Latest / The Lone Ranger | Old Time Radio / The Lone Ranger - "Abbys Murder Plan" (Old Time Radio, 1939)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: August 11th, 1939 brings us episode 1021 of The Lone Ranger.
- 0:07Speaker 1: From the long-running radio Western, this installment is titled Abby's
- 0:12Speaker 1: Murder Plan. Settle in for another visit with one of
- 0:15Speaker 1: radio's enduring frontier series. We now take you back to
- 0:20Speaker 1: the original broadcast.
- 0:31Speaker 2: Hi-ho, Silver!
- 0:41Speaker 3: A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud
- 0:43Speaker 3: of dust, and a hearty Hi-ho, Silver!
- 0:45Speaker 2: The Lone Ranger. Hi-ho, Silver! THE END.
- 1:06Speaker 4: THE END THE END THE END.
- 2:22Speaker 3: With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the Masked Rider of
- 2:26Speaker 3: the Plains fought crime and criminals throughout the western United States.
- 2:30Speaker 3: But justice meant more to him than the letter of
- 2:32Speaker 3: the law. And if a man or woman deserved a
- 2:34Speaker 3: second chance, the famous Masked Rider was always ready to
- 2:38Speaker 3: help them. Return with us now to the thrilling days
- 2:40Speaker 3: when the West was young. From out of the past
- 2:42Speaker 3: come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. The
- 2:45Speaker 3: Lone Ranger rides again.
- 2:47Speaker 5: Come on, Silver!
- 2:49Speaker 4: We're heading for Crow Ridge!
- 2:51Speaker 2: Travel's waiting on the trail ahead!
- 2:53Speaker 5: Hi-yo, Silver!
- 2:55Speaker 2: Hooray!
- 3:13Speaker 3: Night had fallen. Two men were camped in a small
- 3:16Speaker 3: wood some miles to the east of Crow Ridge. One
- 3:21Speaker 3: was masked, the other an Indian. They rested upon their
- 3:24Speaker 3: blankets in silence while their mounts grazed nearby. Finally, the
- 3:28Speaker 3: masked man lifted his head. The Indian looked at his
- 3:32Speaker 3: companion inquiringly.
- 3:34Speaker 2: What manner? Listen, Tulloch. Don't you hear it? Oh, now
- 3:38Speaker 2: me hear him. Someone off to the south there. I
- 3:41Speaker 2: don't like it. They chose this spot for a camp
- 3:44Speaker 2: because it was out of the line of travel. What
- 3:46Speaker 2: would anyone be doing here at this time of night?
- 3:48Speaker 2: We don't know. Oh, wait. That sounds like trouble. One
- 3:52Speaker 2: can't keep scared. I think they've stopped. I don't hear horses.
- 3:56Speaker 4: Come on.
- 3:57Speaker 2: What can we do? We'll see what this is about.
- 3:59Speaker 2: Get horses?
- 3:59Speaker 4: Leave the horses.
- 4:00Speaker 2: They aren't far off.
- 4:01Speaker 4: There are trees and brush that muffles the sound.
- 4:03Speaker 2: That's right.
- 4:04Speaker 4: This way. Walk quietly. We won't announce ourselves until we
- 4:08Speaker 4: know what's up.
- 4:09Speaker 2: To the left.
- 4:10Speaker 4: That's that brush. No, you can't do that.
- 4:14Speaker 2: I'm not far now. Plenty of moonlight.
- 4:17Speaker 4: We should be able to see them clearly. Just one more.
- 4:21Speaker 5: There, fella.
- 4:23Speaker 2: See him?
- 4:25Speaker 4: Yes, a little closer. You've got to listen. You're making
- 4:27Speaker 4: a bad mistake. I ain't the fella you want. I
- 4:29Speaker 4: can't be. Why, I've never seen you before.
- 4:31Speaker 3: This is the first time I was ever in this
- 4:33Speaker 3: part of the country.
- 4:34Speaker 4: What could you have against somebody you don't even know?
- 4:36Speaker 5: But look, you took my shooting iron.
- 4:40Speaker 4: You got me covered. I wouldn't have a chance to
- 4:43Speaker 4: get away, even if I did make a break for it.
- 4:45Speaker 4: So the least you can do before you finish me
- 4:47Speaker 4: off is to tell me what for.
- 4:49Speaker 5: Likely you wouldn't believe me if I told you.
- 4:52Speaker 4: What?
- 4:53Speaker 5: You know why you gotta die, mister?
- 4:55Speaker 4: That's what I'm asking you.
- 4:56Speaker 5: Because you got a red beard.
- 4:59Speaker 4: What?
- 5:00Speaker 5: I told you you wouldn't believe it.
- 5:02Speaker 4: What in blazes has my beard got to do with it?
- 5:04Speaker 5: The fella that hired me described you. Said you had
- 5:07Speaker 5: a red beard, so I couldn't mistake you.
- 5:10Speaker 4: Well, that's you.
- 5:11Speaker 5: So having a red beard is what's.
- 5:13Speaker 2: Getting you killed.
- 5:14Speaker 4: Then somebody hired you.
- 5:15Speaker 2: Sure.
- 5:17Speaker 5: Don't think I'd do this for nothing, do you?
