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 come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again! Come on Silver! The merciless stifling heat of an afternoon sun beeped down upon the desert town of Pico in Arizona Territory. Everything reflected it, even the hitch rack in front of the sheriff Ed Lyon's office. It was there that Deke Yoder, Chet Bishop, and Joe Mapes reined their horses to a hawk. Ho, ho, ho! Light down! We're going in to break the news to Ed. Yeah, all right, Deke. Hello, Sheriff? Well, Deke Yoder, Chet, and Joe. Hiya, Sheriff. Hiya. Me and the boys rode into town, Sheriff, because we believe in doing our duty as citizens. The health of the community is more important than any... The health of the community? What are you getting at? Same thing I warned you about over two days ago. Tom Harlow out in Pedro Valley. Came by his shack this morning. Doors stand wide open. You can see what's happened. You mean old Tom is... dead? It can't be helped now. I'm sure sorry to hear it. I didn't know Tom very well. I guess nobody did. But I kind of like the old cuss. No different than any other desert rat. They're all alike. Yeah, maybe so. Well, Chet and Joe and I figured you might need some help in doing your job out at Harlow's Shack. If you do, we'll go along. What, you mean you're willing to... Well, Deke, I guess I've misjudged you and your partners. I will need some help. I'm mighty grateful for volunteers. You can count on us. We'll be over at the Ace High whenever you're ready to go. Thanks, Deke. Thanks a lot. I'll go down to the livery stable and saddle up. We'll head for the valley in about an hour. It was almost sundown when the lone ranger in Tonto reined up their horses on a trail near the rim of Pedro Valley. Boo. Who's gone? Boo, fella. Boo, fella. Why we stopped here, Kimasabi? No reason, Tonto. What happened to sight those four men riding into the valley from the west? See? Ah. The main trail skirts the rim on the other side. I wonder if... Well, that's strange. Well, maybe them head for Dobie's Shack, bottom of valley. You see it? Yes. One of them's carrying a large shovel across his saddle. Maybe them prospectors hunt for silver. Prospectors don't ride those kind of horses. Won't do any harm to investigate. You can reach the floor of the valley almost as soon as they do. I'll wait here for you. Get him up, Scout. I don't know exactly how to handle a chore like this. Now, wait a minute, Sheriff. Better not go any closer. The door's open. You can see him from here. Lying on the floor. Well, that's Tom, all right. I can see his right hand. He's always had two fingers missing. Howie, Gert, can swing a rope pretty well. Do you think he can get a loop through that door, Chet? I can try. If you gents will stand back and give me some room. Good. Joe, you better take that shovel and start scooping out a grave right here in the sand. Sure, Sheriff. Yeah, dab down to one of his legs. Now drag him out. Yeah. You wouldn't think an old coot like that would be heavy enough. Wait a minute. Who's this coming up? Oh, scout. Oh, fella. That's just a red skin. Oh, fella. Tell him what we're doing. He'll vamoose pronto. Hey, deep enough? Sure. What do you want, Injun? Oh, me think maybe they're trouble. Me stop. Well, there's trouble, all right, but nothing you can do about it. So you'd better skedaddle. Pull him into the grave, Chet. We don't want to get any closer. Yeah. How's that? Now throw your rope in, too. You don't want to use it again. I guess you're right. Start shoveling, Joe, and make it fast. Sure. Let me see you wear a lawnmine bag. That's right, Injun. I'm the sheriff of Pico County. Ah. Tell her die. You bury him plenty quick, huh? Yeah. Oh, Tom Harlow. We had to bury him quick. Case of the pestilence. Me not savvy pestilence. That's got another name. Some folks call it smallpox. Oh. Smallpox plenty bad. It's worse than that. It kills Indians just as quick as it does white men, so you better move along. Ah. Me go. Get him up, Scout. You scared the pants off him, Deke. Just told the truth. He knows it. Hey, Joe, you got him buried yet? Joe, what are you staring at? Look. Over there on the south rim. What the? What are you talking about? He's gone now. We're just a second ago. Gone? What do you mean, Joe? An arm brain with a black mask over his face. He was riding a white horse. Black mask. You're loco. Joe, why didn't he go? I said you're loco. Well, this heat's enough to make him see anything. Well, we've planned it, Tom. Our job's over. Let's head back for town. All right. All right. All right. Now, it doesn't seem right to bury a man without a parson to say some words as... Oh, why not? Tom Harlow never knew the difference. We've kept smallpox and spreading all through the valley. Yeah, maybe you're right. Get up. Get up. Come on. A man who had died of smallpox, huh? Ah. And then do it plenty quick. That's probably better that way. Smallpox was a highly contagious disease, Tonto. Oh, uh, who was the man, did they say? Ah. Him old fellow named Tom Harlow. Must have been a prospector. Ah. Him wear old clothes. Me not see him very good. Think maybe him minor, cause two