FIRST SCENE

[NARRATOR]:

A village in the West, seventy-five years ago--a sleepy little village cut off from the rest of the world: a snug little village, satisfied with itself. Three times a week the stage-coach rolls down the unpaved main street, letters come--newspapers--to establish a momentary contact with the distant world beyond the mountains and across the plains. And then the stage-coach rattles away down the unpaved street with the dogs snapping at the wheels--and the little village goes to sleep again.

Now let us look in at a typical family in this village--we'll call them the SHELTONS. It's evening. The lamp is lit, and there is a generous fire snapping in the hearth. In front of this fire the mother is knitting, the rhythmic click of her needles echoing the grandfather clock in the corner. Across from her, her eldest son, ROBERT, looking at the embers as he pulls at a long black cheroot. At the table in the lamplight, his younger brother JOHN, shoulders bent, pencil in hand, brows furrowed in the intensity of his concentration. ROBERT watches him for a moment and then speaks in sharp annoyance--

ROBERT:

John! John!

JOHN:

I--I beg your pardon, Bob--speak to me?

ROBERT:

Yes. Twice. Can't you find anything to do tonight except sit there and figure?

JOHN:

I was only--

ROBERT:

I know what you're doing, and I call it bad taste. Mighty bad taste!

MRS. SHELTON:

Now, boys--boys--

JOHN:

Oh, it's all right, Mother. Let him say what he's going to. Why shouldn't I sit here and work, Bob?

ROBERT:

I simply call it bad taste to sit there in front of mother and me--and figure up Dad's estate--and how much you're going to get!

JOHN:

I was doing nothing of the kind!

MRS. SHELTON:

Please, boys--please! Don't have words tonight--of all nights. You wouldn't want Lawyer Peterson to come in and find you quarrelling, and have the whole village think that--

JOHN:

Why, Mother, I didn't even remember the will was going to be read tonight, until you mentioned Lawyer Peterson. See--there's what I'm doing--look at this paper--

MRS. SHELTON:

Why, sakes alive, John! What are you doing, boy!

ROBERT:

Here, let me see it.

JOHN:

Wait a minute, Bob! I'm showing mother. If you want to look, too, it's all right; but don't grab the paper out of my hand!

MRS. SHELTON:

Why, it's like a map, John.

JOHN:

It is a map, Mother--a map of this county--see, there's Centralville--and here we are this little dot--

MRS. SHELTON:

And what's that line running through it?

JOHN:

That's the railroad, Mother.

MRS. SHELTON:

But there isn't any railroad through here!

ROBERT:

No, and there never will be!

JOHN:

You wait and see, Bob!

ROBERT:

I'll wait till I die. Railroad, indeed! Ha, ha, ha! A stage-coach is good enough for me--and it will be good enough for your children and my children. Railroad! Why, it's all an experiment! Imagine a contraption like that getting through these hills! Throw your paper away and save your time for something sensible.

JOHN:

I know we'll see a railroad through here some day.

MRS. SHELTON:

But, John--if there are no horses hitched to it--how can it go?

JOHN:

By steam--

ROBERT:

Ha, ha! A teakettle on wheels! There's a good one--a teakettle on--

JOHN:

You'll ride in one some day.

ROBERT:

Not if I see it first.

MRS. SHELTON:

But, John, dear, why are you thinking about this railroad? What do you mean to do?

JOHN:

I know one can be built through here--and open up this country--give us a chance to get out our produce--give us a chance to bring in things to make our lives a little richer and fuller. And I want to be one of the men who brings it in here!

ROBERT:

Oh, I thought you were just pipe-dreaming.

JOHN:

Am I? All right.

ROBERT:

Ha, ha, ha! Go round this country and try to raise money on that idea!

JOHN:

I'm going to!

ROBERT:

You must be one of the biggest fools that ever--

MRS. SHELTON:

Now, boys--boys-- [A knock.] Dear me, I know that's Mr. Peterson--and you boys having words. Open the door, Robert.

ROBERT:

Come right in, Mr. Peterson.

LAWYER:

Good evening, Bob. Good evening, Mrs. Shelton. How are you, John? That fire feels good--

JOHN:

Let me take your coat, sir.

LAWYER:

Thank you, thank you, John. And--agh--how's your railroad, John, I heard you talking about at the post-office? Laid many miles of track today?

JOHN:

No, sir. That's coming.

