A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the Lone Ranger. Whenever men gathered around the campfire in the early days of the western United States, stories were told of the masked rider of the plains. No one could match his courage or resourcefulness, and the history of his great fight for law and order is really the history of the winning of the West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when adventure lay at the end of every trail. The Lone Ranger rides again. Gilbert, we're heading for the gold country. Temple's waiting in the trail ahead. Two men, Red Smiley and Cliff Noble, were busy at the claim they were working along a lonely tributary of the Frazier River. It was early spring, and a third partner, Clem Peterson, had taken advantage of the opening trails to go to town for supplies. We see Red and Cliff as they dig into the thawing gravel. Bastard gravel. My back feels like it's near to bust some... Shucks, we ain't hardly started yet, Red. Yeah? Well, I've done all I'm gonna do for today, I can tell you that. There. That shovel's laying there till I get good and ready to work again. But Red... Well, what? We promised Clem we'd have all this done by the time he got back. We ought to have something to show for the time he's been gone. I don't do my share, huh? Now, wait, I didn't mean that. I didn't fall with me again. I'm tired of it. I'm fed up and sick of hearing you tell me what I should do and what I shouldn't. Gosh, Red, I don't know what's got into you. I've tried to be friends. I know how it is sharing the same quarters all winter long. Never seen nobody but the same fellas day in and day out. Nothing to do but work and eat and sleep. But you've got to allow for them things. We all get out of sorts sometimes. You just can't pay any attention to it. Preaching again. Come on. Pick up that shovel and give me a hand. Then we'll both knock off early. I'm through shoveling. All right, Red. Go up to the cabin and lay down or read or something for a while. Maybe that'll make you feel better. I won't go up to the cabin. I won't lay down. I won't read. I won't do nothing you tell me to. Now, what... Quick giving me orders. Quit trying to run me. Quit it, do you hear? Are you loco? Call me loco. That's just enough. Hey, get back. I'll show you out, teacher. Watch out, you crazy fool. There. Well, there. Showed you, didn't I? Learned you ain't to be fooled with, didn't I? Now, let's see you give me orders. My ankle. It's twisted. That's just too bad. Give me a hand, will you, Red? I won't be able to walk. Help me back to the cabin. Get there by yourself the best way you know how. Red. Well? Maybe you're right. Maybe your head better clear out. We can't go on this way no longer. Tell me what you want for your share in the claim, and I'll see that you get it. I told you I'd change my mind. I ain't selling. I'm staying on. Well, Clem will be back in a couple of days. Figure on complaining to him? No, but we'll have to talk this out, the three of us. We'll have to find some answer. Maybe I got the answer already. Huh? Maybe when Clem gets here, he'll meet up with a surprise. What do you mean? You've got the notion that things will be a heap better, more peaceable around here. There were just two partners instead of three, ain't you? Seems like it. Hmm. Then maybe I can fix it so that's the way it'll be. But you said you wouldn't sell. I ain't. Then I don't savvy what you mean. Don't try to savvy. Don't worry your head about it at all. Because I give you my word, when what I'm thinking of happens, you'll be the first one to know about it. It was the following day that Red Smiley, spurring his mount over a rough, rock-strewn trail about a mile from the cabin, shouted to the stranger on a great white horse that he saw approaching from the north. Hey there, stranger. Come here. Hurry up. Come on, Silver. Did you see them, stranger? Did they go by this way? Whoa, fellow. Whoa, there. Whoa, boy. Oh, boy. Oh, what's the trouble? You're a mask. What were you shouting? Say, you ain't one of them, are you? You did. But they was Indians. I reckon you wouldn't ride with outlaw Redskins, even if you are a crook. I'm not an outlaw. Well, then, did you see them Redskins? Did you sight them while you was riding this way? I've seen no one. Blast it. No Indians rode north of here. I know that. They cut over towards the east. But I thought maybe coming from where you did, you might have seen where they went. What do you want them for? They killed my partner. Yes? We got a claim along the creek down below. I was working the claim, and Cliff was in a cabin, nursing a sprained ankle. And all of a sudden, I heard some shots and yells. When I got to the cabin, there was Cliff dead. Them Indians riding away like the wind. What were they after? The gold we took from our claim. But they didn't find it. It was hid. We look for the trail and take after them. Yeah, sure. Hey, there's one of the skunks. I'll get him. Don't fire that gun. You spoiled my aim. You shot a tanto. He wasabi. So you are here with