- 5:19Speaker 4: Who is it?
- 5:19Speaker 5: Forget it.
- 5:20Speaker 6: You're wasting too much time on your fool questions already.
- 5:23Speaker 4: Just tell me.
- 5:24Speaker 5: Where you're going, answers won't be no help no how.
- 5:28Speaker 2: All right.
- 5:29Speaker 6: Then we.
- 5:30Speaker 4: Hold it.
- 5:30Speaker 5: Hey, what the.
- 5:31Speaker 4: Matt, you... Take it.
- 5:34Speaker 2: You take his gun.
- 5:35Speaker 4: You just bet I will, stranger. But who are you?
- 5:38Speaker 4: Where'd you and the engine come from?
- 5:39Speaker 2: Save it. Santa, get this fellow back to camp. We'll
- 5:42Speaker 2: ask him some questions of our own. Let me take him. Quiet.
- 5:45Speaker 2: Come along, stranger. We'll find out just why you were
- 5:48Speaker 2: marked for murder.
- 5:59Speaker 3: With the prisoner marching suddenly in front of them, they
- 6:10Speaker 3: returned to camp. Then the Lone Ranger grasped the gunman
- 6:13Speaker 3: by the shoulders and turned him so that his back
- 6:15Speaker 3: was against a large tree.
- 6:16Speaker 2: Stand right there.
- 6:17Speaker 5: You're chomping me.
- 6:18Speaker 2: You're lucky you don't get worse. Tie him up, Tudor.
- 6:21Speaker 2: Let me get rope. You can't hold me. You ain't
- 6:25Speaker 2: got no right to tie me up. No? You better
- 6:27Speaker 2: not if you're savvy what's good for you. A couple
- 6:30Speaker 2: minutes back, you stated you were going to kill this man.
- 6:32Speaker 2: I don't have... He asked you a number of questions,
- 6:34Speaker 2: but you refused to answer. And I ain't talking for
- 6:37Speaker 2: you neither. We'll see about that. Got the rope, Kimo Sabe?
- 6:41Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
- 6:41Speaker 2: Here. Rope. Make sure he can't escape. He won't get
- 6:44Speaker 2: away with it. Just as sure as I'm standing here,
- 6:46Speaker 2: you fellas are going to be sorry for this. I'll
- 6:48Speaker 2: get to you in a moment. You stranger, what's your name? Me? Me?
- 6:53Speaker 4: My handle's Matt Rourke.
- 6:55Speaker 2: You said this was your first visit to this section.
- 6:57Speaker 2: That's so.
- 6:59Speaker 7: I've been ranging around the West Forks country over Wyoming way.
- 7:03Speaker 7: Just come here thinking maybe I'd sell out back home
- 7:05Speaker 7: and settle in this part of the country.
- 7:07Speaker 2: I see. You've got no idea why anyone would want
- 7:10Speaker 2: to do away with you?
- 7:12Speaker 4: I'm a clean beat.
- 7:14Speaker 2: How can a fellow make enemies in a place he's
- 7:16Speaker 2: never been? Someone had a motive. This fellow's admitted he'd
- 7:19Speaker 2: been hired.
- 7:20Speaker 7: I ain't denying it. All I can say is that I...
- 7:23Speaker 7: I don't know what the motive could be.
- 7:25Speaker 2: There's one possibility.
- 7:27Speaker 4: Huh? What's that?
- 7:28Speaker 2: You know anyone here? What I mean is this. Someone
- 7:32Speaker 2: you knew. Someone who had been an enemy of yours
- 7:34Speaker 2: in Wyoming might now be living near Crow Ridge. He
- 7:37Speaker 2: might have seen you and hired this fellow to get
- 7:39Speaker 2: rid of you.
- 7:40Speaker 4: Shucks. I don't know anyone here. I.
- 7:45Speaker 7: I'll take that back. There is somebody I know. But
- 7:48Speaker 7: if you can figure why she'd want me killed, then
- 7:51Speaker 7: you're a heap smarter than I am.
- 7:52Speaker 2: Who is it?
- 7:53Speaker 7: Why, shucks, a girl I used to know when she
- 7:55Speaker 7: was living with her folks near my pa's old place.
- 7:59Speaker 4: We was just about of an age.
- 8:01Speaker 7: She disappeared when her pa and ma died, and I
- 8:04Speaker 7: never did know what had become.
- 8:05Speaker 4: Of her till today.
- 8:06Speaker 2: You still haven't told me her name.
- 8:08Speaker 4: Abby Sanders.
- 8:10Speaker 7: Run into her in a store in town. Seemed a
- 8:12Speaker 7: fluster or something. Shucks, who wouldn't be flustered to see
- 8:15Speaker 7: somebody they'd known 30 years before? You'd have an awful
- 8:20Speaker 7: time making poor Abby into a killer.
- 8:22Speaker 2: Abby Sanders. Talk with her, Lon. Just for a second
- 8:26Speaker 2: or two. Did she tell you what had happened to
- 8:28Speaker 2: her recently?
- 8:29Speaker 4: Happened to her?