LAWYER:

Ah, John, John, you're just like your father! Poor old Jacob. Always looking for something new--something--ah, well--ah, well. And how are you, dear Mrs. Shelton?

MRS. SHELTON:

The same old rheumatism, but I reckon I'll just have to get used to it.

LAWYER:

Have you ever tried coal-oil rubbed on the joints?

MRS. SHELTON:

There. I'll have to remember that.

LAWYER:

Take a chair, John. Take a chair, Robert. There. Now this is a duty that I never enjoy--but we have no choice in this world. Man proposes--but God disposes. Dear me, I can't get used to not seeing dear old Jacob here with us--ah, well--I guess I'd better get to the business that brought me. Of course, ah--you all know that the debts brought down the estate a little--

MRS. SHELTON:

I know.

LAWYER:

Jacob was a generous man--generous to a fault. And now--ah--let me see. [Crackle of paper.] My last will and testament. Ah, John, can you move the lamp a little closer? Thank you. "I, Jacob Shelton, being of sound mind and body, do, on this twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty--three, hereby declare my final will and testament."

ROBERT:

[impatient] Well, well!

LAWYER:

John, can you turn up that lamp just a squidjen? Thank you. ... Let me see--Yes. I bequeath to my beloved wife Sarah--

MRS. SHELTON:

[sobbing quietly] Oh, Jacob, Jacob--

JOHN:

It's all right, Mother. It's all right.

LAWYER:

"To my beloved wife, Sarah, the house and outbuildings at the corner of Main Street and Tuckanoe Turnpike. Also twenty thousand dollars."

ROBERT:

Twenty thousand to you, Ma?

LAWYER:

Robert, when the estate is settled that will amount to less than ten thousand--aagh--"To my oldest son, Robert, the sum of four thousand dollars, in confidence of his character and good judgment."

ROBERT:

How much will that be when the debts are paid?

LAWYER:

Let me continue my reading, Robert. You can see me in my office on that score--aagh--"And to my son John, in high hopes for his future, and every confidence in his mind and spirit, the tannery at Centralville--"

ROBERT:

Oh, he gets the tannery? I see.

LAWYER:

"And also the sum of four thousand dollars. [Faster.] Whereby, in the presence of Theodore Peterson, I do hereby affix--etc.--etc.--signed--Jacob Shelton." That is all.

ROBERT:

So you get the tannery, John?

LAWYER:

You already have a business, Robert. Your father established you, and he took that into consideration.

ROBERT:

I see.

MRS. SHELTON:

Now, John, you will have to settle down in business, too--

LAWYER:

It's a very good opportunity. The tannery is worth--

JOHN:

How much is it worth?

LAWYER:

Well, I should say at least four thousand dollars--

ROBERT:

You mean John gets about five thousand in all--when the debts are settled--and I get one? Oh, well--it's all right--I wish him luck. There's my hand, John.

JOHN:

Thanks, Bob.

LAWYER:

Now, I hope you boys are both going to make good use of your money? Don't do anything reckless--without consulting me.

ROBERT:

You bet I won't be reckless. I'm going to put that money where nobody can get it--I'm going to bury it where nobody can find it--and then I've got it!

LAWYER:

You can get three percent at the bank, Robert.

ROBERT:

I Wouldn't trust a bank! Ha! I can take care of my own money.

LAWYER:

And what are you going to do, John?

JOHN:

Lawyer Peterson, I know you are not going to approve--

LAWYER:

Well? Let's hear your plan.

JOHN:

I'm going to put every penny I have in trying to get that railroad through here--

MRS. SHELTON:

Oh, John!

LAWYER:

Why, you are mad, boy! You are throwing your money away!

JOHN:

Listen, all of you! I believe in that thing! I know it can be done--I'm going to try to raise money enough in this town to bring that road through here! And I can't talk to people unless I'm willing to risk some of my own money. What's the railroad done for the East--for every place it's reached--you know as well as I do, Mr. Peterson, for you've been as far east as Buffalo--it's trebled the population! It's brought people in contact with new ideas--opened up their lives for them! And it can do the same thing here--

LAWYER:

Now, my boy--your money--

JOHN:

It's not just an affair of money! I believe in it for what it can do--not just for what it can make!

LAWYER:

Now, you just salt that money away in the tannery--and--

JOHN:

I may be wrong, Mr. Peterson, but I'm going to risk that money.

MRS. SHELTON:

John! Your father wasted hundreds, thousands--and what did it bring him? Be guided by him.

