with the speed of light, the cloud of dust, and a harny, hi-yo, Silver! The Lone Ranger! And companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. 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 who beats the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again! Oh, Silver! Let's go, big fellow! The Lone Ranger and Tonto were riding through the night on the gravel floor of an arroyo when they heard the shots. Oh, Silver, oh, boy, oh! Oh, fella, oh, fella. Easy. You heard that, Tonto? Ah, a gunshot. Which side of the arroyo? Me think it's that side. That's what I thought. Come on up to the top of the bank. Come on there, Silver. Get him up, Scout. Come on, fella. Here you go, boy. That's it. Come on, Scout. Come on. Easy, Tonto. Hold it. Whoa! There, light, way over yonder. Yes, I see it. Maybe house. Maybe campfire. Too far to tell. Come on, Tonto. Oh, Silver! Get him up, Scout! As the masked man and his Indian friend raced across the level ground, the dim light took form. The glow resolved itself into a small window. The light came from a single candle that burned inside the one-room cabin. Just beyond the cabin, there were trees, the edge of a dense forest. Oh, Silver, oh, fella. I wonder if those shots came from here. We soon know. Right there, Silver. The door's wide open. Let me see it. I'll take a look inside. Tonto, there's a man in there on the floor. Him hurt. Put the horses in back and take a quick look around. I'll see about the man. Come, Scout. Come, Scout. Steady there. Steady. Help me. I'm going to. Let me see how badly you're hurt. You've been hit twice. You know who did it? The killer. The same one. The same one? What do you mean? He got the others. I'm number four. I... Can you name the man who shot you? Name him. Just his name, that's all. Too far gone to help, Tonto. Just a minute. Oh, his heart is still beating. Get some water. Stay on the table. You can just get him conscious long enough to breathe one word. You'll name the man who shot him. Right here. Get water. Force him on this. Uh-huh. He said something about being the fourth man to die. Hey, that's enough. If he speaks, be sure to catch every word. Ah. You know, Pete, sometimes I think we're just a couple of plain and fancy fools to keep on being deputy sheriff. Well, it's better no job at all, Hank. It's all right till this mysterious murder man started operations around here. Yeah, I know. The past couple of weeks, we've done nothing but ride down a hundred-odd blind trails. I'll lay two to one this here as to be another one of them. Where'd his nibs get the notion that the killer might go after old Clem? Oh, I don't know. Where's his nibs get all his other notions? Doggone his side. If he can't do his own work, why don't he resign the sheriff and let one of us have the job? Ah, don't be too hard on Demerick. Ain't his fault he can't walk. Maybe not, but I can't. You might get crippled up with the rematics yourself someday. Take my word for it, Pete. If ever I am, if I'm sitting home while a couple of critters like you and me do all the work, I'll see that them same get the credit. Maybe Sheriff Devereux will give us the credit. That's funny, Will. You rave and rant and howl for action until we run this murder man down. When we do, he'll take all the thanks reward money. You'll see if he does. Oh, stop your growling, Hank. He'll ask us for not getting the killer but won't give us no credit if we do. Yeah, there's Clem's cabin. There's a light going. The old goat's up late than usual. Yeah. No, Pete, I think Sheriff Demerick's got spies. Spies? Yes, sir. I think he's got some glutes around town to whisper things in his ear. He sure has some way of knowing things. Hey, that's a horse. I heard it. Clem don't keep a horse, does he? Not that I know of. He didn't have one last week. We better rain up right here and be careful how we close in. Pull, pull there. Pull, pull it. Pull there. Yeah, maybe we'll get a crack at the murder man, whoever he is. You better unlimber your gun. All right, now, leave the horse as the ground hits. We'll go ahead on foot. Keep your voice down. Yeah. There. The horse again. Yeah, it's beyond the house. Pete, there's someone moving about in there. I've seen the shatter. Oh, get close to the door. We'll jump in sudden. Yeah. This way, now. I'll give the word. Whatever you say. All right, now. Hush him, boss. Stick him up. Stick him up. There they are. Hey. Sorry. Let