Episode 31  -  February 27, 1939        7 pm

We find our adventurers in room 913 of the swank New Bosford Hotel in Los Angeles.  The boys are guests of Franklyn Anderson, the lumber baron.  They are waiting to talk to him about a possible job.

Doc reads the papers about their exploits on the Lady Mary.  Jack wonders, sarcastically, how the papers knew so much.  Apparently Doc started talking when they hit the dock, went to the police station and didn't stop until they reached their room in the hotel.  In fact, Reggie says he spouted like a geyser.  Doc has taken advantage of the facilities of the hotel and is all spruced up with haircut, manicure, bath, etc.  Doc is still much taken with Marcia and she is clearly the motivation for this improvement.  The boys discuss the possible job for Anderson.

The phone rings and it is Marcia, asking them to come for the meeting.  They head down the hall and Doc drools over a well-dressed lady passing by.  They arrive at Anderson's room and are greeted by Marcia.  Doc is all over Marcia and Jack almost has to drag him down the hall to see Anderson.

Anderson welcomes them, offers them cigars and explains that he has had a lot of catching up to do after being out of contact for nine days.  He explains that he has a gold mine in Nevada which is believed to have a rich deposit.  It is currently shut down.  He has sent men to start it up, but five have been killed and now men refuse to stay there.  Men claim that there are man-eating animals up there.  Suddenly they hear Marcia scream.

Episode 32  -  February 28, 1939        7 pm

The men find Marcia in the next room.  She is unconscious and it looks as though she has been clawed by an animal!

Jack sends Reggie to search the hotel.  Doc searches the room.  Jack and Anderson talk about the advisability of calling a doctor, but Jack points out that the cuts are not serious and that Marcia has only fainted.  They decide it would be better to avoid publicity.  Jack sends Doc to get Lita, while he tends to Marcia.  Lita and Doc return, she has slept through the excitement.  They carry Marcia to her bed.  The Andersons are sent to get medicine and bandages.

Jack and Doc discuss the events.  First the Andersons were kidnapped and now someone has attacked their party.  That there is a connection with the events at the mine seems evident.  Lita and Anderson arrive with the medicine and Jack treats the cuts.  Lita wants to know why they are not calling a doctor and the police.  Anderson explains and sends her for Vaseline.  The boys discuss the attack further with Anderson.  He is also convinced that it is all a plot.  He tells them that Captain Jenkins never asked for any ransom.  Apparently no ransom note was ever sent.

Lita returns and Jack has her help with Marcia's clothes.  He tells Doc to stand in a corner!  Doc is insulted and he and Jack have an argument over Doc's interest in Marcia.  They notice that Anderson has stepped out of the room and that Reggie has not returned.  Marcia comes to about this time and moans, "An awful thing, with hair all over it."

Episode 33  -  March 1, 1939        7 pm

Jack questions Marcia about the attack on her and gives her a drink.  He sends Lita to bring Anderson back as he has been gone for some time.  She comes back to report that he is not in the suite.  Reggie is also still gone.  Lita wants to search, but Jack thinks it is better to stay put for awhile.

Marcia tells her story.  She says she heard a knock on the outer door.  She opened the door and no one was there.  When she stepped out to check she was grabbed from behind.  All she saw was a pair of furry arms around her.  Then it clawed her shoulder and she fainted.  They discuss the attacker.  Bear?  Wildman?

The boys leave the girls in Marcia's room and move into the outer part of the suite.  They hear someone at the  door and open it to find Reggie carrying an unconscious Anderson.  He has been clawed and knocked out.  Reggie says that he searched the halls and even waited for a while in the lobby.  Then returning he searched each floor and found Anderson under the stairs on the floor below.  Jack is convinced it is all a plot against Anderson.  Doc is holding out for supernatural forces.  They argue until Anderson comes around.  He says that he was attacked by a "wildman."

