A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty hi-yo silver. The Lone Ranger. With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful mask 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 hoofbeats of the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Murder had made Matt Allen and his partner Chance Hill the owners of every stage and freighting line in the fabulously rich mining center of Goldcrest. Murder had enabled them to maintain their monopoly. In a boom town where the people were dependent on the outside world for everything, their control of transportation gave them tyrannical power and the rates they charged were the highest ever known in the West. But at long last, a railroad connecting the transcontinental line at Salt Creek with Goldcrest was under construction. As citizens laid plans for celebrating a day of deliverance, the ruthless partners conferred in their office. Allen, shaggy-haired and heavy jowled, was saying, Chance, we're licked. Rock Benson and his outfit have their track within two miles at Goldcrest. You don't need to tell me, Matt. The trains will be running by August 1st when all our big hauling contracts run out. Nobody will sign up with us again. Yeah, if we could keep the railroad out till after the 1st, we could starve the town. Unless we got new contracts for another year. We did all we could to hold up the work. Those fellows we planted in Benson's labor gang burnt tie piles, trestles, and raised cane generally. But the track kept coming on. Yeah. Tomorrow's a railroad payday. Yeah, what about it? Well, Benson's working four or five hundred immigrants fresh out of the old country. Now, what would they do if they didn't get paid? Remember what happened when that Texas railroad got hard up? Couldn't pay its foreign labors on time? Yeah. They busted loose. Burned the camp, wrecked trains, killed citizens, and ruined the company. Well, maybe we can stop Rock Benson for months. Maybe forever. Oh? We'll have our boys on the work gang start a rumor among the immigrants that Benson's busted and don't intend to pay them. Ah, that won't get them going. They'll wait to see if it's true. Sure. They'll wait for that turtleback locomotive. One that carries the cash from the bank at Pineville on the transcontinental line. But it isn't going to show up. Listen, if you're figuring to rob or wreck it, just don't forget it's guarded. I know. And I know every foot of track it runs over before it reaches the Salt River Junction. All right, but see here. If anything happens to the turtleback, Benson will hear about it in no time. He'll go to his men and explain. I'll have either a wrecked train or some dead guards to show them why they didn't get the money. No, no, he won't. We'll see that that engine and the guards just disappear. It was the following morning. Rock Benson, the stubborn, hard-driving superintendent of the new railroad, stood in front of the Pineville Depot with his daughter, Abby. On a track nearby, a turtleback locomotive steamed and puffed. The engine was called a turtleback because of a passenger cabin built over the boiler, extending almost to the top of the smokestack. The roof of this cabin was rounded, giving the engine a resemblance to a huge tortoise. The superintendent regarded the turtleback with a thoughtful frown. As the engineer reached for the whistle cord, Benson said, Abby, don't go any farther than Salt Creek. But, Dad, it'll be so long until Tom comes down on the work train. And I haven't seen him for a whole two weeks. Tom Barrow is camp boss. This is payday. Always a bad time. He wouldn't be safe up there. And Tom isn't safe either. Danger is part of his work. He knows how to face it. He'll be taking my place someday. And my daughter, too, I suppose. Dad, do you know what? Yeah? Tom wants to marry me on board the first train into Goldcrest. He wants the wheels rolling and the whistle blowing when it takes place. There's the turtleback's whistle now. Watch your step and I'll help you in. Thanks, Dad. I can get in all right. What? Bye, Dad. This is the first time I ever rode on top of an engine. You'll get a good view from here, miss. The track looks like it was coming right up here to meet us. Hey, what's happening? The engine jolted. Now it's turning. We switched off the transcontinental track. And into a cut. Why doesn't the engineer stop? Well, he's breaking the wheels, but we're on a downgrade. We're slowing down. Yes, but