Children Of The West

Originally Aired: October 21, 1938In The Lone Ranger #895, "Children Of The West," the Lone Ranger and Tonto encounter Dave Clayton, a middle-aged man who has spent three years caring for two orphaned children, Johnny and Edith, after discovering their dying mother. Living in a covered wagon and moving from town to town for odd jobs, Dave has given the children what little he can, though he worries they lack a proper home and education. Their modest existence takes a dark turn when Sheriff and several townsmen, including the hostile Ben Lugent, arrive with troubling accusations. Every household where Johnny and Edith have worked has reported thefts, and suspicion has fallen squarely on the children.Despite Dave's fierce defense of the youngsters and his friend Silas's faith in them, tension mounts in the community. Ben demands the sheriff run them out of the district, while Silas offers to have the children work at his home to prove their innocence. The Lone Ranger, traveling in disguise, witnesses these events and takes particular interest in Ben's accusations. As days pass with the children working at Silas's home without incident, Ben grows increasingly insistent that trouble is coming, leaving the masked rider to uncover who is truly behind the thefts plaguing Westwood.