The Man on the Lam

During a rainy night, a man is trying to escape from prison. Sirens go off and search lights sweep the ground. He climbs a wall as he's being fired on by the guards, but he manages to leap over without being shot. Outside the prison, guards and dogs have begun tracking him. He runs into a swamp and is able to lose the dogs.

Later, tired and dirty, he comes upon a small secluded house. He goes inside and calls out for anyone. A small blind girl, Delicia, is the only one home. The escaped convict, Lawson Lamster, picks the girl up and hugs her. Though the girl isn't old enough to realize it, it's clear that Lamster must be her father since he's so overjoyed to see and hold her. He asks how she became blind and is told that she had a fever that caused her to lose her eyesight. Lamster is heartbroken and then asks what she remembers about her father. Nothing she says, but her mother told her he died and was the nicest man in the entire world. He hugs his daughter tightly again. [The fact that the mother and daughter never visit him in prison would seem to say that the description of ``nicest man'' is more for Delicia's peace of mind than the truth.] Delicia, whose mother is working to get money to cure her blindness, invites the man to stay till the storm ends.

It's a beautiful sunny day after the storm. In front of the house, The Mach Five pulls up. Speed has brought Spritle to see Delicia, his best friend. Lamster sees the car and walks over to Speed. He pulls a gun on him and says that he needs him to drive him somewhere. Speed and Spritle don't let on to Delicia what's going on, but say they have to go somewhere. Spritle gets in the trunk, and Chim-Chim stays behind with Delicia. Before starting off, Speed looks at a map. Unseen by Lamster, he tears off a page and drops it on the ground as clue to where they are headed. No sooner does the Mach Five pull out, though, than Chim-Chim spots the paper -- and eats it!

During the drive, Lamster uses the handle of his gun to smash the Mach Five radio. He apologizes but says he doesn't want Speed warning the police. While Lamster is the perfectly loving father to his daughter, he undoubtedly has a criminal mind.

At the Racer home, Trixie answers the front door to find Delicia and Chim-Chim on the front step. Delicia says Chim-Chim said they should come back and tell them about what happened. After going to the police, Inspector Detector tells them that they found the fingerprints of an escaped convict, Lawson Lamster, at the house. They don't seem to know that he's Delicia's father. Pops has somehow deduced that they're heading toward Old Baldy Mountain.

And the plot thickens... From across the street, Mr. Stencher is using binoculars to watch the goings on in the inspector's office. He's pleased when he can see that they're onto something, so he turns on his police scanner. Orders are being radioed that Lamster is headed towards Old Baldy Mountain and all units are to converge there. Stencher gives some orders of his own to his men. He tells Cracker, Knuckles and Finger to get Lamster first or they won't be able to get the $100,000.

In the Mach Five, Lamster tells Speed that they're going to money hidden in the mountains. About then, though, the cops have caught up and are beginning to chase Speed, Lamster and Spritle. As more and more police cars join the chase, Stencher's men have also caught up. One truck blocks the way, another spills oil on the road, and still another spills dirt. The capping deception is when a fork in the road is blocked in one direction, so Speed goes the other. Once past, the bad guys move the barricades to the side Speed took, and the police take the other, wrong, way.

With the police headed the wrong, Stencher's guys can concentrate all their effort on the Mach Five. When Speed and Lamster pull into an abandoned depot of some sort, Stencher's guys block the way in two trucks and get out brandishing guns. They disarm Lamster and tie him and Speed up. They're put in the back of one fo the trucks and driven further up toward Old Baldy Mountain.

On Old Baldy, Stencher has Schlepper get Lamster out. Alone, Speed opens the trunk (the Mach Five is also in tractor trailer) and lets Spritle out, who unties Speed. Outside, Lamster is using binoculars to look across a cliff to find where the money is hidden. There is a dam nearby. Lamster points out where he says the money is. While Stencher and his men are looking, Lamster backs away, runs to the truck, and steals the Mach Five as Speed is still untying himself.

Once untied, Speed steals one of the bad guys' trucks, while they follow in three red cars. Speed gets a blowout, and the truck blocks the bad guys. They get out to look around and see what's up.

Lamster has now arrived in an Old West style ghost town and begins digging in the middle of the main street. He unearths a box, and opens it to find it full of the cash, over $100,000, he and Stencher stole in the bank robbery that sent Lamster to prison. Speed shows up and begins fighting with Lamster, Before much happens, Stencher and his men show up and begin shooting at them. Spritle hasn't been spotted by the bad guys, and is able to shoot a bad guy with his slingshot. In the confusion, Speed is able to grab a rifle and he, Lamster and Spritle run into an old building, while Stencher and company run into another across the street.

During the ensuing shootout, two bad guys are shot, but Lamster has snuck out to get the cash. Stencher is one step ahead and has set fire to the old town to burn his three rivals out of their hiding place. It works, and Stencher and Lamster are soon fighting in the midst of the blaze over the briefcase of money.

Speed takes advantage of the moment, and he and Spritle leap into the Mach Five but are surrounded by fire. The fire soon engulfs more of the town and when the stolen money is burnt as well, Stencher cries and Speed rescues the badly beaten Lamster.

The Mach Five races through the huge fire. The car spins out a few times, but they manage to get free and drive higher up the mountain. Lamster thanks Speed and wonders why Speed would that. Our hero says he believes every life is worth saving. Mr. Lamster is badly injured and knows it. If he dies, he says, he'd like his eyes given to his little daughter. He barely finishes uttering his reqest when he dies.

In the hospital, Delicia opens her eyes and can see who's in the room. She comments on how pretty Trixie -- and how funny looking Spritle is! When she asks what's become of the nice man in the storm, Trixie says, ``He said to look at the sky once each day and think of him. He'll know.''