Episode 34  -  March 2, 1939        8 pm

Anderson tells his story.  He was grabbed from behind and didn't see the face of his attacker, just hairy arms and claws.  Jack asks Anderson if he thinks it was a man in disguise.  Anderson agrees.  Jack asks who would plot against him?  Anderson doesn't know but thinks it is related to the mine.  Since he was kidnapped with no ransom it appears that someone just wanted him out of the way for a while.  That person paid Jenkins.  Doc wonders why they just didn't kill Anderson, after all, they did kill five men in Nevada?  It appears that they just want to drive Anderson off.  Jack asks what it would mean for Anderson to be unavailable?  Apparently this would cause the mine stock to go down so that someone could buy up a controlling interest and take over the mine.

Anderson is worried about Lita, so Jack sends Reggie to tell them that the men are talking and to avoid telling them about the attack on Anderson.  Doc feels he should talk to the girls and goes on about "wimmin" until he begins to worry Anderson.  Jack reassures Anderson that Doc is "harmless."  Doc is insulted.

They treat Anderson's cuts and help him to sit up.  Reggie returns and says that Lita is demanding to see her father.  Anderson sends Reggie to tell her that he won't see her until tomorrow, he is too busy making plans.  He decides that he will take the women by ship to England while the boys go to Nevada to solve the mystery.  Anderson will provide them with a plane and all the supplies that they need.

Episode 35  -  March 3, 1939        7 pm

The boys are at the Burbank Airport.  The Anderson party has taken a boat to England.  They are aboard the plane checking it over.  They take a hand truck to the hanger to load up the supplies.  They check them off.  Rifles, pistols, food, six sets of bedding, tents, everything they could possibly need.  Doc and Reggie raise a fuss about all this stuff.  They push the load to the plane and take it aboard.  Doc is convinced that Jack is holding out on them.

They finish loading and Jack sends Doc and Reggie to the hanger to return the cart.  Doc moons over Marcia.  Jack arrives and tells them to come on, they are ready to take off.  They climb in and Doc is convinced that they have passengers.  Jack just tells him to shut up.

Episode 36  -  March 6, 1939        7 pm

Doc is enraged about being held out on, but Jack just fires up the engines and drowns him out.

They take off and Doc raves on.  Jack gets them on their flight path, starts a climb and tells Doc to go see who the passenger are.  Reggie takes the controls and Doc leaves.  Reggie is not curious as he is sure the passengers are some new miners for the mine.  Jack tells him he is wrong.  They level off at 11,000 feet and Doc returns.  He tells Reggie that the Anderson party is aboard!

Boarding the ship was a trick to fool anyone watching.  It was three detectives in veils and high collars, impersonating the Anderson party.  Doc is ecstatic with Marcia along.  Jack tells them that the plan is to take the Anderson party to a hunting lodge about 20 miles from the mine and leave them there while they investigate.  The lodge has a dirt strip so they can land and it will be lighted by a caretaker at midnight.  Jack first tells them that they are going to hike to the mine.  Doc freaks out over this, so Jack admits that they are going to take horses.  They discuss their enemy.

Episode 37  -  March 7, 1939        12 am

It is a moonlit night and the aircraft carrying our adventurers is getting close to the lodge.  Jack sends for Anderson to help them pick out the landmarks.  The caretaker is supposed to light flares.  Anderson arrives in the cockpit and Jack asks him about the terrain.  It is a hilly area, with Bluebeard Mountain about 10 miles to the north.  The lodge is at an altitude of 2,000 feet.  The Arrow River runs about 100 yards from the lodge.

Jack drops the plane lower and they see the mountain, but no flares.  Jack follows the river.  He thinks he can land in the moonlight.  Anderson wants to return to Burbank.  Reggie tells him there will be no problem.  They send Anderson back to the women with a green face.  They discuss the landing and head in.

They just miss the tops of the trees, get down and run into something.  A large stump has torn a wing off the plane.  It was rough but they are down.  They pull Reggie free and go to the cabin where they find Lita knocked out and Marcia missing.  She is found under some of the baggage.  When they landed she hid.

Jack goes to check and see if the lodge is open and if he can find the caretaker.  Reggie checks and finds that someone has left a pine stump on the field, an odd place.  They hear a mountain lion scream.

