Mistreated Boy

Originally Aired: March 6, 1939 The Lone Ranger #953, "Mistreated Boy," the masked rider and Tonto discover a desperate young runaway named Jerry near a widow's cottage in Hillsborough. The frightened boy refuses to reveal his last name or explain why he's alone, wearing worn-through shoes and a thin coat, and hasn't eaten in two days. When Mrs. Martin helps remove Jerry's muddy coat, they discover horrifying whip marks across his back. The traumatized child remains too terrified to identify his abuser, insisting only that if he tells what he knows, "he'd hit me again." Meanwhile, the source of Jerry's terror becomes clear. A hard-faced man named King and his rough cohands, Abe and Dale, are tracking the boy across Texas. King is Jerry's uncle and guardian, controlling the boy's ranch until he comes of age. They're desperate to recapture Jerry before he reveals what he witnessed: King and his men murdering Jerry's father by throwing him off a cliff. King used his bullwhip to force Jerry's silence, but now the boy has escaped, and King knows that as long as Jerry remains free, it's "like having a loaded gun pointed at your head."