we're off the main line. Hey, Hank. Look, coming. A bunch of mass men. It's a hole up. No, back her up. Hurry. Get down, Miss Benson. All right. They got the engineer. Open fire, Hank. Is it all over, boys? I'm running the engineer done for, boss. How's everything up above? We got the guards, too. Good work, Chance. Throw down the money bags. Here they come, Matt. Jump and be hustled. What's the matter? I just found the girl hiding under her seat. Don't touch me. You're burning. I know. I got you. Oh. Hey, she's Rock Benson's daughter. Shooter. She heard our names. Oh, wait a minute. Isn't there some other way? Oh, if you're squeamish, tie her up. She'll die later anyhow. Don't you dare. All right. Here, Hefty, you and Jim take over the turtle back. Run it up to those worked-out mines where this spur track ends. Then what, boss? Let most of the water out of the boiler. Build up a roaring fire. And let her blow sky high. Yeah, we might blow ourselves up, too. Just watch the gauge. That boiler's built to stand 100-pound pressure. Between that and 125, she'll explode. All right, Matt. Jim, you'll follow the engine with the horse, right? Chance, you and the other boys, come on. We're heading back to town. All right. A little later, Tonto stood at the wicket of the combined telegraph and ticket office in Salt Creek. The agent lifted a worried face, keeping an ear to the clicking telegraph instruments. What do you want, engine? Well, me, Tonto. Me look for telegram, sign Dan Reed. It isn't in now and won't come in today. The wire's jammed in railroad messages. Well, what happened? The turtle back carrying Rock Benson's daughter and the pay for the laborers on the new road has disappeared. Disappear. Dropped clear out of sight somewhere, trickster here in Pineville. Maybe it run off track into Canyon. No. This message that just came in said that an engine we sent from here to investigate had reached Pineville without finding a thing. And Sheriff Nolan was aboard. Within a few minutes, Tonto was back in camp with the Lone Ranger. He reported what he had heard. Did he say where he did, big fella? Tonto, which is the nearest way to the transcontinental track? The short way is east. What do we do there? Look for the vanished locomotive. Railroad fellows already look. They'll not see anything. Sometimes people look for a difficult explanation and are blind to simple facts. Monfils! Let's come! At the end of steel, a motley throng of Irishmen, Germans, Slavs, Chinese, and Native Americans milled along the finished track, grumbling and watching for the smoke of the overdue turtle back. Grimly alert for signs of trouble, Tom Barrow strode among the men. All right, calm down, you fools. Calm down. The turtle back will be here any minute. They're not sending any money. They'll say the turtle back got lost. And what doom cops would believe that? The rich green goes spilling for poor men are idiots. Now listen, man, listen. Give us a couple of more hours. Two hours twill be, Tom Barrow. Then me boys at me will tear up this fine track and twist the rails around trees like everything. They sure will. We'll blow up your tunnel and run your work train into the river. Yeah! We've hauled tracks halfway to Pineville now, but not see anything. There's a switch ahead, Tom. Stop here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Tom. Where'd this track go through cut? It's an old spur track leading back to some abandoned mines. Ah. Well, somebody look at this switch. Yes, I see the footprints, too. Apparently, he got off the engine that was sent in search of the turtle back. Nobody opened switch for years. Lever fastened with lock on chain. Padlock rusted tight. But look at the chain. One link was cut recently, then clamped back together. I know the switch was open, then closed again. And what'd that mean? The turtle back ran off the main line and down the spur as a result of a carefully planned trick. No hoof prints go in or out of cut. The crooks probably left their horses on the bank. They'd be out of sight. Easy, Tom. Easy, Tom. Easy, Tom. Follow the top of the cut. Come on, through there. Come on, stop. Meanwhile, the turtle back had been moved in keeping with Matt Allen's orders and stood near the old mines, smoke and sparks funneling from its stack. In the upper cabin, Abby Benson had ceased to struggle against her bonds and lay on a seat in silent despair. Below, the two crooks assigned to dispose of the engine and