WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:17.500 Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland. 00:17.500 --> 00:20.440 Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland. 00:20.440 --> 00:25.760 Struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, showing rare courage in 00:25.760 --> 00:53.520 the face of disaster, in the air, on horseback, or in a screaming squad car. 00:53.520 --> 01:03.480 Ranger Bill, his mind alert, a ready smile, unswerving, loyal to his mission. 01:03.480 --> 01:08.320 And all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. 01:08.320 --> 01:15.320 There you are, Mr. Jenkins. 01:15.320 --> 01:21.240 Thank you very much. 01:21.240 --> 01:22.240 That's all right, young lady. 01:22.240 --> 01:26.520 I don't mind depositing money at all. 01:26.520 --> 01:27.760 I know what you mean. 01:27.760 --> 01:30.560 There's always enough to spend it on. 01:30.560 --> 01:32.680 You said a mouthful there. 01:32.680 --> 01:36.680 I suppose you spend a lot of your pay on your girlfriend. 01:36.680 --> 01:37.680 Me? 01:37.680 --> 01:41.600 I reckon that's her one expense. 01:41.600 --> 01:42.600 Don't trouble me. 01:42.600 --> 01:45.200 I'll leave that kind of thing to the younger whippersnappers. 01:45.200 --> 01:46.200 Oh, that's too bad. 01:46.200 --> 01:53.200 I should think a girl would be pleased to be taken out by a man of your distinction 01:53.200 --> 01:54.200 and experience. 01:54.200 --> 02:02.200 Well, I admit that there are some real advantages in spending time with a fellow my age. 02:02.200 --> 02:03.200 I'm sure that's true. 02:03.200 --> 02:11.080 Why, I'd even consider it a real honor to be asked out by a kind and established gentleman 02:11.080 --> 02:12.080 like yourself. 02:12.080 --> 02:13.080 You would? 02:13.080 --> 02:19.880 Well, anyhow, you can be happy that I bank here. 02:19.880 --> 02:23.160 I mean, what do I mean? 02:23.160 --> 02:24.160 I'm sure. 02:24.160 --> 02:25.160 I don't know, Mr. Jenkins. 02:25.160 --> 02:30.560 Well, anyhow, I've probably brought you more dinners than any of those young fellows, anyhow. 02:30.560 --> 02:32.560 Or did I already say that, anyhow? 02:32.560 --> 02:35.080 You did, but I don't understand what you mean. 02:35.080 --> 02:36.560 Well, what I mean is this. 02:36.560 --> 02:40.160 As long as I keep putting money in this bank, you keep getting paid. 02:40.160 --> 02:42.760 And as long as you keep getting paid, why... 02:42.760 --> 02:43.760 I keep being. 02:43.760 --> 02:49.760 Now you'll have to stop taking advantage of impressionable young fellows like me. 02:49.760 --> 02:54.000 A couple of kind words like that get the fellow all the head up. 02:54.000 --> 02:59.960 I really meant what I said about you older gentleman saying to me nicer. 02:59.960 --> 03:03.760 Over there is another example of someone I think breaks that opinion. 03:03.760 --> 03:04.760 Oh? 03:04.760 --> 03:05.760 Where are you looking? 03:05.760 --> 03:06.760 See? 03:06.760 --> 03:08.760 Coming out of the President's office. 03:08.760 --> 03:09.760 Mr. Ashby. 03:09.760 --> 03:10.760 Miles Ashby! 03:10.760 --> 03:13.760 Why, I haven't seen him in a coon's age. 03:13.760 --> 03:14.760 Excuse me, young lady. 03:14.760 --> 03:15.760 Thanks for pointing him out. 03:15.760 --> 03:16.760 See you next week, Mr. Jenkins. 03:16.760 --> 03:17.760 So I'm afraid that's the final word, Miles. 03:17.760 --> 03:31.760 I wish we could do more for you, but you can understand the bank's position. 03:31.760 --> 03:32.760 Certainly, Mr. Fillmore. 03:32.760 --> 03:34.760 I understand the bank's position. 03:34.760 --> 03:35.760 Good day. 03:35.760 --> 03:36.760 Good day. 03:36.760 --> 03:41.760 I don't know if I was supposed to hear that or not, Miles. 03:41.760 --> 03:44.760 Stumpy Jenkins, what a nice surprise. 03:44.760 --> 03:45.760 How are you, Miles? 03:45.760 --> 03:46.760 It's been a long time. 03:46.760 --> 03:47.760 Yes, it has. 03:47.760 --> 03:49.760 More than a year, I'd say. 03:49.760 --> 03:51.760 Well, you don't look expect different. 03:51.760 --> 03:52.760 Nor do you. 03:52.760 --> 03:54.760 Of course, fellows our age never do. 03:54.760 --> 03:55.760 Yeah, that's true. 03:55.760 --> 03:56.760 That's true. 03:56.760 --> 04:00.760 Have you got time for a cup of coffee across the street, or are you heading right back 04:00.760 --> 04:01.760 to your place? 04:01.760 --> 04:05.760 Well, I was planning to go right back out, but I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to talk 04:05.760 --> 04:06.760 to you, you old walrus. 