I was told all my calls for about half an hour, please.
Dear Winfred, this is a story I promised to tell you.
It's a true story. The case history of Billy Brandon.
The boy nobody wanted.
The most sent against child I've ever known.
Billy lived with his father, a professional gambler in a boarding house.
Dad, you're home!
Hiya, son! One, two, three!
Come on, let's do that knockout stuff you showed me!
Oh, there, take it easy, Bill, huh?
I've been practicing, and I can do it pretty good now.
Now look, the guy's coming at me with a knife, see?
Now I grab his arm like this, and then...
How's that?
Not bad.
Now come on, let me try it on you!
Oh, not now, son, I'm all dressed.
You going away?
Yeah, I'm sorry, kid, but I've got some important business.
But it's Sunday, and you promised we'd go to the zoo!
Oh, that, well... Why don't you ask Miss Nelly? Maybe she'll take you.
Oh, she's gone. Everybody's gone. It's Sunday.
Well, you'll think of something to do. You're a big boy now.
Play with your electric train, or try that knockout trick again.
No, it's no good with that old pillow. It ain't like a real person.
Well, never try it on some other kid. It's rough.
It's only used for your self-defense, remember, like I told you?
Yeah, I remember.
That's for me.
Yeah.
I'm sorry about the zoo, kid, but we'll make it next time, huh?
That's the boy.
Come on, here we go. A little short, that's fine.
A good butt now. There you go.
Good boy! That's the way to do it.
After your lie. Come on, buddy.
There's the phone, son. I'll be back.
Okay.
Hi.
Can I come over and play?
No.
Why?
Your daddy's a gambler. My dad says so.
What's a gambler?
I don't know, but my dad does. He knows everything.
We own a newspaper. We go to the baseball game free.
Gee.
And sit in a box.
Golly.
My dad was an athlete.
I bet.
He was, and he knows how to box and wrestle.
And he's teaching me how to do knockout trips.
What's that?
That's a way to fight. A way that nobody can beat you.
I bet.
It is. I can do it pretty good now.
Show me.
I can't.
Why not?
Because I might hurt you.
It's only for defending yourself, my dad says.
I bet you can't even do it.
I bet I can.
Then show me.
No.
I bet you're scared.
I am not.
I bet.
Oh, Spidey, not that way.
I told you you can't come in here.
Try and put me out.
Right now.
I told you I could do it.
I have to.
Get up.
News of this terrible tragedy reached me while I was interviewing a couple seeking a baby for adoption.
What is your name, please?
Wheelock.
Herbert Wheelock, and I'm Martha.
Where do you live, Mrs. Wheelock?
Little Rock.
That's about 30 miles from here.
Rural Route 10.
It's a farm.
It's a nice one.
We have horses and a couple of cows.
Jerry's?
And we raise corn and wheat, and there's a pasture with a little brook in it.
And the house, when we built it, we wanted enough rooms for...
Well, we thought surely there'd be a big family.
That's what we both wanted.
But we know better now.
We can never have a child of our own.
No, no, Martha.
How old are you, Mrs. Wheelock?
I'm strong.
I get up every morning at 4 and milk the cows, and I help Mr. Wheelock with the hay.
She's 46, Mrs. Sherman.
I wish I could help you, but I can't.
No court would award you a baby for adoption.
Our laws draw the line at 40.
But what about the mothers who have their own babies after they're 40?
It's only the law that draws the line, not God.
Excuse me.
Yes.
Put him on.
Hello, Judge.
The son of the editor?
Oh, no.
Come in.
I haven't had a chance to express my sympathy.
You know Nick Brandon?
I know who he is, yes.
What do you know about him?
Well, he reputedly operates a gambling house somewhere.
Where?
I don't know, Mr. Reynolds.
You're a reporter.
Find out.
Well, don't the police know?
Never mind the police.
They're always late.
Go after Brandon.
That's your assignment.
Dig up his past.
Find out where he operates.
Go over his whole miserable life.
Bradley, I want that man's hide.
Do you understand?
Yes, Mr. Reynolds.
It's not only me, Bradley.
There's nothing he can do to me anymore.
But there are others.
It was Nick Brandon who was responsible for this.
You understand that, don't you?
And they can find no law that would make him pay for it.
You, Bradley, you're going to dig up a couple of paragraphs
for them.
Yes, Mr. Reynolds.
Bradley was a good reporter.
He started digging.