Episode 38  -  March 8, 1939        2 am

The party has been unable to find the caretaker and has had to break into the lodge.  Lita has been put to bed.  Jack explains that this is a hunting lodge with ten bedrooms, a huge fireplace, a 12 foot table for meals in front of it and a kitchen.

Reggie is sent to get wood for the fire.  They hear the cougar screaming.  Reggie returns with the wood.  He says the cat sounded really close.  They hear it again.  Doc wishes for a gun but they are all in the plane.  Jack says go ahead and get one, but Doc is unwilling.  Doc offers to take the bedrolls upstairs.  Jack sees this as a ploy to see Marcia, but tells Doc that the girls are all locked in up there.

They discuss the situation they are in.  Jack thinks they have fallen into a trap, and they are right where their enemy wants them.  The cougar screams again and they hear a horse whinny.  They remove the bars on the door and go out and listen.  All they hear is owls.  Then they hear another whinny.  Jack remembers that there must be a barn for their horses.  They decide to deal with them in the morning and lock up.

They hear Marcia scream upstairs.  They charge up and find her in the hall.  She tells them that she saw a horrible face at her window.  It had big green eyes and hair all over it.  She thought it was laughing at her.  Could it be a lunatic?

Episode 39  -  March 9, 1939        7 am

It is morning and Doc and Reggie are out on the porch enjoying the view.  They review the events of the night and wonder whether Marcia really saw a face.  They hear a whinny and realize that they need to go and care for the horses.Doc wants to go and catch them some fish for breakfast.  However, Jack comes out and says that they need to unload the plane first.

On arriving at the dirt strip they find that the stump was really to the side of the strip but they couldn't see it in the dark.  They unload and Jack details Reggie to care for the horses while he and Doc explore the area.  They need to find the caretaker.  They unload the guns and open the box.  They find four rifles, pistols, fishing gear and bear traps.

They hear Lita calling and the Anderson party arrives.  It is decided that Marcia will go and help Doc fish.  Anderson worries about possible dangers so Doc takes a pistol.  They set off and Doc tries to romance Marcia.  She fends him off.  Doc hears something behind them and pulls Marcia behind a big tree.

Episode 40  -  March 10, 1939        8 am

Doc looks out to try to see who is sneaking up on them, but no one is visible.  He tells Marcia that when a couple are in danger that the women should get real friendly with the man like in the movies.  Marcia isn't having any.  She thinks  Doc has made up someone following them to scare her.  She starts out of hiding and there is a rifle shot.

She jumps back to safety.  Doc says he saw a rifle barrel sticking around another big pine, and goes on about what fun this is.  Marcia thinks he is crazy.  He says danger is fun.  She can't believe getting shot at can be fun.  He says misses don't count.  Doc sees it all as a game.  The whole thing is making Marcia sick to her stomach.  Doc says not to worry as they won't be there long, because Reggie and Jack will have heard the shot and will come to investigate.

Doc fires his pistol as a signal, two quick shots and one after a delay.  Shortly they hear Jack call.  Doc answers and says there is a man with a rifle behind the other tall pine.  Reggie calls and says there is no one there.  Jack comes up and says the man has outsmarted Doc.  He orders them back to the lodge.  Doc fusses about not getting to fish.  Reggie joins them and says that mountain fighting is a lot different from city fighting.

Doc, tagging along behind calls to them.  He has found a man's coat that is all ripped up and  bloody.  Could it be the caretakers'?

Episode 41  -  March 13, 1939        9 am

The group is in the lodge before a roaring fire.  Jack calls a council of war.

Anderson would like to get the girls out.  Jack agrees that it was a mistake to bring them.  "Girls are a burden."  They are 75 miles from the nearest town and 50 miles from the highway.  There are only pack trails in between.  He feels that they couldn't take the horses out as they would be easily shot down from ambush.  Anderson says they should phone for help and get an aircraft in to take them out.  It dawns on them that there is a phone there, in the kitchen.  Anderson goes to check and returns to report that the phone is dead, apparently the wires have been cut.

Jack maintains that this proves that Anderson's foes know that he is here and that this is a trap.  Doc, optimistic as ever, says that they aren't hurt yet so they should make the best of it.  He starts in about girls.  Jack says to stow it so they can get down to business.  He proposes some rules so that they can protect themselves.