them Indians. Whoa, Scout. Whoa. Whoa, Tonto. Whoa. What? What matter? Why him fire a tanto? He mistook you for someone else, Tonto. Oh. Are you sure those redskins you were chasing rode to the east? Of course I'm sure. I told you that, didn't I? Then Tonto must have seen them. He came from that direction. There's no way they could have got past him without being seen. How many were there in the band? Oh, four, I reckon. Yeah. There was four of them. Did you meet four Indians, Tonto? No. Me not see, Injun. But you must have. Unless, unless they cut off some other way. That would be impossible. I don't know. There were only three directions in which they could have gone. The cliff would block escape to the south. Well, maybe I was wrong. Maybe they rode to the north. I came from the north. Oh, the east. You just heard Tonto say no one went past him. That's sure strange. You don't suppose they doubled back and slipped past me, do you? Perhaps. It's either that, or you're in cahoots with them like I said before. You can think what you wish. Well, I haven't the time to sit here arguing with you. I'm going after them critters. And if I find you're in with them, I'll be back to look you up. And don't you forget it. Get up. Get along there. Get up there. You came along at the wrong time for that fellow, Tonto. Why him after Injun? He isn't. What him say? He made a bad mistake, Kimosabe. I saw him before he saw me. I rode down from above. He was sitting on his horse down the trail a ways. When I came along, he spurred his horse and shouted as though he'd been racing after someone. That heap strange. Not strange, Tonto. He was trying to establish an alibi. Oh. He told me his partner was killed by thieving Indians. He probably thought if there was any question about it later, he could always say he had a witness to prove he had taken after the Indians. No doubt he didn't notice my mask until it was too late to change his plan. Maybe that right. That may be doing him an injustice, but I doubt it. He was positive the red men had ridden eastward until you came along to spoil his story. Then he pretended to believe they might have doubled back. How of them do that? They couldn't, unless he were both blind and deaf. Oh. You think him kill partner? We're going to find out. That good. We'll give him every benefit of the doubt. We'll cover this whole section around the cabin. And, Tonto, if there's no trace of the red men he mentioned, we'll act. Come on. Get him up, scout. When old Clem Peterson, the third partner in the claim, returned to the cabin with supplies from town, Red Smiley made haste to tell his version of Cliff's death. So, that's the way it was, Clem. I'd done my darndest to catch them redskins. But they was too slick for me. They got clean away. Cliff dead. And him almost like a son to me. You don't feel no worse about this, Clem, than I do. You sure it was Indians? There couldn't be no mistakes. Ed, I caught him in the act, didn't I? And I showed you where their horses trampled up the ground around the cabin, didn't I? Uh-huh, yeah. Say, you act a mite as though maybe you didn't believe me. I believe you, Red. It was mighty suspicious at first. I suppose the first thing you thought was that me and Cliff got in an argument and I drilled him. You know how things was between them. Clem, you should have known better than that. Shucks, I got mad at him once in a while, sure. But that ain't the same as wanting to drill him. I know, I know, Red. I'm sorry about suspecting you the way I did. You figure there's any way to catch them redskins? Well, I wish there was. But I don't know how. Well, all we can do is tell the law and have a look out, Captain, I reckon. Almost wish them Indians got our dust. Then maybe they'd have been caught trying to spend it. Poor Cliff. Hey, I suppose we'll be dividing his share equal between us. I guess. Who's that? I don't know. It might be. There he is, Tonto. Get him. Now, Tonto, get him. Hey, the same mass fell on engine I told you about, Clem. Keep your guns in love. But what? I'll take them away, Tonto. You come as Tonto. Let me loose Red's can. Go on, Red. Tonto, as you covered him. I don't care. Hurry. Get on with you. No, let me go. What do you think? You won't be harmed. Close the door, Tonto. Stranger, what does this mean? You're in no danger, Clem. Tonto took Red away so that he couldn't hear what I had to say to you. Huh? I suppose Red told you Cliff was killed by Indians. He told me how it happened, sure. Red killed Cliff. What's that? That Indian story was invented. But he showed me the hoof prints of their horses. I saw them. Well, then. He made those prints with his own horse. He rode it all around the cabin to make it look as though a band of riders had been here. Can you prove that? I can. Tonto and I examined the ground. The prints Red says were made by the Indians, disappeared beyond the clearing. There's absolutely no trace of a band of riders except near the cabin. Leap and catfish. If you doubt my word, I'll show you myself. Stranger, I ain't doubting. What