fingers gone from right hand and him... What's that? Oh, what did you say, Tonto? Uh, me say dead fellow have two fingers off right hand. I wonder... No, it couldn't be the same man. Still, I... Um, me not savvy. Remember late yesterday afternoon when we made camp on the lower trail near Monarch Ledge? Ah. When I went down to the creek to one of the horses, I almost stumbled onto an old prospector who was there ahead of me. You know him? Oh, no, Tonto. I never saw the man before. He didn't see me. But I did notice there were two fingers missing from his right hand. Oh, you think... Missing fingers are common among mining men. But smallpox isn't common. Unless there's an epidemic. How could a man apparently in good health travel this far and be dead less than a day later? Me not, Tonto. Tonto, I don't believe in disturbing the dead. But as soon as it gets dark, we're going to look into that grave. The regular Westbound stagecoach pulled into Pico shortly after sundown. Oh, oh, oh, you critter. Here's your release, mister. I'll throw it out. Oh, thanks. Uh, where would I get any information? Well, like is not the best place for you to head is Ed Lyon's office. He's the sheriff. You can see the sign right across the street. Thank you. Thank you very much, driver. Oh, no trouble at all, sonny. Come on, you critters. Let's roll. Keep doing it. Yeah, Joe, I guess I kind of had you and Chet and Deke figured wrong. Mighty decent of all of you to ride out to the valley this afternoon. Well, we just wanted to help, that's all. Oh, well, a coroner ought to take care of those kind of jobs. But we ain't got one here in Pico. Oh, excuse me. Perhaps I should have not. It's all right, stranger. Come right in. I'm looking for Sheriff Ed Lyons. You're talking to him, son. What can I do for you? I'm trying to locate my father. He gave this post office address and a letter, and the stage driver said that you might be able to... Most everybody in this end of the territory. What's your pa's name? Harlow. Tom Harlow. Harlow. Well, I'll be... What's the matter? Do you know him? Both of you men act as if they're something... So, you're Tom Harlow's boy? Yes, sir. I'm Billy. I think Dad's a prospector. Now, if you can tell me where he's living, I'll... Son, I'm a man who doesn't believe in beating around the bush. So, I'm going to give it to you straight. Tom Harlow ain't living any place. He died this morning. Died? Caught to pestilence. Smallpox. Me and three other fellas buried him this afternoon in front of a shack out in Pedro Valley. My father? Dead. It's a little bit hard to believe. I'm awful sorry, son. I wish I could have put it into better words, but... Oh, that's all right, Sheriff. You see, I hadn't seen my dad for a long time, and... Well, I don't know what to say. Neither do I. But I'm mighty sorry for you, Billy. And if there's anything I can do, I... Well, did he leave any personal belongings? Was there anything in his clothes that... Well, that's a question I can't answer because I don't know. You see, smallpox is mighty catching, and... Well, Joe here was with us, he'll tell you. Nobody gets near pestilence, dead or alive. Yes, I can understand that, but what I'm looking for... I mean, what Dad must have left is pretty important to me. If there's any place I can rent a saddle horse, I'd like to ride to his grave. Sure, you can get a horse over at the livery. Ain't much of a ride out to where your pa lived in the valley. You're not figuring on touching it? I mean, your pa died of the pestilence, kid. You can catch it. Oh, I'm not worried about that. But I've had the smallpox. I'm immune, so if you have no objections, Sheriff, you'll give me the directions. Sure, sure. I just remembered something I've got to do. I'll see you later, Sheriff. Well, come on, Billy. We'll walk over to the livery stable together. I'll tell you, Deke, it's true. He's Harlow's kid, all right. The spitting image of old Tom. Never knew the old coot had a kid. Suppose he finds something we didn't. He won't get the chance. We're taking care of that right now. What do you mean, Deke? We're hidden leather and heading for the valley. Kid's nosy enough to poke around his old man's grave. We'll see that he stays there, permanent. Now, come on. Oh, what's the hell? Oh, fella. Front is shack. You see it? Oh, yes. This moonlight we can see fine. Ah. But a girl hits the horse's back of the shack, Tonto. I'll brush this sand away and see it. King Musabi, if dead fella have smallpox, plenty dangerous for you to touch. Don't worry. I can tell soon enough. The grave isn't very deep. If it is smallpox, we won't disturb the body any further. Ah. Come, Scout. Silver. Come on. Not signed so far. So that's it. Tonto. Uh-huh. This man didn't die of smallpox, Tonto. He's got a bullet hole in his back. King Musabi. Somebody come. Yes. There's no time to... Our horses are out of sight. We're ducking to the shack. Wait there. Come on. Ah. 