He questioned the people at the boarding house
where Nick Brandon lived.
He looked into the records.
He consulted the back issues of newspapers.
And he found something.
It's about the little boy.
Five years ago, he was playing with matches
and ignited the dress of a little girl.
She was horribly burned and died.
And the real source of that threat,
the evil-minded, motivating force behind the murder
of Nick Brandon, was the police.
The evil-minded, motivating force behind it, Nick Brandon,
is still at liberty, openly challenging our laws.
Are the authorities helpless in the face of this provocation?
Billy Brandon, did you say?
I'm sorry, Mrs. Sherman, but after all,
a boy who killed, those were accidents, Mrs. Harris.
According to our psychiatrist, Billy's a normal boy
with a higher than average intelligence.
I'm awfully sorry, but I have a small child of my own,
and I just couldn't let...
You can understand.
Yes, of course, Mrs. Harris.
I understand.
Judge, about Billy Brandon,
I simply can't place that boy in a foster home.
Nobody wants him.
I'm afraid we'll have to keep him here indefinitely.
I'll make up my report.
Goodbye.
Get me the boy's dormitory, please.
Mrs. Sheldon, this is Mrs. Sherman.
Would you bring Billy Brandon over to me, please?
Make him put on his best suit.
Yes, I think... I hope to goodness I've found a home for him.
Hello, Mrs. Wheelock.
Hello.
Why, it's Mrs. Sherman.
Herbert, Herbert, look who's here.
Who's the little boy?
That's Billy. He's one of our chargers.
Hello, Billy.
He's a little bit shy.
Well, howdy, Mrs. Sherman.
Hello, Mr. Wheelock.
Good to see you.
Thank you.
Well, come on in.
It's hot out here.
I'll make some iced tea.
Mmm, that smells.
I've got some bread baking in the oven.
Would you like some real fresh bread, son?
Oh, no, Herbert, you sick people and children.
You don't offer food.
You just feed them.
I'll do that in a minute.
Thank you, Mrs. Wheelock, but I'm afraid I can't stay for dinner.
I'm really on my way to Greenvale.
I have an appointment with the minister there.
It was such a nice day, I thought I'd bring Billy along for the ride.
Then we saw your name on the mailbox.
I thought maybe he'd enjoy staying with you while I kept my appointment.
We'd love to have him.
Herbert, why don't you show Billy what we have in the barn?
All right.
Billy, how'd you like to see what we've got down in the barn?
It's a little colt, born less than a week ago.
He's hardly as big as you are.
Wouldn't you like to see him?
Well, come on.
Well, I guess I'd better be going.
Greenvale's about a half an hour drive from here, isn't it?
Yes.
You've never been there?
No.
And you don't need to go there, Mrs. Sherman.
Not if your business is with the minister, because Greenvale doesn't have a minister.
Just a gas pump and a couple of stores.
Oh.
The boy, he's Billy Brandon, isn't he?
Yes, Mrs. Wheelock.
I recognized him right away from those pictures in the paper.
That was a terrible thing.
He's a good boy.
I didn't want to trick you.
I just thought if I could leave him with you for a couple of hours, you'd see what a nice child he is,
and then it wouldn't matter that his name was Billy Brandon.
I'm sorry for trying to, well, to smuggle him into your hearts.
I understand, Mrs. Sherman.
But it's the only thing I could think of to do.
He's the boy nobody wants, but nobody, and I'm sure he knows it.
We have to keep him with other children, older boys with criminal records.
I'm afraid they've talked.
You've seen how frightened he is.
Yes, Mrs. Sherman.
I didn't want him to go on thinking that the whole world is his enemy.
Wasn't that fun?
It was all black and with him, and his mother was licking him all over.
Billy thought she was trying to bite him.
Yeah, I thought she was trying to bite him.
But she was only licking him, wasn't she?
Well, sure enough.
You were kissing him.
I think.
Billy, you've seen our place.
It's pretty big, isn't it?
And there are only the two of us.
We get lonesome.
How would you like to stay here?
Mrs. Wheelock, hadn't you better speak with your husband?
He knows.
Billy, we'd like to have a nice little boy like you around.
I'm bad.
They took away my daddy just because I was bad.
Good or bad, Billy, I like you, and so does Mr. Wheelock.
And so will all the horses and the cows and the little ducks on the pond.
Look at me, Billy.
If Mrs. Sherman gives her permission,
how would you like to visit us until your daddy comes back?
