A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty hi-yo silver. The Lone Ranger. Before this exciting adventure, a word from our sponsor. General Mills, makers of Cheerios, the oat cereal that's ready to eat, Betty Crocker Mixes, and Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. Present by special recording, The Lone Ranger. When the weather's bad, do you and your friends ever hang around the house wondering what to do? I'll bet it happens lots. Well, you know where you can have the most fun? In the kitchen, with a package of the new Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. That's right. It's easy as can be to bake up a big batch of luscious, chocolatey brownies with Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. Everything you need is right in the package. Just add one egg if you like the chewy, fudgy kind of brownies. And two eggs if you want them soft and tender like cake. Add nuts, too, if you like. Either way, Betty Crocker Brownies are the gee-I-can't-eat-em-fast-enough kind. Even if you've never baked before, you'll turn out scrumptious, chocolatey, perfect brownies the very first time. And what fun you and your gang will have eating brownies that you've baked yourselves. Have Mom get Betty Crocker Brownie Mix next time she shops. Then invite your friends over for some fun. 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. Come on, Silver. Let go, big fellow. I'm Silver. Don Abbott, a young man of 20, rode that Pecos River trail from Laredo northward with a tough-looking companion named Pedro. Ah, the night. She's very beautiful, no? Yeah. So many stars cover the sky. There does not seem room for them all. Yeah, I reckon this isn't the first time you've seen them, Pedro. You are tougher than I thought, Senor Don. Yeah, there's more important things to think about than the stars, Pedro. Once again, the two men rode in silence. But Pedro's remark about the stars flooded Don's mind with memories. His parents had come west because of his mother's poor health. Don was born in San Antonio, and after his father's death, his mother had taken in sewing for a living. A sweet and religious woman, she had started a Sunday school class, which she had conducted until her death. Pedro's remarks had brought to Don's mind a summer evening when he was 10 years old, just before his mother's death. He remembered vividly what had been said as they sat on the veranda. My, it's a beautiful night. Look at all those stars. Gosh, there must be millions of them. Did God put all those stars up there, Mama? Yes, son. Why? Well, Donnie, I like to think the Heavenly Father put a star up there for each of us here below. Golly, do I have one? I hope so, dear. Perhaps right now it's one of the smallest and dimmest. But I like to think we each make our stars brighter by the good deeds we perform for our fellow men. I hope that someday, Donnie, yours will be one of the brightest. Will I know my star when I see it, Mama? I think so, Donnie. Well, come, dear. It's past your bedtime. We must go in now. Don Abbott glanced upward a moment. Then, with bitterness in his heart, other memories crowded out those of his mother and the stars. He remembered being taken in after his mother's death by a kind-hearted woman whose husband was hard and domineering. Don clenched his teeth as he remembered the days that followed the death of his foster mother. Hard work interspersed with frequent strappings made the few following years unbearable. At 14, he ran away. Then came six years of drifting, doing odd jobs, struggling to make his way among men who were tough and ruthless. Until disillusioned, toughened, and bitter, he turned outlaw. Pedro again broke the silence, saying, We are only a few miles from Pecos now, Don. We shall soon reach the hideout. Here, the sooner the better. Senor Steve will meet us there with two men. Who is Steve Nash, Pedro? You haven't told me much about him. He is a gambler from the east. I met him a few months ago in Laredo. Well, let's get a move on. I'm anxious to know what this is all about. Get him! Under me! Later, Pedro and Don drew rain in front of a cabin in the hills outside of Pecos. Oh, easy, Don. Well, Pedro, we've been waiting for you and your friends. Buenos noches, Senor Steve. This is Don Abbott, the hombre I told you about. Well, to meet you, Don, I meet Sid and Sluggy. Howdy. Well, sit down, and I'll tell you what I have in mind. Let's have it, Nash. Don't waste time, do you, Abbott? Nope. Get to the point. Well, here's a setup. I had an uncle, my mother's brother, who owned a big spread not far from here. A cousin of mine, Fred Logan, lived with him, along with Fred's wife and little girl. My uncle died less than a year ago and left everything to Fred with the stipulation that if Fred dies, his wife and I each get half. Go on. Fred and his wife have never seen me. You think I'm still back in St. Louis. When I came out of here six months ago, I realized how big that ranch is. Where do we come in on this? I'm coming to that. I took a job running the gambling room at the cafe in Peggy's. I learned a lot from some of Fred's ranch hands. Now, it seems the foreman left with some of the cow hands to drive a herd of 500 Longhorns to Stockton. And he's getting $20 a head for each of them. Ah. $10,000. That's right. That's not a good one. Fred Logan had other business, so he didn't go with him. But I was told he's taking the evening stage tomorrow night to Stockton, then catching the stage back, bringing the cash with him. The returning stage reaches Peggy's