A fiery horse for the speed of light, the cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the Lone Ranger. During the years of unrest that followed the Civil War, a powerful secret organization called the Legion of the Black Arrow sprang up in the western United States. Its members were to be found everywhere, defying the law or using the law for their own purposes, working toward the ultimate goal of revolt and the foundation of a despotic empire. It was the masked rider of the plains who led the fight against this band of outlaws and traitors, and for once his great strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness were taxed to the utmost in the cause of democracy. Return with us now to those thrilling days when the West was young. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of a great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Silver! Run the tail of the black girl! Hail, Silver! Hooray! Two men crouched in the shadow behind the hotel for a long time, before they made their stealthy way toward a window. A tiny flame from the low-turned wick of an oil lamp served as their beacon. The window was open. I guess we're all right now. No one saw us come in. Save your breath and get inside. I'm in. Shut the window behind you. Well, is anyone here to meet us? I'm here. Huh? Oh, I didn't see you in the shadow there. My name is Sidney Drake. You two have been told to take instructions from me. Yeah, we was told. Which of you is named Vine? That's me. This other gent is Zeke. Obviously. You've doubtless been told you'll be paid for following instructions. And for not following them, you'll go to jail with the four already there. Yeah, I sure hope there'll be some way to get those four out of jail before they're hanging. You'll help in an indirect way. How's that? One of my spies overheard a conversation between the Lone Ranger and his Indian friend. You've heard of the Lone Ranger? We sure shoot in half. One of the things I want you to do is to spread a story. Tell everyone you see, in a confidential way, that the ring which the Lone Ranger wears has been stolen. That'll be easy enough, but what's the point? Do as order without question. Oh. All right, Mr. Drake. Your second assignment is to be carried out at once. You will ride to the bridge over Arrow Creek. We know where that is. Weaken the bridge. Weaken it? I want that bridge to collapse with the weight of the first man and horse to cross. There's a falls a little downstream from the bridge. I know it. If the man goes over the falls, he won't have a chance. I don't want him to have a chance. Neither do I want his death to look like murder. It must look like an accident. We can fix that. After you've weakened the bridge, remain on guard and don't let anyone cross until the United States Marshal arrives. Oh, it's the Marshal you want, eh? Yes. We can handle that all right, can't we, Zeke? Sure thing. You want us to start for the bridge right away or stay around town and spread the word that the Lone Ranger's ring has been stolen? Start for the bridge now. I'll start the story of the theft of the ring. Right. Open that window again. I'll get it. Now, go. About us getting paid for our work. Later. I'm out, Vine. Come on, I'll give you a hand. I can make it all right. Golly, Zeke, I never. He's closing the window. That Mr. Drake gives me the creeps. I never seen anything to equal him for looking through a man. No more did I. Dark as it was in that room of his, I felt that he was seeing every thought we had. Them eyes of his seemed to fairly glow in the dark. I wonder just who he is. Make up your mind that he's the most important crook that's been around here. I'm sure of that, Zeke. And another thing. He knows plenty. That man's smart. Why, I wouldn't no more try to double-cross him than I'd try to fly. He'd know it, I tell you, Vine. He'd have a way of knowing it the minute you so much as thought of trying to put one over on him. Don't even talk of such a thing, Zeke. Let's go and start on that there bridge. Believe that you're the man you see, you are. The girl who sent me to meet you told me about you. I will save time. I would like to see the real face of the Lone Ranger. You ever take that mask off? I wear it, Marshal, to hide my face. I know. Well, I came to this woods to meet you. Now start talking. I've got another call to make tonight. Tonight? Yep, a special one. I might learn more about the Black Arrow because of it. Tonto, throw a little dry brush on the fire so I can show the Marshal the ring. Ah, Tonto, fix