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 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 hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Silver. Let's go, big fellow. I'm Silver. When Tim Tully went to live with his niece Sadie and her young husband Jerry Dunn, folks thought that the old prospector had found peace and contentment. But his niece knew better, and she knew why he hadn't. She cautiously broached the subject to her husband. Jerry, there's something I want to talk to you about. I hope you'll understand. What is it, Sadie? Well, would you quit complaining about the high costs of everything when Uncle Tim is around? He might take it personally, you know. Well, why shouldn't he take it personally? If it wasn't for him and his string of pack mules, I might at least be able to pay the interest of our mortgage. Now, Jerry, don't get angry. Uncle Tim's too old to work, and his string of burrows live mostly on forage. Forage? I just saw him down at the general store buying oats by the sack for him. And you know who'll have to pay for the oats, me. Why, Jerry, you must be mistaken. I'm sure Uncle Tim is in his room right now. I'm not blind. I know the old critter when I see him. But I see if you do or not. Where are you going? To see if he isn't in his room. I know you're wrong. All right, take a look. Is gone? What's that pinned to the pillow? Looks like a note. I don't get it. Yes, it is a note. It's addressed to both of us. Let's see it. Dear Sadie and Jerry, I hope you don't think I'm ungrateful for the nice things you've done for me, but I've got a bad case of gold fever. When you read this, me and my string of burrows will be heading back into the hills. Jerry, he's gone prospecting again, and at his age... What's that postscript at the bottom? Oh, yes. I'm buying my grub steak at the general store. I'm charging it to Jerry. Oh. When I find my bananas, I'll pay him back. What did I tell you? Charge it to me, the old fraud. Oh, but Jerry, please. He says he'll pay you back sometime. Pay me back when he finds gold. Oh, Sadie, be realistic. That old coot hunted gold all his life, and he never found enough to gild the eye of a sewing needle. A few days later, the Lone Ranger and Tonto crossed the rim of the Superstition Mountain Range and headed their horses down the precipitous trail that wound into a barren valley below. It was early morning, and the cool dry air carried the fragrant scent of frying bacon. Oh, they smell bacon cooking. Yes, someone's camp nearby. On a trail, plenty narrow. We have to pass them, not get round them. We'll be on guard until we see who it is. Oh, they see him. Him prospector. Yes, his pack animals are with him. Tonto, that old fellow looks familiar. Let's go and see if he's someone we know. Come on, Tonto. Get him up, Scout. At first, old Tim was somewhat frightened when the Lone Ranger and Tonto came to his side, but the masked man quickly reassured him and then continued, We met you years ago. You were prospecting on old Bolle. By thunder now, I remember. My luck was running bad at that time and you fed me and staked me to some rations. It wasn't until some time later that I realized you were the man that they called the Lone Ranger. This is Tonto, remember? Oh, sure, Ranger. I remember you. Glad to see you. How? Won't the two of you join me at breakfast? Of course. Then I hope you don't mind helping out with your own rations. I kind of have to go easy on mine. Hello, we'll finish the cooking while you bring us up to date on what you've been doing since we last saw you. Well, I reckon I've got plenty to tell. As they ate breakfast leisurely, the old man told how he had gone to live with his niece and her husband, but had failed to find the peace and contentment he had hoped for. They were hard up and I was a burden to them. On top of that, when I lit out, I charged my grub steak to Jerry. Now, I want you to do something for me. If I can. Yesterday, I run into a little luck. Not much. This much. Look into this poke. Gold nuggets? Yeah. I figure there's enough to pay off the grub steak bill at the general store. Now, if you get down to a porcupine any time, I'd appreciate it if you'd have Tonto drop in and pay the bill. Why, certainly. Here, Tonto. Put it in the saddlebag. Me keep him and me pay him. But mind you, Tonto. Just pay it and say nothing. Jerry will find out about it in good time. Me just pay. Tim, you're nearly 80, aren't you? I'm past 83. You shouldn't be roaming these mountains at your age. Why don't you go back to your niece? No. No, I can't do that, my friend. I wasn't happy there. I am happy out here. It's here in the mountains I spent most of my life. It's here I want to die. Then you didn't come back to the mountains in search of gold. No. I came back in search of peace. Sometime, if you're passing through here and you see buzzards circling in the sky, it may mean I found it. It's hard to die alone, Tim. It's much easier to die among friends. Well, I'll not go back to Sadie and Jerry and be a burden on them. Tonto, get a piece of paper from