you said fits right in with what I suspicioned first. You thought Red was the killer? I did until he told me that story about Indians. Then you must know his motive. That's what I couldn't find out. He killed Cliff because he hated him. Yes? Red fought and quarreled with Cliff all winter. It was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life when I asked Red to come partners with us. Why did you? Because I didn't know nothing against him at that time. All I knew about him was that he was a first-rate mining man. And we needed a third fellow to help us work the claim proper. I see. But, Clem, is Reed Bradley a friend of yours? Oh, Reed Bradley. What's this picture? Oh, that gin type you got in your hand. Shucks, does that look like somebody you know, stranger? It did at first. I see my mistake now. This man seems to have a scar across his cheek. That's a picture of Cliff. Oh. Well, mister, I almost wish you hadn't told me about Red being guilty. Why? Why? Because there ain't no way to prove it on him. Or have you found proof? No. Nothing beyond the lack of hoof prints. They wouldn't be enough to jail him for 30 days. I wonder, Clem, what kind of man is Red? Gosh, you've seen him, stranger. He's big with red hair. I didn't mean that. What's his disposition? There's just one word for it. Ugly. He's the kind that gets moody and sulks and nurses crazy notions like spiraled youngins do sometimes. He was always saying we was giving him the worst of it. If we tried to be friendly, he figured we was scheming something to get him. If we let him alone, he thought we felt we was too good for him. I see. But I've had my fill of that. Maybe we can't prove the polecat's a killer, but that don't mean I have to stay partners with him. What will you do? I'll give him his choice. He can either buy me out or let me buy him out. But by heavens, it's going to be one or the other. No. Huh? Don't dissolve partnership. Stay here. Keep on working the claim with him. Are you loco, too? Me stay here with a killer? You'll be in no danger. Tyler will be on hand to watch every minute. I'll give him his orders. But why should I stay here? To help Red brought to justice. Say, have you got some scheme? Red will ask you what we talked about when Tyler lets him return. Tell him I questioned you about your whereabouts at the time of the murder. Make him believe you're angry at me and resent my accusation. Make him think you was here because you suspicioned me. Yes. And then what? Then let me borrow this picture of Cliff. Oh, but that picture... He's going to pin the murder on the guilty man. Clem, listen to me and I'll tell you how. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger drama. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now to continue our story. The Lone Ranger explained to Clem Peterson the plan he had in mind and secured his promise to cooperate. A brief word with Tonto and then, riding alone, the masked man raced across the wilderness trail, the hoofs of the mighty silver beating a thunderous tattoo that echoed and re-echoed through shadowed canyons and sunlit valleys. Almost five days passed. The work at the claim seemed to go on much the same as ever. Red Smiley was unconscious of Tonto's watching eyes, guarding against treachery. And Clem Peterson, obeying the Lone Ranger, appeared to harbor no suspicion against the big red-headed man who worked beside him. We see them now as they enter the cabin at nightfall, wearily dropping their tools to the floor and... Honest, Red, I'm so doggone tired I could sleep standing up. Oh, gosh, it's good to sit down. Yeah. Hey, you want to fix the grub tonight or you want I should do it? No matter to me. What's ailing you, Red? You don't sound like you're hankering for grub. Me? I could finish off a bear. I ain't hungry. After all the work we put in... I said I wasn't hungry. Ain't that enough for you? Gosh, Red, there must be something wrong with you. Maybe you'd better get to town and see a doctor or something. You wasn't hungry yesterday either, was you? What if I wasn't? No, the day before. Ain't hurting you none, is it? No, of course it ain't. I'm just worried about you, so. You ain't been sleeping so good either, come to think of it. Didn't I hear you stirring around about three this morning? Blast it, leave me alone. Shoot yourself, I was only asking. Where you going? Just lighting a lamp. Mighty gloomy outside, ain't it? Hadn't noticed. Sort of. Sort of mysterious, wouldn't you say? Eh. Seems a mite more cheerful like with the lamp going. Funny how this time of day all this does something to me. What do you mean? Oh, I don't know as I can put it in words exactly. But when the sun's just gone down, the shadows start creeping down the sides of the mountains, and there's just enough of a breeze outside for the wind to kind of moan through the firs and pines. Well, just along about that time of day, I get to thinking of all the mean and nasty things I've done since I was a youngster. Get to wishing I hadn't done them. What kind of fool talk is that? Huh? Ain't