- 8:30Speaker 2: It was discovered she was the heir to a fortune
- 8:32Speaker 2: amounting to about $ 100, 000. The estate was left by an
- 8:36Speaker 2: old lady named Sarah Randolph. Her lawyer searched for more
- 8:39Speaker 2: than a year to find a relative who could claim
- 8:41Speaker 2: the estate. And just by accident, it was found that
- 8:44Speaker 2: Abby was a distant relation. She'll soon be a wealthy woman.
- 8:47Speaker 4: Well, doggone good for Abby. Yes. Say, it was just
- 8:52Speaker 4: an accident she come into it?
- 8:53Speaker 2: According to the story that's being told, it seems that
- 8:56Speaker 2: she's been housekeeper to Judge Grevy and his wife for
- 8:58Speaker 2: the last 12 years. Several days ago, the judge knocked
- 9:02Speaker 2: Abby's sewing basket to the floor. Replacing the contents, he
- 9:05Speaker 2: discovered a picture and some old letters that established the relationship.
- 9:08Speaker 2: Abby hadn't known of it herself.
- 9:10Speaker 4: Just like out of a storybook.
- 9:11Speaker 2: She hasn't had an easy time of it, from what
- 9:13Speaker 2: I've heard. This will make things much easier for her.
- 9:16Speaker 7: Say, that's the best news I've heard for a month
- 9:18Speaker 7: of Sundays. My gosh, I'm going to look her up
- 9:20Speaker 7: again and tell her just how glad I am to
- 9:22Speaker 7: hear it.
- 9:23Speaker 2: It doesn't look as though she'd have a motive for
- 9:24Speaker 2: wanting you out of the way. Well, we'll see what
- 9:27Speaker 2: this fellow has to say. You, what's your name? Try
- 9:30Speaker 2: and find out. That's the way you're going to act, huh? Well,
- 9:34Speaker 2: we can... You look here. What is it, Hunter? It's cash.
- 9:37Speaker 2: Let's see that. Where'd you get it? It belonged to him.
- 9:41Speaker 2: Quite a lot of money here. Several hundred dollars. So
- 9:45Speaker 2: this is yours, huh? Doggone right it is. You take
- 9:49Speaker 2: that and you're stealing it. I don't want it. I wonder, though.
- 9:52Speaker 8: Well?
- 9:53Speaker 2: I wonder this isn't what you were paid by whoever
- 9:55Speaker 2: hired you. What if it is? You've been paid, so
- 9:58Speaker 2: you have nothing to lose by telling us who gave
- 9:59Speaker 2: it to you. gave you this. You'd better talk. Go
- 10:02Speaker 2: to places. I'm giving you good advice. Matt here owes
- 10:05Speaker 2: you something for your attempted murder. He doesn't care to
- 10:08Speaker 2: give you what you've got coming. Tonto might enjoy working
- 10:12Speaker 2: on you.
- 10:13Speaker 4: What do you mean?
- 10:14Speaker 2: Show him your knife, Tonto. Here. Your knife. Maybe you've
- 10:19Speaker 2: heard that Indians have their own ways of making prisoners talk.
- 10:23Speaker 2: You can do as you wish. I'd better tell you, however,
- 10:26Speaker 2: that if you won't talk, then Matt and I will
- 10:28Speaker 2: take a little walk while Tonto... Hey, you can't do that.
- 10:32Speaker 2: Why not? What mercy would you have had on Matt?
- 10:35Speaker 2: I was just joking, just throwing a scare into him.
- 10:38Speaker 2: I'd never have gone.
- 10:39Speaker 4: Through with it.
- 10:40Speaker 2: You say that now. Honest, if I told who hired me,
- 10:43Speaker 2: he'd get me, no matter what. You could clear out
- 10:45Speaker 2: of the district.
- 10:45Speaker 9: No, no.
- 10:46Speaker 2: Well, you've chosen. Come along, Matt.
- 10:48Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 10:49Speaker 2: Tonto, you can do as you wish. Just see that
- 10:51Speaker 2: he talks. I won't ask you how you persuaded him
- 10:54Speaker 2: to talk. Him.
- 10:58Speaker 4: Him talk. Now, wait. Don't leave me here alone with
- 11:01Speaker 4: no murder and redskin.
- 11:02Speaker 2: Well?
- 11:03Speaker 5: I'll tell you what you want to know.
- 11:04Speaker 2: Very well. Who hired you?
- 11:06Speaker 4: Smiley. Luke Smiley.
- 11:08Speaker 2: The lawyer?
- 11:09Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 11:09Speaker 2: You know him, Matt?
- 11:10Speaker 4: Never heard of him before.
- 11:11Speaker 2: There's something strange about this. Here, Silver.
- 11:14Speaker 4: Well, I should think there was something strange. I'd call
- 11:17Speaker 4: it that when a fellow I don't even know wants
- 11:19Speaker 4: to get rid of me.
- 11:19Speaker 2: That isn't what I meant. Saddle silver for me. I'm
- 11:22Speaker 2: riding to town. Wait.
- 11:24Speaker 4: What do you mean that wasn't what you meant?
- 11:26Speaker 2: Luke Smiley's a lawyer.
- 11:27Speaker 9: Yeah?