it. What ring are you talking about? You can see it now. Take a good look at it. Yes. Never forget it. I never will. It's different than anything I ever saw before. I have to use a disguise, Marshal. I have it ready to put on. You see, there's a chance that you'd confuse me with other men. That's why I want you to remember the ring. What other men? There are four crooks in jail. Well, I want you to put me there with them. You choose a mighty unpleasant company. I hope it'll be worthwhile. Did you know that those four are to be moved to San Lomé? Yes. Do you know why? Yes, they're to be sentenced to death by hanging. Execution is to be carried out in San Lomé. Yes. That's why there's so little time to learn what we can from them. Maybe they don't know anything. They were offered the chance to talk when they were on trial. They could have escaped hanging if they'd squealed, but they didn't. I know they didn't. Yet I'm sure they could tell a lot if they wanted to. You think so? Those men are members of the Legion of the Black Arrow. They know who some of the leaders are. They know where the main headquarters is located. See, there's just one reason why they didn't save their worthless necks by squealing. Why? They're counting on being rescued. That's what I figured. That's why I arranged to have them transferred to San Lomé. They can be close to watch there. There are two reasons why I want to be with them. Yeah? I might be able to learn who the organizers of the Black Arrow are and the location of the headquarters. But I might also be able to spoil any plans to save those crooks from hanging. Well, I'll jail you if that's the way you want it. It is. But I'll tell you right now, Lone Ranger, the days between now and when those men hang won't be pleasant ones. You'll have to take certain precautions. How's that? Well, you'll have to make out papers to send to San Lomé so the record will show five men instead of four. Yes, I reckon so. The Black Arrow has spies everywhere. My arrest is not made to look bona fide. These spies might find out our trick. But it's risky. Mighty risky. Perhaps. But if something happened to me, I'm the only one that knows the truth. If all the records are fixed up so you're in with a force slated to die and those records aren't changed back again... There's more risk in not changing the records. I don't know about that. The chances of something happening to you are less than the chances of the Black Arrow having access to the records. Maybe. If I'm in jail unarmed with four murderers... But come, Marshal, make me your prisoner and let's get to town. Here, Marshal, are my orders from the President. I've kept it in the secret compartment of my ring. Anything should happen to me that would be invaluable to the Black Arrow. I don't want it to fall into their hands, so guard it with your life. Yeah, all right, Lord Ranger, I will. Now, change this entry in the ledger. See, now, five instead of four. Well, everything's done. Lock me in with the others. I'll have to ride hard to get to my meeting. And let's not waste more time in your office. What's the idea of waking us up like this? Get in there, you old-were-murdering cook. Hey, this jail's crowded as it is. Shut up! Yeah, can't even be left alone in jail. Yeah, that'll hold you to morning. Oh, Axe Morn, she'll be fixed. Ah, that'll do. That'll do, Zeke. This bridge will go down to the weight of a man alone to say nothing of a man on a horse. All we gotta do is stand here on the bank and make sure the marshal is the one that gets the fall. I sure hope he comes along real soon. I'd like to get a little sleep before sunup. Sleep don't mean nothing to me now. Not when I think of the four that are in the calaboose. Lucky we're not there with them. Doggone lucky. Lucky we're not the marshal, too. Listen to that falls downstream. I hear someone coming from that way. Get back here. We can see who it is. Better get a rope ready. It's the best way to stop anyone that's coming. I sure hope it's the marshal. Now Mr. Drake know he was riding here. The chances are it was Mr. Drake that sent him here. That's so. Why, I don't savvy, though. Weight line. He's getting in sight now. That's our man all right enough. Good. Now we'll be saved the trouble of waiting around here. He's looking along in a good clip. Better get low so he won't see us. There he goes. Now if the bridge holds up, we'll have to do some fast talking to Mr. Drake. It won't. Watch now. He's real close. He's on the bridge. Look. It's wobbling. There. What's this? He's gone. Look at