First  they need to keep the lodge barred and bolted at all times as they are fairly safe inside.  If they leave it needs to be two men together, both armed.  They must leave periodically to feed the horses, get wood, and scout around.  Jack says they need to cut down the tree next to Marcia's window as it is the only one near the house.  Reggie and Doc are assigned to do it.  Reggie will chop and Doc will guard him.

Jack thinks they should wait for the enemy to come to them.  He expects that the enemy will try to lure them out or make a full assault on the lodge.  Anderson is worried about the cougars, because of the coat that they found.  Jack says that they will fight them if they see them.

Episode 42  -  March 14, 1939        10 am

Reggie is busy chopping down the tree outside the lodge.  Doc, lazy as ever, refuses to help and can only criticize.  They notice some claw marks on the trunk, apparently indicating where a cougar climbed.  Reggie works away until the tree falls.

They return to the lodge and Jack lets them in.  Doc maintains that "they" cut down the tree.  Reggie chopped and he gave advice.  Lita gives Doc a hard time about his laziness.  Reggie is welcomed to take a hot shower after his labors and Doc is welcomed to forget it.  Marcia arrives and gets romanced some more by Doc.  She tells him off and orders him not to call her "honey," and leaves.

Anderson arrives and tells them that he has checked the supplies in the basement and that they are well fixed.  Doc tells the party about the claw marks on the tree outside.  They discuss the cougar and the coat that they found and wonder about the caretaker.

Marcia returns to tell them that there is a man outside.  Jack says grab your guns!

Episode 43  -  March 15, 1939        10 am

The man comes up on the porch, sits down and takes off his shoe.  Jack and Doc decide that he isn't dangerous.  He takes a rock out of his shoe, replaces it and comes to the door.  He pounds and calls out, "Hi, Stoney!"...."Hi, Stoney Johnson, let me in."

Jack  calls through the door and asks him his name.  It is "Hard-Pan Luke."  They let him in.  He wants to know where Stoney is.  They don't know who Stoney is, but he tells them that is the caretaker.

Introductions are made.  They find that Luke is a prospector.  He says he stopped by with Belzebub to say howdy to Stoney.  It turns out that Belzebub is his burro.  He hassles Doc about his "funny" speech, and they quarrel.  Jack maintains that Stoney isn't around and wants to know what Luke is going to do.  Luke says he will sleep outside and hang around for a few days.  He also makes some remarks about Stoney being gone.  Doc takes umbrage.

Anderson arrives and is introduced by Jack as "Stevenson."  The girls remain hidden.  Stevenson (Anderson) decides to show Luke the coat and see if he can identify it as the caretakers.  He goes off to get it.  They ask Luke if mountain lions bother him?  Luke calls them "painters" and says they get along "handsome."  He says they are cowards and wouldn't attack men.  He also tells them that one got a deer near there.  They ask him about the miners who were killed and he just scoffs.  Sure doesn't think it was done by cougars.

Anderson arrives with the coat and Luke says it was Stoney's.  He pulls a gun and tells them, "Up with your hands!"

Episode 44  -  March 16, 1939        11 am

Luke is holding a gun on Jack, Doc and Anderson.  Doc goads Luke, but he just tells him to shut-up or he'll shoot his face out.  Luke tells them he knows this is Anderson because friends have told him he is here.  He wants to know what they have done with Stoney?

Jack tries to reason with Luke and finally gets him to pocket his gun.  Jack goes through an analytic process regarding Stoney.  Stoney's coat appears to have been savaged by an  animal.  Five men have been killed at the mine by an "animal."  Therefore, the five and Stoney must have been killed by the same man.

Out comes Luke's gun again.  He says that everyone knows that Anderson killed those five men so he must have killed Stoney too!  Jack tries to reason with Luke further.  Luke says Anderson killed the men because he doesn't want the mine to open.  Because there is no gold in it!  If it doesn't open maybe Anderson can keep the stockholders quiet while he sells his stock.