04:06.760 --> 04:07.760 Fine, fine. 04:07.760 --> 04:08.760 Come on. 04:08.760 --> 04:20.760 Well, tell me, Miles, what have you been doing with yourself? 04:20.760 --> 04:21.760 Oh, you haven't heard. 04:21.760 --> 04:25.760 Oh, I did hear a rumor, too, about you drilling for oil in your place. 04:25.760 --> 04:29.760 I didn't know whether it was true or not, so I didn't pay much attention. 04:29.760 --> 04:31.760 Ashby's Folly, they call it. 04:31.760 --> 04:33.760 What you heard was true, Stumpy. 04:33.760 --> 04:34.760 I have been drilling. 04:34.760 --> 04:37.760 Well, judging from that name, you ain't been too successful. 04:37.760 --> 04:39.760 That's a kind way of putting it. 04:39.760 --> 04:41.760 I haven't been at all successful. 04:41.760 --> 04:44.760 By the looks of things, I won't ever be. 04:44.760 --> 04:45.760 Now hold on there, Miles. 04:45.760 --> 04:48.760 I never heard you say anything like that before. 04:48.760 --> 04:50.760 You must really be discouraged. 04:50.760 --> 04:52.760 Frustrated is a better word for it, Stumpy. 04:52.760 --> 04:56.760 You see, I'm still sure there's oil under my land, but I'm the only one who thinks so. 04:56.760 --> 04:59.760 Why don't you start from the beginning? 04:59.760 --> 05:01.760 Mine do you good to get it off your chest. 05:01.760 --> 05:03.760 Maybe you're right. 05:03.760 --> 05:07.760 Well, about a year ago, it was right after Jesse died. 05:07.760 --> 05:09.760 Your wife was a fine woman, Miles. 05:09.760 --> 05:12.760 Well, at first I didn't know what to do with my time. 05:12.760 --> 05:15.760 It seemed that all of a sudden, like, I had lots of it. 05:15.760 --> 05:17.760 So I took to reading. 05:17.760 --> 05:18.760 Reading? 05:18.760 --> 05:19.760 That's right. 05:19.760 --> 05:22.760 I read most everything I could that looked like it had any value. 05:22.760 --> 05:24.760 Sure is a lot of trash out these days. 05:24.760 --> 05:28.760 Well, anyway, one day I was reading up on the petroleum industry. 05:28.760 --> 05:33.760 You know, the gushers in Mexico, Pennsylvania oil fields, John D. Rockefeller and all that. 05:33.760 --> 05:34.760 Oh, yeah. 05:34.760 --> 05:41.760 And I suddenly realized that the kind of area that the geologist feller said was almost sure to have oil under it 05:41.760 --> 05:43.760 was the kind of land that my farm was on. 05:43.760 --> 05:49.760 You mean you can tell by looking at the top of the land whether or not there's oil way down under it? 05:49.760 --> 05:51.760 You can tell pretty close if you know what to look for. 05:51.760 --> 05:56.760 So I went into the library and got out all the books on the subject that I could find 05:56.760 --> 06:00.760 and began putting together a picture of what ought to be there if there was oil. 06:00.760 --> 06:02.760 Well, what did you figure out? 06:02.760 --> 06:04.760 Just what you think I did, Stumpy. 06:04.760 --> 06:06.760 It all fit together right in place. 06:06.760 --> 06:11.760 If there's anywhere hereabouts that's got oil under it, it's my place. 06:11.760 --> 06:14.760 What'd you do when you figured this all out? 06:14.760 --> 06:15.760 Just what anybody'd do. 06:15.760 --> 06:18.760 I bought a lot of equipment, hired a few men and started drilling. 06:18.760 --> 06:20.760 But no oil, huh? 06:20.760 --> 06:27.760 Stumpy, in the last few months I've seen more colors of shale and more layers of limestone 06:27.760 --> 06:31.760 than most of them feller study in geology, see, in four years of college. 06:31.760 --> 06:34.760 But no oil. 06:34.760 --> 06:42.760 And that little bit of conversation I heard in the bank was saying that there wouldn't be any more money for the job, huh? 06:42.760 --> 06:45.760 That's right. I can't quite figure it, but that's the story. 06:45.760 --> 06:48.760 The bank was helping me finance this drilling. 06:48.760 --> 06:50.760 I couldn't have done the thing at all without help. 06:50.760 --> 06:56.760 But today Mr. Fillmore said that they couldn't put any more money into that hole. 06:56.760 --> 06:59.760 It was kind of a surprise. They didn't even give me any warning at all. 06:59.760 --> 07:02.760 That doesn't sound like the way the bank does business. 07:02.760 --> 07:04.760 I guess it doesn't matter. 07:04.760 --> 07:07.760 There's no way I could have prepared for it anyhow. 07:07.760 --> 07:10.760 I don't know how I'm going to tell this to my men. 07:10.760 --> 07:12.760 I'm afraid they won't take to it at all. 07:12.760 --> 07:14.760 Are they behind you in all of this? 07:14.760 --> 07:19.760 So we get along all right, but I think it's more like just a job for most of them. 07:19.760 --> 07:22.760 I'm afraid when the money stops, so will they. 07:22.760 --> 07:24.760 Oh, there you are, Ashby. 