a cloud of dust, and a hearty, hi-yo, Silver, the Lone Ranger. The Danyan 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 hoop beat to the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Silver. Let's go, we call it. A short, stocky man entered the cafe in Dry Gulch and sauntered toward a corner table where Blackie Smartin, professional gambler, sat over a game of solitaire. Hi, Jay. Sit down. Well, Blackie, things are all set. You told Jed Harrison about Jim Woodley? Yep. When you told me yesterday that Harrison was to pick up 10,000 in gold at the bank this afternoon, I went right out to a spread. How'd Jed take it? Yeah, you know, Jed, being an ex-lawman, he never did have any use for anyone who broke the law. He was just getting ready to mount up and ride out to the range when I reined up in front of his ranch house. Oh, hold on there, old boy. Well, hi there, Jed. Howdy, Jake. What brings you out here? Yeah, just passing by. Say, as how I was near your spread, I dropped in to let you know something was hurting Tom. What you hear that's so important? Well, now, I don't know if it's so important, but, uh, well, I do think it's something you ought to know. Well, tell me then. I've got work to do before Sunday. It's about that new ranch hand of yours, Jed. Young Jim Woodley? What about him? Did he, uh, tell you much about himself when you took him on? He said he was a good ranch hand, needed a job, so I hired him. Well, maybe it won't make any difference to you, Jed, but, uh, that hombre did tie him in territorial prison for a bank job in Stockton. What? That's right. You can check with the warden up there if you want, eh? I just thought you ought to know. Well, of all. So that jailbird had the nerve to come in and take a job in my spread, did he? Oh, shit, boy. I'll go right out to the range and tell him to get off this spread pronto and to stay off. I'll show that young owl hoot he can't put anything over on Jed Harrison. Get out there, boy! He rode off to fire Jim Woodley. You say he rode off to fire him, Jake, but did he do it? How do you know Woodley didn't slick talk his way out of it? I mean, sure he didn't. I snuck along soon as I could hear what Jed told him. He went up to where Woodley was working and started right in without no preliminaries. I've been hearing things about you. Yeah? How's that, Mr. Harrison? When you come here to work for me, I didn't ask you a lot of questions. I asked your precious few. But I warned you that I wanted straight answers to those few questions. You remember that? Yes, sir. I remember that. I asked you for one thing if you'd ever been in any crooked deals. You told me that you hadn't. Well, that's the truth. Then how come you spent a term in prison for bank robbing? How'd you know about that? Then it's true. Oh, yes, it's true. But I wasn't guilty. I was framed. Framed? That's what every crook said. I was. But what's the use, Sam? I thought I could close the book on my past. You can close the book on this here job. Take a gear and get. Fired, huh? Fired as of right now. Get off this land as fast as you can get. Off the place in short order. He's here in town right now. Where's he staying, Jake? Do you know? Yeah, he's over at the hotel. He's got a room there. It's a good thing he didn't know we were the ones that framed him for that bank job. Yeah. He'd blow up if you knew it. He'd blow even higher if he knew we were about to frame him again. He sure comes in handy. Say, uh, how are we going to do it, Blackie? You got that figured out yet? I got a tip off that Jed Harrison will pick up his gold at the bank in about half an hour. Then he'll start back to his ranch. You ride on ahead to that cottonwood grove along the trail. Wait for him there. Be sure he doesn't see you. You, don't worry. Let Jed go past. Then let him have it. One shot's all I need. Grab the gold and hide it there. The big hollow tree. Then take a roundabout way to town. What are you going to do, Blackie? I'm going to see to it that Jim Woodley gets the blame. While we'll have the pleasure of spending Jed's ten thousand. I'll get going, Jake. Make sure you do a good job. A short time later, Blackie approached Jim Woodley, who was sitting on the porch of the local hotel. Clerk tells me you're Jim Woodley. That's right, I am. Uh, haven't I seen you someplace before? Maybe I get around. I have a message for you. A message for me? Yes, from Jed Harrison. Now, hold on, stranger. Jed Harrison said enough to me yesterday without sending anybody. Take it easy, Woodley. Take it easy. Jed's sorry about yesterday. That's why he sent me to look for you. Sorry? I guess I don't savvy what you... Listen. Jed Harrison told me to find you and tell you he lost his temper yesterday. He says to forget the past and come on out to his ranch to work again. When did Jed Harrison tell you this? A short time ago. He was in town. But he had to get back to the ranch. He said for you to follow right away. He wants to have a talk with you and settle things. Now, if you hurry, you might be able to catch up to him on the trail. Well, I... I don't know. I do need a job. Go on. Get your horse and ride after him. You can talk things out with him when you meet. All right. I guess it won't do any harm. I'll go. Thanks for the message. After watching Jim Woodley mount his horse and ride out of