him. Well, Zeke, that's that. Our job is done. Sitting alone in his hotel room, Sidney Drake mused for a long time leaning back in his chair. And once more he turned his attention to a letter which he'd written in code. Get them out of jail. They'll not get out of jail. They'll hang. Better by far to lose those four and have the Lone Ranger die with them than rescue them. Most ironic of all is the fact that the Lone Ranger will die at the hands of the law. Executed as a worse kind of criminal by the very people he wanted to help. One man alone might have saved his life. But that man is dead. The long hours of the night dragged slowly for the five men in the cramped quarters of the jail. For these, there was no sleep. They sat in the dim moonlight that filtered through the bars. Well, if you want to be close-lipped, go ahead. We don't give a hang if you don't want to be social. Why should I be? I don't know anything about you four. Well, you know as much as we do about you. Say, what are you here for anyway? For the night. I'm being moved in the morning. Yeah? So are we. Where to? San Lomé. No, is that so? Well, don't believe it then. Well, that's where we're going. You? No, not you. You four will stay here. Who says so? I do. Men who go to San Lomé are slated to hang. You think we're not? All four of you? All four of us. They don't hang petty sneak thieves and prowlers. What's that? You call us sneak thieves? That's what I said. Listen, Ombra, you better think different. Maybe you think you're mighty tough. No one was able to make me tell what I knew. Who made us? No one. Likely because you didn't know anything. I did. I knew where there was a hideout that the Lone Ranger was mighty anxious to find. Who'd you say? They call him the Lone Ranger. What do you know about him? More than I'll tell you. And what was that about a hideout? They put you in here to pose as a crook and try to pump answers for me, huh? You're loco. I was here before you were, all four of us. All right. I'm still not talking. Now, look, let me show you something. You see this mark on my wrist? Come here, get close where the light falls on it. Sure, I see it. The black arrow. That mean anything to you? What if it does? Oh, now, look here, mister. If you was to thaw out a little, maybe we could exchange ideas and get somewhere. We'll see. First, you've got to convince me that you four are on the level. Hey, something's happened. Look at all the men outside. It's this time of night, too. Let me see. Hey, hey, you guard. What's happened? What's all the excitement? The fridge of Elkrick caved in. A couple of men seemed to have happened. And the United States Marshal was on it when it happened. He's dead. What's that? The United States Marshal is dead. 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. While the Lone Ranger was in jail hoping to learn something from the four condemned men who were with him, the news came that the United States Marshal had died when a bridge collapsed. The Marshal was the only person who could prove that the Lone Ranger was not sentenced to hang with the other prisoners. So his nip's got his. That's good. Good. Serves him right. I'm doggone glad of it. I wish all the Marshals could be on a bridge when it caves in. All the sheriffs, too. Hey, Sam, maybe now they won't move to Sandler me in the morning. Stop your laughing. Who, me? You heard what I said. All right, then. You'd even be sore at me, though. I didn't make the Marshal fall off in the bridge. I understood that the bridge caved in. Same thing. He fell, didn't he? What's the matter with you, mister? You act like the death of the Marshal was mighty glad news to you. Hey, can't you speak anymore? It's running through your mind. You got ideas of some sort? I was just wondering. Well? I didn't come here expecting to hang. You think we did? Not on your life. How do you figure to avoid it? We had promises, that's how. Who made them? Now who's asking the questions? Look here. The death of the Marshal changes things. You were asking questions a little while ago. There were things you wanted me to tell you. Yeah, about that there Lone Ranger. Yes. Now there are a few things I'd like to know. Fair enough. I can show you the Lone Ranger if we're out of this jail. Have your friends outside? Say, maybe you figured on a Marshal to let you escape. To be honest with you, that's just what I figured. Crackety. I never would have suspected that he could have been bribed. Now you're in for keeps, huh? Unless I know enough to interest the right people in getting me