- 11:28Speaker 2: And it happens that he's a lawyer representing Abby Sanders
- 11:30Speaker 2: in her claim to the Randolph estate. Matt, Abby may
- 11:34Speaker 2: be a friend of yours. She may be the most
- 11:36Speaker 2: kind-hearted woman in this district. Nevertheless, there's some connection between
- 11:40Speaker 2: her and the attempt to take your life.
- 12:01Speaker 3: It was later that same night that Judge Gravy and
- 12:03Speaker 3: his wife Ida, after spending the evening with Luke Smiley,
- 12:07Speaker 3: rose to depart.
- 12:08Speaker 4: Abby Sanders, who had accompanied them, hung back.
- 12:12Speaker 10: You ain't coming with us, Abby? Well, I got some
- 12:14Speaker 10: business to talk over with Mr. Smiley, ma'am. Well, don't
- 12:17Speaker 10: be too long.
- 12:18Speaker 4: Good night, Luke.
- 12:20Speaker 6: Night, Judge.
- 12:20Speaker 4: We'll leave the door unlocked for you, Abby.
- 12:22Speaker 10: Thank you.
- 12:24Speaker 6: Now then, what's the matter with you?
- 12:28Speaker 9: Mr.
- 12:28Speaker 10: Smiley, I've seen an old friend of mine this afternoon.
- 12:31Speaker 6: I know it. You told me.
- 12:33Speaker 9: He said he looked me up this evening and wanted
- 12:35Speaker 9: to talk over old times.
- 12:37Speaker 2: Very nice.
- 12:37Speaker 10: But he never come. He never showed up.
- 12:40Speaker 4: No.
- 12:41Speaker 10: Don't talk to me like that, Mr. Smiley. You always
- 12:44Speaker 10: act as though you was laughing at me.
- 12:46Speaker 6: I am.
- 12:47Speaker 10: But I.
- 12:48Speaker 6: Now you listen to me, Abby. This man, what's his name?
- 12:52Speaker 4: Matt. Matt Rourke.
- 12:53Speaker 11: Well, you say he promised to pay a call this evening,
- 12:55Speaker 11: but didn't. Now you're excited about it.
- 12:58Speaker 10: I know he meant to come.
- 13:00Speaker 11: Maybe he did at the time. But how do you
- 13:04Speaker 11: know what happened? Perhaps he forgot. Maybe he had business
- 13:10Speaker 11: to attend to. Maybe he left town and won't be
- 13:15Speaker 11: back again.
- 13:16Speaker 6: For your sake, I hope that's just what he did.
- 13:20Speaker 10: For my sake.
- 13:20Speaker 6: He could spoil.
- 13:21Speaker 2: Everything for you, couldn't he? Yes.
- 13:23Speaker 10: Yes, I suppose so.
- 13:24Speaker 6: And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?
- 13:28Speaker 10: Well, I don't know anymore. I just don't know.
- 13:31Speaker 2: Mr.
- 13:31Speaker 9: Smiley, will you swear to me you didn't do nothing
- 13:35Speaker 9: to Matt? Will you tell me it's the honest truth
- 13:37Speaker 9: you never had him harmed somehow?
- 13:39Speaker 6: You won't ever put a thought like that in your head.
- 13:42Speaker 4: Well, I.
- 13:43Speaker 9: It's the only thing I seem able to think of
- 13:45Speaker 9: when he never come like you said he would.
- 13:47Speaker 11: You're being silly. Forget to worry about others. You've got
- 13:50Speaker 11: enough worries of your own. Don't you realize that if
- 13:54Speaker 11: anything goes wrong, you and I are out.
- 13:57Speaker 2: $ 100, 000?
- 13:58Speaker 6: That's money that isn't found every day in the week.
- 14:01Speaker 10: I wish that.
- 14:02Speaker 6: Wish what?
- 14:04Speaker 10: You'll just get mad if I tell you.
- 14:06Speaker 4: Out with it.
- 14:07Speaker 10: All right, I will tell you.
- 14:08Speaker 6: I wish you would.
- 14:09Speaker 10: I don't want to go through with it, Mr. Smiley.
- 14:11Speaker 6: What?
- 14:12Speaker 9: I thought having all that cash would be so fine
- 14:14Speaker 9: and it'd make up for not coming by it on us.
- 14:17Speaker 9: But I've had to lie to folks that have been
- 14:19Speaker 9: good to me. I've got so I can't look nobody in.
- 14:22Speaker 2: The eye anymore.
- 14:22Speaker 4: Who are you?
- 14:23Speaker 9: Please, Mr.
- 14:24Speaker 2: Smiley, please.
- 14:25Speaker 10: I just can't go on with it. I just can't.
- 14:27Speaker 6: No?
- 14:28Speaker 10: Can't you see how I feel? So.
- 14:31Speaker 11: To save your squeamish feelings, you expect me to give
- 14:34Speaker 11: up $ 100, 000. Well, I... Will you listen to me? I'm
- 14:38Speaker 11: getting that money. You can't stop me. Nobody can stop me.
- 14:42Speaker 11: And if you or anybody else gets in my way,
- 14:45Speaker 11: he'll wish he hadn't.
- 14:47Speaker 2: I'll kill my horse!
- 15:02Speaker 3: The curtain falls on the first act of our thrilling
- 15:04Speaker 3: Lone Ranger drama. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit
- 15:08Speaker 3: us to pause for just a few moments.
