With a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty hi-yo silver, the Lone Ranger. In total, 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! Come on, Silver! Let's go, big fella! I am still there! For several days, the Lone Ranger and Tonto had been trailing Jess Lurgan and his outlaw gang. When they neared the town of Laredo, a thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rain washed away all signs the outlaws had left. Tonto finally spoke. It rained pretty hard, Kimo Sabe. Now we have no sign to follow. Before the rain started, the marks showed that the gang we're trailing is not too far ahead of us. That's right. They may go into hiding near Laredo. If so, we may have a chance to get a line on them again. Ah. Right now, I think we'll find a sheltered spot in camp until the storm passes. Outlaws not know we trail them. Maybe them stay near Laredo a while. I hope so. Look, there's a shallow cave inside a hill to right. It's almost sundown. That's a good place to camp. All right. Let's go there, Tonto. Come on, Silver! The masked man and Indian camped in the cave. They started a fire to dry their clothing. Later, the storm passed and the moon shone brightly. Tonto, it's still early evening. I'll disguise myself as a Mexican and we'll go into town and look around. Well, that's a good idea. The Lone Ranger carefully disguised his features. Then the two men, mounted on Silver and Scout, rode to Laredo. Oh, no, Scout. Oh, fella. They left their horses in the shadows between two buildings, then strolled toward the cafe. They stopped a moment near the large horse trough in front of the cafe, while the Lone Ranger tightened a loose spur strap. At that moment, two tough-looking men came from the cafe and started down the veranda steps. They were both large men, and when one of them saw the two figures near the horse trough, he nudged his companion, saying, Look there, Randy. Mexican and a redskin, palling around together, looking for trouble. Yeah, we ought to make them dance to the music of gunfire till they're tired, then throw them into the trough to cool them off. Hey, that's a very good idea. Very good. Hey, Mexican, you there. You wish to talk with me, senor? No, I'd rather see some action. You do a Mexican hat dance while the redskin does a war dance. Draw your gun and give them music, Randy. Wait, senor, don't draw. That's right. Hey, holy cow, they are Jewish, Carl. Oh, perhaps you should like to dance for us, senors. Very well. Start dancing. Hey, now. Hey, quick! The Mexican and Indian turned the tables. Those two hombres were stepping high. By Jiminy, if they didn't have those guns, we'd pitch them both into the horse trough. Oh, perhaps the men who are watching will favor all of us by holding our gun belts, senor. Sure. All right, here's mine. And mine, too. We, too, shall give up our belts for the moment. That's right. All right, we're holding the gun belts. Let's see you work on them. Grab them, Randy. Right. You ready? Hey! Now! Stop going to water, Trough. For several minutes, the fight continued, much to the delight of the watching crowd. The two men, Carl and Randy, who had at first considered the Lone Ranger and Toto as easy marks, soon discovered their mistake. Each of them recoiled from blow after blow, delivered by the Indian and his friend. Give it to them, Indy! Holy mess! Finally, as if upon a signal, both the Lone Ranger and Toto made quick moves. They suddenly lifted their surprised adversaries and heaved them into the big horse trough. These will take the fight out of you, amigo! Oh, stop! Who is this? What do you like of it? Well, it is all over. Well, we shall take our gun belts now. Sure, sure. Here they are. Sure, show them up, Mexican. Hey, I'm all wet! Oh, my! Hey! Hey, what's going on here? Oh, it is nothing, Senor Sheriff. Our friends there wanted to have a little fun, no? Forget it, Sheriff. I reckon we asked for what we got. Carl, you mean to say you're willing to forget it? Shut up, Randy. You two hombres look like wet cats. Hey, better stop all this commotion, though. Or I might decide it isn't so funny and run you all in for disturbing a piece. All right, everybody. Get along. Fun's over. See that you loco hombres behave after these. Yeah. Move along, folks. Here's our gun belts on the walk. Better put them on. Yeah. Listen, Mexican. What's your