victims, he floored into the firebox. Hefty was complaining. Jim, we've burned up half a tender load of wood. The steam won't go above a hundred. Yeah, and we've been here so long we'll have to get caught. Yeah, Matt must have been wrong about this engine. Say, I just thought of something. The big new teapots like this are supposed to have some kind of a valve that lets out the steam when it gets dangerous. Yeah. Yeah, I think I see that, too funny. Yeah, sure, that's it. I'll crawl out in the boiler with this rake and jam the safety valve. Did that do it? Yeah. The blame thing's shut off now. Now, look at that gauge. For Pete's sake, it's above a hundred already. Yeah, with a firebox truck, fool, she'll explode mighty quick. I'll have the horses behind the old smeller. Let's get up there. Yeah, the gauge says a hundred and ten. Jump! As the killers vanished among the ruins around the mines, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, guided by the smoke cloud which rose from the doomed locomotive, rode furiously along the edge of the cut. With each stride of their gallant horses, each bead of hoofs on rock, the needle on the turtle back's pressure gauge pointed closer and closer to death for the hapless girl in the upper cabin. One hundred and eleven, twelve, thirteen, the locomotive trembled on its trucks. Straining at every seam and rivet to contain the imprisoned steam. One hundred and fourteen. At the brink of the cut, a full forty feet above the turtle back, the masked man and Indian brought their horses to a halt. Easy. Easy. You may not see anybody around. What happened to crew and girl? Hello, there's fire coming out of the stack, but no steam is showing. The valve must be closed. That engine is ready to explode. Hello down there. Is anyone on that engine? That girl, her call from upper cabin. I've got to get down there. Thank plenty steep from here to track. Now you get down. My rope. Steady, miss. We'll help you. As he shouted, the masked man uncoiled his lariat and dropped one end over the edge of the cliff. The other end was fastened to his saddle horn. You stay here with Silver Tunnel. He'll hold this end of the rope. I'll slide down to the tracks. Then I can get into that cabin. Keep the rope tight, Tunnel. 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. Rock Benson's turtle back locomotive carrying his daughter Abby as well as a payroll for a railroad construction gang on the verge of rioting had vanished mysteriously. The crooks responsible for the engine's disappearance had escaped before the Lone Ranger and Tonto came upon it and found that they had left the girl in the upper cabin to be killed by a boiler explosion. In an effort to rescue her, the masked man was sliding down a lariat attached to his saddle. From the top of the cut where the mighty silver stood braced on slippery rock, Tonto called. Engine, keep on coming. Yes, I'm on the engine. I'm breaking your cabin window. Where are you, miss? Here, on a seat. I'm tired so I can't move. I'm inside. Now, cut those ropes. I'm amazed, man. You're one of the train robbers. Forget my mask. This engine's ready to blow up. You're free. Those men on the floor. They're dead. Let's get out of here down the steps fast. Frank, the engine's shaking. Now, jump and run. This way. As the turtle back disintegrated in a terrific burst of steam and scalding water, the engine, which had been sent out with Sheriff Nolan, pulled back into Salt Creek, switched to the new track and headed toward the end of steel under a full throttle. Rock Benson had come aboard at Pineville and had directed the second futile hunt for the vanished locomotive. Tense and grim, he stood with his back braced against the swaying tender as he told the Sheriff, I'm afraid my daughter's dead. But we've got to keep on looking. Rock, we sure didn't miss anything this second trip. We saw every blamed thing there was to see. I know, Sheriff. Somewhere, we didn't look close enough. If this was a horse stealing case, even a regular train robbery, I'd know where and how to start. Well, we're headed for the construction camp. I'll tell the men why they didn't get paid, bring them back on our work train. I'll put them to combing the river, mountains, everything. At the scene of the explosion, the air had cleared, revealing a shapeless mass of wreckage where the turtleback had stood. Several hundred yards away, Abby Benson was with the Lone Ranger. Are you hurt, Miss