Jack tries to convince Luke that this is just a story put out by Anderson's enemies to cover their tracks.  Doc hassles Luke some more, but Jack finally gets him to put his gun away again.

Episode 45  -  March 17, 1939        9 pm

It is evening and we find Doc, Reggie and Luke talking in the living room of the lodge.  Luke is convinced both Doc and Reggie are foreigners because of their accents.  Jack and Anderson arrive.  Luke tells them he won't spend the night with them.  He hasn't slept in a house for 20 years and isn't planning to start now.  Doc gives him a hard time and he draws on them again.

Lita and Marcia arrive.  Luke is disgusted.  He never could stand women.  It turns out he was married 30 years ago, for one night.  He dug himself a poke of gold and came to town.  He saw a girl and asked her right out to marry him.  He couldn't remember her name.  He rented a house for them, put her in it and went off to get drunk with the boys.  When he staggered home in the morning, she had sold his clothes and everything else that wasn't nailed down and run off with his poke.  He hasn't trusted women since.

Jack tries to make Luke a proposition.  They want to hire him as a guide to take them to the mine at night.  Luke isn't interested.  He doesn't like women and they are planning to take them along.  Lita tells him off and calls him "a shrimp."  That brings out Luke's pistol again.  No woman is going to call him a shrimp.  Jack finally calms him down.

They hear a cougar scream.  Luke wants to go out and take a shot at it.  He hates painters worse than women.  They give him a rifle and let him out.  He tells them he will be back in ten minutes.  They discuss Luke.  Anderson thinks he is a spy for the enemy.  Jack doesn't think so.  Suddenly they hear Luke yell for help and a cougar screams.

Episode 46  -  March 20, 1939        9 pm

Jack, Doc and Reggie grab their guns and go out to help Luke.  Anderson is convinced that they are walking into a trap.  They go out and he bars the door behind them.  They hear the cougar, still screaming.  They search and find Luke, hurt but not dead.  The cougar screams again.  Doc admits to being scared of the cat and the others tease him.

They carry Luke back to the lodge and Anderson lets him in.  Inside, they check Luke and find he has been clawed in the same way as Anderson and Marcia.  He also has a big bump on his head.  It  is clear that no cougar did that.  They get the first aid kit and Jack treats Luke wounds.  He also sends Anderson to calm the girls.  Jack works on Luke and he comes around.  At first he thinks they are killing him.  Jack calms him.  Luke says he didn't see who hit or scratched him.  Someone held his arms from behind, clawed him and then hit him over the head with something.

Suddenly there is a pounding at the door.  "Open in the name of the law!"  Jack answers and the man tells him, "I have a warrant for the arrest of Franklyn Anderson on a charge of murder."

Episode 47  -  March 21, 1939        9 pm

The Sheriff is at their door and they argue with him through it.  As they prepare to let him in they notice that Luke has disappeared.  They decide not to mention him.

They let the Sheriff in and talk with him.  Jack wants to know how he knew Anderson was here?  The Sheriff isn't saying.  He also asks who Anderson is supposed to have killed.  The answer is the five men at the mine.  And, the Sheriff says that they have evidence.  He demands that they give him Anderson at once or they will be in big trouble.

Doc gives the Sheriff a big argument, but Jack tells him to shut up and goes for Anderson.  Doc and Reggie ask the Sheriff how he got here.  He says he took a car to the mine and a horse the rest of the way.  It took him eight hours on the horse.  Jack arrives with Anderson and the women.  The Sheriff is shocked and says they can't go with him.  Jack says he and the boys are leaving, they don't want to be messed up in a murder charge, so the Sheriff will just have to take the women too.  The Sheriff puts cuffs on Anderson and Jack points them toward the stable where they can get horses for the women.  They leave.

During all this Doc has been having a fit, while Jack keeps telling him to shut up.  When they are gone he tells Doc and Reggie that it is a frame-up.  He and Anderson have planned it.  They don't think the man is a real sheriff, but one of the enemy.  They plan to follow them to the enemy camp.  The girls were sent to make them easy to follow and because they couldn't leave them here alone.  What about Luke?  They wonder what has become of him?