town, Blackie Martin went to the sheriff's office. Giving yourself up? This is no laughing matter, Sheriff Morley. You better get your men together for some riding if you want to keep Jed Harrison from being murdered. What? That's right. I overheard something that makes me believe Jed's in danger. Well, speak up. What did you hear? Yesterday, it seems Jed fired one of his men. A young army by the name of Jim Woodley. I overheard Woodley just a little while ago say that he was going to get even. And a short time after Jed hit the trail for his ranch, Jim Woodley set out after him. I thought you ought to know. So he's following Jed Harrison, huh? Larry! Larry! As seen as you're my deputy, you've got to come along with me to prevent a killing. Get a couple of other men to come along. Why, sure, Sheriff. I'll be with you in a minute. Make it sooner than that. We've got to get going and pronto, or Jed Harrison will be dry gulched on the trail. Come on. Get a move on you. It was late in the afternoon when the Lone Ranger and Tonto stopped to make camp. They selected a site that was well off the trail and were making preparations for an early supper. The town of Drag Gulch is about six miles from here, Tonto. Take the papers there in the morning, give them to our old friend Sheriff Morley. Ah. It better we rest here tonight, Kemosabe. It's a long ride from Stockton. You hear that, Tonto? Ah. Sound like shark come from trail. Yes. Perhaps we'd better investigate. Here, Silver, scout. Good thing we're not on saddle horses yet. Yes, it is. Come on, Silver. Get him up, scout. No, me not. Look, Kemosabe. Ahead on trail. Near Cottonwood. A horse without a rider. Yes. There's someone lying there on the ground. Come on. Come on, Silver. Come on, scout. He's still alive. Maybe we can help him. Oh, Silver. Oh, Silver. Your eyes open, Tonto. The one who shot him may still be near here. Let me watch. He's dead, Tonto. Shot in the back. Not enough good. What do we do? Get his horse. Put the body across the saddle and take him to town to the coroner's office. He get the horse. Good. Steady there. That's it. Here. Here, horse. Good. Now we lift him into the saddle. You big man. Yes. Well dressed. Easy, Silver. Steady. It'll be daylight. For a while. It'll be dark by time we get to town. Yes. Come on, Silver. Get him off, scout. The Lone Ranger and Tonto had gone about a quarter of a mile toward town, leading the horse that bore the body of Jed Harrison. As they skirted a hill covered with boulders, Tonto suddenly called a halt. Wait, Kemosabe. Oh, Silver. Oh, that's about it. You hear horse and trail ahead. Won't do for us to be seen with this dead man. Better we hide behind big boulders on the hillside. Yes, hurry. We'll turn to the side here. Come, Scott. Come, fellas. Oh, the body slid from the saddle. Not time to pick him up now. Come on, Tonto. I'm Silver. Get him up, scout. Here, Tonto. Behind this big boulder. Oh, Silver. Oh, quiet. He's steady. He's steady. Quiet now. Oh, oh, oh. Let him do. You see him? Yes, he's bending over the body. Mr. Harrison. Mr. Harrison. Him not know man dead. He seems upset, I think. Listen, Tonto. Uh-huh. We hear other hookbeats. Many horses. Yes, I see them. Four men. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Now, wait a minute, Sheriff. You don't understand all right, Jim Woodley. You heard you made drets again, Jim Harrison. You found him out of town this afternoon. Sure. Now we've got your red hands. If you'd like it, we can keep the men in town from stringing him up. I didn't do it, I tell you. I just this minute come up the trail and found Mr. Harrison lying here. Just like this. He's got all the arrows against you. He must have it. Yes. We know a young fellow not do it. He could have, Tonto. But it's not likely. All right, Ben. Poor kid on his horse. You want to take this killer back to town. Take his guns, Tom. Come on, Bill. Help me get this in on your horse. All right. I got these guns. Well, I guess the sheriff Larry can take care of that. I'm great. Turn it up, Ben. You've got to get back to town and get this out. I'll move in the jail before the news gets out. There. We're ready, Sheriff. All right, young fellow. Get under your prop. I know the money business. I see you, Roy. Sheriff, forget only listen to reason. I'll tell you. Can't do it. Get out of here, Roy. Kimo Sabi. Young fellow not have a chance. Him get hung, maybe. I don't think so. You not think young fellow kill a man we find on trail? I'm quite sure he didn't. Then why you not tell sheriff when you give him papers, Kimo Sabi? More to convince than the sheriff, Tonto. The best way to prove that he didn't kill the man they called Harrison is to find the one who did kill him. And that's just what we're going to do. One silver, enough, scouts. 