name? You may call me Juan. My Indian friend and I do not look for trouble, Senor. But when he looks for us, bueno, we are ready, no? Yeah, you're ready, all right. Oh, look, Carl. After what they did, it was why he getting so friendly. Hey, golly, we ought to take care of it, Randy. Maybe they did make fools out of us. But we asked for it. We were going to make them dance and then throw them into the trough. That's a hot one. I don't see anything to laugh at. Listen, Randy. A man as fast on his feet and as quick with his fists as this Mexican could really come in handy to Jess. But, well, yeah, you're right. Who is the man, Jess, Senor? Oh, he's an hombre who could help you make plenty of easy money, if you're willing. Money is not so easy to get for poor Juan, Senor. Of course, if you're afraid of the law and all that. I am not afraid of the law, Senor. And that is the truth. I figured you might be that type of hombre. The man I mentioned would like to meet you. He likes hombres who get tough when they have to. Who is that fellow Jess, huh? Did you ever hear of Jess Lurgan? Jess Lurgan? The Mexican would never hear about Jess unless he's been around here for a while. Well, no matter. You see, Juan, Jess Lurgan has a big reputation in this territory. He has a gang and he's plenty smart. Oh, you'd get along with Jess right well. Oh, I'm not so sure. What about my Indian friend? Look, I better not go to the hideout with two hombres right off. Let the Indian wait for you around town till you and Jess get acquainted. Then, in a few days, maybe you could talk him into letting the Indian join us. He's kind of leery of Indians. I should like to meet your friend, Jess Lurgan. I'm sure my Indian friend will not mind if I leave for a few days. Ah, me wait. Boy, no. I'll get in touch with you. Now that you've decided, let's get our horses and ride out and have you meet Jess Lurgan. The lone ranger and Tonto left the two crooks to get their horses. This is our chance to capture Jess Lurgan and his gang, Tonto. But it's risky for you to go to hideout of gang, Kimasabi. There's not much risk, Tonto. If you do what I tell you. And what we do? Leave town first, so they'll not be suspicious. Then wait in hiding until we go past and follow us. Uh-uh. You think we catch gang? It'd be too much for the two of us. My idea is this. As soon as you find out where the hideout is, come back to town and tell the sheriff. Ask him to bring his men near the hiding place, but to keep out of sight and wait. You want me to come with Posse? Lead them to the neighborhood of the hideout. Then leave and go back to our camp. Wait there until you hear from me. And why we not move in and capture gang when me bring Posse? I want to find out how many there are and to be sure to catch all of them. Uh-uh. Me take Posse to hideout. Then me go to camp and wait. All right. You leave first, Toto. Adios. Easy, scout. Easy. Adios. Get him up, scout. Easy. Steady, big fella. Come on, sit there. Ranger, still in his Mexican disguise, joined Carl and Randy. The three men started for Jess Lurgen's hideout. And before long, pulled to a stop in front of a large shack. Hold up, hold up. Easy. All right. Go on inside. Hey, Jess. I brought someone from town we want you to meet. Who's that hombre? What'd you bring him here for? I'll take it easy, Jess. He's all right. Sure, and he's plenty tough and quick on the draw, Jess. What's more, he's not afraid of the law. Well, I don't know. What's your name? I go by the name of Juan right now, senor. Of course, I might change it if needed. You see, Jess, I reckon he's had a dozen names to keep from tangling with the law. I still can't figure why you brought him here. What makes you think he'd fit him with our gang? Briefly, Carl told Jess Lurgen what had happened in town. When he finished, Jess looked the lone ranger over more closely, then remarked, He and his Indian friend must be tough hombres to be able to do what they did to you two. Well, I don't want to tangle with him again. Where's he in it? He's waiting near town so that I may get in touch with him when necessary. Yes, as well, you didn't bring him out. I don't trust Redskins. What's more, if you think I might be persuaded to let him join us, then you might as well get out of here now. Oh, forget the Indian right now, Jess. We could use an hombre like Juan. Ever