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. We'll continue our story. The Lone Ranger and Tonto barely had time to reach the doorway of Tom Harlow's deserted shack before a solitary horseman reined up a few feet away. Oh, oh, oh boy. Oh, boy. The young chap, Tonto. He's just smiling. He's looking at the grave. Ah. Is he one of the men who were here this afternoon? No. We never see a young fella before. He's examining the body. Going through the clothes. King Musabi. Yes. We hear other horses. Come plenty fast. Yes, but why did they stop before? Somebody from behind that brush over there is trying to murder that young fella. He's been hit. I'll try to smoke them out. You see if you can reach the boy. Let's go. I'm serious, Tonto. No. Bullet just grazed ribs. He put on bandage. That picks him. Well, where am I? You're among friends. You're going to be all right. Tonto just bandaged your wound. Masked? And an Indian? You must be the one who... No, we didn't shoot you. The men who did that stayed back in the brush. With the moonlight and that clearing, you made a good target. Then how are the... Who are you? How did I get here? There'll be time enough to explain that later. Right now, I'd like to ask you some questions. Masked outlaws? Indians? I can't understand it. If this is the West, I don't see how Dad lived as long as he did, even without smallpox. Do you mind telling me why you were searching the clothes of that dead man back there in front of the shack? I don't know who has a better right to search than the dead man's son. Oh, I see. Tom Harlow was your father. Did... Did you know him? No, I didn't. Then... Then how did you... Oh, I guess there's no use trying to understand you or any part of what's happened. I'm just as anxious as you are to understand it. You'll let me help. Why should... All right. I haven't got anything to lose. What do you want to know? When was the last time you saw your father alive? I... I can't remember. You see, he left home when I was born, back east about 20 years ago. I see. I thought he had been dead for years until I got a letter from him last week. Uh, here. Will you mind if I read this? No, go ahead. My dear son, Billy. This letter may come as a surprise to you because you've never seen me. I'm your father. A father who ran away the day you were born, the day your mother died. I hated you then because you had cost her life. That was a mistake and I've regretted it ever since. Now I'm an old man. Just a desert rat with two fingers gone off my right hand and not a dime in the world. If I should die before I make a strike, Billy, all I can leave you will be a locket. It's been my only link with the past because it has your mother's picture inside. If you can find it in your heart to forgive a lonely old man, write to me in care of the postmaster at Pico, Arizona Territory. God bless you, son. You see, I didn't answer his letter. Instead of writing, I came out here to find him. Then the sheriff and Pico told me dad had died this morning of smallpox. Your father didn't die of smallpox, Billy. What did you say? He was shot in the back, murdered. I found proof of it just before you rode up. Murdered? But what? Who did it? I don't know. But Tom Harlow was a prospector. Here, Silver, scout. And a good place to begin will be the office of the mining claim agent in Pico. Well, what can we find out there? I don't know. Steady, big fella. We'll spend the night in camp. You and Toto can ride into town first thing in the morning. Mon Silver, get around for the scout. Here's critter in the whole territory is a gent named Deke Yoder. Came in here to crack a dawn and filed his claim. Said he was sitting on a mountain of silver. Less than an hour later, every pig slinger in town was hustling over to stake a claim with near Yoder's big one. Wish I could get away from him myself. Deke Yoder. I've never heard of him. And his silver strike may be just a coincidence. But we'll ride over there and investigate. When? Tonight. Just as soon as it gets dark. Within the short space of 12 hours, the bleak slope of a dun-colored hill had been transformed into a roaring boom town. The smell of silver was in the air, and the sound of it was on every man's tongue. Blazing oil flares marked a single tent-lined street, where miners, gamblers, tradesmen, and boomers, jostled each other in wild confusion. Hi, shorty. Staked your claim yet? Nah. Everything was gone by the time I got here. Oh, that's tough. I'll get along. Say, how did a tin horn like Deke Yoder ever turn up a bonanza like this moniker? I don't know. He's got the whole top of the ledge staked off. Yeah. Well, he's down here drinking Skullcracker whiskey and boasting about his luck. Nobody can deny that. Here he comes now. Sure, I've got silver. Plenty of it. More than anybody's ever had. When are you going to start working your claim, Deke? Working it? Listen, all Deke Yoder does is find this stuff. Somebody else can do the work. Going to sell out to a syndicate, huh? Sure. I want silver in my pocket, not the end of a pickaxe. Who's guarding the mine for you, Deke? Anybody up there? Chet Bishop and Joe Minks. Two of the best gunheads in the territory. I'm not worried about anybody getting near the monarch. Not with those boys on the job. Deke Yoder might have been less confident had he known that three shadowy figures were even then moving quietly toward