we lose a cargo, you know that. Yeah, but that there company in England is the one to lose out when the stuff is stolen. Chugs, what difference does it make to us? Anyhow, boss, the load's safe and there ain't nothing to worry about. Now, should we get on into town? Not yet. But does your silk's got to get all the way to Frisco? Oh, I'll have a look to make sure it's still there. You're the boss. Take your look and then let's get going. We had a long trip and a bit of grub will sure look good. Let me see. Yeah, but it's in here all right enough. Why, of course it is. We'd know if it weren't. Where's that engine? Me, here. Look here, you doggone troublemaking redskin. What'd you tell us the stage was to be robbed tonight for? Me not know. What's that? He says he didn't know. He's local. Talks without knowing what he's talking about. You mean to say you don't know why you told us the stage was going to be robbed? Me want you fella come here, find stage. For what? That's what friend tell Tonto to do. His friend told him to do it. Who's your friend? You wait here. Him come plenty soon. There's a couple of men coming down the trail from the east right now. Two men coming. Hey, Jim. One of them's wearing a mask over his face, you see it? Yeah, I see it all right enough. Come on, Silver. Well, that fella tell you why Tonto bring you here. Who is he? Say, maybe this is the robbery. Stand ready with your guns, boys. Don't take no chances. What are you all doing here? What's the meeting for? Main thing we're here for is to ask you two a few questions. Which of you is the division boss? I'm him. Who are you? That needn't concern you. This man with me is named Henry Smith. Who are you, Smith? I mean, what are you doing here? You should know. I'm one of the owners of the line you work for. Sleeping catfish. You're the Henry Smith that's head of the eastern office of the line. I am. I told Smith that the first stage loaded with the silk had been robbed. Yeah, and so it was. And it's true? True as can be. So the load of silk was stolen, eh? Well, it was a pretty smart idea of mine to have it insured. The company will get the money back then? Of course. Yes, there's more silk on this stage, Mr. Smith. And we had a notion of the sagebrush gang and tried to steal that too. So we come out to protect it. Yes. Yes. But who's the masked man? Get him, boys. He's the man you're looking for. Huh? That's just what I told you. Heist your hand, stranger. Don't be too quick to accuse me. He's a thief. I genuinely must be. I got a gun on you, stranger. Don't move. I kitted him along until I got help. I had an idea that he was an outlaw. Good work, Mr. Smith. Maybe you're a sagebrush Charlie, stranger. Take off that mask. Do you notice that the guard and driver of this stage here are among the first to hold guns on me? Never mind your talk. Take off that mask. You'll first hear what I have to say. I says for you to take off... I say listen. This man, Smith, thought he was being clever and not trying to pull a gun on me. He thought he was persuading me to ride to town so he could have me captured and blame for the stage robbery. Don't waste time listening to him. Time and make him tell where the stolen silk has been hidden. If he won't tell, shoot him. That's the ticket. Straight up, mister. Where's that stolen silk? Talk fast or I'll plug you. That stage you've been driving has already been robbed, but you and the guard won't admit it. Already been robbed? What do you mean? Exactly what I said. And if you want to capture me, you'll have to catch me. Hey, there. Oh, stop him. Shoot him. Drop him. Take after him. He's got to win. Come on, boys. Can't hit him. He's riding too fast. Look at that horse, crap. We'll lose him in the dark. Come on, boys. Get moving. Come on, boys. Most of the members of the posse took after the masked rider. The guard and driver of the second stage remained with their coach. Henry Smith also stayed behind. And Tonto, after riding a short distance with the others, doubled back to the trail. Steady, Scout. Steady. We go back, boy. Get him up, Scout. Posse was unable to gain on the Lone Ranger until he had covered several miles. Then... We're gaining on him now. This horse has slowed down a lot. Let's try another shot to get him. Don't nobody kill that man. I ain't gonna know some more about this thing. But he's not the one... Is he the man that robbed you? Godgone it, no. He's bigger than that, fella. All right, then. Capture him. Make him talk. Pull up your horse and we'll fire. All right. Keep him covered. Circle him so he can't get away again. Watch him. He's full of tricks. Got away last time like nothing. Now we got you, stranger. Just don't try nothing. That's all. I wanted you to catch me. You would? You wanted us to get you. You mean to say that you... I thought it was mighty funny. That horse of yours slowed up so sudden. What's behind all this? This, Jim, is where you'll