out. Maybe we can do business. Start talking. We've got a good friend here. A mighty powerful friend, too. He's from the east. From Washington? How do you know? That's where the most powerful leaders of the Black Arrow are, isn't it? Reckon so. Which of the leaders came here? Did you ever hear the name Drake? Drake? Sidney Drake. I keep it under your hat now. When I can get word to him, I'll let him know that you can take us to the Lone Ranger. If you're let out along with us. You sure you can do it? I'll show you the Lone Ranger. You must have been working some distance from here or we'd have known you. I've been getting instructions from a different source than you. Yeah, that's what it must have been. I reckon we're all working to the same end, though. I wonder who found out about the marshal. I don't know. Hey, someone's coming to our door. Yeah, I hear him. Maybe this is when we're let out to escape. We're moving you now instead of mourning. I warn you there's ten men with rifles watching you, so don't try nothing. You're moving this way. San Lame. The marshal's gone, we don't have to have the responsibility of you five. Sheriff Force will be in charge you at San Lame and no one ever escaped from his jail. Come on now, it's your move. The wagon in which the five tightly bound men rode was guarded by horsemen on the way to San Lame. Roping is like cattle to be branded. They sure don't take chances. How far have we got to go? Two more hours to reach San Lame. We'll get there around sunup. Do you think Sidney Drake will know about the plans being changed? Sure he will. Time to get us free? Leave things to Drake. He'll take care of them. Our names don't show on any hangman's rope. Dog on this rope. Hey, you guards. What's the matter? These ropes are too tight. They hurt. Don't pay no attention, John. They won't hurt long. Not near as much as your neck will hurt at sunup. Sunup? The execution's been moved ahead. That's why I'm letting you talk all you want. This is the last night on earth for all five of you. You hear that? Mr. Drake will get us out. We can count on him. Meanwhile, some distance away, a man lay on a bunk in a small cabin. In his semi-conscious state, he repeated one word. Tonto. Oh, me here. You listen. Me. Tonto. Me here, you. Tonto. Tonto did everything he knew to restore the marshal to consciousness, but without success. And as he heard a horse stopping outside, he went to the door. Whoa, whoa. Has he talked yet? No, him not talk. Who may say, Tonto? Him got hard bumping head from Fallen River. But he must talk. I've just come from town and the word has already gone around that the marshal was on the bridge when it collapsed. They don't know that you rescued him before he was washed over the falls. Who held that? Sidney Drake started the story. Those two fiends you captured were working for him. Drake? Yes, and Tonto, the hanging has been changed. They're to hang this morning. They're already taken to jail. They're on their way to San Lomé right now. Oh, that bad. We only could have known what the plans were. You could have watched those two men instead of following the marshal. That's right. Then if you only hadn't had to fight those two before you went to Arrow Creek to get the marshal. Maybe Ring helped Lone Ranger. But it won't. That's why this man Drake is so smart. He knew all along that the Lone Ranger was to be in prison with those four criminals. That's why he arranged to have the marshal killed. But Ring and Lone Ranger finger. Drake told about that ring. He already said the Lone Ranger lost the ring, that it was stolen from him. Now, besides, we found that paper from the president, the marshal. The Lone Ranger has no way of stopping the execution. Now, if he shows the ring, it'll just be evidence that he did steal it, don't you see? The law can't hang Lone Ranger. There's no way to prove that he's the Lone Ranger. He hasn't his horse, his mask, not even a silver bullet. As for his disguise on his face, if he removes it, it won't help. No one knows his face. Tonto. The marshal spoke. That's all him say. Only call Tonto. But wait. What is it? Maybe one, two hour him speak. Here it's too late to help. If him and Saint Lome then it's not too late. That's it, Tonto. Where's the wagon? Hurry and get it. Hurry, every minute counts. While Tonto used makeshift harness to fasten Sculpt and Silver to a rickety wagon, the girl made the injured marshal as comfortable as possible. And while she pillowed the man's head in lap, Tonto leaped to the back of Scalp and cried, Get him up, Scout! Come