Benson? No, not at all, thanks to you. But how is it you know my name? The Sheriff and railroad men are looking for the turtleback. You were reported aboard. Oh. All right, you must hurry. Yes, Tonto. Oh, missed by the old mine buildings. Come on, Miss. Look at that wreckage. Did you recognize any of the murderers? They wore masks, but I heard two names mentioned, Matt and Chance. They're only first names. They were the leaders, and the only two men in these parts who have those names are Matt Allen and Chance Hill. They work together and they hate the new railroad. What do they do? They operate the stage and freighting lines in Goldcrest. There's Tonto waiting. You take plenty of big risks, Kimo-sabi. Silver have plenty bad time keeping footin'. Good boy, Silver. Good boy. Where we go now, Kimo-sabi? To Goldcrest. Take Miss Benson on your horse. All right, big boy. Here you are. Easy, scowl. Easy, fella. Get him up, scowl. Come on. Later that day, Matt Allen and Chance Hill were back in their office. The sacks containing the payroll money lay on a table, and as Matt made sure that the doors were locked, his partner said, Those bags have got the name of Rock Benson's railroad printed on them. That's hanging evidence, Matt. We'll get rid of them, but there's no big rush. We won't be suspected for a while, at least. Blown up that engine won't cover the robbery. I know it. What's left of the engine will be found in time, and maybe they'll even figure that we pull the job, but suspecting it isn't proving it. Just a minute. I heard horses. Maybe the boys we left out the cut will come back. Hey, Josh, that's in again. You're right. They're at the back door. Yeah, let him in. Well, fellas? We blew the sky high, gents. Yep. You can hear the noise and see the steam a mile away. Good, good. Losing his daughter will kill Rock Benson. We've got some more good news, too. What's that? Jim and me came past the construction camp. The laborers were all primed to explode themselves. Ah, boys out there must have worked on them just right. Yeah, they sure did. The immigrants have given Tom Barrett just two hours to fork over their pay. Ah, didn't I tell you, Chance? When them fellas get through rioting, the entire railroad will be in the same shape as the turtle bag. I'd like to see what's happening. At track's end, the workmen who had given Tom Barrett two hours to produce the missing payroll stormed around the idle work train. Put away those knives and guns, you man. What's two hours mean we lads gave you, Tom Barrett? Your time is up. Can't be fools. You'll get your money. Look, Benson's broke. We worked a whole month for nothing. Kill the Gringo boss. Now look, look. There's some smoke down the track. The turtle bag's coming. That's not the turtle bag. That's not her whistle. Any engine can bring your pay. Now clear the rails. Get in line for your money. While Tom waited hopefully for the payroll that was not going to arrive, the Lone Ranger and Tonto accompanied by Abby Benson moved silently toward the office where Matt Allen and Chance Hill were discussing the situation. The stolen payroll lay in a sack on the desk. Chance, I wouldn't be in Tom Barrow's boots right now for all the money we're going to make. Those critters will tear him to pieces. And he was fixing to marry the Benson girl. Somebody's shooting through the door. No, he's blasting the lock. Plug him. Push off behind. You fellas, drop guns. An engine. He jumped through the window. Drop them. One more. Now it's a mask man. Now get him. Oh, my arm. He broke my arm. Don't shoot no more, mister. There goes my gun. Mine, too. There, that's better. Just what do you fellas want? The payroll you took from the turtle back before you blew it up. What are you talking about? Don't play innocent. I know every move you made after you cut the chain on the switch. Matt, he followed us. He followed us. Shut up, Chance. He's an old hoot and he was after the money, too. Give it to him. All right, all right. It's there on the table. Me take. Bang. If you fellas are smart, you'll dust out of town and never come back. Miss Benson, it's safe for you to come in now. I'm coming. It's a girl. I left her tied in the turtle back. That engine blew up. She isn't alive. She can't be. You idiots. You let her escape somehow. She'll hang us all. Miss Benson, remember what you've heard and seen. Witness that we found the payroll money in their possession. Those are the bags, all right. Otto, look