the saddlebag, will you? Let me get it. How big a piece do you want? Oh, one of those cigarette papers you have there is large enough. Never mind, Tonto, I'll use this paper. Yeah. Tonto and the old prospector watched curiously as the masked man spread the cigarette paper against the side of his boot and with a pencil drew a sketch. When he had finished, he handed it to old Tim. Now, this sketch shows how to reach a place where Tonto and I once camped on the other side of the rim. There's water and forage and plenty of supplies. Yeah. It's a peaceful place, Tim. At least you'll know you'll be found by friends, not buzzards. Yes. Yes, I see what you mean. Come on, Tonto. Let's be going. Here, Scout. Here, Silver. Here, here, here, Silver. Adios, my friends. But not goodbye, Tim. Come on, Silver. Hit him up, Scout. A few days later, Jed Conway, the storekeeper in Porcupine, was waiting on two strangers who had made a few minor purchases. Now, what else can I get for you, Jance? I reckon that'll be all. Think of anything else we need, Baldy? No, sure. I guess that'll fix us up. How much we owe you, mister? A dollar or eighty. A dollar eighty. All right, sir. Here you are. Yeah, I'll wrap it up for you. Come in, Indian. Oh. How? I'll wait on you in just a minute. Just look around and see if I've got what you're after. Me not buy anything. Me come to pay. Pay bill. Pay your bill? Uh-huh. I don't recollect you buying anything on credit. Oh. You know a man named Jim Tully? Uh-huh. I know him. Well, him send this to pay what he owe for grub steak. Yeah, let's take a look. Him say plenty in bag to pay for grub steak. Holy smoke. Take a look at that ball. Get it. Go look at you. Old Tim must have struck it rich back there in Superstition Hill. Now, me go now. Adios. Hey, what's your hurry? Engine didn't have much to say, did he? He sure didn't. I'll bet he could have said plenty. How do you mean? I'll bet old Tim Tully has hit it rich back there in the Superstition Hills. That's where he was heading when he left here a few days ago. He must have told the Indian to keep his mouth shut. Well, no doubt of it. Well, I'm glad he remembered to pay me what he owed. He charged it to his niece's husband, Jerry Dunn, and Jerry's got no money to pay other folks' bills. Well, well, Joey, better be getting all done. we got all we want here. Thanks, mister. Come in again when you're by this way. Well, thanks. Maybe we will. Got out of sight, Quentin. Well, it don't matter. The storekeeper let the cat out of the bag. What do you mean? He said the prospect who was back in the Superstition Hills that his name's Tim Tully. Must be an old fellow from what he said. Yeah, that's right. It looks like he hasn't filed any claim papers. If we can just find the old critter and jump his claim. Well, I'm for riding back there and looking for it. So am I. Come on, let's get our horses. Stop here, Baldy. Oh, oh, oh, what's the matter? See that old fellow down there in the draw? Yeah, the prospector. He's putting packs on his bro's like he's getting ready to shove off. Maybe he's the one we're looking for. Yeah, let's get down there. Get up, get up. Oh, shut up, Muscatine. what in thunder you're braying about? Now I see. Company coming. Easy now, easy. I'll finish packing you later. Morning, gents. Morning, old-timers. Your name Tim Tully? Yes, it is. We want to talk with you. Well, hope you don't mind if I sit down. I'm kind of winded, putting the pack saddles on my burrows. Now, what can I do for you? Hey, we're interested in that mine of yours. Mine? What mine you're talking about? Don't waste time on him. Bally, get to the point. Yeah, see this. A gun. Now tell us where your mine is or I'll put a slug into you, Savvy. No, put away that gun. Start talking. Where is it? Hey, what's the matter with him? He's fainted. Well, now what do we do? Hey, he hasn't been doing any mining around here. He must have been on his way to file his claim, huh? He looks that way. He was packing his burrows. He'll have a description of his claim somewhere. You go through his packs now, Sir Chamberlain. Right. And don't overlook anything, Baldi. As Joe Spade proceeded to go through the pack saddles, his companion, Baldi Pine, bent over the prostrate form of the old prospector and went through his clothing carefully. Finally, he turned to Joe. What'd you find, Joe? Not a lame thing, but rations and cancels. Didn't he have any ore samples hid away in him? Not a sample of ore anywhere. No papers with a mind description either. What'd you find on him? Not much more than you did. What do you mean not much more? Well, found this watch. Good one, too. Take a look at it. Well, at least it's worth something. Hell, all we can do is wait till he comes to and give him the workout for talking. Yeah. What? What's he doing? I'm feeling this hard. Oh, he'll come to in a while. No. No, he won't come to. Your crit is dead. Dead? Yeah. Now, we'll never know where his mind is. 