 The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the Cavalcade of America, starring Lorraine Day and Thomas Mitchell. My name is Laura Wiley. I'm a case worker with the Traveller's Aid. I want to tell you about a stranger who came to our town. Tonight's DuPont play, No One is Alone, stars Thomas Mitchell as Maxwell, and Lorraine Day as Laura are seen a railway bridge in a small town in the United States. On the night it happened, the stranger passed my desk in the depot and then undercover of darkness made his way slowly out toward the center of the railroad trestle. From the tracks of the bridge to the river below, 118 feet. The stranger knew that. What he didn't know was that a policeman followed him. Hey buddy, why don't you think it over? What? Who are you? I said why don't you think it over? You come one step closer and I'll jump. I'll have to jump after you. You would? Yep. Why? I'm an officer of the law. It's my duty to save life. I don't even know me. I'm a stranger. That doesn't matter. The water down there is cold and the current is swift. I've watched it and watched it and watched it. Kind of make up my mind. It's cold and it's forever. I don't come any closer. I'll jump. That would be a pity. I'm not a very good swimmer. Oh, go away then. The tension never came in. I never saw me. I don't pretend I'm a cop. This is my duty. Well, do we both jump? I don't think I'll take my own life willingly. Taking the life of someone else. No, I'm a decent man, Mr. and I'm Maxwell, Fred Maxwell. I'm Officer Rogers. Funny time for introductions. I came here to make a conclusion. Not an introduction. Really funny. Yeah. Hey, you're shivering. Some hot coffee down at the station house. Well, rest me. What'd be in jail? What for? Oh, what will you do with me? Oh, I don't know. Got any relatives here? That's why I got off the train here because there's no one. No kiff, no kin, no friend. How are you fixed for money? I'm broke. Broken alone. No one is alone. Come on. Let's have our coffee and then take a walk over to Traveler's Aid. Maybe there's a case worker still on duty at the depot. How about it, Maxwell? And so Officer Rogers brought him to me. A man of about fifty is clothes worn, his hands trembling, his face shadowed with pain. I have to tell you something. Maxwell isn't my real name. I understand. Won't you sit down? Aren't you going to ask me what my name is? You'll tell me when you're ready. You're going to scold me? We help people. We don't sit in judgment over them. Scolding isn't any good. I was thinking of killing myself. Society doesn't approve of that. Do you? Well, I didn't kill myself and here I am. What do I do now? What do you want to do, Mr. Maxwell? I told him my name isn't Maxwell. Yes, of course. What do you want to do? I don't know. You tell me. In Traveler's Aid we've learned it doesn't work to tell people what to do. One of our few rules is to work things out with people, not for them. What do you want to do? Tell me and we'll try to help. I don't want anything, not a single thing. Not any more. You're tired. Better off if Officer Rogers hadn't come. Maybe I would have jumped. You're not sure then? No. Whom do you hate in the world? I don't hate anyone. Whom do you love? Anyone left to love. Then you didn't want to kill yourself. People commit suicide not to destroy themselves, but to punish someone they love or hate. Pretty young to be so wise, Miss. Miss Laura Wiley. I'm not so wise. There are things social workers learn about people in trouble. That's my training. Training to ask certain questions? Yes, but also training not to ask certain questions. Thanks. Why don't you let me find you a place to sleep and some supper? Tomorrow you'll be able to think more clearly about what you want to do. Charity. This isn't charity. You'll pay it back. Most people do. All right. I think you better know something. Get this straight. Are they leaving tomorrow? He was sick. He needed psychiatric care. But the town in which I live and work is only a small town without such resources. With no services for transients except travelers aid. Therefore he had only me and I was gambling. Gambling that he wouldn't go away. He'd stay a while and reveal himself a little in order that I might help him to help himself. Officer Rogers couldn't see it that way. What difference does it make if he goes? We'll all be rid of a problem. That's right, Rogers. We will. But another city will acquire a problem. Either the police department or a welfare service or another travelers aid. Yeah, I see what you mean. He's got to stay a while and get straightened out. Exactly. Have you any ideas on how to keep him here? Well, he's got no money, no permanent address, no baggage. I could throw him in the clink as a vagrant. No good, huh? What do you think? No good. Well, what's your way, Miss Wiley? I want him to decide to stay. But he has to