What if in the radio episode bridge explosion, after Tonto went into town and discovered the Lone Ranger had been caught up in the blast Tonto got back into town and the Lone Ranger wasn't there like he was in the episode? Oh and since I don't really know what medicine and traveling time was like in that time period I am going to be very inaccurate so don't go all historical nazi on me, if I am blatantly wrong than I am blatantly wrong. I am also going to fudge the timeline of a few episodes. Oh and asterisks are Native American language

"White friend gone, Tonto find out who kill white friend and then even if Tonto never succeed completely Tonto complete white friend's mission"

Tonto would go back into town and discover who caused the bridge to collapse and with the sheriff's help (once the sheriff actually listened to him) got the ones who caused the bridge to explode and apparently kill the Lone Ranger in jail. Meanwhile the Lone Ranger wasn't dead like Tonto and the rest of the town thought, instead he was knocked unconscious and was only alive thanks to Silver. The river was fast enough that it took Silver some time to get back onto solid ground, and fortunately where he got back onto land was very close to an Army patrol, and all but three of the men on patrol recognized Silver and the Lone Ranger. Three members of the patrol quickly gets back to base where the doctor does what he can for the Lone Ranger, and the commander of the base sends soldiers out in civilian clothes to try and find out what happened to Tonto knowing that Tonto and the Lone Ranger would never be separated except at need for a plan or if something happened to one of them

"Doc, how's the Lone Ranger?"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid that right now it doesn't look good, he's taken to fever, if he lasts the night I might be able to upgrade his condition but..."

"I understand, do what you can for him"

"Of course sir"

A few days later the soldiers returned to give their commanding officer a report

"Tonto is physically okay, but his emotional state is another story"

"What do you mean?"

"We both saw Tonto sir in town, but apparently there's a rumor stating that the Lone Ranger is dead, killed when a bridge exploded, they say he was caught on the bridge when it went down"

"You know that actually explains the condition that he was found in, what did you say when you heard the rumor?"

"Nothing sir, we decided it was best to wait for orders before we decided to reveal the truth, not even Tonto knows about him being here"

"Think Tonto knew and recognized you?"

"How could he sir?, we only just joined a few months ago, the only reason we knew it was Tonto was because we heard the sheriff call him by name"

"That's good to hear, besides...until we know either way it's best that Tonto doesn't know that the Lone Ranger survived that explosion"

"No change then sir?"

"None, he's still burning with fever, and the head wound isn't making things any easier"

"Sir there is one more thing, apparently Tonto went into the town after the bridge exploded, before the criminals were caught and identified the Lone Ranger's mask and yet..."

"That's something we'll have to ask him if he survives"

What the soldiers were unaware of was the fact that what had been discovered by the town's people and identified by Tonto as his friend's mask was actually one of the Lone Ranger's spare masks that Tonto was aware of but couldn't tell different from his main mask. The Lone Ranger had planned on leaving the mask behind and escaping the explosion with the help of Silver, unfortunately things conspired against the Lone Ranger and his timing was off just enough to actually be caught in the explosion right after leaving the spare mask behind

"I still remember the day we found him"

"I know"

About a week earlier

The soldiers made a camp near the river that day on a month long patrol when suddenly one of the soldiers spoke up

"Sir, horse is coming fast...why it...it looks like the Lone Ranger's horse Silver"

And the horse was indeed Silver, with the Lone Ranger on him unconscious

"There's a rider on him, most likely the Lone Ranger, but...something's wrong"

When Silver got to the soldiers they discovered that the Lone Ranger was unconscious and in desperate need of help

"Johnson, Parker, you're with me, the rest of you break up camp and follow afterwords the three of us need to go on ahead to try and save the Lone Ranger's life. Someone also make sure to bring me my horse"

"Sir, you're not going to try and ride Silver are you?"

"Yes, he's the fastest horse around and the Lone Ranger needs his speed more than ever"

"But no one rides Silver unless the Lone Ranger gives leave, you know that"

"I know, but I've got to try"

But Silver doesn't let the commanding officer ride him, but only because he knew that while the Lone Ranger needed his help to get to the fort quickly he also knew that a message was needed ahead of time and went right up to Johnson

"Sir...is it just me or Silver going to let Johnson ride him?"

"He is...Johnson, take Silver and go ahead of us, let the fort know what's going on"

"Yes sir"

And so the three leave before the rest of the camp, Johnson on Silver who would reach the fort several hours before the other two that left ahead of the rest of the patrol. The commander of the patrol and Parker took turns getting the Lone Ranger to the fort where the doctor did what he could before announcing that it wasn't looking good for the Lone Ranger's life

Present