been in jail, Juan? Senor, I've been inside many jails, but I did not stay. Man alive, that shows he knows his way around, Jess. If I decide to let you stay with us, what about that Indian friend of yours? Will you be willing to ditch him? Perhaps I'm one who thinks of himself first, senor Jess. I don't have to worry about the Indian. I reckon he'll do, Jess. Juan, yes. How come you let Carl talk you into coming out to see me? You were taking a chance, weren't you? I am used to taking chances, senor. Why should I be afraid of you? Maybe this is reason enough. Do not draw. Jump and catch the out rude Jess. Put away your gun, Juan. I was just putting you to the test, that's all. Well, of course, senor Jess, any time. I'll chance taking you into the gang. Randy, take him into the back room to meet the others. All right. Come on, Juan. I shall be pleased to meet him. Oh, that Mexican is a smart one, Jess. He talks about money being hard to get, but he's sure riding a fine stallion. A big white one. I'm telling you, the way that he... Wait a minute. I want to look at his horse. Moon's plenty bright, so he ought to have been able to get a good look at him. I saw him. This isn't the first time. I don't savvy. Sit down a minute. Hey, you look sort of funny, Jess. What's wrong? Wrong? Nothing. Maybe I'm just getting things right. Oh, talk, Sands. Did you notice the fancy guns Juan carries, Carl? Yeah. Carl, I got away from a gang once that was captured by a masked man, an Indian. The masked hombre had a big white stallion named Silver, and he carried fancy guns. He had the fastest draw I ever saw, and could win over most anyone in a fight. You see, Carl, in spite of the fact that he looks like a Mexican and talks like one, I have a sneaking suspicion that our new friend Juan is really the Lone Ranger. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger adventure. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. To continue. After the Lone Ranger and Randy left the room, Jess Lurgan putting together certain facts finally startled Carl by telling him he thought the Mexican Juan was the Lone Ranger. Jumping Jiminy, Jess. You mean to say you really believe that Mexican is a Lone Ranger? Yeah. You see, the Lone Ranger is clever, Carl. Very clever. He usually wears a black mask, but I understand he can pose as others by disguising himself carefully. Then he goes without the mask. Now, Garnet, Jess, if he's the masked man, what are we going to do about it? Let him think he's getting away with his little act, that's what. But from what you've told us in the past, he's dangerous. Sure. But if he's thrown off guard, we have the upper hand. He thinks I've fallen for his disguise and accent. So I let him go on thinking that until the time comes for me to turn the tables. What are you going to do? Maybe I'd better get the engine here, too. Don't be loco with the two of them here. It's just going to... It was your idea to bring him here in the first place, wasn't it? Well, I didn't know who he was then. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. It's better to have him here under our noses than to have him helping the posse he catches. If he wants to play act, I'll get some fun out of it, too. Tell your new friend Juan I want to talk to him. All right. I sure hope you know what you're doing. Juan, Jess wants to talk to you. Here's Juan, Jess. Sit down, Juan. Gracias. You and the Indians seem to make a good pair. So you might as well have him here. Bueno. I shall go get my Indian friend. No, no. You stay here with me. I want to talk with you some more. Maybe you can tell Carl where to find the Redskin, and he'll go after him, huh? Oh, but of course. He will be waiting in a cottonwood grove on the hillside to the east of town. The place will not be hard to find, Carl. I'll find him. You better go now, Carl. Tell him to come on out and join his Mexican friend, huh? Right. We ought to be back in a couple of hours or so. Yeah. Well, we'll go in the other room and talk over some plans with the others. Juan, come on. I know they should have four others besides Carl and Randy, senor. That's right, six of us. You and your partner will make eight of us in the gang. Well, uh... Yeah, where's Carl? Going to bring Juan's partner out here. I decided it would be better to keep him together. But I thought Juan was hanging out