We'll have a party and ask the other children around here to come and meet you
so that they can be your friends.
Will you stay?
Can I?
Oh.
I don't understand it.
Oh, sit down, Martha.
They're not going to come a minute sooner with you watching.
But I told everybody 3 o'clock.
It's almost 4.
Did you tell all the folks about Billy and, uh...
No.
Like Mrs. Sherman said, if they see him first, they won't believe all that.
Aren't they here yet?
No, Billy.
You just go on playing.
I'll let you know when they get here.
Okay.
Here's paper.
Thank you, boy.
Phone.
I could call them.
You ought to have a phone now that Billy's with us.
Kids get sick and...
What's the matter, Herbert?
There ain't going to be any party today, Martha.
What?
Read this.
Billy Brandon, two-time killer, son of a convicted criminal, is at large again.
Juvenile authorities have dumped him on a Mr. and Mrs. Wheelock in Little Rock
from where he can threaten the lives of neighboring children.
Is it too much to demand that this menace be removed from our community?
Oh.
Herbert, get the car.
I'm going into town.
Mr. Reynolds?
Yes?
I'm sorry to barge in like this, but there's nobody outside.
That's all right.
But it's really after my office hours.
It won't take long.
I'm a subscriber to your newspaper.
Please, sit down.
Thank you.
What can I do for you?
I need your help, Mr. Reynolds.
I have a child, a little boy.
He's eight.
And I'm about to lose him.
I'm terribly sorry.
But what can I do?
What's wrong with a child?
Nothing.
The doctors say he's a normal boy.
And he's a nice boy.
Since we've had him, well, you see, we weren't very young when he came to us.
It's been like the sun shining night and day.
But when I think how it'll be without him, that big, empty house,
you understand that, Mr. Reynolds.
Please.
I'm sorry.
I know it's painful to be reminded, but it's my only chance.
If you know how we must feel.
Yes, I do.
But I don't understand.
You say he's not ill.
And why would you lose him?
They're trying to take him away from me.
Oh, for heaven's sake.
You, Mr. Reynolds.
I'm Martha Wheelock, Billy Brandon's foster mother.
I've only come to ask you this.
Suppose it had turned out the other way around, as it might have.
And the papers were calling Tommy Reynolds a murder.
All right, Mrs. Wheelock.
Well, this is the first birthday party he's ever had.
He seems to be having a wonderful time.
Oh, he is.
And all the children like him.
So he's been accepted.
Mm-hmm.
How did you do it, Martha?
Well, my friends wouldn't bring their children to see him,
so I took Billy to see them.
I figured they wouldn't shut their doors in my face, and they didn't.
So I forced them to watch Billy and me together.
I loved him in front of them.
That's what I did with Mr. Reynolds, and he promised never to print Billy's name again.
I hope he doesn't start picking on Nick Brandon again.
He's going to be released soon.
Mrs. Sherman, can he ñ will he get the child back?
Yes, Martha, if he's able to prove that he can provide a decent home for the boy.
But I wouldn't worry about that yet.
Our court's requirements are very strict.
There'll be a lot of birthday parties before Nick Brandon can prove himself.
Well, it doesn't matter.
Even if he stays with us only a little while, he'll always be our son.
As it turned out, he stayed with the Wheelocks through high school,
and it was a happy family.
But there was still a decision to be made.
He just went to get the mail.
He'll be back in a minute, if he will.
Just fine.
Graduated near the top of his class.
Got a scholarship to go to an agriculture college, too.
I know what you've done for Billy, and...
I don't know how to say what I've come to say.
Mr. Brandon has petitioned the court for the return of his boy.
The court ruled that Billy was old enough to make his own decision.
It's up to him, huh?
Yes.
It's going to be tough for him, because he loves his father, too.
And this little woman never let him forget that he had a father.
It's going to hurt.
Hello, Mrs. Sherman.
Hello, Billy.
My, you've grown again.
Billy, I have some news for you from your father.
Please, Mrs. Sherman, let me.
You don't have to say anything, Mother, I can guess.
Dad wrote to me that he had petitioned the court.
Yes, and the decision is...
Well, it's up to you.
You'll have to make the choice.
The choice has already been made.
From the President of the United States, greetings.
So the decision was postponed while Billy went off to fight a war.
It was not long after that Mr. Reynolds broke his promise
about not printing Billy Brandon's name.