go of me. Knock his gun down, Tonto. Oh. The ornery masked killer, I'll get you. Just let me get loose. Next time you call, don't tell the girl. Come on, Tonto. Hey, come on back here. Hey, Hank, they're getting away. Oh, my God. Where'd he knock my gun? He had rat it all. I can't find it. Get him, Pete. Come on, Tonto. Come up, Scout. Hey, they're going away. Oh, thunderation. Hank, what are you doing on the floor? That masked man, he tagged my chin. Look at my chin, Sheriff, Demerick. You can see that I sure stopped something mighty hard. Well, Sheriff, we didn't have a chance. Those two must have known we were sneaking up. They were waiting for us as soon as we stepped through the door. Hey. Yeah, there was two of them there. Redskin and the masked man. Well, why'd you let him get away? Why didn't you shoot him? Well, Hank was falling on the floor and the Redskin knocked my gun out of my hand. I'm a fondlet. They got away in the woods. Wasn't no use trying to follow them in that woods, Sheriff. We figured we'd better come right here to you and tell you old Clem was dead. That's four deaths in the past two weeks. A fine pair of nincompoops I have for deputies. Oh, if my legs were better, I'd show you young squirts a thing or two. Oh, we've done our best, Sheriff. Your best wasn't good enough. We couldn't help it, Sheriff. I told you two galoots that Clem was in danger. I bet you doddled on your way to his place. Well... I knew it. How'd you know he was in danger, Sheriff? He was in town today. Called on Judge Parker and told him he had a pretty fair notion as to who the murder man was. He did? Yes. Judge brought him here to my house and told me about it. What'd he say? He said he had some sort of clue to the man who killed Doc Robertson. That'd be the same man that killed and robbed them two newcomers just before Doc Robertson was shot. Probably. Did he say what the clue was? No, he promised to bring it into town tomorrow. Poor old Clem must have liked walking. It's four miles of his place. Chances are Clem bragged all over town about knowing something. The murder man heard him. That's what I figured. That's what I thought would happen. So I sent you two to Clem's place thinking the killers would go after that evidence. And what happened? You got there too late. No. Well, anyhow, Sheriff, we did learn something. We learned that there's two men instead of one. Yeah. And we also learned that one of the pair is an Indian that's called Tonto. From the home of the crippled Sheriff, Hank and Pete went to the cafe and told their story. By midnight, everyone had heard of Clem's death and the masked man and Indian who were to be hunted down. No one paid any attention to a tall stranger who had drifted into the cafe. There was no reason to suspect that he was the subject of most of the conversation because he wore a disguise instead of the mask that the lawman had seen. Is Demerick going to form a posse to find that mask hombre in the red skin? Well, sure he is. The first thing in the morning. Oh, you start now until daybreak, I suppose. No. By thunder, I sure hope we get those killers. Oh, Clem was my friend. We'll get them all right, won't we, Pete? You bet. Well, do you think you'll recognize them? Eh? What's that, stranger? Did you see the man who escaped from Clem's house so you can identify them? Doggone right. The mask will clip me right here in the chin. Look. See how I'm swole up. Oh, yes, yes. I'll get square. Just wait till I see him the next time. Look right at him, Tonto. He didn't recognize me without my mask. Yes, yes. We're safe here in camp until morning. Tomorrow at daybreak, a posse will start looking for us. Oh, maybe it's bad we'd run away. Maybe it'd better we stay in place of murder, meet lawmen. Well, we had to escape or surrender, Kimo Sabe. We'd surrendered. We might have been found guilty of Clem's death. Card would have been stacked against us. What'd we do? Well, if we stay here, we'd be found. We'd go away? If we do that, the real killer will never be found. Tonto, that man's guilty of four murders. He's got to pay. But how'd we get proof? I, uh, I thought over a plan on the way from town, but, uh, it may be a dangerous one. Oh. Then what's your plan? Tonto, you've got to go to jail and I've got to put you there. The posse set out at daybreak. Four hours later, Sheriff Demerick sat in a chair on the porch before his office with a blanket across his knees. He was roused from a doze by a fierce clattering of hoops. He looked up to see Pete Hanks and another member of the posse leading a furiously fighting paint horse. Hey, what a shame. Hang on, Joe. Throw a hint on the rail. I'm tired of the cricketer. Maybe you'll be quiet when you start dragging it. Oh, oh, oh. Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. All right, that doesn't happen. Hey, Sheriff, look at we got it. What's that? It's the horse of that redskin, one of the two killers. We found his camp, Sheriff. Where's the redskin? Did you shoot him? Oh, we didn't see him. Looked all around. There's no sign of him. So we brought the horse in. We left a couple of men in hiding to watch the camp in case he goes back there. What about the mass man? There was no sign of him. How do you know that this is the redskin's horse? There's a couple of clear footprints, Sheriff. They were moccasin prints. We compared them to some prints near Clem's house and they checked. This is the right horse. There's no doubt of it. Hey, what's this coming down the street? Pete, that's the Indian. Sure enough, that's a critter. Yeah, but who's the old desert rat riding that horse in the back of him? He's got the redskin at gunpoint. Looks like he captured him. Look, he's marching right up here. Silver's pure white coat was dirty. So was the tattered clothes and the floppy hat that the slumped-over figure in the saddle was wearing. It was a curious disguise that the Lone Ranger had chosen to appear in town with Tonto as his prisoner. Hey, you, Ensign. Get your hands up. We want you. Hold on there, gents. It's as good as my prisoner. I guessed him trying to steal more. Oh, me not steal him. Oh, Steve, do, huh? You only try right him. Hey, look. The paint recognizes the redskin. By darn, that's proof. We want you, Tonto. Now, now, Steve. We'll take charge of him. He's wanted for murder. Murder, you say? For murderers. Well, is there a reward? That's none of your affair. We'll take charge of the prisoner. Now you get along. Well, if there's reward money coming, I should stick around and maybe give me a little... I said clear out. I'm the law. If you don't, we'll throw you in jail for vagrancy or something. All right, Sheriff. I'll get it. If that's the way you feel about it, I don't want me in no trouble. Get up there. 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. Judge Parker arrived at the sheriff's office soon after Tonto had been locked behind the barred door. Sheriff Demerick's two deputies carried the crippled lawman to a chair just outside the door of a cell. We'll be around, Sheriff. You want us this hard? Is it all right for me to talk to the Indian now, Sheriff Demerick? Go ahead, George, and see what you can do with him. Hey, tell me your name is Tonto. Ah. Me, Tonto? Well, now, Tonto, let me tell you something. The law is more interested in a white man who wears a mask than a new. Now, if you'd help the law, it might help you when you go on trial. Me get proof that mask man, Tonto, not murder. Proof? Why, you local, Ryan... Well, he might be telling the truth, Sheriff. You remember what Clems said when he came to town yesterday? Ah. He was just talking. That killer's too sleek to let anyone have any proof against him. Tonto. So, if you'll trust me, I might be able to help you. Oh, me wait. The man who was killed last night said that he thought he could bring proof against the murdered man sometime today. Ah. And proof come tonight. How's it coming? Who's to bring it? I think you're an out-and-out liar. That's what I think. You wait. You see. Mask friend come here into town. Him bring proof against murder man. Him show everyone the Tonto, not killer. Him show everyone who real killer is. You see. You mean to say that your mask friend is the one who's to bring that evidence? That's right. Sheriff, I wonder if we've been accusing the wrong people. Not on your life. But your deputies didn't actually see the murder. Well, they got here right after it. I understand they weren't near enough at the moment of the shooting to hear the gunfire. Well, what of it? There must have been considerable time between the shooting and the time Hank and Pete reached the house. Now, why would the mask man and the Indians stay around so long? They were searching the house for something or other. Just a minute, Sheriff. Tonto, you said the mask man would come here with proof against the