the closely guarded monarch mine. Don't make any noise. There may be guards posted up here. What makes you think that this new mine has any connection with Dad's murder? I'm not sure, Billy. There was a definite reason for your father being killed. Maybe this is it. I don't see how I... What that? I must have stepped on a twig or something that... I'm sorry. Who's there? They've heard us. What's the matter, Chet? Somebody sneaking up the slope. Get the lantern, Joe. Make a light. We'll have to go in fast. Come on, Toto. Here, the same one. Last of them. Lantern, Toto. I'll take care of this one. No. No, here, don't injure. I ain't bucking your kind of my slayer. What happened, Toto? I'm going to break lantern. Get away in dark. He'll be back. It isn't far of the new town at the bottom of the hill. We'll have to make the most of the time we have. Where's Billy? Right here. I didn't know what to do when the shooting started. You can do something now. Get the sheriff. Bring him back here. We'll ask for a showdown. Kimasabi. This fellow and one a runaway. Them same ones, me see very old man. I guessed as much. It isn't enough proof to convict him, but we'll tell the sheriff anyway. Hurry, Billy. All right. I'll Toto. I'll tie this man up while he's still unconscious. See if you can find another lantern around here someplace. I want to look at the inside of that mine. Let me try it. Let all the hold you. Here. Here, let me find another lantern. Let me light it. It's good. It must be the mine shaft over there. Come on. It isn't very deep. Only a few feet. This is the reason Harlow was killed. Should be some kind of a sign. Him not file claim. How we know? That's the trouble. I'm reasonably certain, but I... Throw the light over here, Toto. Look. Look. The clay is soft and moist up against this back ledge. There are prints on the ground. See them? Somebody kneeled here, Toto. See? There are knee prints and two hands. A man kneeled down on all fours and... Kim Sabi. Print a right hand. Have two fingers missing. Tom Harlow. It must have been him. But why would he... Wait. Get down there. There's a broken ledge at about eye level. He... What, Pat? You find something? Yes, Toto. I'm going to leave it here. There. See the light, Toto? That must be in the shack. That's where they're going to stay. Stand back, boys. This will be like shooting fish in a barrel. Put out the light, Toto. There's some light. What do you think? Come on, Toto. My shoulder. Got a slug in my shoulder. And if anybody else pulls a gun, you'll get worse than that. Here, here, now. What's going on up here? I'm glad to see you, Sheriff. Mask? What kind of a shenanigan is this? He's the man I told you about, Sheriff. The one who... Arrest us now, who, Dad? He's trespassed normal property and tried to kill me. Your property? You mean the mine you stole from Tom Harlow before you murdered him? Tom Harlow? What's he got to do with it? The answer's inside the mine, Sheriff. I'll show you if you'll have one of your deputies guard these two men. The other one is tied up on the ground over there. Well, I'll be... Watch him, boys. All right, Sheriff. Fight the landing, Toto. Now what? Tom Harlow didn't die of smallpox, Sheriff. He was murdered. Shot in the back by Deke Yoder, or one of those other two men. You've got to have proof for something like that, stranger. The proof will be in their confession. I'm sure of that. Why would they kill an old prospector like Tom? He didn't have any money. He just made this strike. The biggest one since Tombstone. You mean the monarch here? Look at the floor of this shaft. There are two knee prints and two hand prints over there near the ledge. One of the hand prints has two fingers missing. Tom Harlow made those prints, Sheriff. Well, suppose old Tom did find this. He didn't leave any sign, file any claims. Yes, he did. Kneel down there, Billy. Just like your father did. I, uh, all right. Oh. What do you see? Why, nothing. Nothing except lying here on the edge. It looks like a watch. No. It's a locket. Locket? Let me see. Open it, Billy. It... There's a picture inside. A picture of a very pretty girl. And underneath that there's writing. It says, to Tom from Ellen, with all my love. Why, Ellen, that was my mother's name. That's her picture, Billy. Gosh. Maybe you're right. Maybe Tom Harlow was here. Maybe Deke Yoder and his skunks did kill him. Now, wait a minute, Sheriff. Isn't there a little slip of paper on the other side of the locket, Billy? Why, how did you know? Give him the lantern, Toto. Ah. What's it say, son? Why, it's written in Dad's handwriting, all right. And it says, I filed this claim in the name of my son, William Harlow. And it's dated two days ago. Two days ago? Well, I'll be... Come on, Toto. Adios, Billy. Wait, don't go. I want to ask you how you... Oh, they've gone. Never heard of anything like it in all my life. Well, this is your lucky day, son. You own a silver mine. No, Sheriff. My luckiest day was yesterday. Why? How do you figure? That's when I met the Lone Ranger. Just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger, Incorporated. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