07:24.760 --> 07:27.760 I was hoping you hadn't left town yet. 07:27.760 --> 07:29.760 Tully. 07:29.760 --> 07:31.760 Mind if I sit down? 07:31.760 --> 07:34.760 Thanks. 07:34.760 --> 07:36.760 And who's your friend, Ashby? 07:36.760 --> 07:42.760 Yes, Tubby. This is Tully Fillmore, brother of the bank president of Stumpy Jenkins. 07:42.760 --> 07:44.760 How do you do, Stumpy? 07:44.760 --> 07:48.760 I don't remember seeing you around Naughty Pine before, Mr. Fillmore. 07:48.760 --> 07:53.760 I've been away for a while. Just got back a few weeks ago. 07:53.760 --> 07:55.760 What's the uniform, State Police? 07:55.760 --> 07:58.760 For a stranger. 07:58.760 --> 08:02.760 Oh, yeah. Boy scouts are paid. 08:02.760 --> 08:07.760 Well, Ashby, how are things coming out at your folly? Any oil yet? 08:07.760 --> 08:10.760 You always seem to know all about it anyway, Tully. 08:10.760 --> 08:16.760 That's right. I always do, don't I? So I do know that you haven't got a drop. 08:16.760 --> 08:18.760 Want to sell your place yet? 08:18.760 --> 08:20.760 Hey, what's this? 08:20.760 --> 08:24.760 For a while I've been offering to take that farm off Ashby's hands. 08:24.760 --> 08:27.760 He just don't seem to want to sell. Not yet, anyhow. 08:27.760 --> 08:29.760 What do you want with Miles' place? 08:29.760 --> 08:33.760 Just looking for a nice little place to settle down, that's all. 08:33.760 --> 08:37.760 I'll even take all that worthless oil equipment off his hands. 08:37.760 --> 08:39.760 That equipment is not worthless. 08:39.760 --> 08:42.760 Who wants to buy secondhand oil drilling equipment around here? 08:42.760 --> 08:43.760 Except you. 08:43.760 --> 08:49.760 I told you. I'll take it off his hands. I'm interested in it for myself. 08:49.760 --> 08:50.760 I ain't so sure. 08:50.760 --> 08:55.760 Who asked you? Well, Ashby, am ready to sell, yeah? 08:55.760 --> 08:59.760 I've told you plenty of times, Tully, that I don't intend to sell my farm. 08:59.760 --> 09:01.760 Now why don't you just forget about it, huh? 09:01.760 --> 09:04.760 I'll forget about it when I think there's no possibility of it. 09:04.760 --> 09:07.760 Well, then you can forget about it right now. 09:07.760 --> 09:14.760 Not so. I understand my brother's bank ain't gonna give you any more money. 09:14.760 --> 09:16.760 What's that got to do with anything? 09:16.760 --> 09:18.760 You owe him quite a bit, don't you? 09:18.760 --> 09:22.760 Hold on there, young feller. What's all that to you? 09:22.760 --> 09:25.760 Ashby, you should find more polite friends. 09:25.760 --> 09:28.760 If he makes me real, man, I could do a lot more harm to him. 09:28.760 --> 09:30.760 More? What do you mean by more? 09:30.760 --> 09:36.760 Ashby, tell your friends to get off my back or maybe you'll both be sorry. 09:36.760 --> 09:38.760 Come on, Stumpy. We'd better leave. 09:38.760 --> 09:40.760 Forget it. I was just going. 09:40.760 --> 09:45.760 The Hymn of Stumpy 10:02.760 --> 10:07.760 Boy, that's about the saddest you've sounded on that harmonica for a long time, Stumpy. 10:07.760 --> 10:11.760 Well, that imitation of a coyote was pretty sad itself. 10:11.760 --> 10:14.760 But no kidding. Is something really the matter? 10:14.760 --> 10:17.760 Usually you make that harmonica sound like a circus. 10:17.760 --> 10:20.760 You've got pretty good powers of observation, young feller. 10:20.760 --> 10:23.760 You're right. Something is bothering me. 10:23.760 --> 10:25.760 Want to tell us about it, old timer? 10:25.760 --> 10:31.760 Well, I ran into Miles Ashby this morning over at the bank. 10:31.760 --> 10:34.760 It looks to me like he's having real problems. 10:34.760 --> 10:37.760 He's been drilling for oil on his place. 10:37.760 --> 10:39.760 Oil? Around here? 10:39.760 --> 10:42.760 Ain't struck any yet, but he's sure there's some there. 10:42.760 --> 10:46.760 Anyhow, all of a sudden the bank won't loan him any more money for his drilling. 10:46.760 --> 10:49.760 Without any warning at all, it just stopped. 10:49.760 --> 10:52.760 That means he can't pay the fellers he's hired to help with the job. 10:52.760 --> 10:55.760 And with no workers and no money, he can't drill to the oil. 10:55.760 --> 10:59.760 With no oil, he can't pay back the money he already owes folks like the bank. 10:59.760 --> 11:02.760 Boy, he sound like he's really in a pickle. 