Episode 48  -  March 22, 1939        10 pm

The trio is waiting for the Anderson party and the Sheriff to leave the stable.  They prepare themselves with guns and food supplies.  Suddenly Luke appears from upstairs.  He admits he was hiding under a bed so he wouldn't embarrass the Sheriff.  He says if they met, they are enemies and he would just have to draw and shoot him down.

Jack tells Luke his theory about the Sheriff, but Luke verifies that it was Sheriff Mason, who has been the Sheriff for ten years in these parts.  Jack is puzzled by this as it doesn't fit his theory.  He was planning to follow the party to the enemy hideout and clean out the whole bunch.  Luke says this will be no problem and that they can follow easier on foot then on horses.  Horses will just be a nuisance.  Jack asks Luke if he will be willing to scout for them?  Luke finally agrees.  Jack still wants to trail them as he has a hunch.

They hear a horse whinny and see the party is off.  They let them get a good lead.  They set off in pursuit through the forest to the sound of owls calling.

Episode 49  -  March 23, 1939        11 pm

The trio and Luke are on the trail of the Sheriff and the Anderson party.  Luke tells them how dangerous the trail is.  He says the girls will be safe on the horses, because horses will avoid danger.

They talk about the whole situation.  They wonder who swore out the warrant?  They tell Luke the whole story of the Anderson kidnapping and the events in the hotel in Los Angeles.  They reach the top of the trail and see lights below.  The Sheriff is apparently having trouble with his charges.  Luke tells them that they can't get too close or the horses will sense them and the Sheriff will know they are trailing them.  They ask Luke why he is really avoiding the Sheriff.  He's not talking.  They hear coyotes howling.  Then they hear one of the horses whinny.  Luke thinks the horse has smelled another horse.

Rifle shots ring out in the night.  Then pistol shots.  The lights below have gone out.  They charge down the trail and start a small landslide.  Jack is only saved by Reggie grabbing him.  Luke catches up and tells them they are crazy.  They follow him more carefully.  They close in and hear a horse whinny.  They risk a flashlight and find a dead horse and then a second.  Next they find the Sheriff lying in the trail, shot.

Episode 50  -  March 24, 1939        11 pm

They find the Sheriff has been wounded by not mortally.  The bullet has passed through his shoulder.  Jack applies first aid.  The Sheriff regains consciousness and threatens them.  Luke wants to get out of there.  Jack attempts to convince the Sheriff that they didn't shoot him.

The Sheriff then tells them that Pete Carson swore out the warrant.  Luke says, "Not old Jasper Carson's kid?"  The Sheriff hears him and calls him over.  He says he has been looking for Luke for a long time.  Jack asks Luke where Carson lives.  Luke tells him it is up in the mountains about 4-5 miles away.  Jack explains that Carson has used the Sheriff to get Anderson out of the lodge for him.  Apparently Carson wants to keep the mine from being opened.

Jack details Reggie to take the Sheriff back to the lodge.  Then he talks to the Sheriff alone for a moment, while Doc keeps Luke company.  Luke feels he is being plotted against and Doc is forced to sock him before he can draw on them again.  In private, the Sheriff tells Jack that Luke can be trusted.  He is wanted for holdups.  Not robbery just holdups.  As they have found out, when somebody says something that he doesn't like he draws on them.  He has done this in every bar in the area.

After this discussion of Luke, Reggie loads the Sheriff onto a horse and they head for the lodge.  Jack and Doc set off for Carson's place with Luke.  Luke is really miffed at the secret talk, so he sets a really hard pace for the boys.  They reach Carson's at 2 am.  Lights show through the trees.

They discuss their plan of attack.  Creeping closer they spot a guard with a rifle.  Jack and Doc go to take him out.  Jack steps out and asks for a place to stay while Doc sneaks up behind him.  Doc sticks a gun in his back and Jack knocks him out.  They tie up the guard and have just hidden him when someone comes out of the cabin.

Episode 51  -  March 27, 1939        2 am

Jack and Doc have just disposed of the guard when two men come out onto the front porch and begin talking.  One calls to "Richards," apparently the guard, and when there is no answer, begin looking for him.  Jack groans to lure them.  When they get close enough the boys jump out and deck them.  Hard Pan Luke arrives and admires their work.