make that decision himself. How? I don't know. But I'm not going to force him and I'm not going to persuade him. Well, then you're licked. Miss Wiley, I'm an old hand at this. Tomorrow morning, Mr. Maxwell is kissing this town goodbye. Well, I got my ticket. I want to thank you for everything you've done, Miss Wiley. I'm on my way. I had hoped we'd have a chance to talk. Taking it to 10 o'clock train. Well, that only gives us a few minutes, doesn't it? Yes. I suppose you want to know where I'm going. I haven't asked. Go ahead. You can ask a question. Well, if it's only one question, I'd prefer to ask how all this began. Why do you want to ask that? Or I think it would help you to talk about it. You think so? Only as much as you care to talk about. My wife died two years ago. I'm sorry. That's the whole story. When she died, most of me died. You were married a long time? Twenty-six years. Children? They weren't lucky that way. Do you care to tell me anymore? Well, at the funeral, I quit my job and I left town. And living off my savings, just dripping from place to place, cleaning windows, washing dishes. Not caring much what happens. You shouldn't care, either. But I do care. Why? Because you're a stranger. There should always be someone to care for those who have no one else to care for them. The Traveler's Aid does just that. I always thought that Traveler's Aid tells people where the restroom is. Or where the next train leaves. We do that, too. You're a different person when you smile. I suppose. I hope you're going to smile more often, Mr. Maxwell. You're really angling to get my real name, aren't you? Only if you want to tell it to me. First, I was afraid to get in the newspapers and I'd be ashamed. Then I didn't tell you because you wouldn't believe me. No one believes my name. It's John Smith. Plain John Smith of Davenport, Iowa. Not even a middle initial? No. My wife used to tease me and call herself Mrs. John A. Smith. A for Anonymous. She joked a lot. It sounds as though you had a good marriage. Twenty-six years, two people can come together. Well, that's ten o'clock train on time. I'll walk with you. Miss Warley. I don't really know where I'm going. I never know. This time I'm a little more scared than before. Do you know why? Well, because this time I'm leaving someone I can talk to. When I leave here, I'll be going back into nothing. Do you really want to go? I'm not sure. Miss Warley. All I'm going to do in the towns where I step at is, well, I'll shovel snow in the winter and cut grass in the summer. You could do those things here. There's grass here in the summer and snow in the winter. There are a good many jobs here. Well, goodbye, Mr. Smith. Miss Warley. Yes? I think I'll stay. The first victory. A problem confined to a single place, no longer afloat. Yes, I cared. He wasn't just a case. There are no cases. They are only human beings. And to help this human being, it was important to get more information, to get it fast without causing talk. With his permission, I wired Traverse Aid in Smith's hometown. My answer came by telephone in less than a dozen hours. Go on. At the time of his wife's death, in other words, he held a position of responsibility, right? Yes. That's exactly what I wanted to know. He's lost. Amnesia? In a way, yes. Two years ago, his world died. He's been riding the trains ever since, traveling from limbo to limbo. I guess our job is to remind him that his place is the world. Can I find out? I can't think of a thing. Oh, I know you've been discreet. Oh, yes, of course. No one here knows that John Smith's in any trouble. Good. I must hang up. I'm expecting him any minute. Thanks. I'll need all the luck I can find. Miss Wally? Yes. Yes, of course. Come here. Sit down. Here. Take this chair. Why am I nuisance? It's taking up all your time. You're not a nuisance. And that's my time for people like you. That's what you're supposed to say, isn't it? Only I have a feeling you really mean it. I do. Well, you mentioned something about a job of grass cutting. Everybody in this town cuts his own. Mrs. Smith, I asked you to forgive me, but I've taken a liberty. Oh? What kind of liberty? Well, Traveler's Aid doesn't function alone. We cooperate with the Red Cross, with family service agencies, with a good many other agencies. I've taken the liberty of calling the State Employment Service. About me? Oh, don't worry. I said merely that you were a stranger and in need of a job. Oh, what sort of a job? You're lucky there are four jobs open. The paint factory could use some clerical help, the man's haberdashery needs a salesman, and the bank can employ a man of good appearance to act as a receptionist. What do you think? Traveler's Aid can lend you a little money so that you can buy yourself some new clothes. You can pay it back in weekly installments. You said there were four jobs, Ms. Wally. You mentioned