11:02.760 --> 11:09.760 Like I said, on the surface it looks like bad luck, but I ain't so sure. 11:09.760 --> 11:11.760 What are you getting at, Stumpy? 11:11.760 --> 11:14.760 Yeah, sound like you think something's fishy. 11:14.760 --> 11:16.760 That's exactly what I think. 11:16.760 --> 11:20.760 Well, we were in the restaurant crossing the bank this morning. 11:20.760 --> 11:23.760 A feller by the name Tully Fillmore... 11:23.760 --> 11:25.760 Isn't that the man who runs the bank? 11:25.760 --> 11:26.760 Nope, it's his brother. 11:26.760 --> 11:27.760 Oh. 11:27.760 --> 11:32.760 Anyhow, while Miles and me were talking over old times and his problems, 11:32.760 --> 11:37.760 this Tully character pushes into the booth and starts making offers to buy Miles' place, 11:37.760 --> 11:39.760 drilling equipment and all. 11:39.760 --> 11:42.760 That doesn't sound suspicious, old timer. 11:42.760 --> 11:44.760 Again, on the surface it don't. 11:44.760 --> 11:47.760 But if you could have seen and heard the conversation, Bill, 11:47.760 --> 11:54.760 I have a feeling that Miles is running into some pretty carefully planned bad luck. 11:54.760 --> 11:57.760 I'll ride out to Miles' place this afternoon, see how he's doing. 11:57.760 --> 12:00.760 I think he could use a little moral support. 12:00.760 --> 12:02.760 Why don't we all go? 12:02.760 --> 12:04.760 I was hoping you'd say that, Bill. 12:04.760 --> 12:06.760 I'd like to see an oil well. 12:06.760 --> 12:08.760 Sure is a rare sight around here. 12:08.760 --> 12:23.760 Well, it's not exactly an oil well yet, Henry, but there she is. 12:23.760 --> 12:27.760 I wonder now whether she ever will be an oil well. 12:27.760 --> 12:30.760 She just walked out on you, Miles. 12:30.760 --> 12:31.760 That's right. 12:31.760 --> 12:33.760 It sure was hard to understand. 12:33.760 --> 12:35.760 We all went into town today. 12:35.760 --> 12:37.760 I gave the men the morning off. 12:37.760 --> 12:40.760 When I got back, only Sam the foreman was here. 12:40.760 --> 12:43.760 He said that the boys heard that I wasn't going to get any more money 12:43.760 --> 12:47.760 and that they were quitting until the time I'd be able to pay. 12:47.760 --> 12:48.760 How'd they find out? 12:48.760 --> 12:49.760 I don't know. 12:49.760 --> 12:53.760 As far as I know, there only were a few people who knew anything about it. 12:53.760 --> 12:57.760 I don't think it'd take too good a guess to know who told them. 12:57.760 --> 12:58.760 You mean Tully? 12:58.760 --> 13:00.760 That's exactly who I mean. 13:00.760 --> 13:04.760 I think he's got a lot more to do with your troubles than it looks like. 13:04.760 --> 13:07.760 Stumpy, this isn't like you at all. 13:07.760 --> 13:10.760 I've never known you to be this way about a person 13:10.760 --> 13:13.760 without anything more than a feeling against him. 13:13.760 --> 13:14.760 I know, Bill. 13:14.760 --> 13:17.760 I kind of surprise myself when I think about it. 13:17.760 --> 13:21.760 Sometimes you get feelings about folks that you can't get rid of. 13:21.760 --> 13:26.760 You know as well as I do that feelings can't be depended on for too much, 13:26.760 --> 13:28.760 especially with something like this. 13:28.760 --> 13:31.760 I know, I know, but I think we'd better look into this 13:31.760 --> 13:34.760 and see whether I'm just imagining things. 13:34.760 --> 13:38.760 If I am, I owe that feller an apology and I'll give it to him. 13:38.760 --> 13:42.760 If I'm not, well, we'll be glad we knew. 13:42.760 --> 13:44.760 I don't care what you do. 13:44.760 --> 13:48.760 All I'm interested in is getting that drilling underway again. 13:48.760 --> 13:52.760 If we don't do that, I've got too many bills to think about anything else. 13:52.760 --> 13:55.760 How far do you think you'll have to drill to find oil, Mr. Ashby? 13:55.760 --> 13:57.760 It's hard to tell. 13:57.760 --> 14:01.760 We've been through all the right kinds of limestone and shale formations. 14:01.760 --> 14:04.760 It might be a few feet, it might be a few hundred feet. 14:04.760 --> 14:07.760 But I'm certain there's oil down there. 14:07.760 --> 14:12.760 Maybe I'm just too far over in one direction up here. 14:12.760 --> 14:13.760 What do you mean? 14:13.760 --> 14:18.760 You know, that oil deposits form like big bubbles under the ground. 14:18.760 --> 14:20.760 No, I didn't know that. 14:20.760 --> 14:24.760 That means in one place it might be just 100 feet to the oil. 14:24.760 --> 14:28.760 But if you moved over a bit to where the bubble was rounding down, 14:28.760 --> 14:30.760 they might be 200 feet to the same oil. 14:30.760 --> 14:31.760 I see. 14:31.760 --> 14:35.760 So I just might be at the 200 place instead of the 100 place. 