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. The Lone Ranger and Tonto were returning to their camp in the Superstition Range. For hours, they had been following the narrow trail when the masked man suddenly signaled a halt. Oh, Silver. Oh, Silver. Oh, Silver. What are you doing now? Tonto, see those buzzards circling in the sky? Ah. We've been watching buzzards. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be concerned about them. But I can't get out of my mind what Tim Tully said the last time we saw him. Oh. Him say, watch for buzzards. Yes. Maybe, maybe him dead. I'm going to investigate. That's right, down that way. Come on, Silver. Get him up, Scout. Easy, sir. Is Tim Tully all right? Ah. Him looks dead. Let's examine him for wounds. Help me lift him. Help me, Ralph. There. I don't see any wounds. There's no blood on his clothes. You feel heart. I don't feel any heartbeat. Oh. Not bad. Maybe medicine. Saddle bag. Get it quick. Ah. Here you go. Hurry, Tullo. Oh. Hurry. Here. I'll force a little into his mouth. I feel a faint beat of the heart. He had a heart attack. His age and a high altitude must have been too much for him. Ah. Tullo, that camping place we told him about is nearby. Round up his pack animals. We'll make a stretcher and swing it between two of them. And we'll take him there so we can watch him. Though Tully's heart continued to beat faintly, the old man failed to regain consciousness. The lone ranger and Tullo took turns throughout the night sitting beside him, testing his heart and pulse and giving him water. At dawn, the masked man saddled the great horse, Silver. Where you go? I'm riding to Porcupine, Tullo. Tim's niece and her husband live there. Then you think maybe him not live. He's making very little if any progress. I think his niece should know his condition. I'll ask her and her husband to return with me. There. Steady, Silver. Easy. Adios, Tullo. Adios. Come on, Silver. Where am I? In the hall. Where are you going, Jerry? You haven't had your breakfast yet. Jed Conway sent word he wants to see me. Jed Conway? What does he want? I suppose he wants me to pay for that grub stake your Uncle Tim charged to me. You can't pay it. We haven't got the money. You don't have to tell me that, Sadie. I can't even pay the interest on the mortgage and it's due Saturday. Won't Mr. Conway wait a little longer? Oh, I don't know. Well, I'll just have to tell him I haven't any cash. Jerry was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tim had paid his debt with gold nuggets. Moreover, there was enough of an overpayment to enable the young man to pay off his mortgage at the bank. Thanking the storekeeper, Jerry went to the cafe to wait until the bank was open. There were a number of people in the cafe, among them Joe and Baldy who had robbed old Tim of his watch. You have enough to pay for what we just ate, Joe? Me? Why, no. Don't you have any money, Baldy? Not enough to pay the bill. I thought you had cash. This is a fine how to do. We come in here and eat our fill, no money to pay for it. Well, looks like we'll be washing dishes, Baldy. Not me. I'll walk out of here with a gun in my hand before I'll scrub a dish. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Where's that watch? We can pay up with that and get some cash to boot. Yeah. I forgot about that watch. It's worth plenty. It's a good watch. Is it running? Well, I haven't winded it since I got in. Let's see how you wind it up. Oh, that's a key winder and you don't have a key. Open up the back. Maybe I can wind it with a point of my knife. Something fell out of it. Yeah. Let's see it. It's just cigarette paper. Why'd the old critter have it in his watch? It must be important. Hey, there's pencil scratching on it, you see? Baldy. Huh? That's what we went looking for. Why? Look, you see? Now, this is a trail. There's them two high mountain peaks drawn east and west of the trail. What's the big X marked here? Why, that's the old critter's mind. There's no doubt of it. Blast my eye. That's what it is. Now, let's get back to the hills and find it. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. Don't forget, we've got to pay for our breakfast. If we're heading back into the hills, we've got to have feed for our horses and rub for ourselves. We can sell the watch. Hey, quiet. That young fellow's coming over here. Mind if I sit down at your table? Well, there's lots of other tables around, Mr. Empty one. I know, but I have to get over to the bank when it opens. From this table, I can see across the street. Why, sure, sure, sit right down. Glad to have you. Thanks. As Jerry sat down, Joe Spade winked knowingly at Baldy Pine. Then he began to explain to Jerry how they had eaten breakfast, only you had money last night. Well, I don't have much, but I was lucky today, so I'll pay you, Bill. Oh, no, no. We wouldn't want you to do that, would we, Baldy? Of course not. But we was wondering if you'd buy this watch. That'd give us cash to pay our bill and have some to boot. It's a good watch. Where'd you get that watch? Where'd you get it? Yes. Well, I'll tell you, mister. We ran into an old prospector a few days ago. We had plenty of supplies, and