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. From their hiding place behind a large boulder, the Lone Ranger and Tonto watched the sheriff and his men arrest Jim Woodley for the killing of Jed Harrison. After waiting a few minutes, the Lone Ranger and Tonto followed a group of horsemen down the trail toward the town. It was almost an hour later when Jim was led into the jailhouse and taken to his cell at the back. All right, Woodley. Get inside. Oh, now, look. Sheriff, I didn't kill him, honest. You can tell by looking at my guns, they're both still loaded. Could have reloaded before he rode up, Woodley. Nope. We caught you red-handed. You threatened Jed. You followed him. We found him shot in the back. That's evidence now. I didn't threaten him. I was told... Take your breath, young fellow. You may need it. Got to go out now and make sure no lynch mob comes a storm in the jail. When the news gets around, there's going to be plenty bad. I guess it's no use. No matter what I say, they look... What the... Here, over at the window. Ah. And the moonlight's shining through that window. It looks like you have a mask on. I have. Never mind that now. And here's a friend. I came to help you. How can you help me? The window's barred and so... I want you to answer some questions, Jim. You know my name? I heard them call you Jim out on the trail. When they arrested you, I was watching. And maybe you killed Jed Harrison. No, I didn't kill him. But I'm going to find out who did. Why were you following Harrison? Well, a friend of his came to me and told me Harrison wanted to talk to me about coming back to work for him. And he suggested I ought to ride after Jed and do the talking along the trail. Who was the man who told you all that? I don't know his name. But he did look kind of familiar. He's tall and dark, talks smooth like, and has shaggy eyebrows and a big black mustache. I see. Well, Jim, don't give up hope. I think we'll find a way to get you out of this. But how can you help... I'll be used to. We meet again. Meantime, in the cafe, Blackie and Jake were doing their utmost to arouse the men against Jim Woodley. Now, wait a minute. It seems to me, men, that when a man's caught red-handed like Jim Woodley was, standing right over the man he'd killed, something ought to be done about it right away. Ah, sure. I heard Jed Harrison was carrying $10,000 in gold when he was killed. Guess that's why Woodley went after him. Must have hid the gold amongst the rocks. Shot Jed in the back, too. Jed Harrison was one of the best ranchers around here. He was everybody's friend, even Woodley's, until he found out Jim had done time in territorial prison. Jim Woodley's a proved crook and a killer, so why wait for the Lord, I think? Come on, let's go get him! Yeah, what are we waiting for? Let's stream up! Get some rope, somebody! Let's go to jail! Get one! While Blackie and Jake were arousing the crowd, Tonto approached the lone ranger who stood in the shadows behind the jail. Did you spot him, Tonto? Tall, dark man with a mustache and cafe with short, stocky fella. Them give strong talk to crowd about young fella in jail. Them say, get rope, hang him. I expected that move. Them come to jail now. Yes, let's move toward the front. Here, Tonto. This is a message for the sheriff. Give it to one of the deputies as soon as you can. Now we'll wait here in case the sheriff needs help. What's right here to take him? He won't kill anyone else. Break down the door, man! Stay right where you are, all of you! We came to get Woodley! And you ain't gonna stop it, Sheriff. Keep your guns on them, Larry. I sure will. Now listen to me! I'm sheriff here, and nobody's gonna lynch anybody out of my jails, have he? And the first man that tries to bust his way in here is gonna get a bullet in his hide. Hey, Sheriff, an engine over there at the edge of the porch gave me this note for you. He says it's important. Tom, I ain't got no time now for notes. What's that? Something shiny. What's a bullet? Looks like a silver bullet. A silver bullet? Let me see that note. Keep him covered while I move over to the window to read this. I got him covered. We're warning you, Sheriff. We're gonna stay Jim with me. Yeah, and you ain't going to stop us much longer. That's Russia right now. I'll be done with it. Hold on, everybody! Got a note here that's important. I want you to listen while I read it to you. Quiet, everybody! Now, listen to this. If you want positive evidence against the killer of Jed Harrison, go to the scene of the crime and you'll get it. Well, what's that mean, Sheriff? It means just what it says, I reckon. That's some kind of trick. You got evidence enough already. You can take my word for it. It isn't any trick. And if we find positive evidence that Jim Woodley did kill Harrison, by thunder, I'll help you string him up. So there. I just want us to leave so your deputies can take Woodley away. Yeah, you can't fool us that away. Now, listen. I'll have my deputies bring Woodley right along with us and we'll all go out to the scene of the crime. How about it? All right, then. The moon's pretty bright, but you better come and get some lanterns and torches to take along. Now, all of you, get ready to ride. And I'll lead you right to the spot where we found Jed Harrison's body. Working, Tonto. Would you keep an eye on the two men? And I'm here, Sheriff. Read note. Then leap crowd, get horses and ride trail out of town. Good silly, big fella. We'll have to do some fast riding to catch up with them. Come on, Silver. Get them up, scout. I'd sure like to know who sent that note, what he meant by it. You think it meant somebody found the gold in the hollow tree? How do I know? The main thing is for us to get there in plenty of time to get the gold before the sheriff and the men get there. And if there's any evidence, I want to know it. I don't see how there could be