A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the Lone Ranger. With his faithful Indian 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 hoof beats of the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Tully! Let's go, big fellow! I'm Tully! Life on a small ranch had not been easy for Jed Tully and his wife, Ida. They had come out to Frontier Town when Ida's mother died and had invested their meager savings in a small spread between the center of town and the Overland Trail. Ida had foregone the little luxuries she would like to have put in the house because what little cash they made had to go for upkeep of fences, the barn, and the ranch in general. Jed had said these things must come first and Ida made no protest. Then one night when Jed came in for supper, he found Ida putting up curtains in the kitchen. Jed, I'm so glad you came in early. You're going to be surprised. Well, I'm already surprised. Where'd you get those curtains? Why, I bought them in town today. Here's your wash basin. Thanks. Ida, you know, I've told you we haven't any money to spend on fancies now. How much those curtains cost you? Oh, Jed, don't be angry. Wait till you hear what I have to tell you. Well, let's hear it. Do you remember that Mother used to tell about her brother who went away to sea? The one with the peg leg? Yes. He was their only brother. They called him Singapore. I can barely remember him myself. Yes, I remember him. Singapore Smith. What about him? Here's your towel. Thanks. Well, today when I went into the Frontier Town post office, there was a letter for me. It was from Uncle Singapore. And Jed, you'd never guess what. No, I can't guess. He's coming here. Here? Yes. He'll be here a week from today. And I want the house to look neat and pleasant when he gets here. That's why I bought the curtains. What's he coming here for? Well, Uncle Singapore's getting old. And I'm the only relative he's got. And what? Quit stammering, Ida. Jed, Uncle Singapore wants to live with us. Live with us? I should say not. It's all we can do to scratch out a living on this place. Oh, it's not that bad, Jed. Jed, we have everything we want to eat, and this country around Frontier Town is going to be very prosperous. No. Your Uncle Singapore's not going to sponge off the sweat of my brow. No siree. But, Jed, I haven't told you all. Uncle Singapore's not going to sponge off us. He said in the letter that he'd pay for his keep. Oh, he did, huh? And this is supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you. He said that I'm to inherit everything he has when he dies. Well, it all depends on what he's got. He didn't tell you that, did he? Well, no. No, he didn't. And I'm not interested. He needs a home and the comfort of someone close to him. And it's my duty to see that he has those things. Well, if he pays his own way, I reckon I can put up with him. But he's to understand from the start that he's not going to sponge off us. Oh, he won't. I was so excited when I read his letter. I guess I created quite a scene in the post office. You created a scene? Well, the postmaster wanted to know about Uncle Singapore, so I started to tell him. There were several people there. Some of them even asked me about him. As long as you were telling them, I hope you made a good story. Well, I guess some of the folks got the idea. Uncle Singapore is very rich. That won't hurt me none. My credit's not too good in a couple of places in Frontier Town. Oh, we'll likely have a big audience when the stage comes in next Tuesday. It was a week later that two men, riding in a buckboard to which was hitched two horses, reined up beside the Overland Trail a few miles east of Frontier Town. Oh, oh, oh there, oh. Here comes the stage now, Boley. Yeah, I figured it right, eh, Sam? Now, you wave down the driver while I hold a team. Right. Here goes. Hey! Stop a minute! Hey! Yeah, the driver sees you. Hope we don't get the idea we're going to hold him up. We might start shooting. He's got sense enough to know bandits don't ride in buckboards. See, he's pulling up his stand. Oh, yeah, oh, oh, boy, oh! Hey, oh! Now, Sam, you hold the reins while I get out and do the talking. You've got to make this look like it's on the level. All right. What can I do for you? You got a passenger aboard named Singapore Smith. Why do you want to know? Yeah, we were sent to meet him. Well, I'm Singapore Smith. What do you want to meet me? Yeah, we work for your niece, Mrs. Tully. She sent us here to meet you. Thought she was going to meet me in Frontier Town. Well, her husband got sick at the last minute, so we heard as fast as we could to meet you here. You see, it's a lot closer this way. Oh, I see. Well, I'm tired of riding this brig. She rolls worse than a single rigger in a sound wester. I'll bet you. Now, just get my sea chest off the focus of this brig, and I'll go along with you, mate. You better help the old gen. He's got a peg leg. There you don't mind my peg leg. The only one of my two legs is not muscle-bound from riding this contraction. There you are. Now, just climb up the buckboard while I get your sea chest. Toss it down, driver. Give me a hand, Joe. Sure. All right, now. Here she comes. Just a minute before you throw that trunk in here, Pauly. I've got to move these saddles out of the way. Yeah. Shove them under the