- 15:20Speaker 2: THE END THE END Now to continue our story.
- 16:18Speaker 3: The Lone Ranger, sent to Luke Smiley's home by the
- 16:20Speaker 3: gunman's confession, raced back to camp with the information he
- 16:23Speaker 3: had gained.
- 16:24Speaker 2: Whoa, whoa, Silver.
- 16:25Speaker 5: What did you do, stranger?
- 16:28Speaker 4: Where have you been?
- 16:29Speaker 2: I acted on what this fellow told us, and I
- 16:32Speaker 2: believe I partially learned why Smiley wanted your death. By
- 16:35Speaker 2: the way, have you found out what this killer calls
- 16:37Speaker 2: himself yet? Uh-huh. Him named Pecos. Pecos, huh? Look here, mister.
- 16:43Speaker 2: I've told you what I could. You gonna let me go?
- 16:46Speaker 2: Not yet. Maybe I was gonna kill this fella. But
- 16:49Speaker 2: I didn't, did I? You can't make me pay for
- 16:51Speaker 2: something I didn't do. Perhaps we could. Perhaps not. That
- 16:55Speaker 2: isn't the point. But I don't... I think you're going
- 16:57Speaker 2: to be useful to us. If you are and Matt
- 16:59Speaker 2: agrees to it, you'll have a chance at freedom. If
- 17:02Speaker 2: you won't follow orders, you'll be turned over to the law.
- 17:05Speaker 2: Maybe you could beat a trial. You know best about that.
- 17:08Speaker 2: I've got an idea, though, that you have a reputation
- 17:11Speaker 2: that wouldn't help you in a court of law. What
- 17:13Speaker 2: do I have to do? I'll tell you that later.
- 17:16Speaker 4: Just a second.
- 17:17Speaker 2: Yes?
- 17:18Speaker 7: You said you found a reason why this here lawyer
- 17:20Speaker 7: wanted me out of the way. I'll believe what you
- 17:23Speaker 7: tell me, stranger. I'd sure hate to think that Abby
- 17:26Speaker 7: was mixed up in it.
- 17:28Speaker 2: She is, however.
- 17:29Speaker 4: Yeah?
- 17:30Speaker 2: But not in the way you fear, Matt.
- 17:31Speaker 10: Yes.
- 17:32Speaker 4: You mean she didn't have nothing to do with hiring
- 17:34Speaker 4: this pool cat here?
- 17:35Speaker 2: She didn't.
- 17:36Speaker 4: What was it you found out?
- 17:38Speaker 2: That there's a fraud of some kind, and that somehow
- 17:40Speaker 2: Abby has no right to the fortune she's claiming.
- 17:43Speaker 4: You don't say.
- 17:44Speaker 2: I believe from what I heard that Abby regrets her
- 17:46Speaker 2: partner affair, and that she's obeying Luke Smiley from fear.
- 17:49Speaker 4: You rotten skunk. Oh, I'd like to get my hands
- 17:52Speaker 4: on that hombre in the face.
- 17:53Speaker 2: Later, maybe. Not now.
- 17:54Speaker 4: Huh?
- 17:55Speaker 2: For the present, you'll play dead. Dead? As long as
- 17:59Speaker 2: Smiley thinks you dead, I believe we can break up
- 18:01Speaker 2: his game. Alive, well, we probably could anyhow. But not
- 18:06Speaker 2: without involving Abby. She's not guiltless, Matt. Nevertheless, a woman
- 18:10Speaker 2: who has lived a life as hard as hers has
- 18:12Speaker 2: some excuse for being tempted. And if possible, we're going
- 18:16Speaker 2: to bring Smiley to justice while keeping Abby in the clear.
- 18:19Speaker 4: Stranger, I like your style. That's just what I'd have
- 18:22Speaker 4: wanted done.
- 18:23Speaker 2: Tonto, you'll have to make a disguise for me.
- 18:25Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
- 18:26Speaker 2: And what you do? Matt will stay here. Pecos and
- 18:28Speaker 2: I will go to town. You came with us, Abby.
- 18:31Speaker 2: You'll have your part to play also. Me do it. Good. You, Pecos,
- 18:35Speaker 2: you're going to take my orders? They're going to get
- 18:37Speaker 2: me in bad. Not if you do exactly as I say. Well,
- 18:40Speaker 2: what about afterwards? What happens to me then? Matt has
- 18:43Speaker 2: something to say about that. Matt, if Pecos helps us
- 18:47Speaker 2: bring Smiley to justice, will you agree to let Pecos go?
- 18:50Speaker 7: He's a skunk and a hired killer. But the man
- 18:54Speaker 7: that's hired ain't as bad as the man that hires him.
- 18:57Speaker 7: He helps me get Smiley in for all of me
- 18:59Speaker 7: he can clear out.
- 19:00Speaker 2: Agreed, Pecos? Just tell me what to do.
- 19:09Speaker 3: The following morning, Luke Smiley saw a horseman draw his
- 19:20Speaker 3: mount to a stop.
- 19:20Speaker 4: In front of his office. The lawyer pushed back his chair,
- 19:23Speaker 4: rose to his feet, and... That blasted fool! Smiley! You
- 19:27Speaker 4: confounded idiot! Listen. What are you doing here? I told
- 19:30Speaker 4: you to clear out.
