The Lone Ranger and Tonto were riding along the broken rock strewn ground near the stage trail, when they saw two men sprawled motionless beneath the blistering hot sun. At the sound of the approaching hooves of Scout and Silver, one of the men stirred slightly. His eyes were glazed, and he was barely able to discern the horsemen until the Lone Ranger and Tonto came quite close. The dying guard of the stage coach couldn't tell them who had shot them and stolen the stage, before succumbing to his injuries, and the Sheriff's arrival and assumption that the Lone Ranger and Tonto were responsible for the men's murders caused even more misery. Blackie and his gang of outlaws were long gone, bouncing the stage over ground that was too hard, before relieving the coach of its mail and cargo. The men had been instructed by Big Bill to do this to all of the recent stages, but they had no idea what he was plotting...