with the Redskin before he came out here to join us. That's right. That's right. His partner is a Redskin. You think he's going to fit in with the gang, Jess? Juan says he will. How about it, Juan? I'm most sure of you. That settles it as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, we can use two more good fighters, and especially those two, to go through with a plan I have. What plan? What are you thinking of doing? The stage from San Antonio will come along the trail at dawn. We're going to hold it up. How do you know the stage will be carrying anything worth grabbing, Jess? Did you get word that it's carrying a shipment or something? No. But listen. We'll all wear black masks on this job. All but the Indian. He doesn't need one. Well, it sounds loco to me. Why waste time if you don't know what we'll be doing? Shut up and listen a minute, will you? Remember the mask man I told you about? The one we wanted to keep off our trail? Oh, sure. But I figure Juan is about his build, and he rides a white stallion and carries fancy guns. Juan will wear a black mask along with the rest of us, and he and the Indian will sort of lead us. The stage driver and the passengers will think it's a lone ranger leading the masked gang of outlaws. After that, the masked man who helps the law won't dare show his face in this territory. Say, maybe it is a good idea. Hey, I've heard about that mask, Embry, lots of times. I hear he's plenty smart. Yeah, he's smart, but, uh, well, we'll see. Well, how about it, Juan? Tell me, what do you think of my plan to discredit that ornery lone ranger, huh? If it works, amigo, then I shall know you are more clever than he is, no? It'll work, all right. Just wait and see. Anything else to tell us about the holdup? Yeah, just this. Juan and the redskin will ride between Carl and me. Randy, you and Kel ride behind him to make sure things go right. Now we'll wait till Carl comes back to the end. After discussing his plan with the others, Jess Lurgin returned to the front room with the lone ranger and Randy. The lone ranger realized that somehow Lurgin knew his identity, but that for reasons of his own, he was keeping it from the others for the time being. There was nothing in Jess's manner to indicate that he did know, and he acted as though he fully accepted the Mexican into the gang. The masked man still carried his guns and could escape, but he didn't want to throw away a chance of capturing the gang if possible. It was a waiting game of wits between him and Lurgin, and the lone ranger decided to play along. Sometime later, horses were heard stopping outside. That must be Carl and the redskin, Jess. Yeah, it's about time I got here. Well, I brought the Indian. He was waiting for the top of Woodgrove, Juan, like you said. I knew you'd be there, amigo. Ah, me wait, like me say. Well, Jim, Rick and Carl told you why we said for you. Ah, him say, me join gang, ride with friends. Yeah, and it's almost daylight now. We better start moving. Randy, tell the boys to get the horses ready to ride, eh? Right. We'll soon be ready. As for you, Juan, I'm going to give you a mask. We'll all wear masks. Then I expect you and your Indian partner to show us what you can do when we hold up that stagecoach here. Of course, Senor Jess. You may count on us to show you much. That's right. Good. Let's go. The men wore masks, including the Lone Ranger. He and Tonto managed to exchange signals, which were unseen by the others. As they rode along, Jess remarked, You and your Indian friends sure have fine horses, Juan. We like them, Senor. That's right. Strange that you two are such good friends. How long have you been partners? For some time. I do not remember just how long. We have become friends because it is worthwhile for each of us, amigo. We sure do work together, from what I hear. For instance, the way you both led into Randy and Carl and ducked him in the horse top in town. It wasn't funny. We were the ones who thought up that idea. We were going to do it to them. Well, I reckon you didn't know who you were picking on, Carl, eh? The next time, you and Randy will be more careful. But there are no hard feelings, eh, Senor Carl? Oh, you sure taught me a lesson. Hey, Jess, we're getting close to where the stage will come through. Better find a place to stop and stay out of sight till it comes along. I know