- 19:31Speaker 11: You said if I paid you in advance, you'd get
- 19:33Speaker 11: out of this part of the country and stay out.
- 19:35Speaker 4: But I tell you... You did as I told you? Yeah,
- 19:37Speaker 4: but listen... Then in heaven's name... Blasted Mr.
- 19:39Speaker 2: Smiley, give me a chance to talk.
- 19:41Speaker 4: I done what you told me.
- 19:42Speaker 2: I got that red-bearded fella. But things went wrong.
- 19:45Speaker 4: He got away from you?
- 19:46Speaker 2: No.
- 19:47Speaker 4: You drilled him?
- 19:47Speaker 11: Yeah, I drilled him, but the... That's all you had
- 19:49Speaker 11: to do? That's all they give you orders to do.
- 19:51Speaker 11: Now get out of here before I.
- 19:53Speaker 4: Mr.
- 19:53Speaker 2: Smiley, I was seen.
- 19:55Speaker 10: What?
- 19:55Speaker 2: Two fellas seen me do the job.
- 19:57Speaker 4: Why, you blunder and half-wit.
- 19:59Speaker 2: I couldn't help it. I took him to the woods
- 20:01Speaker 2: like you said to. How was I to know them
- 20:03Speaker 2: fellas was camped there? I couldn't guess it, could I?
- 20:05Speaker 4: Couldn't you have made sure first?
- 20:07Speaker 2: Look close with them woods in the dark and give
- 20:09Speaker 2: that hombre a chance to break away.
- 20:10Speaker 4: Who saw you? Where are they now? They were strangers.
- 20:14Speaker 2: I don't know where they are.
- 20:14Speaker 4: Then how do you know you were seen? Well, they
- 20:17Speaker 4: chased me.
- 20:18Speaker 2: That's why I just not got here. Took me most
- 20:20Speaker 2: of the night just to give.
- 20:21Speaker 6: Him the slip.
- 20:21Speaker 4: And if you didn't, then you brought those men right
- 20:24Speaker 4: to me.
- 20:25Speaker 2: Right.
- 20:25Speaker 4: What?
- 20:26Speaker 5: Right where you are.
- 20:27Speaker 4: Don't kill me, mister.
- 20:28Speaker 2: It was this fellow hired me. I was just obeying orders.
- 20:31Speaker 4: Don't shoot. Don't shoot. You dirty double-crosser. Hold it.
- 20:34Speaker 2: Reach for that gun and I'll let you have it.
- 20:36Speaker 4: You've got nothing on me.
- 20:37Speaker 2: Plenty on this fellow here. All right, you. We're going
- 20:40Speaker 2: to the sheriff's office. No, no, wait. I ain't going
- 20:43Speaker 2: to take the whole blame. He hired me.
- 20:46Speaker 4: Honesty to you.
- 20:46Speaker 2: Here, look. Look at this cash. He'd give it to
- 20:50Speaker 2: me for the killing. Anybody in town will tell you
- 20:52Speaker 2: I never had this much cash on me before last night.
- 20:55Speaker 2: Don't that prove I ain't lying, don't it?
- 20:57Speaker 4: Stand back. I heard you, Luke Smiley. I heard all
- 21:00Speaker 4: you said.
- 21:01Speaker 10: You had Matt killed.
- 21:02Speaker 9: I knew last night something had happened to him.
- 21:04Speaker 10: I could just feel it.
- 21:05Speaker 2: Close the door, Tata.
- 21:06Speaker 4: Wait, listen.
- 21:07Speaker 10: I done all the waiting and listening.
- 21:08Speaker 4: I'm gonna.
- 21:09Speaker 10: I've had all I'm gonna have to do with your
- 21:10Speaker 10: crooked work. I should never have listened to you in
- 21:13Speaker 10: the first place. I was wrong and I know I was.
- 21:17Speaker 9: Don't think I could have gone through with it anyhow,
- 21:19Speaker 9: but now that the Indian brought me here so I
- 21:21Speaker 9: can learn how.
- 21:21Speaker 4: You killed Matt, I'm through.
- 21:23Speaker 2: Do you hear me?
- 21:24Speaker 4: I'm through.
- 21:25Speaker 10: And I'll tell the law everything I know.
- 21:28Speaker 2: I don't think that's going to be necessary, Emmy. I
- 21:30Speaker 2: think after I've had a little talk with Smiley here,
- 21:33Speaker 2: he's going to protect you and like it.
- 21:50Speaker 3: Sending Abby, Tonto, and Pecos away, the Lone Ranger served
- 21:53Speaker 3: Luke Smiley with an ultimatum.
- 21:55Speaker 2: You're in a bad spot, Luke. Right now, you face
- 21:58Speaker 2: not only a charge of fraud, but a charge of
- 22:01Speaker 2: murder as well.
- 22:02Speaker 4: You can't prove either one.
- 22:04Speaker 2: Don't try to bluff it out, Smiley. It doesn't pay
- 22:06Speaker 2: to bluff when you know your bluff will be cold.
- 22:07Speaker 4: I tell you that.
