Out of dust and a hearty, Howe Silver, the Lone Ranger. Faithful Indian companion Tonto, the mask rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. The stories of his strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness have come down to us through the generations. And nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past and the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse, Silver, the Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Silver. Hurry, big fellow. I'll, Silver. The Lone Ranger, astride his great white stallion, Silver, rode into a secluded camp near a natural stone formation known as Table Rock to be greeted by his nephew, Dan Reed, and their Indian companion, Tonto. Go, Silver. Ho. Easy, big fellow. Steady now. Easy. Hi, Kimo Sabe. Hi, Kimo Sabe. Sorry, Silver. Hello, Dan. Is there something wrong, sir? You were riding plenty fast when you came in. Yes, Dan. Jim Dawson's escaped from territorial prison. Escaped? Jim Dawson? Oh, that bad. Yes, he escaped last night. Why? I thought that the governor was going to pardon him today. He wants to be pardoned. That's why I can't understand why Dawson would deliberately break out of jail. He busted out? By the way of a tunnel from his cell under the wall. I haven't all the facts as yet. Until I have them all, I'm working on the theory that Dawson did not escape. Do you think somebody else might have had a hand in it? Oh, it's possible, Dan. I talked to Jim Dawson less than a week ago. After presenting certain facts to the warden, I was permitted to see Dawson. Well, what do you want to see me for? I have positive proof, Dawson, that you didn't take part in the stage robbery. I told the jury that. They didn't believe me. Members of the jury thought you had a hand in the robbery because you admitted hiding the money. Yeah, what about it? If you're expecting me to tell you where I hid, the money, you're wasting your time. I'm not telling you or anybody else. I don't want to pardon that bad. Maybe you don't want to pardon, but somebody else wants you to accept one. Somebody else? Yes. Read this. The warden from, say, this letter's from Ted, my boy. That's right. It says Dad was not in the stage hold-up. He was here at the blacksmith shop at the time. Dad hid the money because... You've read this? Yes. The warden showed it to me. Masked man, there's a lot of men in this calaboose who'd give an eye to be standing this near to your throat. Men you've helped to put in here. I presume that's true. But it's strange. They're all agreed on one thing about you. Yes. They agree you got them dead to rights. No double-crossing. They say you're straight. What does that lead to, Dawson? We were talking about you, not me. It means I'm going to take a chance on you, mask man. I'm ready to talk. Jim Dawson told me the whole story about the hold-up. Now, he became implicated. Golly. Tano and I would like to hear it. The stage was held up by three men. A fellow named Mosby, another known as Big Red, and a third man, Bill Dawson. Jim Dawson's brother? That's right, Dan. After the hold-up, they hid the money in Jim Dawson's blacksmith shop in Benton. He found it and suspected that it was stolen. Well, he decided to hide it until he could learn where they got it. Meanwhile, a posse rode into town looking for the bandits and a gun battle followed. Bill Dawson was killed. What happened to Mosby and Big Red? They escaped. That's the reason Jim Dawson refused to tell where he had hidden the money. He admitted taking it and hiding it all right. He was afraid that if he returned the stolen money, the law would soon forget all about Mosby and Big Red. Jim Dawson blamed them for getting his brother Bill into trouble. I don't blame him for being sore at him. Plenty sore. He felt that as long as only he knew where the money was hidden, someday Mosby and Red would try to get it for themselves. And to do that, they would have to contact him. When they did, he'd take the law into his own hands, see that they paid for their crimes. And that's why he went to prison rather than tell them where the money was. Yes, yes, Dan. Three days ago, he promised the governor he'd return the money within 24 hours after being released. I have every reason to believe Jim Dawson intended to keep that promise every word of it. What do you plan to do, sir? I came here to get you to help me, Dan. I'll be glad to help. Well, if Jim Dawson escaped of his own free will, there are two places he would go to. I'll check