JOHN:

Mother, I believe in this thing. I believe in it!

ROBERT:

Go on, John. Lose your money. I'll bury mine where no one can touch it!

JOHN:

And I'll put mine where it can do some work!

MRS. SHELTON:

But, John, I beg you--

JOHN:

Mother, I believe in this thing. I believe in it. Nothing is going to shake my faith in it.

SECOND SCENE

[NARRATOR]:

Now, ROBERT took his money--his thousand dollars and stowed it away for safe keeping--perhaps in a stocking in the chimney, perhaps he buried it in the backyard--but he had it. And JOHN, on fire with his idea of opening up the country in which he lived, talked railroad, ate railroad, slept railroad--until at last a few people began to listen to him--but a very few. In the same village where the SHELTONS lived there was another family, and we are going to peep in on that family tonight. We shall call them the HASTINGS. The house is comfortable, roomy--in the fireplace the logs are blazing, and the father of the family sits with his feet up, reading a week-old newspaper that has arrived that day. A girl sits at a piano and plays--a pretty girl--a vivacious girl--and the father turns, smiles at his wife, who sits across from him--a smile of satisfaction, not only at having such a daughter, but at having such a piano!

[Music. Old--fashioned tune.]

HASTINGS:

Thet's pretty, Margy--that's real pretty. Worth every cent I paid for it, thet there pianee.

MRS. HASTINGS:

Herbert, what's the news? You keep the paper so!

HASTINGS:

Now, let's see--Trouble in Kansas--drat them pesky free-soilers! Railroad--railroad has spoiled the business of the Canal at Harrisburg--well! I want to know--

MRS. HASTINGS:

I don't believe it.

HASTINGS:

Ets in the paper, Mama.

MRS. HASTINGS:

Papers lie jest the same as folks do!

HASTINGS:

Cincinnati--There is talk of putting a line through Red River County--Well! well! Through here!

MRS. HASTINGS:

Through here? Better not. I'll shoo the nasty thing out!

HASTINGS:

O--O--There's a catch. ... "Provided enough stock can be sold throughout Red River County. Otherwise the plan will be abandoned, due--to the difficulty and--and great expense of construction...." They'll never raise that money! Not from me, at least.

MRS. HASTINGS:

Well, I should hope not!

HASTINGS:

Young John Shelton stops me every day on the street and jest about talks my ear off! I never seen a feller so determined--

MRS. HASTINGS:

To lose his money!

MARGY:

What's that you said about John Shelton?

HASTINGS:

I said he was crazy on this railroad idea.

MARGY:

Oh--that! He won't talk about anything else.

HASTINGS:

I hear how his pappy left him the tannery at Centralville.

MRS. HASTINGS:

Well, I reckon he'll have to settle
down to business, now.

[Knock.]

MARGY:

Hush! Both of you!

HASTINGS:

What's the trouble?

MARGY:

That's him knocking--He said he'd be up tonight.

HASTINGS:

Well, if you're going to have a caller, reckon mama and I'll go out in the kitchen, Margy...

[Knocking.]

MARGY:

I'm coming, John.

HASTINGS:

We'd better pull out and give this young fella a chance, Mama.

MRS. HASTINGS:

That tannery can be made a good paying business!

HASTINGS:

Yes, and ef he gits Margy he'll have to make it pay!

MRS. HASTINGS:

You think--he's serious?

HASTINGS:

He means business--now don't you forget it! Oh, good evening, John. Come right in and set down.

MRS. HASTINGS:

Good evening, John.

JOHN:

Good evening.

HASTINGS:

Mama, I've got to go out and fix them shelves in the kitchen--you better come along and show me how you want 'em.

JOHN:

Now, don't let me drive you--

HASTINGS:

Oh, we'll be back--some time. [Fades.]

JOHN:

You heard the news, Margy? Dad left me the tannery.

MARGY:

Oh, I'm so glad, John!

JOHN:

So am I.

MARGY:

Now you can forget that railroad--and talk to me about--

JOHN:

Margy, I haven't forgotten the railroad.

MARGY:

Oh, it's all right to think about it--and talk about it if you must--but now you'll have a business, and--

JOHN:

Margy--I love you. You know that.

MARGY:

Yes, John, I've known it a long while.

JOHN:

Margy, I want you to help me now--help me fight--

MARGY:

You know I'll help you.

JOHN:

I'm going to sell the tannery.

MARGY:

John!