you never felt that? Right. Haven't you never got to thinking over your... Hey. What's the matter with you? Red, you ain't listening to a word I'm saying. The window. Window? What about the window? Could be some cleaner. Blast it, don't you see nothing? You mean that oak just outside? Why, sure. It's gone. The oak? It ain't neither gone. I'll find out. What in blazes are you looking for? Nobody outside. Nobody. Hey, shut that door. You're letting all the cold in. Gosh, Red. You look like you've seen a ghost. Like I've seen what? I say you look like you'd seen a ghost. Yeah. Yeah. And for a second, I... I thought I had. Red Smiley had been from the first, sullen, morose, withdrawn. But during the next few days, what had been mere selfish bad temper became first a nervous uneasiness and then open apprehension. Finally, an almost hysterical fear. One time, glancing up from the sluice box where he was working, his eyes rested upon a thick cluster of trees and he gave an involuntary cry. Clem, it's there again. In them trees, it's there. I can see it plain as day. Well, what do you see? You don't see nothing? Not a thing. You're getting spots before your eyes. But it's there, I tell you. Doggone it, what's there? Now, it's gone. Red, you're getting liveries. That's what you are. Seeing things means a bad liver every time. Now, forget these crazy notions of yours and let's get back to work. On the fourth night, Red halted Clem as he prepared to go outside. Clem, you going out? Any objections? Come here. I got something to say. Yeah? Well, say it. I... I want to sell out. Sell out? Yeah. But what in heaven's name for? Ain't you making enough money? Don't you think the claim's paying out like it should? Or have you got tired of working? Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Sure. I don't want to work anymore. I got enough cash. I'm going to take things easy for a spell. Whereabouts? Oh, somewhere. It's a long ways away. You know what I told you when I gave you this partnership, don't you? What was that? That you couldn't sell out to anybody but me or Cliff. And with Cliff gone, that means you can only sell out to me. Don't mention that name. Ah, what's wrong? Hey, don't pay no attention to me, Clem. I'm just a mite nervous, I reckon. But you will buy me out, won't you? Nope, I won't. You won't. I'd be a fool too, wouldn't I? I'd buy you out and then I'm here all alone. But you could hire somebody. Which would mean wasting time riding the town and looking around for the right fella. And then after he's hired, maybe finding out he didn't suit me after all. Nope, I'm satisfied with things the way they are. You've got to buy me out, you've got to. Yeah? Why? I can't stand it here no more. I can't, I just can't. Now, Red, you're just upset about something. Clem, listen, please. Give me anything. I'll sell for nothing almost. And you can name your own price. Just buy me out, that's all. I said no before and I'm saying it again. But if I was you, Red, I'd get me to sleep and think things over. Good night. I'm going out for a spell. Sleep? With that face staring at me all the time, every place I look, all hours of the day and night. Sleep? I'm going mad. I won't stay here. Oh, not another night. Where's my bedroom? My share of the dust. I'll pack and get right now. Right now. When Clem left Red alone in the cabin, he hastened beyond the clearing into the heavy undergrowth. But less than a minute's walk brought him to another clearing for the masked man wedded beside Silver. Is that you, stranger? I've been waiting for you, Clem. Is everything all set? I've got back today. He knows just what to do. Good. Mister, I think tonight's the night. Yes? If Red ain't getting ready to light out this very minute, then I'm the poorest judge of human nature there ever was. We'll be able to hear him from here. Yeah. I don't think he'll waste much time packing if he's leaving. He won't like staying in that cabin alone. I like it. He should have seen the look in his eyes when I said I was stepping out for his spell. He didn't like to show himself up for a coward by asking him to stay. But that's what he wanted to do, all right. Will he have to saddle his horse? Nope. He must have had his mind made up to clear out since morning. I noticed he left his horse all saddled. Wait. Huh? There was a square light just showed. The door must have been opened. Perhaps he's leaving now. Now listen for him. I don't hear anything. It'd take a little time to get his war bag loaded. Yes. Get up. Get up there. There he goes. And so scared I'll bet he's riding with his eyes closed. Here, Silver. Get back to the cabin, Clem. I'll get red. Don't let him grill you like you did Cliff Stranger. I'll handle him. Come on, Silver. After him, boy. We'll see him in a moment. There he is. Come on, old fellow. Come on. Come on, Silver. Come on, boy. Get along there. Get along. Hold up. Pull up there. What the? Rain up your horse. Come on, Silver. Get back. Stay away from me. Get back. Don't slap, brother. What do you want to be? I ordered you