14:35.760 --> 14:38.760 It's impossible to tell from up here. 14:38.760 --> 14:40.760 How far down have you gone? 14:40.760 --> 14:42.760 About 250 feet so far. 14:42.760 --> 14:46.760 We just dropped that pipe lining into the hole before we quit work. 14:46.760 --> 14:49.760 I wondered how you kept the hole from caving in. 14:49.760 --> 14:51.760 That's where it stands. 14:51.760 --> 14:57.760 A nice clean job, part way to oil and no way to finish it. 14:57.760 --> 14:59.760 Well, why bother you with problems? 14:59.760 --> 15:01.760 Let's go in the house for some coffee. 15:01.760 --> 15:04.760 I might even be able to find a few cookies sitting around in the pantry 15:04.760 --> 15:06.760 if you're interested, Henry. 15:06.760 --> 15:08.760 You fellas go on in. 15:08.760 --> 15:11.760 I'd like to look around the well for a few minutes. 15:11.760 --> 15:12.760 Is that all right with you, Miles? 15:12.760 --> 15:13.760 Oh, sure, sure. 15:13.760 --> 15:16.760 Just don't trip over or anything. 15:16.760 --> 15:19.760 I'll be in in a few minutes. 15:19.760 --> 15:24.760 Henry isn't the only one who might be interested in cookies, Miles. 15:24.760 --> 15:26.760 Lead the way. 15:26.760 --> 15:40.760 You'd better leave at least two cookies for Henry, old timer. 15:40.760 --> 15:43.760 After all, they were originally for him. 15:43.760 --> 15:47.760 It's his own fault for dilly-dallying out there. 15:47.760 --> 15:48.760 He's a very bright boy, Bill. 15:48.760 --> 15:52.760 I noticed how he took in everything while we were looking over the operation. 15:52.760 --> 15:54.760 Well, he has a good healthy curiosity, Miles. 15:54.760 --> 15:58.760 Like a lot of fellas his age, he isn't really sure what he wants to do when he gets older, 15:58.760 --> 16:02.760 so any new piece of information is stored for future consideration. 16:02.760 --> 16:04.760 Well, he seems to have a very quick mind. 16:04.760 --> 16:06.760 Well, he's not too quick on his feet. 16:06.760 --> 16:09.760 At least where these cookies are concerned. 16:09.760 --> 16:15.760 Hey, what was that? 16:15.760 --> 16:16.760 By the way, it sounds like... 16:16.760 --> 16:18.760 It is! It's oil! 16:18.760 --> 16:21.760 A gusher! It must have been broken through by itself. 16:21.760 --> 16:23.760 Looks like you were closer than you thought. 16:23.760 --> 16:25.760 I knew it! I knew it! 16:25.760 --> 16:40.760 Come on, let's get out there and camp it before we lose any more oil. 16:40.760 --> 16:42.760 Over this way! I'll need help! 16:42.760 --> 16:44.760 We're right behind you, Miles. 16:44.760 --> 16:47.760 Whee! It's raining oil! 16:47.760 --> 16:51.760 Look at you, Bill! You're all black and slippery! 16:51.760 --> 16:53.760 Wait till you see yourself, old timer. 16:53.760 --> 16:55.760 I haven't seen you in black hair for years. 16:55.760 --> 16:56.760 You're over here. 16:56.760 --> 16:59.760 Help me get the cap on and the valve closed. 16:59.760 --> 17:01.760 All right. 17:01.760 --> 17:02.760 Please, come with me. 17:02.760 --> 17:04.760 That's right, Miles. 17:04.760 --> 17:05.760 Turn. All right. 17:05.760 --> 17:06.760 Right here. 17:06.760 --> 17:07.760 Be careful. 17:07.760 --> 17:08.760 A little tighter. 17:08.760 --> 17:09.760 It's working. 17:09.760 --> 17:11.760 That's it. There we go. 17:11.760 --> 17:17.760 There. We made it. 17:17.760 --> 17:19.760 That was some pressure. 17:19.760 --> 17:22.760 I'm surprised it was as easy as it was. 17:22.760 --> 17:25.760 It's just a good thing we didn't have the drill down in there. 17:25.760 --> 17:29.760 That would have been an even bigger job getting it out before we could cap it. 17:29.760 --> 17:31.760 I guess it would have been. 17:31.760 --> 17:35.760 Hey, I just remembered Henry's out here somewhere. 17:35.760 --> 17:38.760 Henry? Oh, yeah! 17:38.760 --> 17:40.760 Henry! What are you, pal? 17:40.760 --> 17:42.760 You think he might have been hurt in the gusher? 17:42.760 --> 17:45.760 I don't know. I'd say we'd better look around. 17:45.760 --> 17:48.760 Oh, that's all right. I'm not hurt or anything. 17:48.760 --> 17:49.760 Henry! 17:49.760 --> 17:51.760 You all right, boy? 17:51.760 --> 17:54.760 Sure. Only I'm awfully sorry. 17:54.760 --> 17:57.760 Sorry? What are you talking about, young feller? 17:57.760 --> 18:00.760 Well, I started this whole thing going. 18:00.760 --> 18:01.760 You? 18:01.760 --> 18:05.760 That's right. And I guess you'd better know now is any time. 18:05.760 --> 18:09.760 I was kind of fooling around with that pipe you put down in the hole. 18:09.760 --> 18:12.760 I saw how much smaller it was than the hole you drilled. 