seat. Now, toss her in. Got her. Now, Mr. Singapore, we're ready to go. I'll drive, Pauly. Get her. Ho. Get her. Ho. Ho. Ho. All right, this is fun. Enough. Break the news to him now, Pauly. Well, Singapore, this is as far as you go. What's that? Get your hands up while I go through your pockets. Hey! Get that gun out of my ring. Easy now. You don't want to get hurt. Say, who are you? We're not the ones we told you we were when we stopped the stage. And you don't work for my niece? Of course not. Is this all you've got on you? That's all you've found in it. How much has he got in his wallet? Let's see. That's more than $10. The rest of his poop must be in his trunk. Yeah, I guess so. Well, we've got no time to go through that, so we'll take it along. All right, Singapore, climb down off the seat. Come on, get a move on. You'll never get away with this. I'll have the sheriff after you in no time. You're close to a couple of ranches, Pauly. You'll spread the alarm. No, you won't. Unstrap that peg leg, Singapore. My leg? I can't walk in the sand without my leg, and you know it. Sure, I know it. That's why I want it. Come on. You don't get it off, we'll yank it off. This is plain murder. The buzzards will be eaten off of me before I can get help. When the stage arrived in Frontier Town, Jed and Ida were on hand to meet it. They stood back while the driver brought the horses to a halt. They watched the guard leap down and unload the mail. There you are, boys. That's all the mail we got on this trip. All right, Joe. Sign here, will you? Yeah, sure. All right. Keno! Hey, mister. You speaking to me? Yes. I was supposed to meet a passenger on the stage. Sure, we got no such animal, mister. We had one passenger, but he pulled out a little while ago. Pulled out? What was his name? I'll never forget him. Soldiest old galoot I ever saw. Wore a pig leg. He must be the one. He called himself Singapore Smith. You say he left the stage? Yep. He was coming here to see a relative. A niece, I think it was. Well, that's right. And a couple of men come up in the buckboard. Said they'd been sent to meet him. Sent to meet him? We didn't send anyone. Now, let me think. Jed, Jed, what's the trouble? Here's my uncle. Two men met him with a buckboard. Said they'd been sent by you. By me? Hey, maybe you'd better report to the sheriff. He's right over there. I don't know what to do. I don't want to stir up a lot of trouble over nothing at all. Perhaps we'd better go home and see if Uncle Singapore is there. That's what we'll do. If anything's happened to the old galoot, we can report to the sheriff later on. Well, thanks a lot. Sure. Come on, Ida. We'll get our horses. In the meantime, the Lone Ranger and Tonto were riding at a slow gate on their way to the Enchanted Hills. For some time, the masked man had been watching a figure that seemed to move along the ground like some strange animal. Presently, he realized that it was a man and that something was wrong with him. Followed by Tonto, the Lone Ranger hurried to the side of the old fellow, who made his laboriously slow way on his hands and one knee. Get out of here and let me be. There's nothing to be afraid of. Don't find nothing on me. No use looking. Two other bandits just cleaned me out, peg leg and all. Now get. You say two men robbed you? That's what I said. So you and that engine are wasting your time. We're not bandits. Oh, and why are you wearing a mask? I have reasons. Now let me ask you why the robbers took your wooden leg. Keep me from getting where I was going. That's why. They took my leg and sea chest and left me high and dry. Alan, I may be able to help you, but you'll have to tell us the facts first. It won't take long to tell them. I got nothing left now but time on my hands. Let me sit down. You must have learned of your arrival in some way. I stopped the stage before it got to Frontier Town. There's no doubt of that, mate. You say there were two saddles in the buckboard? Yeah. They had to move them to get my sea chest aboard. When they reach a place of safety, they'll leave the buckboard and take to their horses. So, that's why they had them, huh? They just used a hack to fool me. And also fool the stage driver. Now, Singapore, you ride with Tato. He'll take you to the Tully Ranch. It isn't far from here. Well, where are you going, mate? Those buckboard tracks head toward the Enchanted Hills. I'll follow and try to overtake them. Now, now, mate, I don't want you to get in no trouble on account of me. Them men were mighty tough-looking. I'll take my chances. I want to overtake them before they search your sea chest and change to their horses. It may be hard to follow them when they travel on horseback. I'll be plenty satisfied if you'll just get my peg leg. They likely tossed it out along the way. All right, I'll look for it. Now, let's mount up. Stay easy, big fellow. If you find my peg leg, don't waste time and risk your neck hunting them robbers. Adios. Come on, sir. Meanwhile, the two bandits, Sam Dover and Baldy Moore, had done as the Lone Ranger predicted. They had stopped the buckboard in the seclusion of the Enchanted Hills and had proceeded to go through Singapore Smith's sea chest. Sam, there's something mighty queer about this. There sure is. We heard that woman say that her uncle was rich. Well, if he is, he's got all the money in a bank. There's nothing but clothes in this chest. Baldy, it looks like we've been took for a pair of suckers. It looks that way, Sam. I've looked to see if this trunk's got a false bottom, but it hasn't. There's no use wasting any more time looking. Let's get moving. When you get the horses out of harness and put the saddles on, I'll drag up a lot of brush around the buckboard. What for? We'll burn up the whole kit and caboodle. I don't want anyone identifying this old buckboard as the one we bought in Frontier Town. Yeah, that's right. And I'll burn up the sailor's stuff, too. Where's that wooden leg you took off of? In the buckboard. I'll leave her there. I'll get the horses saddled while I get ready for the fire. 