They tie up the pair and hide them with the other man, using their own belts, suspenders and torn-up shirts.  Luke recognizes the first man Richards and Spud from the later pair.  They used to work at the mine before it shut down.  When they light a match they discover that the third man is Stoney Johnson, the caretaker of the lodge.  Luke says that this changes things for him.  Stoney is his friend and has grub-staked him on several occasions.  Jack says they are going to take him in so Luke better give them his word he wont interfere and get out.  Luke refuses, he wants to take Stoney and high-tail it over the mountains.  Jack says he wont agree to that and that they will have to tie Luke up.  Naturally Luke draws on them.

They jump him but his gun goes off.  Luke is knocked out and they tie him up.  They see the cabin door open, in response to the shot, but no one comes out.  They wonder how many more are inside.  They dump the four tied men in an old stump hole and sneak up on the cabin.  Inside they see three men.  One looks like a banker.

Suddenly they hear a man behind them tell them, "Hands up!"  It is Carson and he says he ought to shoot them down where they stand.  Doc challenges him to go right ahead.  Carson responds, "I don't want to, because my pet cougar is hungry and he likes to kill his own meat!"

Episode 52  -  March 28, 1939        3 am

Carson has the boys covered and marches them into the cabin.  Inside he sends two of his men, Turner and Foster, to find his other men.  The banker type is addressed as Mr. Hammond.  Carson disarms them and tells them to sit at the table with their hands on it.  He asks them who they are.  Jack makes the introductions.

Doc spots a cougar skin on the wall and he kids Carson about putting the clawed legs on his arms.  Carson ignores him and asks them why are they here.  Jack tells them they are looking for the Anderson party, and that they found the Sheriff wounded, but not dead.  He says, "The game is up."  He spots Hammond as a weak link and tries to frighten him.  Hammond tells Carson that he needs to get out of there.  Carson is still trying to figure out where the boys fit in and asks them how they happened to be so close to the Sheriff, when he was shot.  Jack tells him that Anderson hired them to find out what was going on at the mine.  This spooks Hammond further.  Carson says to go on, and Jack tells them that they followed the Sheriff.  It is plain to him that Hammond is behind the attempt to get Anderson's mine, with Carson doing the dirty work.  Hammond can't figure out why the boys can sit there and tell them this and not be worried.  Doc makes it clear that, "We ain't!"  Jack says that the first three men and the two just sent out have been captured by now.

Hammond is convinced by the bluff that they are trapped.  Carson orders the unwilling Hammond to hold a gun on the boys while he goes out to check.  Jack and Doc work on Hammond and pull the "Look at that!" trick.  Hammond falls for it and they knock him out and get his gun.  They get ready for Carson and his men to return.

They hear footsteps on the porch and suddenly they hear Luke call, "Hey in there, put em up!"  Jack calls out and asks Luke if he is alone.  He is and they pull him in quickly.  Jack asks him if he saw Carson and his men out there?  The answer was, "Nope."

Episode 53  -  March 29, 1939        3 am

Hard Pan Luke tells the boys that he managed to get himself untied and released Stoney as well.  He told him to high-tail it.  Then Luke came to help them because he had paid his debt to Stoney.  They wonder where Carson has gone.  Now they wonder where the Anderson party is being held.  They decide, for the moment, it is better to wait there and let the action come to them.

Luke hassles Doc about tearing up his shirt to tie him up.  He ends up drawing on Doc again.  In the meantime Jack has found a trap door in the floor.  He opens it and they get a nose full of a bad smell coming up the stairs.  Luke says that's a painter smell.  They hear Lita call and a cougar screams.  Lita tells them not to come down because a cougar is chained right at the foot of the stairs.  Luke volunteers to go down and shoot the cougar.  He descends, there is a shot and Luke calls up that he got him, right between the eyes.

The boys follow and call to Lita.  They find the Anderson party in a tunnel, all bound and gagged except Lita.  She has chewed through her gag.  They cut them loose and head for the stairs and fresh air.  Suddenly Doc hears sounds from above.