on, Silver! The mad race began. The opposition was time. It was lucky that Tonto had dragged the marshal from Arrow Creek on the south shore, for it would have been impossible to get back to the town except by a long and roundabout route. In the dead of night, the wagon dashed through town and on towards Saint LeMay. Sidney Who is it? Come on, get up. What's the meaning of this? Who are you? Lawman. What do you know about this? How do I know? What is it? This is a note that was found in the jail. I don't know anything about any notes you find in jail. This one has got your name signed to it. My name? Looks like you sneaked it to the five prisoners there. It tells them to keep their chins up, that they'll be rescued from the hangman's news. I didn't write that. Then why is your name on it? I don't know. You can be sure I'll make no effort to get those killers out of jail. We know you won't. We're watching them mighty close. In fact, they're most of San LeMay by this time. I'm not interested. No? Well, you wouldn't mind us staying here, would you? In my room? We'll be right outside the door and window, just in case you did have any ideas about helping those five. It should be clear to you that one of those five has a grudge against me. Maybe tried to put me in a bad light. Maybe so. But if there is any play to get those five out of jail, you'll have some explaining to do. I must say the Lone Ranger has courage. He surely knows of the Marshal's death and realizes that he'll hang with the others. The others must have told him they expect to go free. Yet the Lone Ranger leaves a note which would frustrate any attempted jailbreak. I can't help admiring his courage. Five men are destined to hang in San Lomé. A small group of official witnesses and a scattering of morbid spectators grouped around the scaffold. be no rescue. The other four hung to their confidence in Sidney Drake. Something will happen now. It happened quick. Couldn't happen before. This is the right place for the boys to come and get us away. Something's happening right now. Look yonder. Wagon is coming close to the crowd. Maybe this is where we get free. The voice thrilled the Lone Ranger but the guard cried out. Get that away from here. Don't let that in here. Put that red skin under rest. He can't do that. You come. He talked. You listened. Excitement swept the crowd. Something unusual. Something extraordinary was taking place. That's for us. Come on boys. Climb on board. There'll be guns there for us. Where's the guns? No. No. Gun for you. You are Marshal alive. Marshal you're not dead. What is this? Hey Marshal you here. I've got things to say. There's one man you don't hang. A man that wears the ring. Here's the ring. But that ring I was told. Whatever you was told is a lie. I'll prove it. Here's your order recognition by the president. Thank you. Here take the shirt. I've got it. Here's your mask. What's the Marshal doing anyhow? While the crowd watched in amazement Tonto unhitched the horses from the wagon. The Marshal tossed shirt, mask, hat, gun belt at the fifth condemned man. I changed the records to show five minutes instead of four. The four can hang as originally planned. But the fifth was there to be sure they didn't escape. You want to be convinced who that man is? Just look at him now. That mask. Yes Silver? Old white Lone Ranger. Marshal, you were supposed to I was more dead than alive up to a few minutes ago. Pole catcher tried to kill me a hog tide near Earl Creek waiting to be picked up. Maybe they'll name the man that hired him and Sidney Drake would be jailed along with him. Marshal, steady that. Him all right. Need plenty rest. All right soon. One thing, Lone Ranger. Yes? The girl, she left the wagon when she left. Thanks. And another thing, did you learn something worthwhile? I did. Sidney Drake is one of the men from Washington who is a leader of the Black Arrow. Good. Then we'll smash him. Lock those four up again. We'll postpone the hang in one hour when things are quieted down. Take him to jail for an hour. Will they be all right, Toto? Him be all right. Him in good hands here with friends. We go back to Arachrica. Very well. Yes, go there lone ranger and bring in Toto's prisoners. Oh, one thing more. Still got that disguise on your face under your mask. I'll take it off when I have the chance. You better it. It makes you look mean and crooked. And you sure aren't either one. You ready now? Steady Silver. Ready Toto. Get him up count. Get Silver away. The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