he was plumb out. Since we were on our way back where we could get more, we sold him our supplies for the watch. I see. You know him? Yes, he's my wife's uncle. I know that watch. He prized it above everything he had in the world. He must have been hard up to sell it to him. I reckon he was, but we didn't know we were taking advantage of him. He did me a favor. Perhaps I can do him one. How much do you want for it? We ought to get a hundred dollars. It's worth more than a hundred. Well, it means I don't make my mortgage payment today. But I'll take it. It's the least I can do for Uncle Tim. After all, it's his money. When Jerry Dunn returned home, he told his wife the good news about the grub stake being paid, and how he had intended to pay the interest on the mortgage with the cash that had been left over. Isn't that wonderful? So you see, Jerry, you misjudged Uncle Tim. I sure did. But I made up for it. Wait till I tell you what happened. Just a moment, Jerry. Someone rode up outside. Oh, he's at the door. I'll answer him. Who are you? What do you want? A mask, man. Don't be afraid. I'm here as a friend. And why are you wearing that mask? I came to tell you about your uncle, Tim Tully. Uncle Tim? What about him? Mrs. Dunn, you and your husband should be at his side. I think he's dying. No. Poor Tim. What happened to him? Come in, mister. Thanks. When the Lone Ranger had told how he and Tonto had found the old prospector unconscious and taken him to their camp, Jerry Dunn then brought forth the watch and told how he had obtained possession of it. I don't believe their story. Do you think they lied? Yes, I do. Tim had plenty of supplies when I left him. Then how did the men get his watch? They must have stolen it. Fortunately, you got it back even though you had to pay for it. Can't we have them arrested? We're too late, if we start now we may be able to reach the camp by tomorrow morning. And I'll get our horses saddled. Sadie, you get ready to leave with us. Yes, I'll be ready. Poor Uncle Tim. A few hours following the Lone Ranger's departure from the mountain camp, old Tim Tully's rugged constitution began to assert itself. He regained consciousness and demanded food, which was provided by Tonto. Toward morning, Tonto, after a night-long vigil, dozed in front of the fire. He wakened with a star cone. What you want here? You'll find out. Hey, Baldy, he's the Indian we saw in the store. Sure, it's him. He's got the old man's mind. And look, Baldy, look under those blankets there. Why, it's the old prospector himself. Well, I'll be a salamander. And he's alive. Listen to him snore. Him, plenty sick. Now you go. Cool off, Indian, we're not going nowhere. We come to stay, haven't we you? You bet we have. Come daylight, you can show us that mine around here, Redskin. This no mine, this camp. Hey, hear that? Someone's coming, Joe. Yeah, the Indian's horse answered the one coming up the trail. We've got to get out of sight. Now, listen, Indian, we're taking you with us over yon in the dark where we can't be seen. But if you let one peep out of you, we'll bless you to the happy hunting ground. Now, come on. But we will. Let's get out of sight. Get moving, Indian. Listen, don't move. There's Uncle Tim. Oh, Uncle Tim. Don't make a move. Hey, they're the ones who stole the watch. Don't reach for them guns. Do as they say. They'll kill you if you don't. Say, Joe, you know this mask hombre? I should. I've been dodging him long enough. You're right, Joe Spade. You and Baldy Pine have jumped your last claim. That's mighty big talk, mister, with your hands in the ass. Better watch him, Baldy. He'll go for a gun. He'll go for nothing. I'm shooting him before he gets any big ideas. Well, let him have it then. All right. Keep the rest of them covered. No, you don't. Get your hands up. Get them up. I swear. Old Tim received his cash from the crooks and his watch from Jerry. Then while the lone ranger and tonto tied Joe and Baldy, the masked man explained. These crooks came here because of the map I drew for you, Tim. They found it in your watch. Yeah, the jugheads thought it was a map showing a gold claim. They sure were fooled. Did they think I'd be fool enough to draw a map of my discovery before I filed a claim? What discovery? Well, I reckon I fooled all of you. But I did discover gold. What's that? Yeah, I found a mine a week ago, a real bonanza. Well, I'll be. But I know these hills like a book. I'd never be foolish enough to draw a map until I filed my claim. I'm getting too old and stove into working. I need a vigorous young fellow like Jerry to take it over. Thanks, Uncle Ted. Oh, Uncle Tim, you're wonderful. Jerry and I'll take you home with us. No, not right away. Can't travel yet. I want to rest right here in the Lone Ranger's camp where it's peaceful. Did you say the Lone Ranger? Yeah. Jerry, the cooks are all tied. You and Donna Washington will send the sheriff. He's a big fella. Adios. Adios. Didn't you and Sadie know that that man is 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 saying the way to get the way to