Episode 54  -  March 30, 1939        3 am

Jack berates himself for letting them get trapped in the cellar.  He sends the Anderson party back down the tunnel.  Jack thinks if they go up they will get picked off one at a time.  Why  not try the tunnel?  Luke thinks that will be guarded as well.

Doc wants to charge the stairs and as they are trying to make up their minds, they hear there pal Reggie call from above!

They rush up to greet him.  Anderson and the girls follow.  Reggie is here because the Sheriff insisted on following them.  The Sheriff is outside on the horse.  Jack sends Luke out to look after him.  Luke returns to tell them that the Sheriff has passed out.  They bring him in and put him on a bed.  Marcia offers to take care of him.  Anderson recognizes the unconscious Hammond.  He tells them, "he is one of the biggest mining brokers in the West!"  He is also part owner of the lodge.  In fact, he gave Anderson permission to use it.

Jack finds this interesting.  Reggie then fills them in on his adventures.  As they were following the party to Carson's cabin they heard horses.  They hid off the trail and were able to see Carson and his men coming.  The Sheriff ordered them to halt and instead they opened fire.  Reggie and the Sheriff had them in a cross-fire and shot them all.  They couldn't figure out why Carson and his men were there.  Jack explains that they were trying to escape, while Hammond held a gun on them.  Hammond  was behind the whole plot and now everything fits.  Anderson told them that Hammond offered him the use of the lodge after he told him that he wanted to drop out of site for a while.  They played right into Hammond's hands.

Doc shows the girls the cougar skin "arms" on the wall.  Suddenly Hammond jumps up, points a gun at Lita and threatens them.  There is a shot, a scream and a body falls.

Episode 55  -  March 31, 1939        4 am

A gun has fired, Lita has fallen to the floor and Hammond runs out the door of the cabin.  Jack sends Reggie and Luke after Hammond.  They rush to Lita, but find she has only fainted.  Marcia has also fainted.  They find a pistol under her, the barrel still warm.  Reggie comes back to tell them that Hammond is dead.  He was shot by Marcia, who then fainted, and was only able to stagger a few feet before he collapsed.  Apparently Marcia slipped the Sheriffs gun out of his holster and shot Hammond.

It is morning and Doc and Luke are enjoying the dawn.  They banter and Reggie arrives after doing some checking for the Sheriff.  Anderson and Jack are inside talking to the Sheriff.  Reggie tells them that Anderson has called Reno and a plane is coming to pick them all up.  Luke plans to do a little prospecting.  Jack calls them to come in.  The Sheriff is looking much better.  Reggie has done his leg work for him.  Doc wonders how the five men at the mine were killed.  Anderson tells him that Carson's cougar did it.  The men were knocked out and thrown to the cougar.  With everything wrapped up the party is about ready to go to the lodge to catch the plane.  Doc asks the Sheriff to excuse Luke's "holdups."  They call Luke in to see the Sheriff.  Doc has to carry Luke in to get him there.  Naturally, Luke draws on them.

The Sheriff tells Luke, in no uncertain terms, to put it up.  He talks to Luke, tells him he has been after him for quite a while and that Doc has asked him to drop the charges.  Luke promises that he will pin his gun in his pants so he wont draw on anyone else.  The Sheriff and he shake on that.

The Sheriff then makes them a proposition.  A little job on the Nevada-California border, if they are looking for excitement.  They are curious.  The Sheriff tells them that one of the biggest gaming houses is having trouble.  They don't want publicity, so they haven't called in the police yet.  The Sheriff knows the owner.  Are they game?  The boys tell him this is right up their alley.  When they get to Reno they are to see Gregory Marks, but they need to be cautious.  There is real danger involved!

Notes:  It would be interesting to know how these scripts were used.  Those in the collection are  filled with errors and pencil corrections.  Possibly Morse gave this original to a typist to make copies for all the actors.  Corrections then could have been made at the rehearsal, assuming there was one.  It would be really tough to do on the fly.  The sound effects directions are also included and they are fascinating.  In one case Morse directs that a real branch be brought in to produce the sound.  On occasion recorded sounds are used.