find the evidence you'll need to learn the truth of the two-stage robberies. Two-stage robberies? There was only one robbery. There were two. Where's this proof you're talking about? Right here. The last time I was here a few hours ago, there was a fire. There were some things burning right there on the ground. If you light another fire, you can see what I managed to rescue from the flames. It's getting terrible dark. Wait a minute, Jim. I'll get a fire going with this brush. Hurry up with that fire. What I can see about them bundles in the ground there looks mighty familiar. There she is. Not big, but it's big enough to have a look-see. Jim. Jim, let me have a look at them bundles. Go ahead. You take a look too, guard. Guard? Looky here what that masked man's found. I'm looking and I'll be doggone it. Jim, these here are the bales of silk that were stolen from our stage. I'm sure they are. And most all burnt up. Come on, Jim, and take a look at that cloth. Feel it. Yeah. Let me see that, guard. Look at this. This bear right here. Why, this ain't... You're right, Jim. That isn't silk. Not silk? No. The cheapest kind of cloth is in those bales. He's right. Anybody can tell that stuff ain't silk. Let me explain everything to you. The first stage was loaded in the east with bales of silk. It was inspected as it was loaded. It was insured against robbery. Yeah, I know about that. What are you getting at? Then a certain man concocted a scheme with the guard and driver of the second coach. The first guard and driver were told that the other bales of silk would follow the first load. That's what we were told, all right. The first load was stolen by the same man that arranged the plot. He mounted a horse and came on ahead of the stage. He held you up and made you throw out the bales of silk. After he let us go ahead, he made us put the tree back across the road. So all the folks in town would think another robbery might take place there. He didn't want folks hunting for the robber this side of that place. Go on. After the silk was stolen, the stage line would be paid for it by the insurance company. The man's problem then was to get the silk west, where it could be sold. That's why he said there was a second load of silk to come. Oh, there was. A second load is what we've seen. No. It's back there in the trail right now. The silk in that stage is the silk that was stolen from the first one. The second stage didn't hold silk at all. It was filled with these bales of cheap cloth, which were unloaded here and burned, to make room for the silk that was in the first stage. I get it now. I get it. The money for the silk would be paid over, and this schemer still had the silk to sell in the west at a big profit. That's right. Name the schemer in the east. Just name him. Henry Smith. That's what I thought, Dad Ratadol. That's just what I thought when you started to talk. With the driver. The guard didn't know about it. They did know about it. I saw them helping Smith bring the silk back here. They left the stage and used the horses to do it. That's why I knew they were involved. By Ginger Smith, a crook. But wait a minute. That story don't hold water, stranger. Why? We've seen the holdup. We're the ones that was held up. Yes? And there was at least a dozen men with rifles. How many men spoke to you? Just one, but they were... How many men did you see? I've seen at least a dozen of the shrubs alongside the trail. Did you see men, or did you see sticks poked through the bushes to look like rifles with hats set by them? What? Gosh. Now I come to think on it. And did you check the footprints in the underbrush? If you did, you'll find that all the prints are made by one man, and Henry Smith, that man. That's easy to prove. You can see the burned remnants of all the hats and sticks he used in the ashes of the fire. And right off the bat, we started thinking it was all done by the stage brush gang. That story rings like there's truth in it. Hey, we left that guard and the driver back on the trail. And Smith's there with them. They'll be there when you get there, men. Like fun they will. Well, they'll be gone. No, no, my Indian friend went back to guard them for you. Well, I'll be roped and throwed for a doggie. See here, mister. You sure enough thought this thing through and took care of everything. You can go back down the trail and get the prisoners and the silk. I think the guard and driver will confess and throw the blame on Smith. I got the same idea. But listen here. There ain't but one man that's got the brains and forethought to do all you done. There ain't but one man alive could have cleared this all up. Is it all cleared up? Yes, sirree. I'm satisfied, and I'm a mighty hard man to convince. And we all suspected you, stranger. That's a good one, guard. Us suspecting him. Us suspecting the Lone Ranger. You have just heard that the copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