just after dawn. Ah, so we are to hold up the stage and take the cash, no? That's part of it, Pedro. I want Fred Logan out of the way. After we make him get out of the stage, he'll get plugged in. Hey, I don't go for killing, Nash. That'll be my job. And for staging the holdup, you four each get $2,500 in cash. Caramba. We cannot afford to say no, Senor Don. We both need the dinero. Well, I reckon it's a deal. Good. I'll meet you all here tomorrow night and make further plans. The following afternoon, Tonto, Indian companion to the Lone Ranger, returned to a grove of cottonwoods on the outskirts of Pecos, where the two men had stopped to repair worn riding gear. Did you remember to bring the horseshoe nails, Tonto? Ah, me get him. Yes. In Kimasabi, me stop at cafe. See Mexican fellow named Pedro, who was with gang near Laredo a few months ago. Hmm. He's the man who escaped across the border when we moved in on the gang. Isn't that right? Go back to town and keep an eye on him, Tonto. Well, he may be here as a member of another gang. If he rides from town, let me know and we'll trail him. Ah, me do that. Easy, Scout. Easy, fella. Get him up, Scout. That evening at the cafe, Pedro was engaged in a card game. At sundown, Don Abbott sat at a table near the front window, eating supper alone. Steve Nash approached and sat down. Get across at the stage stop, Abbott. Huh? See that Albury standing beside a buckboard talking to a cow poking a little girl? What about him? That's Fred Logan, my cousin. He's getting ready to board the stage for Stockton. Don saw a nice-looking, kindly-faced man in his 30s standing beside the buckboard across the street. As he watched, Fred Logan reached up and kissed a pretty, curly-headed little girl about 10. Then he turned and entered the stage station. Don and Steve watched until the buckboard was driven away. Logan don't know what's in store for him in the morning. Well, yeah. Want to come back and join Pedro in a card game? No, I'm tired of hanging around town. I think I'll ride back to hideout and get some rest. Suit yourself. Pedro and I will meet you and the others there about midnight. Right. See you later, Nash. Don rode slowly from town in the same direction the buckboard had taken. Darkness fell quickly, and soon he rode beneath the moon and stars. A short time later, he rounded a bend and saw the buckboard stopped on the trail. The driver was trying to replace a rear wheel which had come off. Don stopped beside the vehicle. He helped the driver replace the wheel. As he was about to mount, the little girl said, Hello, mister. Hello there. What's your name? My name's Gloria Logan. We took my daddy to town to catch the stage. I'm glad you came along to help Tex fix the wheel. Wasn't any trouble? Golly, look at all those stars up there. I like to look at the stars, don't you? Oh, yeah. Sure. That bright one up there is daddy's, I think. What, uh, what makes you think that? Because he's so good to people. Mama says she thinks we all have stars, and they get brighter when we do good for people. Well, your, uh, your mother said that? Uh-huh. She used to go to Sunday school in San Antonio, and that's what the lady at the Sunday school told her. Oh. Yeah. Didn't your mother ever tell you about the stars, mister? Well, I... I think I have to be going now. Goodbye, mister. Uh, goodbye. Thanks again, stranger. You're right. Get up. Get up there. Come on. And it's her old man, Steve Nash, is gonna kill at dawn. Easy, steady, boy. Come on, get up there. We'll continue our Lone Ranger adventure in just a moment. Sheriff Sam is a boy of ten. He busts right in the robber's den and gets his man because he knows he's got gold power from Cheerios. Yes, he's got gold power. There he goes. He's feeling his Cheerios. Cheerios. Cheerios. That's Cheerios. The cereal shaped like little letter O's. And those O's stand for oats. The good grain Cheerios is made from. Every delicious spoonful of Cheerios and milk is real muscle-building food. Each spoonful contains vitamins, minerals, and proteins your body needs. Yes, those good things in a Cheerios breakfast do good things for your body. Help you have healthy nerves, good red blood, strong bones and muscles. You can see that Cheerios is made to give you real gold power. So make sure you have a Cheerios breakfast every day. Then you'll hear people say, He's feeling his Cheerios. Now to continue. The words of little Gloria Logan had moved Don Abbott deeply. He thought it must have been his own mother who had instilled the little fantasy of the stars into the mind of Mrs. Logan. If such were the case, the words spoken by the young lips of little Gloria were as if his own mother were speaking them. Don hesitated a moment, then looked upward searchingly. That bright star, the one Gloria had spoken of as being her father's, seemed to stand out accusingly. The muscles in his jaws tightened as Don suddenly spurred his horse to a gallop. Get up! Come on! Get up there! It was after midnight when the lone ranger heard hoofbeats passing on the trail. A few minutes later, Tonto returned and drew rain in the grove. Oh, scout. Oh, fella. Easy, scout. Easy, fella. Well, Tonto, I expected you before this. Well, me, me wait. Watch, Mexico. Him just leave town with gambler, fella. Them ride trail past grove. Yes, I heard them passing. We'll follow them and find out where they go at this late hour. Is it? The moon is bright, so we shouldn't have any trouble picking up their trail. All right, let's go. Easy, scout. Easy, fella. Mom, fella. Mom, come. Later, from