- 22:08Speaker 2: As far as the fraud is concerned, all Abby has
- 22:11Speaker 2: to do is to go to the law with her story.
- 22:13Speaker 2: There'll be an investigation and the truth will come out
- 22:15Speaker 2: soon enough.
- 22:16Speaker 11: If she does that, she'll be in just as bad
- 22:18Speaker 11: as I am. She won't dare. I don't care what
- 22:21Speaker 11: she threatens.
- 22:22Speaker 4: She won't.
- 22:23Speaker 2: She will. And for a very good reason.
- 22:26Speaker 4: What reason?
- 22:28Speaker 2: Because you and I are going to make a bargain. Bargain?
- 22:31Speaker 4: What kind of a bargain?
- 22:33Speaker 2: Your life against Abby's freedom.
- 22:35Speaker 4: I don't get it.
- 22:37Speaker 2: We both know that Pecos will tell what happened last
- 22:39Speaker 2: night if he's arrested. It'll be easy enough for the
- 22:42Speaker 2: sheriff to find the place where Pecos says he shot Matt.
- 22:45Speaker 2: That's all the evidence the law will require. You and
- 22:48Speaker 2: Pecos will hang.
- 22:50Speaker 11: If you're going to turn me over to the law
- 22:51Speaker 11: for that killing, do it now and get it over with.
- 22:54Speaker 2: Whether I turn you in or not depends entirely on you.
- 22:57Speaker 4: On me?
- 22:58Speaker 2: Go to the law. Judge Grevy, if you wish. Tell
- 23:01Speaker 2: the law that your scheme to get the Randolph estate
- 23:03Speaker 2: was yours entirely. That you threatened Abby's life if she
- 23:06Speaker 2: didn't agree to play her part. And perhaps nothing will
- 23:09Speaker 2: be said about the murder.
- 23:11Speaker 6: I'm to make it look as though Abby was forced
- 23:14Speaker 6: into the scheme?
- 23:15Speaker 2: Right.
- 23:15Speaker 11: And if I do, you won't tell about my hiring
- 23:19Speaker 11: Pecos to kill Matt Rock?
- 23:21Speaker 2: I won't.
- 23:21Speaker 11: But what if the law finds Matt's body? What if
- 23:26Speaker 11: they suspicion Pecos and make him talk and he implicates me?
- 23:29Speaker 2: I give you my word that won't happen.
- 23:33Speaker 6: How do I know what your word is worth?
- 23:36Speaker 2: You don't. But I can tell you this.
- 23:39Speaker 4: Huh?
- 23:40Speaker 2: If you refuse, you know you'll be held for murder.
- 23:44Speaker 2: Whether you accept my proposition or not, your only chance
- 23:46Speaker 2: is to do what I say. A sentence for fraud
- 23:49Speaker 2: will get you a prison term. The other will see
- 23:52Speaker 2: you hung.
- 23:53Speaker 6: If, uh, if I could believe you.
- 23:57Speaker 2: You can. I, uh, I, uh... Well?
- 24:02Speaker 4: You've got me.
- 24:03Speaker 6: I've got to take your terms.
- 24:05Speaker 8: And I'll keep my word as long as you keep yours.
- 24:22Speaker 2: An hour later, Mrs.
- 24:23Speaker 3: Greedy, returning home from a visit with friends, found her
- 24:27Speaker 3: puzzled husband trying to comfort Abby.
- 24:31Speaker 10: Heavenly days! What's this about? Maybe whatever's happened. Please, please
- 24:37Speaker 10: don't make me tell you.
- 24:38Speaker 6: Ezra, what is it?
- 24:39Speaker 4: Please don't ask me. I can't get a word out
- 24:42Speaker 4: of her.
- 24:42Speaker 2: Here now, Abby.
- 24:44Speaker 12: Why don't you tell us what's troubling you?
- 24:46Speaker 4: Maybe we could help.
- 24:47Speaker 2: No, no. Get in there.
- 24:49Speaker 4: What the?
- 24:50Speaker 2: All right, Smiley. Here, Judge Gravy. You're talking to him. Hey, oh, wait.
- 24:54Speaker 2: Or shall I do the talking?
- 24:55Speaker 4: I'll tell. Mr.
- 24:57Speaker 10: Smiley, what is it?
- 24:57Speaker 2: He'll explain.
- 24:58Speaker 4: Now look here, stranger.
- 24:59Speaker 2: Judge, I'd advise you to wait until you've heard what
- 25:01Speaker 2: Smiley has to say.
- 25:03Speaker 4: Talk. I.
- 25:04Speaker 11: I schemed it, Judge. I schemed the whole thing. Abby
- 25:07Speaker 11: wasn't to blame at all.
- 25:09Speaker 2: Schemed? Schemed?
- 25:12Speaker 4: What in blazes are you talking about? I.
- 25:14Speaker 11: I fixed it to look as though Abby was related
- 25:16Speaker 11: to Sarah Randolph. As though she inherited the money Mrs.
- 25:19Speaker 11: Randolph left.
- 25:20Speaker 3: Landstakes, whatever are you talking about?
- 25:23Speaker 2: I think I'd better explain it after all. Judge, you
- 25:26Speaker 2: were tricked. And tricked cleverly. Tricked? I've heard of the
- 25:29Speaker 2: evidence that convinced you Abby was entitled to the Randolph estate.