on one of them. I want you to check on the other. Where do you want me to go, sir? To see his son, Ted, a boy a few years older than you. You'll find him running his father's blacksmith shop in town. It wouldn't be practical for me to try to question the boy. Yes, sir. I want you to get acquainted with him and find out if he's seen his father since the prison break. You'll have to be discreet, Dan. Ted might be suspicious of me, huh? Yes, because the boy wouldn't want to disclose any information if his father has escaped from prison. He might not want to disclose anything to a stranger. I can understand that. I'll be camped here at Big Table Rock. Yes, sir. Come, Victor. In a one-room log cabin hidden deep in a desolate ravine between low-ranging hills, Jim Dawson eyed the two heavily-armed men before him defiantly. For the hundredth time, Mosby, I'm not telling you where that money's cashed. You and Big Red might as well shoot me now and be done with it. That's what you do anyway if you've got your hands on it. Dawson, me and Red didn't break into that jail to get you out just to shoot you. If you hadn't bribed someone inside to put a knockout drop in my grub, you wouldn't have got me out. You was sleeping mighty sound when me and Mosby tuddled up through the cell floor. I can't understand why you went to all the bother anyway. You might have known I never... Listen, Dawson. We ain't dumb. No. No, we ain't. We're around you. We know why you went to jail rather than tell where you hid that money. Oh, yeah? Sure we know. You know at some time or other, me and Red would try to contact you. Yeah. And we knew all about the governor going to give you a pardon, too. That was just a trap you had in mind. A trap? Yeah. He was going to walk out of that jail like he was free. Then what? There'd be law dogs right behind you waiting to grab me in red. You see, Dawson, we ain't so dumb. We don't wait for that, see? We just bore him under the wall for a couple of nights and come up in your cell. The rest was easy. I see it all now. Well, I'm not talking. No? Huh. Maybe you'll change your mind. Not a chance. You better start your dirty work and get it over with. I am. Tie him up, Red, good and strong. Then come along with me. Okay, where you going? To town. Yeah. We've got to bring some company back for supper. Some company, Dawson here, will be mighty surprised to see. Mosby. Yeah. What you want? You wouldn't do that. So you guessed it, huh, Dawson? Yep. I'd do anything for $20,000. You lay one hand on that kid of mine and there ain't going to be anything you can do about it. Come on, Red. Yeah. We're going to get Dawson's kid and bring him out for supper. Maybe his old man will do some talking when we get back. You work in the shop by yourself? Yeah. When will your dad be in? Huh? Oh, he won't be back for quite a spell. Why? Oh, I was just wondering. I never had my horse shod by a kid before. You needn't worry about that. I've been shoeing horses since I was old enough to sling a sledgehammer over my shoulder. Well, maybe it'll be all right. Maybe you can do just as good a job as your dad, maybe. Well, I'll try. Say, you're strange to these parts, ain't you? Yeah. Just passing through. Say. Hey, see this shoe here? What's the matter with it? Well, it's not balanced. It don't ring true. Listen to it. Oh, I gotta get down to the hardware store and get some more shoes this size. Yep, that's what I gotta do. It might take me 15 or 20 minutes, maybe a little longer. Could I go for you? And then if any customers came in, you'd be able to be here to take care of it. Oh, no, no, no. I'd better go myself. It's important to get the right kind of shoe. Yeah. You couldn't do it at all. The customers can wait till I get back. Well, it's all right with me. I don't mind waiting. You could do me a big favor, though. If you would do me one. Sure, I'll be glad to. What do you want me to do? Maybe you'd let me ride your horse. Save time. Save a lot of time. Ride Victor? I never rode a fine horse like Victor. Would you mind? Huh, kid? Oh, well, go ahead. Ride him. You won't hurt him. Gee, thanks, fella. Dan Reed felt that in lending Victor he was really making a big sacrifice to gain Ted Dawson's confidence. He watched the boy ride from the blacksmith shop, and then he turned to the bellows and fords, which intrigued him. He was busily engaged in heating a discarded horseshoe when two tough and heavily armed men rode into the shop. Steady there, Mark. Hello, kid. Hello. Got