18:12.760 --> 18:17.760 I was just, well, seeing if I could wiggle it back and forth. 18:17.760 --> 18:19.760 Well, what happened? 18:19.760 --> 18:22.760 I'm really sorry, Mr. Ashby. 18:22.760 --> 18:26.760 I got up to moving a little and suddenly it dropped out of sight into the hole. 18:26.760 --> 18:29.760 A minute later it came up about as high as you see it now. 18:29.760 --> 18:31.760 And everything went crazy. 18:31.760 --> 18:34.760 I guess I followed things up, huh? 18:34.760 --> 18:36.760 Followed things up, eh? 18:36.760 --> 18:38.760 Not this time, pal. 18:38.760 --> 18:41.760 Although I question whether you should have been fooling around with the equipment, 18:41.760 --> 18:44.760 this time you did a real service. 18:44.760 --> 18:47.760 That spray was oil, pal. You set off a gusher. 18:47.760 --> 18:50.760 And Miles now has a working oil well. 19:01.760 --> 19:04.760 Hey, Ashby, come here. 19:04.760 --> 19:06.760 Hello, Tully. What's a good word? 19:06.760 --> 19:10.760 Good word, huh? What's this I hear about you striking oil? 19:10.760 --> 19:11.760 That's right. 19:11.760 --> 19:13.760 I thought it was just a rumor. 19:13.760 --> 19:16.760 How could you do it? You didn't have no money or no men. 19:16.760 --> 19:19.760 Good clean living pays off, Tully. 19:19.760 --> 19:20.760 It was kind of an accident. 19:20.760 --> 19:23.760 Accident, huh? Some accident. 19:23.760 --> 19:24.760 That's how it happened, all right. 19:24.760 --> 19:27.760 Henry Scott, you know, Ranger Bill Jefferson's ward, 19:27.760 --> 19:30.760 he was jiggling the pipe we had lowered into the hole and... 19:30.760 --> 19:33.760 He-he-he-he-he-he-whoosh! 19:33.760 --> 19:35.760 I guess you know I was interested in that land, don't you? 19:35.760 --> 19:38.760 You tried to buy it often enough. I should know. 19:38.760 --> 19:40.760 Yeah, but I'm even less interested in selling now. 19:40.760 --> 19:42.760 You listen to me, Ashby. 19:42.760 --> 19:46.760 I was sure, like you were, that there was oil on that land. 19:46.760 --> 19:48.760 Now you've found it. 19:48.760 --> 19:50.760 And that don't make me real happy. 19:50.760 --> 19:52.760 You thought there'd be oil there, too? 19:52.760 --> 19:56.760 If you thought that, why didn't you try to influence your brother at the bank? 19:56.760 --> 19:58.760 Maybe I did influence my brother. 19:58.760 --> 19:59.760 Ever think of that? 19:59.760 --> 20:02.760 You mean you were the reason they stopped financing the drilling? 20:02.760 --> 20:06.760 Maybe. If it hadn't been for that lucky accident of yours, 20:06.760 --> 20:08.760 that well might have been mine today. 20:08.760 --> 20:11.760 Ooh, I could get real angry, Tully. 20:11.760 --> 20:13.760 That wasn't a very nice thing to do to a fella. 20:13.760 --> 20:15.760 Nice? 20:15.760 --> 20:18.760 That well will be worth a lot of money, Ashby. 20:18.760 --> 20:21.760 Too much money to think about being nice. 20:21.760 --> 20:24.760 I suppose it was you who convinced my men to stay away from the job. 20:24.760 --> 20:28.760 That's right, Ashby. The old squeeze play. 20:28.760 --> 20:34.760 Well, Tully, the joke turned out to be on you, didn't it? 20:34.760 --> 20:36.760 Now the oil's been found, 20:36.760 --> 20:39.760 and I'll have no trouble getting any financial underwriting 20:39.760 --> 20:41.760 for any other well I might care to dig out there. 20:41.760 --> 20:43.760 It looks like you lost out. 20:43.760 --> 20:59.760 Maybe not, Ashby. Maybe not. 20:59.760 --> 21:02.760 Sounds like trouble, fellas. Tower two calling. 21:02.760 --> 21:05.760 I'll see where the fire is and how big it is. 21:05.760 --> 21:08.760 Hello, Tom. Where's the fire? 21:08.760 --> 21:10.760 What? 21:10.760 --> 21:12.760 Okay, we'll get out there as soon as possible. 21:12.760 --> 21:14.760 Where is it, Bill? You look all white. 21:14.760 --> 21:17.760 It isn't exactly a forest fire, fellas. 21:17.760 --> 21:19.760 Tom spotted it from his tower. 21:19.760 --> 21:22.760 Miles Ashby's oil well is blazing. 21:31.760 --> 21:32.760 I don't know, Bill. 21:32.760 --> 21:34.760 I just can't figure out what could have started it. 21:34.760 --> 21:37.760 Well, whatever it was, certainly did a good job. 21:37.760 --> 21:40.760 You want that chemical firefighter's weapon brought over here, Ranger? 21:40.760 --> 21:43.760 Yes. I don't know how much good it'll do, though. 21:43.760 --> 21:46.760 That fire looks like it's being fed from underneath. 