after that wounded crook. Then tie up all of them. Listen, miss. You get them fellas to let us go and I'll tell you how to keep Tom Barrow from getting killed. Tom, what do you mean? Don't bargain with him. I heard enough through the door to know that there's trouble at the construction camp. Then I'm going out there. No, miss. Otto and I will go to Barrow's aid. You get the town marshal. Let me finish with crooks now with them all tied up. Good, then come on. Two miles away, the engine on which Rock Benson and the sheriff had arrived at the camp to recruit help was surrounded by yelling men, all of whom brandished revolvers, bowie knives, pickaxes, or tamping bars. Rock and the lawmen had failed to grasp the significance of the demonstration at first. Then Tom Barrow, fighting for his life, had been driven up the steps to the locomotive cab. Rock, get the money out. Show them you've got it. But I haven't. The turtle back disappeared and Abby and the payroll with it. Abby, I don't understand. None of us do. Come on, Abby. Them critters are closing in. What's the difference with Abby? We've got to live to find her. I'll talk to the fools. We want our money. Where's our money? Now, men. Men, listen to me. The turtle back is missing. The payroll is lost. Now, just wait a couple of days. Boy, I told you boys, that's what they'd say. Sean, you did, lad. What are we waiting for? Let's kill them. Come on. Goaded by the hired troublemakers, the excited workers surged forward, jamming loose ties under the wheels of the locomotive. They're picturing it so we can't get away. I'm shooting. Oh, hold it, Sheriff. At the first shot, they'll kill all of us. They'll kill us anyhow. Give me a spell. No, no, no. I can get in a little time. Robert, Robert, what are you doing, revolution? What are you doing, Rock? Opening the cylinder car. As Rock jerked the lever connected with the cylinder valve, steam jetted out, driving back the foremost riders and hiding the engine in a white cloud. For several minutes, the closely packed workers swayed back and forth, their bodies united to form a single mindless and hideous monster. Then, through the tumult, cut the clear, unmistakable sounds of charging hoofs and guns. To immigrants fresh from the lands of Cossacks, Mulans, and Dragoon, that sound meant but one thing, massacre. Slow to realize that they were 500 against only two horsemen, they split, opening a way to the engine. Tom peered through the evaporating steam and shouted, Look! Coming! There's men in the engine! Mob's making way for them! Oh, Silver, come on! Hey! Hey! Back you men! Here's your money! He's lying! It's a trick! Here! Look at this! He got it to his goal, the masked gentleman is throwing at him! Mr. You've won! Mob's spirit's broken! Rock! Rock! There's Abby! My girl! She's alive! Darling, how did you get here? I rented a livery horse after the marshal jailed those crooks in Goldcrest. I had to come. Crooks? I don't say everything is at all. Who's this master hombre? Never mind, Sheriff. Miss Benson can tell you everything later. Now I want to talk to this crowd. Men! Men! Quiet, Matt! Quiet, quiet! Men, you've been the tools of a gang of crooks who wanted to stop this railroad. They robbed and blew up the turtle back. They planted troublemakers among you to start a riot. Well, settle with them! Men, you came to this country looking for freedom. You found it. But you brought with you the evil heritage of centuries of oppression. You brought violence, hatred, suspicion, and prejudice. They can be speaking the truth! Free yourselves from those things and you'll be really free. Really American. You can do it and you will. Give the mask gentlemen a cheer, lads! Hip, hip! Hooray! All right, get in the line for your pay, boys! Boss, you can keep it for us till we put the end of track in Goldcrest. We'll be working day and night to do it. Hey, hold it up! In three days, the time will run! Come on, boys, get to work! All right! Three days, Tom? Yeah, and then the wedding whistles will be blowing. Well, I did. You've got a lot of explaining to do, but first, tell us who that rash man is. Why, the Indian told me, Dad, he's the Lone Ranger. This is a feature of the Lone Ranger, Incorporated, created and produced by George W. Trendle, directed by Charles D. Livingston, and edited by Fran Stryker. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer. Brace Beamer, Brace Beamer, Brace Beamer, Brace Beamer, Brace Beamer,