just the place. We're almost there. Don't forget, Juan. I'm counting on you and the Indian to do a good job. If you don't, or if you try any tricks, you'll be sorry. Do not worry, Senor Jess. We are ready to do our part no matter what happens. That's right. Good. We'll soon be stopping to wait for the stage. Let's get a move on. Get it back. Under there. Get that back. Come on. Later, the gang waited behind big boulders for the stagecoach. Now that the sun has come up, Jess, I can see quite a distance. I think I see a cloud of dust coming. You think that's the stage? Yeah, I think it is. That stage. Hit a leather, everybody. Come on, me. We'll ride just the way we did coming here, with you and the Indian between Carl and me. Remember, the others will be behind you watching, so no funny business. Si. Let's go. I'm me ready. Come on, boys. This is it. Get up there. Get under there. A few moments later, the outlaws, with the Lone Ranger and Toto, closed in on the stagecoach with blazing guns. There she is. Keep shooting. All right, Juan. You and the Indian dismount. Rob the passengers. Go on. Keep it covered, boys. I'll join you, too. Dismount. Get the folks out of the stage. The Lone Ranger realized that as soon as he and Toto were on the ground, the gang could gun them at a signal from Lurgan. While he hesitated to dismount, he saw what he had hoped to see, horsemen riding in from each side. Hey, look. Two posses closing in. We've got a fight on our heads. The posses closed in. The Lone Ranger and Toto quickly went into action. Now we'll both dismount, Lurgan. Toto followed the masked man's cue and dragged Carl from the saddle, while the others were engaged in fighting the posses. You dismount. The other outlaws, intent on fighting the oncoming horsemen, left Jess and Carl to fight it out with a masked man and Indian. You didn't plan to, Lurgan. I'll kill you. Lone Ranger and Jess Lurgan rolled on the ground, locked in battle. Lurgan was tough, but he soon found out what Carl and Randy meant when they said the men they had fought in town were tough. Toto 2 pummeled Carl, and soon both outlaws were glad to yell quit. Oh, wait, wait. No more. I quit. I give up. You don't. Great day. You two sure know how to fight. Here we have all the others under control. Those two look plumb wore out. They're tough only behind a drawn gun, Sheriff. Sheriff, we'll tie the crooks and attend to their wounds. Crooks were soon tied and their wounds bandaged. Later, as the sheriff's men prepared to take them to the Laredo jail, Carl spoke wonderingly. I don't savvy how all this happened. Jess, what was the matter with your plan? I thought that we... Hey, he must have guessed that I knew him and was ready for what might happen. What I can't figure is how the posse came to be on the scene. There's no way for him to send word to town. Well, I didn't make plans a little shortly before we came here. Lurkin, you were outsmarted all the way. You see, when your men took the man they thought was a Mexican to your hideout, the Indian followed. Then he came to me and told me where the hideout was located. That's it. Well, you could have moved in on us there. Sure, but we just went out there near the place and waited like we were asked to do. When you rode to hold up the stage, we followed. You were caught with the goods. That's it. Too bad you didn't gun that Mexican when you realized who he really is, Jess. Hey, well, as long as he had those guns of his, you didn't have the chance to gun him. Mister will take these crooks back to jail now. You sure did a fine job of turning the tables on them. Thanks, Sheriff. Without you and your men, we couldn't have captured them. Tonto, I'll head south from here, but we'll see you again sometime. Let's go, Tonto. Adios, everybody. Adios. Easy, steady, big fella. Easy, scout. Easy, fella. Moncella, there. Moncella. Holy mackerel. If I knew what I know now about those two, I wouldn't have listened to Jess. Trouble is, Jess Lurkin didn't know enough about them, or he wouldn't have tried to pull any tricks against the Lone Ranger. I'll still... This is a feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated, created by George W. Trendle, produced by Trendle Campbell Muir Incorporated, directed by Charles D. Livingston, and edited by Fran Stryker. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer.