21:46.760 --> 21:47.760 I saw that, too. 21:47.760 --> 21:50.760 Almost like the cap's off and it's a burning gusher. 21:50.760 --> 21:53.760 That's it. Of course. Henry's hit it right on the head. 21:53.760 --> 21:55.760 That cap must have worked its way loose 21:55.760 --> 21:57.760 and started the gusher all over again. 21:57.760 --> 21:59.760 And then somehow the whole thing caught on fire. 21:59.760 --> 22:01.760 Equipment's well set up, Ranger. 22:01.760 --> 22:03.760 Just give the word and we'll spray it on. 22:03.760 --> 22:04.760 Go ahead right away. 22:04.760 --> 22:06.760 Let's see if it will do anything to stop it. 22:06.760 --> 22:10.760 Okay, let her have it, man. Let's put this thing out. 22:16.760 --> 22:18.760 It looks like you were right, Bill. 22:18.760 --> 22:21.760 The stuff's doused in the fire all around the main blade. 22:21.760 --> 22:23.760 It doesn't seem to have any effect on it. 22:23.760 --> 22:26.760 If Henry's right about that being a burning gusher, 22:26.760 --> 22:28.760 it won't have any more effect than what you see. 22:28.760 --> 22:31.760 I'm afraid we'll have to cut off its food supply to stop it. 22:31.760 --> 22:33.760 That'd be impossible to get near that pipe. 22:33.760 --> 22:35.760 Even more impossible to cap it. 22:35.760 --> 22:38.760 What with all the heat, flame, pressure? 22:38.760 --> 22:41.760 Oh, Bill. Bill, do you know what this means? 22:41.760 --> 22:42.760 What, Miles? 22:42.760 --> 22:45.760 That fire's gonna eat up the entire oil supply. 22:45.760 --> 22:47.760 It'll be like it was never there. 22:47.760 --> 22:49.760 I'll be ruined. 22:49.760 --> 22:50.760 Not so fast, Miles. 22:50.760 --> 22:52.760 Maybe we can stop that thing yet. 22:52.760 --> 22:55.760 Might as well shut off that foam spray, man. 22:55.760 --> 22:59.760 Just use it on any fire that might start up away from the well. 22:59.760 --> 23:01.760 Okay. Hey, hold it off. 23:02.760 --> 23:04.760 You think you can stop it, Bill? 23:04.760 --> 23:05.760 Maybe. 23:05.760 --> 23:08.760 Miles, do you have anything around here to shoot a well? 23:08.760 --> 23:09.760 Shoot a well? 23:09.760 --> 23:12.760 That's a way of producing when there's no pressure already down there. 23:12.760 --> 23:15.760 Yes, Bill, yes. I have some nitro back in the shed. 23:15.760 --> 23:17.760 That's why I thought I'd keep it on hand just in case. 23:17.760 --> 23:20.760 Good. Run and get it, will you? I'll get this area cleared. 23:20.760 --> 23:21.760 What are you planning to do? 23:21.760 --> 23:22.760 Stop your fire. 23:22.760 --> 23:25.760 Whatever you say, Bill. I'll be right back. 23:25.760 --> 23:28.760 I don't be in so much of a hurry that you forget how touchy nitro is. 23:28.760 --> 23:29.760 Take it easy. 23:29.760 --> 23:30.760 Bill? 23:30.760 --> 23:31.760 Yes, Bill? 23:31.760 --> 23:33.760 I still don't get what you mean by shooting a well. 23:33.760 --> 23:34.760 Just a minute, Henry. 23:34.760 --> 23:37.760 Let's clear the area around the well, man. 23:37.760 --> 23:39.760 We're going to try a little blasting. 23:39.760 --> 23:43.760 Stumpy, you clear your crew from that side. 23:43.760 --> 23:45.760 Al, you clear this side. 23:46.760 --> 23:47.760 And that ought to do it. 23:47.760 --> 23:49.760 Now, what was it, pal? 23:49.760 --> 23:51.760 I just wondered about shooting a well. 23:51.760 --> 23:52.760 Oh, sure. 23:52.760 --> 23:57.760 Sometimes an oil deposit doesn't have all the pressure built up inside it like this one has. 23:57.760 --> 24:02.760 In that case, it sometimes works if you set off an explosion inside the well. 24:02.760 --> 24:05.760 This creates enough pressure down there to get the whole thing working. 24:05.760 --> 24:06.760 I see. 24:06.760 --> 24:10.760 Sometimes you use that wells that are thought to be dry to reactivate them. 24:10.760 --> 24:12.760 Boy, it's a good thing you knew about that. 24:12.760 --> 24:15.760 Otherwise, you wouldn't have known that Mr. Ashby had the nitroglycerin around here. 24:15.760 --> 24:19.760 I guess every little bit of information you pick up helps one time or another. 24:19.760 --> 24:20.760 Just one more question. 24:20.760 --> 24:21.760 Yeah, go ahead. 24:21.760 --> 24:22.760 What do you do with the nitro? 24:22.760 --> 24:24.760 Stick around and watch, Henry. 24:24.760 --> 24:25.760 Here comes Miles with it now. 24:25.760 --> 24:32.760 Unless I miss my guess, this whole thing will be out in a few minutes. 24:51.760 --> 24:52.760 You did it. 24:52.760 --> 24:53.760 Billy Gusser stopped. 24:53.760 --> 24:54.760 It worked. 24:54.760 --> 24:55.760 Wow! 24:55.760 --> 24:56.760 That was good thinking, sonny. 