to stop. You hold him, Silver. Pull back, boy. Pull, Silver. Let me go. Who are you? The mask man. You're going back to that cabin. At the cabin, the Lone Ranger dismounted, forced Red from the saddle and thrust the cringing figure before him into the cabin's single, lamplit room. Clem was waiting inside. Let me loose. Let me go. Hey, what's this? Who's your mask friend, Red? Make him let me go. Sit down. Not that chair. This one, facing the window. Oh, please. There. Next time, you'll do as you're told without my repeating it. Red, how come you got a crook for a pause? He ain't no friend of mine. Clem draw on him. Do something. Yeah? Well, if he ain't a friend of yours, what's he doing here? How'd you happen to meet up with him? He caught him. When I was clearing out, I... When you was clearing out? Well, I meant that... You was going to leave me here all alone after what I said? I guess I got it right to do as I please. I reckon I don't have to stay where I don't want to. Oh, if that's the way you feel. Get out of this mess you're in the best way you know how. But I still... Do we need that lamp lit, Clem? No, don't blow it out. Don't leave me here in the dark. Dark? That face. Seen it everywhere. Leave that lamp alone. Leave it lit, do you hear me? Leave it lit. Very well. That face. Red, you're having something on your conscience, have you? Huh? My conscience? I... What do you mean? Why'd you say that? Look here. Why'd you say that, stranger? You mentioned a face. As though you'd been seeing something of the sort. Sometimes a guilty conscience will do that. My golly. Yes? I never thought of that before. Why, stranger, Red's been acting this way for the better part of a week now. You think that maybe... It ain't so. I've done nothing. I'm not going to... If you have, Red, you can't expect your conscience to quit troubling you unless you've confessed. What are you hitting at? What could I have done? I've never done nothing. You can't say that I've done it. There's a pretty moon outside, stranger. You can see it through the window. I noticed it. The window. I won't look. The window. No! Hey! Who shot out the lamp? I've seen it again. That same face. The sky. Just like cliffs. Make it leave me alone. Make it go away. I can't eat. I can't sleep. It's grabbing me crazy. Crazy to your health. Something like that lamp again before this fool goes out of his head for shore. Have you another guy? There's one on this shelf. I'll get it myself. That scar and the dead white face all the staring at me. All the staring at me. There we are. I don't know what to do with Red's stranger. I'd better see that he gets to town some way after all. The wall? Something's written there. It got in here. It was in there when the lamp went out. It wrote that. I know it did. Well, I'll be. Something wrote on this wall with charcoal. And Red, it says you killed Cliff. I did it. Sure I did it. I gotta confess. I can't let that face be staring at me day and night all the time. Sure I did it. Just make it stop haunting me this way. And that story about the Indians killing Cliff wasn't true? No, no. I made it up all of it. I killed him. He was all telling me I was no good. He drove me loco with the way he picked on me. I fixed him. I did it myself. Come on in now. Here's your prisoner, Sheriff. I think you heard his confession. You bet I did, mister. Red, hold out your hands. I'm putting the cuffs on you. Just so I never see that face again. There. I reckon that'll hold you. Friend, you did a good job. I did just what you told me, friend. What? That's him. That's the same face. You said I wouldn't see it again. You said if I confessed I wouldn't. Mr. Bradley, you'd better wipe off that scar you got painted on your face before Red here really does go crazy. Yeah. Scar. Painted. Red, there was absolutely no evidence against you that would have served to bring you to justice. There was only one person who could punish you and that was your self. But I see, Red, when the masked fella got a look at that tin type of cliff I had, he noticed Cliff looked a lot like Reed Bradley here. So he went after Reed, disguised him with a scar and all, just like Cliff had, and brought him back here. But it was only me that seen the face. You always said you never seen nothing, Clem. Because that was part of the masked man's scheme. That made you sure you was being haunted. Tricked. Then Tonto went after the sheriff, told him what we was doing and had him here in time to be on hand when you broke down. And I thought there was no way I could be caught. I had it figured that I could get away. Red, you forgot something. You forgot that no matter how cleverly a crime is committed, there's always one man that knows who did it. Huh? Who's that? The criminal. If you hadn't known you was guilty, you'd never been caught. It's just too bad you're going to be hung. Because that's a lesson that might have done you some good. Come on, silver, old boy! There's adventure on the trail ahead! I'll steal! The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated. ...