a message for you, kid. A message for me? You must be mistaken. No, we ain't mistaken. Me and Red's been riding fast to get here with you. Yeah. We better hurry up. We ain't got much time. Kid, your dad wants to see you. My dad? Why, you're... Not so loud. Somebody might be passing and hear you. Yeah, that's right. Your dad wouldn't want anybody but you to know about, uh... About what? About him being out of jail. You savvy, kid? He wants to see you pronto. Oh, oh, yeah. Yeah, I savvy. I savvy. But I'll have to go get my horse, mister. Uh, just call me Mosby and him, Red. Yeah. Anyway, we ain't got time to go for your horse. You don't need no horse. You can ride double here behind me on old Zeke. Not steady, Father. Come on. I'll give you a lift. Well, I... I guess it'll be all right. Sure, everything's going to be swell. And your dad wants to see you bad. Now, get up on him. Meanwhile, Ted Dawson was talking earnestly to Trig Ballard, the town marshal. Now, you told me he'd let you know if anybody come around asking questions about Dad. Yep, I reckon I did. But I didn't figure a kid would be asking. I thought maybe them two gun slicks, Mosby and Big Red, might come prowling around for information. Well, maybe I'm wrong, but the kid acted mighty funny to me. He kept talking about Dad. So you took his horse so he couldn't get away till I talked to him, huh? Yeah. I told him I had to get some new horseshoes. Well, might as well go down and find out who he's traveling with, as long as he's a stranger in these parts. Come on. Yeah. Come on, boy. Oh, uh, Marshall Ballard. Yeah? If the kid's in the clear, well, don't tell him I thought maybe he was mixed up with any crooks. Will you? No, of course not, Ted. I'll not let on you tell me anything. Gee, I hope the kid's all right. I kind of liked him. He probably's a good boy. Just likes to ask questions, that's all. Hey, Marshall Ballard! Hey! Hey, somebody calling you, Marshall? Yeah, he's running this way. Hey, Marshall, quick! I wonder what the trouble is. Quick! They're in the blacksmith shop. Who's in the blacksmith shop? Take it easy. Cool down. Mosby and Big Red, Ted, they just rode in there. Mosby and Big Red? So the kid is in with the Marshall. There's no doubt about that now, Ted. Mosby and Big Red must have sent him in there to pump you for information. When they saw you ride out with the kid's horse, they decided to go in and find out what happened. Boy, that kid. There they come riding out. Well, the kid's riding double. Get that horse out of the way. There's going to be a gunfight worth seeing. I'm in on this fight. I was on the stage when they stuck it up. Let them have it! 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. To continue our story, riding through a hail of lead, the two bandits and Dan Reed escaped unhurt and Marshall Ballard hurriedly organized a posse to hunt them down. They got a good head start on this and they was riding mighty good horse flesh, too. They'll head for the foothills and the trail will be mighty hard to follow. Yep, it's mighty dry every place. He ain't got much chance of trailing it. Well, we gotta try. Can't just let a couple of sidewinders come in and take over like that, can we? No, no. Marshall, I've got an idea. You have, Ted? Well, nobody else has any ideas. Let's have it. I've got the kid's horse. I've always heard that if you give a smart horse his head, he'd find his way back to his own camp. I believe you got a real good idea there, Ted. That horse looks like a smart one, too. Oh, he's smart, all right. I'll ride him and go along with you and the posse. Should lead us right into Mosby's camp. Well, let's don't waste no more time. Mount up, men. Ted, you right alongside of me. Yes, sir. Steady, that's right there. Get up here. Get up here. Mosby and Rad were convinced that the boy they had with them was the son of a blacksmith, Jim Dawson, whom they held captive. Therefore, they could not understand Dawson's refusal to accept Dan Reed as his son. Mosby, you're just a big fool. For the tenth time, I'm telling you, he ain't my kid. I never saw him before in my life. Why, Dad... Now, listen. Stop calling me Dad. Mr. Mosby, I can't understand Dad and the way he's acting. Maybe I could help you. What is it you want Dad to tell you? The answer ought to convince you, Mosby. This ain't my kid. Shut up, Dawson. Now, listen, kid. Here's what we're trying to get your dad to tell us. You knew he got sent to jail for taking part in that stage holdup. Well, yes, I did know about that. Then maybe you know where your dad hid the money. Oh, the money. You mean the swag, the loot. Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean. Your old man hid it and he won't tell where. Me and Red want to know where it is. And if your dad don't start talking mighty fast, you're going to get hurt, kid. Well, that is unless you know where he hid the money. Then I'll tell you where he hid it. This should be good. I never saw that kid in my life. Now he's going to tell you two thugs where I hid that strong box. He ain't my son, but he'll be a fortune teller if he guesses this one. Mr. Mosby, Dad hid the money. Shut up, Dawson. He hid the money under Big Table Rock about seven miles west of the town of Benton. What did that kid say? He said you hid the money under Big Table Rock. You understand? Table Rock over near Benton. You savvy Table Rock, Dawson. Well, that takes a cake. You win, Mosby. You win. But I'll never understand it. You mean that he is where... What was you saying, kid? Uh, nothing. Wait a minute. I don't get this at all. Me neither. First, Dawson says he never saw the kid. Then the kid says the money is hid under Big Table Rock. And Dawson says, yeah, the kid's right. That's where the money is hid. So what happens? The kid nearly drops dead from surprise. Red, I don't get it. Well, there's one way to find out. Yeah. We'll all ride over to Big Table Rock and take a look around. We find the money, everything's fine and dandy. If we don't find the money, somebody's gonna get shot. Yeah. Maybe two somebodies. When Dan Reed failed to return within a reasonable time from the town of Benton, the Lone Ranger became worried. When darkness fell, the masked rider and Tonto mounted their horses. Now, look at me. Get them up, scum. Left the camp at Table Rock to ride into town in search of Dan. In the darkness, a few miles from camp, they did not see a small group of horsemen who seemed to be grazing their mounts a short distance from the trail. Might as well go on back to town and wait for daylight. That horse ain't led us nowhere. Well, I thought he'd head for his camp. He gave him his own way. But he spends his time just grazing. Maybe we can get a new start tomorrow. Though I ain't very optimistic about it. Oh, Victor. Hey, what's the matter with this crib? What's he doing, Dad? Well, it seems like he's come to... Steady there, Victor. Steady, boy. He hears something. Sure he does. Listen. Victor. Them's hoofbeats. Somebody on the trail over there and riding pack. Oh, oh. Oh, I can't hold him. Give him his head. He knows them horses on the trail. He's getting for town again. Come on, men. Follow Ted. I'm thinking we're going to meet up with Mosby and Big Red mighty pronto. Get up. Get up. I'm certain we're being followed. Many horsemen come fast. When they started to follow us, I thought they were just going our way. When we left the trail, they left it too. Kimasabi, how can horsemen follow trail in dark? Only one way, Tonto. There's a horse in that group that knows Silver and Scout. The horse is hanging onto our trail. No man could do it. You mean... Yes, it must be Dan's horse, Victor. Then we stop and wait for Dan and Victor, huh? No, Tonto. There are several horses in that group. They may be enemies. When these shootings started, Dan might get hurt. And what we do, Kimasabi? We circle back to camp. Dan isn't a prisoner. We'll meet him there. It's the safest thing to do. Ah, then nobody get hurt, huh? I hope not. Come on, Silver. Come on, stop. As the Lone Ranger and Tonto, hotly pursued by Marshal Ballard and the posse, race toward the masked man's camp at Table Rock, another group of persons had already reached that destination. Yeah. You might as well throw down that spade, Red. Somebody's beat us to it. Yeah. $20,000 gone. And it was dug up less than an hour ago. I can tell by the first shot that's been turned. I thought there was something funny about this whole setup. The kid admits now he never saw Dawson. Dawson says he never saw the kid in his life. But both of them say the money was buried here on a Table Rock. What do you make of it, Mosby? Just one thing. And this is plain and there's a nose on your face. Somebody else knew where that money was hid. And that somebody has come and got it. Sounds logic to me. Well, Dawson, what do you got to say about it? Looks like your partner took a run-out powder on you. Yeah, I'll admit it looks like it. You admit you had a partner, huh? Now