24:56.760 --> 25:02.760 You blow up the whole shebang so that the well will fill in and stop the fire supply of fuel. 25:02.760 --> 25:04.760 Now why didn't I think of that? 25:04.760 --> 25:06.760 I really am grateful, Bill. 25:06.760 --> 25:08.760 You probably saved the whole well. 25:08.760 --> 25:09.760 That's pretty good. 25:09.760 --> 25:11.760 Saved the well by blowing it up. 25:11.760 --> 25:14.760 Won't it take a lot of time and money to start over? 25:14.760 --> 25:17.760 Sure it will, Henry, but now everybody knows there's oil down there. 25:17.760 --> 25:21.760 I shouldn't have any trouble at all getting the backing I need. 25:21.760 --> 25:26.760 It sure seems funny that a big explosion like that could make everything end up right. 25:26.760 --> 25:29.760 It's not quite ended, Stuffy. 25:29.760 --> 25:30.760 What do you mean? 25:30.760 --> 25:35.760 I'm interested in determining what caused this fire in the first place. 25:35.760 --> 25:36.760 That's right. 25:36.760 --> 25:37.760 We never did figure that out. 25:37.760 --> 25:38.760 Hey, Ranger. 25:38.760 --> 25:41.760 There was a call for you a while ago, but you was busy with that nitro. 25:41.760 --> 25:42.760 Oh? 25:42.760 --> 25:45.760 Yeah, it was kind of noisy, so I didn't get the whole thing. 25:45.760 --> 25:49.760 Something about wanting you to get to the hospital for a confession. 25:49.760 --> 25:50.760 I didn't hear it real well. 25:50.760 --> 25:52.760 A confession, huh? 25:52.760 --> 25:53.760 Come on, men. 25:53.760 --> 25:57.760 Maybe we won't have to figure out what started this blaze. 25:57.760 --> 26:10.760 You won't be able to stay long. 26:10.760 --> 26:13.760 He's quite badly burned. 26:13.760 --> 26:16.760 Tully, we're here. 26:16.760 --> 26:19.760 Maybe Henry, Stumpy, and I had better wait outside. 26:19.760 --> 26:20.760 No, Bill. 26:20.760 --> 26:23.760 You were all involved in my brother's troublemaking. 26:23.760 --> 26:25.760 I want him to face you all. 26:25.760 --> 26:26.760 Come in. 26:26.760 --> 26:30.760 Is all this really necessary, Pete? 26:30.760 --> 26:33.760 Tully, you've caused a great many people a lot of trouble. 26:33.760 --> 26:35.760 These are the main folks here. 26:35.760 --> 26:37.760 They are doing apology. 26:37.760 --> 26:39.760 Maybe you'd better tell them all that you've done. 26:39.760 --> 26:41.760 They probably all know it anyhow. 26:41.760 --> 26:42.760 What's the point? 26:42.760 --> 26:45.760 I think you'd better start telling them. 26:45.760 --> 26:46.760 All right. 26:46.760 --> 26:50.760 So I talked Peter into not giving Ashby any more money. 26:50.760 --> 26:53.760 And then I talked his men out of working for him. 26:53.760 --> 26:57.760 I wanted that land because I knew there was oil there too. 26:57.760 --> 27:01.760 I thought I could force Ashby into selling. 27:01.760 --> 27:06.760 Then when he struck oil anyhow, I guess I saw red. 27:06.760 --> 27:11.760 I snuck over and uncorked his well and set it on fire. 27:11.760 --> 27:14.760 Now beat it, all of you. 27:14.760 --> 27:17.760 Maybe we'd better go. 27:17.760 --> 27:19.760 I don't know. 27:19.760 --> 27:21.760 Tully's always been a problem to us. 27:21.760 --> 27:25.760 Looks like he's a lot of a problem to himself. 27:25.760 --> 27:28.760 Of course, Miles, the bank will cover any loss you've suffered. 27:28.760 --> 27:30.760 I feel it's the least we can do. 27:30.760 --> 27:34.760 I mean, we do seem to share some of the responsibility for all this. 27:34.760 --> 27:37.760 It's mighty nice of you, Mr. Fillmore. 27:37.760 --> 27:42.760 I never thought it was true until now. 27:42.760 --> 27:44.760 What's that, Stumpy? 27:44.760 --> 27:50.760 I heard a feller once telling what the definition of a bank was, 27:50.760 --> 27:52.760 but I thought he was just kidding. 27:52.760 --> 27:55.760 A bank? What did he say it was? 27:55.760 --> 28:02.760 He said that a bank was a place where you could borrow money 28:02.760 --> 28:12.760 even if it could show enough proof that you really didn't need it. 28:12.760 --> 28:22.760 Well, I guess you can see, boys and girls, 28:22.760 --> 28:28.760 that troublemakers never realize how many people are affected by their commotion. 28:28.760 --> 28:31.760 I'm sure you have more respect for others. 28:31.760 --> 28:38.760 Well, see you next week for more Adventure with Ranger Bill! 28:38.760 --> 29:00.760 Ranger Bill was produced in the radio studios 29:00.760 --> 29:03.760 of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. 29:30.760 --> 29:35.760 Thank you for watching!