- 25:32Speaker 12: Why, of course she's entitled to it. I found that
- 25:35Speaker 12: evidence myself. What kind of nonsense is this? I'm not
- 25:40Speaker 12: sure what this is all about, but there's one thing
- 25:43Speaker 12: I can say for certain.
- 25:44Speaker 2: Yes?
- 25:45Speaker 4: Any talk of trickery on Abby's part is... is just poppycock.
- 25:49Speaker 12: Why, she didn't know herself that she was entitled to
- 25:51Speaker 12: the estate until I told her. If it had been
- 25:53Speaker 12: a fraud, she would have tried to convince me, not me, her.
- 25:57Speaker 2: That's just where Smiley was clever. Huh? As I heard
- 26:00Speaker 2: the story, you accidentally spilled Abby's sewing basket. When replacing
- 26:04Speaker 2: her things, found several open letters.
- 26:06Speaker 4: That's correct.
- 26:07Speaker 2: You saw enough at first glance to make it important
- 26:09Speaker 2: to look further. When you did, it appeared that Abby's
- 26:12Speaker 2: mother had been distantly related to Sarah Randolph. So distantly,
- 26:16Speaker 2: in fact... That Abby had never known of the relationship. Yes,
- 26:19Speaker 2: but what... Now wait. What happened was this. Smiley forged
- 26:23Speaker 2: those letters. He knew that if Abby herself came forward
- 26:26Speaker 2: with a claim, it would be investigated. The truth probably discovered.
- 26:30Speaker 2: So those letters were placed where, sooner or later, either
- 26:33Speaker 2: you or your wife would find them. It didn't matter when.
- 26:37Speaker 2: For a prize of $ 100, 000... Smiley could afford to be patient.
- 26:41Speaker 4: You mean finding them myself convinced me they were authentic?
- 26:45Speaker 2: Well, didn't it?
- 26:46Speaker 4: Why, that's just what it did. Abby, you've deceived us.
- 26:52Speaker 4: You had no.
- 26:52Speaker 2: One moment. Smiley has already confessed that he forced her
- 26:55Speaker 2: to fall in with his scheme.
- 26:56Speaker 4: Is that true? It's true, Judge. I... I made her
- 27:00Speaker 4: do it. Threatened her. Threatened her life.
- 27:02Speaker 2: Don't you think, in view of what Smiley has just confessed,
- 27:04Speaker 2: that you can afford to forget the part Abby played
- 27:06Speaker 2: in this, Judge? Well, I... Edric, if you hurt poor
- 27:10Speaker 2: Abby after what this scheming poke had just admitted, I'll
- 27:14Speaker 2: never speak to you again as long as I live.
- 27:16Speaker 4: Now, I... You know me better than that. I, um.
- 27:21Speaker 12: I reckon I can figure out a way to see
- 27:23Speaker 12: she don't come to harm.
- 27:24Speaker 2: Good. Did you hear that, Abby? Did you hear what
- 27:26Speaker 2: the judge promised?
- 27:27Speaker 10: Well, it's more than I deserved.
- 27:28Speaker 2: Perhaps, but it's certain that you were never as much
- 27:30Speaker 2: to blame as Smiley. And I'd like to ask you
- 27:33Speaker 2: just one question.
- 27:34Speaker 4: Yes?
- 27:35Speaker 2: Could Matt Rourke have exposed you? Did he know enough
- 27:38Speaker 2: about you so that you couldn't have carried out the deception?
- 27:40Speaker 2: He did.
- 27:41Speaker 4: Poor Matt. Matt? Matt Rourke? Who's he? You promised you
- 27:45Speaker 4: wouldn't tell.
- 27:46Speaker 2: I promised you wouldn't hang for murder, and you won't. Murder?
- 27:48Speaker 4: What are you talking about?
- 27:48Speaker 2: You've heard enough to jail him, Judge. You have all
- 27:50Speaker 2: the evidence you need.
- 27:51Speaker 4: Enough to jail him and keep him there for the
- 27:53Speaker 4: most of his life, stranger.
- 27:54Speaker 11: Good.
- 27:55Speaker 2: Smiley, you may be interested to meet a man who's
- 27:58Speaker 2: been anxious to meet you.
- 27:59Speaker 4: Who's that?
- 28:00Speaker 2: Look. Matt.
- 28:02Speaker 4: Matt Rock. Alive and kicking. You tricked me, blaster. You
- 28:06Speaker 4: made me confess what I didn't have to. You'll head
- 28:09Speaker 4: for the sheriff's office.
- 28:10Speaker 7: And if you've got notions of revenging yourself on a
- 28:12Speaker 7: masked man, forget him.
- 28:14Speaker 4: In a case like that, it'd please me to deal
- 28:16Speaker 4: with you myself.
- 28:17Speaker 2: I'll fill my heart with you. THE END.
- 28:53Speaker 4: THE END THE END THE END.
- 30:00Speaker 3: The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature
- 30:02Speaker 3: of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
- 30:12Speaker 1: We've just heard the Lone Ranger in Abby's Murder Plan.
- 30:15Speaker 1: Follow the Lone Ranger for more classic Western broadcasts.