this is getting interesting. I never thought he'd double-cross me, though. No, sir, he's the one man I never thought would do that. Well, he double-crossed you, all right. Ain't no doubt about it. Who is this partner of yours, Dawson? I'm not telling you two cutthroats. If there's anything to be squared with that ombre, I'll do it. Gee, that's telling him, Mr. Dawson. Yeah. I got the button here. Don't forget him. He knows your partner, of course. Why didn't I think of that before? Well, maybe I can make him talk. Get away from me. Don't you... Listen, Mosby, leave that kid alone. If you lay a hand on that point... Yeah, if I lay a hand on it, what are you gonna do about it? Me, there's nothing I can do to stop you. But there's somebody else who will run you to earth if you're the last man on it. And when he gets you, Mosby, you'll wish you'd tangle with the devil himself. Quick. Get out of the light of the fire. There's somebody riding into camp. Get back enough to get you two. Don't try to pull anything. We got you both covered from behind. Now get. This is a good place to watch and see who comes in. Yeah. We can cover any number of them from here. If either one of you two pipes up with any noise, you'll get a knife in your back, you savvy. We'd expect it in the back, Mosby. Some horsemen screwed at the camp. They ain't gonna stop. Sounded like two of them. Must have seen the campfire and was afraid to stop. Hey, hey. Here come some more of them. I wonder what's up. We just lay low and see what happens. This bunch is riding in the camp. Here they come. Colin, there's my horse Victor and your son Ted's riding him. Colin. Yeah. Oh, so that's it. Now I'm beginning to see through this whole thing. You tried to lead us into ambush, didn't you, kid? Oh, it's not him. I guess I just thought about it. No, you didn't think anything. You spilled the beans before you thought. Your little plan to have us ambushed failed because we beat the marshal and his posse to Table Rock. Now we're gonna do a little ambushing ourselves. What you're gonna do, Mosby? Bring these two out and keep them covered. I'm going out and do some swapping. Yeah. Come on, get over you again. Don't make a move. You're covered. The first man reaches for his gun is a goner. Jim Dawson. Damn, damn. Steady there. Don't get itchy fingers, nobody. Marshal, that's Mosby and Big Red. Well, Mosby, what are you aiming to do? I want to make a little trade with you, Marshal. Trade what? Only thing I'd like to trade with you is some lead. You'd give a man a fair deal in doing it. No, I wouldn't like to make that kind of a swap right now. Maybe later on. Right now, I'm interested in swapping this kid I got for the kid you got. What are you talking about? I'll tell you. He wants to torture my boy Ted to make him tell I am. Now, Dawson, you was valuable to me and Red. Now that the money's been took by your partner, you ain't worth a dime. So I'm gonna shut you up permanently. He'll kill him! No, don't you do it! Masked man, I was never so glad to see anybody in my life. And to think my posse was chasing you and Tonto. Not knowing who was following us, Tonto and I headed for camp. But as we neared it, we saw a campfire burning. We had left no campfire, so we circled it until we could see who was here. But we rode right smack into camp. And the next thing we knew, Mosby and Big Red had the drop on us. I've seen a lot of fancy shooting in my day, but when the masked man stepped out of the dark and started blazing away at Mosby and Big Red, well, that cooked their goose. Now, Marshal, here's a strong box that was taken from the stage holdup. Jim Dawson kept it hidden until he could turn Mosby and Big Red over to the law. How did I dug it up before we left camp? There's $20,000 in that box, Marshal. Gee, Dan, $20,000. Well, I never saw that much money in my life. It's a lot of money all right, Ted. Could Dan Reed and I look at it? Ted, if you'll open the strong box, you'll see something inside that's far more important to your dad than all the money in the world. Well, then I can't open it. It's not locked. Lift the lid. Gee, look at the money. Hey, what's this paper thing laying on top of the money? You better read it, Ted. Yeah. Well, it's signed by the governor. And it says, I hereby present an unconditional pardon to James Dawson. Why, Dad, you're free. You don't have to go back to prison. That's right, Ted. Thanks to the Lone Ranger. You have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