murder. Ah, you wait. You see. Where is he going to get that proof? Of him come by way a red gap. Him come sometime tonight. Him show who killer is. For some time after the judge had left, Sheriff Demerick sat in deep thought. From time to time, a townsman dropped in to see if he needed anything. At noon, a man brought a tray of food from the cafe. Put it right down here on the desk, Joe. There you are, Sheriff. Anything else? Joe, it's being said around town that we don't have evidence enough to hang that Indian if he goes on trial. You heard talk like that, didn't you? Well, seems that the judge thinks there's room for doubt as to his guilt. Just so, just so. And because of that, some of the boys are talking to hanging him. What's there to it? Honest, Sheriff, I haven't heard a word about a lynching. Just because I can't walk, some of the boys figured they could get away with stringing up the red skin. Sheriff, is it true that a jury might turn him loose? How do I know? He's got to be trying on the evidence we got. If that don't convict him, he goes free. That'd be a downright shame. Joe, you sure you haven't heard any lynch talk? No, but it's a good idea. Sure that none of the boys here in the cafe have heard lynch talk? There he works. We never had a lynching around here. Boys, old Clem is my best friend. It'd be a sin and a shame if that murder in red skin is to go free because we don't have more evidence. The judge says he might go free. He and that masked man are as guilty as sin. They kill four people. That's right. Maybe we should see how a trial comes out. He ought to have a chance in court. Those killers never give anyone else a chance. Look, boys, easy to hold a necktie party after the sheriff went to bed. Even if he did hear the excitement, he couldn't do anything about it. Now, hold on. Wouldn't we be taking unfair advantage of the fact that Demerick can't walk? But get it. Boys, I'm for keeping things quiet so as the deputies don't hear any talk. They're still out hunting the masked man. Now, just a minute, boys. Before we come to any decision, let's see what some of the other fellas around town have to say about it. All right, let's find out. Once born, the idea of a lynching gathered force as the day advanced. By late afternoon, a large majority were in favor of hanging Tonda without waiting for a trial. Those who had objected had been cried down. I'm all for it. Me too. Let's make sure that redskin don't go free. Spring him up. Yes, we can do it. Boys, boys, listen to me. Listen to me. As soon as the sheriff is in bed, I'll come and let you know. Then we'll move on to the jail. You sure old Demerick's in bed? Yeah, I helped him into the house and hung around nearby watched till his light went out. Come on, boys, let's go get that man. Come on. Bring up that battering raft. Stand back here so we can smash her against the door. Get back. Stand back so they can push the door in. All right, here we come. Let her go, boys. Now, let's find the cell and there's the redskin. We come for you, engine. Now, we got a bus to lock on the cell door. All right, a couple of bullets on it. Here, I got a gun. Let me get at it. Hold on there. Hold on, you pack of crazy. Hey, hey, the deputy. Stop it. Would you come back into town? Never mind that. Break it up. Going back home. You can't reach that redskin. Who says we can't? We're going to. He's the murder man. Now, wait. Wait a minute. Listen to me. There'll be proof that he's not guilty if you'll just wait. Oh, you're just saying that's all we break up. I'm giving you true facts. Just wait until a little later. We're going to hang the redskin. You can't stop us. Grab him, boys. Hang on to him. Let me go. You're making a mistake. Let me go, boys. Hang on to him. No. Now, try a gun on that lock. That did it. Boys, don't touch the Indian. Wait till the mass man gets here. He's coming from Red Gap. Just wait. That's all I ask. If he comes here, we hang him too. Right alongside the engine. Come on, Tonto. You've got a big appointment with the noose. The Lone Ranger had ridden out of town soon after appearing in the disguise of an old man. He stopped on the trail to Red Gap and removed the disguise. Then he donned his mask and waited until after dark. He was on the back trail heading toward town. The route from Red Gap went through a narrow gap that was ideally suited to the purposes of anyone who wanted to wait in ambush. A dark form crouched