a stand of trees on a hilltop, the lone ranger and Tonto saw the lighted cabin on the slope. Who's it? Go closer to that cabin, Tonto. Come on. The two men moved like shadows through the darkness until they approached the cabin. Five horses over there, Tonto. Ah. And what do we do? We'll wait and see what those men are up to. So far, we have nothing against any of them except Pedro. If they plan something tonight, we may be able to catch them all red-handed. That's right. We go back to the horses. We can see them from there if they leave the cabin. Come on. The lone ranger and Tonto settled down to watchful waiting back among the trees. Just before dawn, the light in the cabin was extinguished. Then they heard the men mounting their horses. Them, them leaving them. Yes. We'll see where they go. Come on, Tonto. Come on, Silver. It must count. Steve and his men rode toward the main trail through the darkness. A thin layer of clouds covered the sky by that time. But light from the moon hanging low in the west still broke through. Later, the five men waited in hiding for the stage to come along. A faint flush tinged the clouds in the eastern sky, foretelling the advent of dawn. Don Abbott glanced upward at the curtain of clouds, then moved nervously in the saddle. Then... Here comes the stage, Steve. It's about time. Cover your faces, draw your guns, and let's go. As easy. Get it, Pat. Get it, Pat. As the outlaws raced from cover, the stage driver, seeing the guard wounded, pulled the horses to a stop. Pedro, cover the driver and guard. Right. Keep your hands away from the guns. You're covered, mister. Get out. Yeah, sure. All right, drop your gun. There it is. Now throw me your wallet. Well, I... Throw it! I reckon I have to. Now that you have it, I might as well get back into the cove. Now wait, mister. I'm not through with you yet. Everything is in that wallet. Ten thousand in cash. What more do you want? I'm plugging you right now. Hold it, Nick. Let go! By thunder, I'll get rid of you. The fool. Now finish what I... Hold it. Pedro and the other two outlaws turn to fire at the masked man and Indian. Use your guns! Hold it! I have my gun. Now you two men, drop yours. The remaining two outlaws, Sid and Slugger, covered from behind by Fred Logan, drop their guns and raise their hands. Die them, Toto, while we keep them covered. Mister, I don't know who you are, but in spite of that mask, I gotta thank you. Hello, masked man. Hi, Toto. Haven't seen you two since you prevented that hold-up three months ago near Laredo. The masked men and Indian are friends, Mr. Logan. They help the law. Well, I'm glad to hear it. I'll take back my wallet. That fellow on the ground saved my life. He kept the leader from shooting at me, and he got the bullet instead. We'll unmask these men. I know the name of this man. He's a gambler. So I'm in Laredo. His name is Steve Nash. Steve Nash? Why, he must be the cousin mentioned in my uncle's will. He's to get half my ranch if anything happens to me. Hmm. That may be why he wanted to kill you. I thought it strange he wasn't satisfied to steal my $10,000. He was to get half the ranch. We were to get that cash. If Don Albin had not jumped Steve and kept him from shooting... We're glad to get our hands on you, Pedro. I'll look at the wounded man now. Nice looking, young fellow. He's seriously wounded. Saved my life. I don't understand. He's cautious. Easy, fellas. Easy. Don slowly opened his eyes. He stared first at the masked man, then at Fred Logan. Finally, he spoke. Oh, you... You're... You're a glorious father. You know my daughter. I... I met her on the trail last night. She... She told me about the stars. What her mother told... Told her... What does he mean? Gloria likes to think each person has a star of his own. That it gets brighter because of good deeds. That's a nice thought. Nice little girl. Said... What... My mother used to say. There's... There's no more stars now. I... I never had one. There'd... Be no star for me. Don paused and stared at the heavens. At that moment, the clouds on the eastern horizon broke. Shining brightly in the faintly reflected light of the rising sun was the morning star. Look. Look. There is a star. The brightest star I ever saw. Yes, Don. I'm sure that must be your star. The brightest of them all. Oh, thanks, mister. I... Mom, I... I found it. My star. He... He said so. Is he... He's unconscious. But I'm sure with proper care, he'll get well. I'll bandage his wound now. Quickly and expertly, the Lone Ranger bandaged Don's wound, then attended to Pedro and Steve on the guard. When he had finished, Fred said, Mister, I'll take the young man straight into town on the stage and see that he gets medical care. Take the two wounded outlaws with you. They're both tied. Turn them over to the sheriff. My Indian friend and I will go ahead with the other two. Two colors, not wounded. Tied to horses, Kemosabe. Good. The young man is also a prisoner, Mr. Logan. But I'm sure when you testify for him, the court will be lenient with him. I'll always be his friend, mister. Good. We'll leave now and see you in town. Adios, everybody. Goodbye. Easy, steady big fellow. He's got easy, fella. All right. Get going, you two. Come on. Get out of here. One, two, there. Come on, scout. Driver, who is that masked man? Mr. Logan, he's one of the finest hombres in the West. Tough, like when he rode in shooting. And, uh, kind-hearted, like when he talked to the young fella about the star. Yes, sir. There's none finer than the Lone Ranger. I'll still...