anything. I was plenty careful when I took the gold out of the saddlebags and hid it. I know I didn't drop anything to be evidence. That's what you think. But somebody found out something or the sheriff wouldn't have received that note. There's a cottonwood growth just ahead. I know. Hold, hold there. Let's look in the hollow tree. All right, I'm coming. This is a tree right here. Let's see if the gold is still in there. You're almost there, boys. Harrison, what are you bringing me out here for? Just take it easy, son. You'll find out soon enough. There's a place, sheriff. Just ahead. Yep, that's it, all right. What do you say, Woodley? Is that the place you found you bending over Jet Harrison? I guess so. I guess he's afraid of what we'll find there. Yeah. Remember, sheriff, you told the product to find positive proof like that note said that pointed to Woodley and you'd help string him up their shell. Yep, that's just what I did say. You're the sheriff. You're supposed to prevent lynching. Nobody said there was going to be lynching, son. Here we are. Who? All right, everybody. Get your lanterns and torches and see what you can find in the way of evidence. And make sure you cover every inch of the ground. Now get busy. Now what do you find, Jake? It's still here. There it is. Good. Carry it over to your horse while I take a look around. If there's anything else, I want to... That's where you are, both of you. Jake, look. Who is it, hombre? Somebody else after this gold, but he won't get it. Jump behind the tree, quick. Right arm. He winged me. You'd better give up if you know what's good for you. I'll give you an answer to that, outlaw. You ought to find it out, huh? That's all right with me. Haven't found a thing, Sheriff. This was a trick after all. Dag nabbit, men. That note said we'd find evidence at the scene of the crime. Must be around it somewhere. Well, we might as well give up, Sheriff. I admit we've covered every inch of ground, but I still think we ought to keep... What's that? It's coming from up the trail a bit. Get to your horses, men. Let's get up there. Come on. Go. Do it. Come on. Give up sooner or later. That's what you think. Hey, look at that big horse. Now, it's all on an engine. Hey, there's Blackie Martin. Blackie must have caught him. Quiet. Quiet, everybody. Steady, big fella. Well, what's this all about? Easy, Silver. Sheriff Morley, the men you have under your guns over near that tree are the killers of Jed Harrison. Right there at their feet is the evidence against them. The gold they took from Jed when they killed him. Well, they couldn't have killed Jed, Sheriff. We found Jed's body a quarter of a mile back on the trail. Yes, that's right. But he was killed right here in this cottonwood grove. How do you know that, mass man? Because my Indian friend and I found him here after we heard the shot that killed him. We were taking him into town when we heard hoofbeats coming up the trail. I decided we'd better not be seen. But the body slid from the saddle onto the trail. We hid behind a big boulder and saw Jim Woodley find Jed. Maybe he killed Jed himself. Why should we listen to a mass stomp? Wait a minute, Ben! This outlaw is working with Woolley. We caught him trying to get away with the gold. That's right, we did. Yeah. Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. I sent a note to the sheriff telling him that if you came to the scene of the crime, you'd find evidence. The two killers were the only ones who knew the real scene of the crime. They came here while all of you went to the other spot. That's right, men. Blackie and Jake lit out before we did and they came right here to get the gold they hid. I believe the mass man. They killed Jed Harrison. You won't do any more thinking like that. Look out, Sheriff! Oh! Did you see that? That was quick shooting that winged Blackie right through the shoulder. Get their guns, boys. We'll take them in for the murder of Jed Harrison. All right, Sheriff, if you say so. But, Sheriff, we saw Jim Woodley bending over Jed when we found him. You were riding only a short distance behind Jim Woodley. If he had shot Jed, you'd have heard the shot. Now, here's some papers, Sheriff. I was bringing them to you. Hmm. This one says a dying outlaw confessed to robbing a bank with Blackie Martin and Jake Summers and that they framed a man named Jim Woodley for the crime. Why? And that's the same one. Only in Stockton he didn't have a mustache. I only saw him once. Yes, and he tried to frame you again, Jim. But this time he didn't get away with it. And now he'll hang for murder, him and Jake both. I'll be seeing you again, Sheriff. Hey, Sheriff, what's the other paper you have? Why do you take that mass man's word for everything like you do? Quiet down, all of you! Larry, I'll answer you about this other paper and that'll answer your second question. This here paper says I'm to give all the help I can to the Lone Ranger in his search for some outlaws up this way. It's signed by the United States Marshal. You mean to say that mass man? Yes, I sure do. That's the man I'm supposed to help. Only he helped me tonight. He's the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger? Gosh. The Lone Ranger you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated. The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger.