waiting as the masked man approached. The dry gulcher waited until he saw that the solitary horseman wore a mask. That's the man. He rested the barrel of his rifle on a rock and then drew careful aim. Before his finger tightened on the trigger, a voice spoke sharply from somewhere behind him. Drop it! Huh? We have you. I smashed his rifle. Oh, sir. Oh, my. Oh. Here's your man. We got him. There's a rope for him. No, no. Wait. This will hold you. George Speed, help me. Shoot that masked man. We're on that masked man's side, John Repulter. You bet we are, Demerick. The masked man came to me and said you could walk. I wouldn't believe him. He talked for a solid hour last night, persuaded me to help him. Last night? Yes. He's the one who put Tonto in jail. Then I talked to the Indian enough to make you think the masked man would come this way with proof against you. Then you walked right into the trap. You walked as good as any man. The judge and I followed you all the way from your house. How'd you know so much? That was easy, Demerick. Old Clem lived long enough to name you. Clem what? He told about two people new in town and they were killed and robbed. Then the doctor was killed. Clem found a vest button near the doctor's body. After thinking things over, Clem realized that the button might be a clue to the murderer. He came and told you about it. You went to his house last night and killed him so he couldn't tell anyone else about the button. The chances are Doc knew he'd fixed you so you could walk. Yeah, fool sawbones. He'd be alive today if he hadn't put two and two together and accused me of doing for the newcomers. Pretty smart sending me and Hank on a lot of blind leads. Yeah. We took our time going to Clem's house and you had plenty of chance to get there ahead of us while we thought you was home in your bed. Pete, that's Hank right this way. I wondered why he didn't meet us to follow this killer. He's coming fast. I wonder what's wrong. Pete! Judge! Hold there! The mass man. It's good you hear. What's the matter? The lynch mob. What? I tried to stop him but they grabbed me and held me. I just got away from him. They're hanging that red skin. I fixed it. You fixed it. Maybe that mass man's caught me but I've done for his Indian past. Here, Silver. You're going with me, Sheriff. Hey! Hold on a minute. You're going with me. If we're too late I'm not sure what'll happen to you. Come up here! Hey! Let me down! Judge! Pete! Stop it! From Silver! The race of lifetime. Silver ran as never before despite the double burden on his back. The mighty stallion seemed to recognize a different quality in the mass man's voice. Hold on, Silver! He seemed to know a life depended on his speed. Tonto was seated on his paint horse scout. His hands were tied behind his back and a noose was around his neck. From the noose a rope went over a convenient branch of the hangman's tree. This is it, Tonto. Slap the horse out from under him. Right! Steady, steady, fellow. Get up there! Now, what's the matter with that horse? Slap the critter again! He's got hope. Get along there! Well, what do you know? Hey, here's my masked friend. Him tell truth. Him tell me, not killer. Hey, he's got the sheriff with him. We left the sheriff in bed. What's he doing with that masked man? Get away there! Get that man! Now, hold on! Don't shoot! The man hit the sheriff! Hold Silver! Hold on! Hold on! Get him, boys! Make him turn me loose! Don't try it! I'll cut that rope, Tonto! When he wanted to draw the gun, cut that Indian's hands free. I brought you your murderer. No, no, boys! Don't believe him! Let me talk! Here's the man who couldn't walk. Get down there, Demerick! What? Look at that! Why, he's standing up! Yes, and he can walk. He walked to the pass to ambush me. The judge is on the way to back my story. So is Hank, and so is Pete. Come to think of it, by ginger, Demerick, it was you that first mentioned Hank in the Indian. Here comes Hank and Pete. And the judge right behind him. Well, cut that redskin loose! By thunder, boys, we've made a terrible mistake. Cut that rope off his hands. I'll do it. Boys, the sheriff is the killer. Hang on to Demerick. Go him in jail. Well, you're free to go, Tonto. Doggone, it's a good thing that paint horse of yours was stubborn. Oh, hey, him not stubborn now. Him go when Tonto say so. Come on, Tonto. Get him off. Go! Just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