JOHN:

I've got to raise money. If I can get a few more people--raise a few thousand dollars--

MARGY:

John!

JOHN:

I've been to Cincinnati--I've talked, and plead and begged for that road through here--and they see it my way--but I must sell stock for them--I must get people here to believe in the thing! I must!

MARGY:

You mean you are going to sink everything you have in this--wildcat scheme!

JOHN:

Won't you believe in it! Just because we can't see it here in front of us--doesn't mean it can't be done! Let's have faith that--

MARGY:

John Shelton, I thought you loved me.

JOHN:

That's why I can tell you everything.

MARGY:

If you loved me, you'd want to buy a home and marry me--and--and not waste--

JOHN:

Can't you wait, Margy? Or can't you gamble with me?

MARGY:

You put that railroad even before your love for me.

JOHN:

I do not! We're young, Margy. We don't need much. Let's have faith that--

MARGY:

Come back and talk when you can talk sensibly.

JOHN:

Margy, are you sending me away?

MARGY:

If you're going to talk in this crazy way! What's your brother doing with his money? I'll wager his money is safe!

JOHN:

Yes--buried two feet deep, I suppose.

MARGY:

And I advise you to do the same thing--rather than lose everything.

JOHN:

Is that all you can say to me, Margy?

MARGY:

Yes. It is.

JOHN:

I wish you could understand. Perhaps I'm unreasonable. Good-night. [Off.]

MARGY:

Good-n-night. [Cries.]

THIRD SCENE

[NARRATOR]:

Several months later, at ROBERT SHELTON's room. He is sitting in his arm-chair, feet up on the table. It's a good old world, he thinks. And the purring of the cat at his feet seems to say, "You are right, ROBERT. A very good world for men and cats."

ROBERT:

Hullo, Pussuns. Ah--like your back scratched, eh? How's that? Good. I should say so! Come up here--up! That's right. Now, what have you got to say for yourself? Well, Pussuns, seeing how it's you, I'll tell you something: I made twelve dollars today--which, considering, is a business not to be scoffed at. Oh, you are not impressed? I beg your pardon. Well, get down if you must. Ouch! Cut your nails, will you, Puss! [Knock.] Well, who can that be, Puss, thus to break into our solitude? Come in! Oh, it's you, John.

JOHN:

Yes. Hello, Puss.

ROBERT:

You look all tired out, John.

JOHN:

I am tired.

ROBERT:

And worried, brother. Worried! Ah--ha--things look bad--eh?

JOHN:

Well, they could be better.

ROBERT:

Sort of lost heart, have you?

JOHN:

No!

ROBERT:

My, what a jackass you are! First you quarrel with sweet little Margy Hastings, and then you sell the tannery--and then what? What's the latest?

JOHN:

This is rather good fun for you, Bob.

ROBERT:

Well, what's on your mind? I see you want to say something.

JOHN:

Bob, I must have a thousand dollars.

ROBERT:

Ho, ho, ho, ho,--a thousand dollars, Puss. Got it for him?

JOHN:

Bob, you can raise that money--you have it. You have it stowed away. Lend it to me.

ROBERT:

You're crazy. I don't want to lose it.

JOHN:

Bob! It's a chance! It's one in a thousand years!

ROBERT:

To lose money--yes.

JOHN:

If you'll put your money in--I can get other people; but I've got to have support--I can't go it all alone!

ROBERT:

I told you in the first place--

JOHN:

Oh, never mind that! Will you do it? I'll--I'll pay it back--if you want to lend it--

ROBERT:

On what security?

JOHN:

On my word.

ROBERT:

I'm sorry, John. I can't do a thing for you.

JOHN:

Is that final?

ROBERT:

It is.

JOHN:

Very well. Good-night.

ROBERT:

Good-night. [A pause.] Well, Puss, I guess that will stop him--and yet I'm sorry for him, Puss--I'm sorry for the poor fool.

FOURTH SCENE

[NARRATOR]:

A few moments later, in the HASTINGS' home. Father in front of the fire, dozing. MARGY sitting, looking at the dying embers. MR. HASTINGS wakes up with a start--

HASTINGS:

Agh--agh--agh--I must have dozed off.

MARGY:

Yes.

HASTINGS:

Why, Margy, what's the matter, child? You're crying!

MARGY:

N-no--I'm--n-not.

HASTINGS:

Yes, you are! You come here come here, Margery! There. Now, you tell me all about it.

MARGY:

I--c-can't.