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. After piling dry brush around the buckboard, Baldi set fire to the heap, then rode away with Sam. Flames and smoke leaped up around the ancient wagon and subsided as the brush burned out. The wagon continued to burn. The Lone Ranger saw the burning wagon and urged his horse ahead at breakneck speed. He hit the ground, brushed the fire, reached for the peg leg in the buckboard. Meanwhile, Sam and Baldi watched from the shelter of a woods a quarter mile away. Hey, Baldi, I'd swear that critter is wearing a mask. What's he after? I don't know. He's trying to get something under that buckboard. I can't see what it is. Hey! It's the peg leg. Yeah. That's what it is. Oh, why in thunder would he want that? What good is it to him? I don't know. Oh, if it's worth something, too, maybe we made a mistake in throwing it away. Yeah. He's mounting up again. Seems like there's nothing else he wants from the wagon. Now he's riding over his own back trail, going back the way he came. Sam, I'm beginning to get an idea through my head. I think we've been a couple of jug-headed fools. Huh? Why do you say that, Baldi? No time to explain now. Come on, turn your horse around. Where are we going? We're following that masked man who's got Singapore's peg leg. Get up! Get up! Jim and Ida Tully finally reached their ranch house, and they were glad they hadn't reported Uncle Singapore's disappearance to the sheriff. They found Singapore awaiting them, and with the one-legged man, an Indian named Tonto. Uncle Singapore! Baldi! Come give your old uncle a great big hug! Oh, I sure will! Oh, my, my, but you've grown since I saw you last, but you're just as pretty! Uncle Singapore, this is Jed. Howdy, Uncle Singapore! Howdy do! Idy's talked so much about you, it seems like I've always known you. Well, I used to wonder what sort of a man Idy'd marry. So, you're Jed Tully. Yep. We went to Frontier Town to meet you, Uncle Singapore, and when we arrived, the stage driving guard told us that you'd gotten off the stage before it got to town. Yeah. Hey, who's the Indian sitting outside the door? Him? Oh, he brought me here. What happened? I was held up and robbed. Robbed? You don't mean it. Yes, I do. Robbed of everything I've got in this world. Oh, that's terrible. But it's a fact. They even took my peg leg. Well, I want to hear about this. Sounds like it's going to be good. Why, Jed, what do you mean by that? Let's hear his story, and then I'll decide. I've been for the mask man, and Tonto, I'd be sitting out there in Sagebrush Haller right now. I've heard a lot of strange tales in my day, but this caps them all. Why, Jed, you're not doubting Uncle Singapore's story, are you? Friend come now. What's he say? Something about a friend. It's the mask man, and he's got my peg leg. That Indian's losing no time in getting out there to talk to him. I wonder what they're talking about. Huh? Tonto's taking the horses around the house. Well, the mask hombre's coming in now. I want to hear what he's got to say for himself. He's bringing my leg! But I don't see your sea chest. Was it too heavy for him to tote Uncle Singapore? Now, Jed, that's enough. Tully, Tonto tells me you doubt that Singapore was robbed. He sure does. He thinks I'm lying. I'll decide whether you're lying or not when I've heard what the mask man has to say. So start talking, mister. So that's your story, huh, mask man? You've heard the truth. Now, Jed, the party told you about finding Uncle Singapore and sagebrush hollow. It's just like, exactly like Uncle told it. Ida, you can swallow that story if you want to, but I'm not. This old fraud here has concocted the whole business. Well, why should I lie about it? Answer me that. Because you thought you could come here and mooch off Ida and me the rest of your days. Well, you're not going to do it. Oh, sure, that's it. You don't want me unless I've got money. It wouldn't have mattered so much if you hadn't tried to put one over on me. But when you bring an Indian on a man who's afraid to show his face to make your story sound good, well, that's too much. Tully, you're misjudging Singapore. Now, you listen to me, mister. Yes. I'm going to give you just three seconds to get out of that door. Jed, put away that gun. Shut up, Ida. Now, get moving and keep moving. If that's the way you want it. Adios, Singapore. I'm clearing out of here myself mighty soon, mate. You can't get out too soon to suit me, you old moocher. My butt board's ready and I'll take you to town. Uncle Singapore, pay no attention to him. I'll not let you go. Either