When he returned from the war, Billy came to see him.
He was a little boy, and he was a little boy.
When he returned from the war, Billy came to see me.
He was with his father.
One look at the beaming men,
I had the sinking feeling that Martha Wheelock was about to lose her son.
Why, Billy Brandon, what a pleasant surprise.
I just flew in. Dad picked me up at the airport.
You remember Dad.
Yes, of course. How are you?
Couldn't be better, Mrs. Sherman.
Billy's back, honorably discharged.
Did you know he was shot down twice?
Look at all those medals.
Oh, come on, Dad, lots of guys got them.
Sure, but they're not my son.
He won't let me be proud of them.
Everybody's proud of you, Billy.
I saw your foster parents a couple of days ago.
How are they?
Oh, they're fine, just fine.
When are you going to see them?
Oh, right away.
I just stopped by to say hello and, well, to thank you for everything.
Don't thank me.
Go to Little Rock.
Come on, Dad, let's go.
Wait.
I have something to say, and I want Mrs. Sherman to hear it too.
I'm a settled man now.
I have a good wife.
I own two restaurants in town.
The only thing that goes on in the back rooms, Mrs. Sherman,
is dish washing.
Yes, I know.
The first time in my life since your mother passed away, I can offer you a home.
I want you to become my partner.
Is that all right with the law?
Well, that's up to Billy.
He's a full-fledged citizen now.
What do you say, Billy?
Well, I think I'd be a fool not to jump at your offer, Dad.
But if it's all right with you, I'd like to spend a couple of days around the farm
and talk it over with Mother.
And if you don't want to, I'm afraid it's not going to be easy.
Billy!
Oh, Billy.
Oh, good to see you, son.
You've turned into a man.
Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet my father, Mr. Brandon.
Hello.
How do you do?
Won't you come in and join us, Mr. Brandon?
Oh, sure.
So the family's all together again.
Haven't you got any luggage, son?
Oh, sure.
I left my duffel bag in the car.
I'll get it.
No, Herbert.
Billy's not sane.
Mrs. Sherman just called me.
She wanted to make it easier on you, Billy.
She told me everything.
I don't see what the fuss is all about.
Of course you're going.
Mother, it's not going away.
You know that.
I live in town not far from here.
I'll visit you every week.
Oh, sure, Billy.
Sure.
But why don't we all sit down?
I'll make you some iced tea.
Remember, Billy, like the first day you came here?
Only I hope you don't want any fresh bread and jam,
because I'm all out of jam.
No, Mother.
As a matter of fact, what I'd really like
is a glass of fresh, foamy, sweet milk.
I'm sorry, but I don't have any milk just now.
I'll fix you the tea.
It'll just take a minute to get the water boiling.
OK, Mother.
I'll be right back.
Well, Mr. Wheelock, you think I deserve them?
You don't deserve people, Mr. Brandon.
You love them.
Why?
There's no stock in it.
All the equipment's gone.
Oh, I forgot to tell you.
We sold the stock and rented the farm out on shares this year.
You didn't mention that in your letter.
Why'd you have to do that?
Got to be too much for us, Billy, and we had a bad year.
But don't you worry about a thing.
We've got a buyer now.
And then?
What are you going to do then?
Well, the Daggetts.
You remember the Daggetts.
They've got a nice little apartment we can rent.
But you belong here.
You wouldn't be happy anywhere else.
This is your house.
This is your land, your profession.
What would you do in a rented house?
Well, if it gets too lonesome here,
we can always move to the city.
You don't belong in the city, not after living here all of your lives.
I know how you love this land, because I love it too.
I didn't know it before.
I took for granted that this house and this land would be here forever,
waiting for me to come home to anytime I wanted to.
Now I know.
I'm sorry, Dad.
It wouldn't work.
I'd rather settle down here if it's all right with you.
I could get a GI loan, get some new stock, new equipment.
No, Billy.
You don't have to make a loan.
I'll give you the money.
For 15 years I've been wanting to make him happy.
If he's happy here, that's fine with me.
I don't know what to say, Dad.
Don't say anything.
I'm not doing this for you.
Well, partly for you too, but mainly on account of Mrs. Wheelock.
Because she took a boy who nobody else wanted,
turned him into a man everybody wants now.
This was a true story.
The next DuPont Theatre will be presented two weeks from tonight.
We invite you to join us then for another entertaining story.
Brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware.
The makers of better things for better living through chemistry.