HASTINGS:

You are going to tell me. It's--it's John, eh? It's his staying away. That's what it is!

MARGY:

Yes!

HASTINGS:

Why can't you young folks--

MARGY:

Oh, Dad, I was--was--was awful! I didn't have any faith in him! I sent him away--and I wish I hadn't--I--I--

HASTINGS:

You mean his selling everything?

MARGY:

Yes. I thought he was just foolish--But, even I haven't stopped him--nothing can--and I love him, I guess--because I want to help him now--and it's too late.

HASTINGS:

He is having a hard time. He never speaks to me about money, or I might--[A knock]. I wonder who that is? Must be your mother. I suppose she forgot the key. Better let her in, Margy.

MARGY:

[off] Why, John!

HASTINGS:

Why, hullo, John. You're quite a stranger. Come in and set down.

JOHN:

Thank you, sir.

HASTINGS:

Well, well, you look tired, John.

JOHN:

I am tired, Mr. Hastings. Not just my body. I'm tired right through.

HASTINGS:

That's no way for a young man to be talking!

MARGY:

John, you're not looking well at all.

JOHN:

Margy, I want to say something, and I might as well say it in front of your father--

MARGY:

What is it, John?

JOHN:

I'm licked. I'm licked all over. I'm sick of it. I'm through.

MARGY:

John!

JOHN:

I've lost everything. Even my own dream--my own hope--my faith. I'm licked to a frazzle.

HASTINGS:

At your age--licked? I don't believe it.

JOHN:

Mr. Hastings, I don't know that it's all worth it.

HASTINGS:

Well, John, it was a temptation. Any scheme like that looks good. I suppose you hoped to make your fortune.

JOHN:

Not just that, sir. And that's what I want to make clear. It was more than money. I wouldn't give up my happiness--for just money. I wouldn't give up everything I have--for money. I had a dream, Mr. Hastings--Margy--I saw this town--I saw this county--I saw all this great West opening up--fertile--busy--in touch with the world--I saw new faces, and new ideas--and--Oh, what's the use. I don't see any of that now. I just see--a void.

MARGY:

Oh, John, I did this to you. If I'd had faith in you--

JOHN:

That was just one thing.

MARGY:

I won't laugh at you, now--don't look that way, John! As though nothing was worth doing! Go on--and I'll go with you.

JOHN:

It's too late to go on. I can't raise the money. Even my own brother refuses me.

MARGY:

Dad--

JOHN:

No, Margy, I wouldn't--

MARGY:

Dad, we can't see him licked!

HASTINGS:

Well, I reckon we can--

JOHN:

Yes, sir.

HASTINGS:

But I reckon we won't! I like a fighter--and you're a fighter! We'll put this thing through--by golly--we'll do it! We'll do it!

FIFTH SCENE

[NARRATOR]:

Let us skip a number of years--busy, almost miraculous years when a great country began to come into its own through the faith of men who believe in it and in themselves; years that saw a new nation, a new empire spread westward--an empire founded not on swords, but on work and faith. Let us enter a home on a hilltop in a little town. The date is eighteen sixty-seven. A woman sits by a table--at her knees two children. And she is reading from a book ... she hears a knock and stops--

MARGY:

John, my boy, isn't that grandpa? Open the door for him.

HASTINGS:

Hullo, John! Hullo, Ruth-- [The children greet him from off.] Hullo, Margy, dear. John home yet?

MARGY:

He ought to be back on the six-fifteen.

HASTINGS:

Well, maybe I'll stay to supper. Now, you children come right up here--there you are! Were you reading to them, Margy?

MARGY:

Yes.

HASTINGS:

Well, go ahead. We'll be quiet and listen, eh, children? Now, we're ready.

MARGY:

It's their lesson for tomorrow, father.

HASTINGS:

Well, may do me good, too. Go ahead. Wait till I light my pipe. There.

MARGY:

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made them other five talents. ... But he that had received one went and digged in the earth and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; Lo, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant--!

[A long train whistle.]

HASTINGS:

Well, the six-fifteen, and just on time! There--the children are off--they'll be meeting their father half-way down the hill. Why, Margy--you're crying--you're crying, dear--

MARGY:

Oh, Father, I wanted John to hide his talents! I wanted him to have no faith!

HASTINGS:

Hush, hush--you had faith at last--and so did I-- [The train whistles twice.] You hear that train--that's his reward. That's saying to John--"Well done, thou good and faithful servant!"