he gets out or I do. Heidi, fetch me my leg. Strap it on and get on my way. I'll get it for you. Kimo Sabi. Yes? Look here. Have you seen them, Toto? Oh, me see them. Two men ride up to barn and get off horses. Where are they? Them sneak up to back door of house now. Oh, yes. The same two men who followed me down here. Why them follow you? At the time, I wasn't certain they were following me. Now I understand why they did. They want Singapore's wooden leg. Why them want pegged leg? For the same reason Singapore was so anxious to get it back. Look, Toto. They're going in the back door with guns drawn. Huh. We go grab them? Yes. But before we get there, I think those two will teach Jed Tully a lesson. Now here's your peg leg. Strap it on and we'll head for town. Yes. But before I do, I just want to remind you that you're holding the most valuable peg leg you ever saw. Or ever will see, Jed Tully. What do you mean by that? Never you mind what I mean. We know what he means, all right. Oh, Jed. Hey, who are you? They're the salamanders that robbed me. They're the same two. Don't make a move, any of you. And you, give me that leg. Oh, me? Yes, you. Sure. That's what you come back for, huh? That's it, Singapore. You put one over on us, but we caught up with you. What do you want with a peg leg? Don't argue with a bandit, you fool. Give it to him. Shall we show him, Baldi? Yeah, show him, Sam. All right. Let's see. We just take the camp off the bottom like this. And we turn it up like this. And see what comes out. Yeah. Pearls. Hundreds of them. Now you've found them. Take them and get out of here. Uncle Singapore. Now, Sam, show the gent what a strong peg leg is good for besides hiding pearls. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea. Like this. Oh, you kill him. You're murdering, Salamanders. If the masked man was here, you'd never get through that door. Hey, I forgot about him. Where did he disappear then? We followed him all the way down here. Are you referring to me? What's his? Stop those guns. Let him have it, Sam. The fight was short and sharp. It was all over in a few seconds. Then the masked man, Singapore, and the others left the house. It was some time later when Jed regained consciousness and found his wife waiting anxiously at his side. Oh, my head. There now, Jed. You'll be all right. Oh, what happened? You were struck over the head by one of the bandits. Bandits? Don't you remember, Jed? Two men came in and robbed Uncle Singapore of his pearls. Oh, yes. I remember. Here. Let me lift you up. Oh. Here now. Here's some hot coffee. Drink it and you'll feel better. There now. Drink it, Jed. I had an awful dream. Dream? Yes. It was terrible. There was a lot of shooting in it. Yes. Go on. I thought the bandits shot Uncle Singapore. I guess I was fighting them hand to hand when I came to. You were trying to save Uncle Singapore in your dream? Yes, I was. Where is Uncle Singapore? You certainly didn't expect him to stay here after the way you treated him. Did you, Jed? You mean he's gone? You told him to get out. What'd you expect? Oh, I'd have been an awful fool. Yes, Jed. You have been a fool. Do you reckon Uncle Singapore would come back if I went and apologized to him? Well, I... I don't know. He'd think you only wanted him back because you found out he had all those pearls. But he hasn't got the pearls. The bandits took them. Then you want him back because you realized you've made a mistake? Of course. Jed, are you sure? I'm sure, all right. Jed, I was making a fuss about having to feed and house him when we've got plenty of both. And all the time there was a fortune in that peg leg of his. And he was only interested in getting the bandits out of here. That's right. Our safety meant more to him than his pearls. Oh, I've been an awful fool. But I reckon it's too late to remedy a mistake as big as the one I've made. It's never too late to remedy an honest mistake, Jed. That's right. Isn't it, Uncle Singapore? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It's never too late when it comes from the heart. What? I thought you'd gone. I let you think he had, Jed. Uncle Singapore, I owe you an apology. Oh, no, Jed. There's only one way I can make it up to you. I'm going to insist on having my way. How's that, mate? I know you haven't got a cent left in the world, and I and me don't have much, but we've got a roof over our heads and plenty to eat. I told you that, Jed. As long as we have those things, Uncle Singapore, you're welcome here. I mean every word of it. Yes, I believe you, Jed. When I sell these pearls for cash money, the three of us will always have a roof over our head and plenty to eat. The pearls? I thought the bandits took them. They would have if it hadn't been for the mask man. The mask man? I thought he left when I told him to get off the place. He wanted to teach you a lesson, Jed. He was outside all the time. Right after the bandits slugged you, he stepped through the door. And, Jed, when you thought you dreamed about hearing a lot of shooting, you weren't dreaming. You should have seen him capture the outlaws, Jed. Oh, I thought he was a back trailer myself. Who in thunder is he? Well, I wouldn't have known if Tonto hadn't told me. He's the Lone Ranger. Oh, too. The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger, Incorporated.