only three. Well, from what I've learned of your path, I don't think you'd be interested in the fourth job, unless you want to be a porter in the hotel. I like that, Ms. Wally. You know what a porter does? It's my kind of work. It's the kind I want. The other jobs are better? Not for me. They pay better, a good deal better. I don't want a job that pays better. I want a job I can do, washing floors, washing windows, cleaning spittoons. That's my kind of work. Mr. Smith, why do you punish yourself? I'm no good. I'm dead. Officer Rogers should have let me jump. I was wrong to argue with you. All right, Mr. Smith, I'll call the hotel and tell them they've got a new porter. Tonight on the Cavalcade of America, our story is called No One is Alone. Thomas Mitchell plays Fred Maxwell. Lorraine Day is Laura Wiley. Each day across America, they come to Traveler's Aid for comfort and help. The lost boy, the girl who's run away from home, the elderly man who no longer wishes to be a burden to his son's wife, the lost soul, the lonely one, the truly displaced in life, and those despairing of life, like the man who called himself Fred Maxwell and whose name was Smith. I was worried about him. Officer Rogers was annoyed. Seems to me, Miss Wiley, that you and I have done all we can. Have we, Rogers? Well, you found him a place to sleep, a job. What more can you do? I can help him find himself. That's not your problem. Mr. Smith is a traveler. While he travels, he is the problem of Traveler's Aid. Yes, but he's not on any train or bus. He's traveling, Rogers. Neither here nor there just suspended between a dark memory and a place he must ultimately find for himself. Oh, what place is that? I'm not quite sure. It might be the good job and the good friends he left behind him two years ago. Well, how do you know that job is still waiting for him? How do you know his friends want him back? I don't know. But you're going to try to find out, huh? That's right. Why? Why did you save his life? Well, that was my duty. This is my duty. You saved Fred Maxwell. I'm trying to save John Smith. I tried to explain to Officer Rogers that a man named John Smith was lost. But until he found himself, he was my responsibility. Rogers looked at me curiously for a moment. Then he went to the hotel. A lost, lonely man was cleaning up the lobby. Oh, how are things, Maxwell? Picking up. That's a joke. I know. You must like your work. Nice people to work for. That's not what I asked. Policemen have a lot of free time for asking, don't they? Come and go whenever they please. Now, you're off your beat. This is my afternoon off. Oh, sorry. Some people always have a grudge against people who do them a favor. And do me a favor, save my life. Yeah, that's the point. If I hadn't bought it in, you'd be comfortably dead instead of having to mess around with a flotilla of spittoons and a mop stick. Now, come on, pal. Get sore at yourself. Be something. I'm something. I'm a porter in a hotel. For you, that isn't enough. How do you know? How do I know how I know? I know, that's all. Look, there's nothing wrong with this work or any work. So long as it suits you. Only that broom in your hand doesn't suit you, that's all. Good afternoon off, Rogers. Why don't you go to a movie? I'm not obliged to go to a movie. I am obliged to help you. And I'll tell you something I'm not obliged to tell you. I like you. Thanks. But it isn't enough that I like you. You've got to start liking yourself. I don't take a lot of liking. Oh, sure, but try it. Put a little practice you could learn to like yourself. Tell Miss Wiley I'm glad she sent you. Hey, wait a minute. Miss Wiley didn't. And maybe Miss Wiley did it that. Well, you can tell her yourself. I've got a hunch she'll be dropping around. That's an awful lot of hotel lobby you've got to scrub. Oh, Miss Wiley, I've been expecting you. Go right on working. Don't let me interrupt you. Oh, no, no, it's a very welcome interruption. Oh, my muscles, Miss Wiley. If anyone ever tells you he likes to scrub floors, don't believe him. It's dull work. It certainly works far beneath your aptitudes. Oh, first Rogers, now you. How do you know what my aptitudes are? Looking at your face, listening to your talk, knowing the work you did before. That could be mistaken about me. Not so mistaken that I don't know that you can do more important work than just emptying Caspidore. I have a better opinion of me than I have of myself. That's because I haven't forgotten what you once were. I guess I have. You know, when Rogers left me, I got a look at myself in the mirror. For the first time in months I really saw myself. Not very pretty. That job in the paint factory is still open. I warn you now, I won't make a goal of it. Oh, try it. I'll spoil your reputation. Let me worry about that. All right, I'll take that job. Miss Wiley travels aid. Miss, that man you sent is Smith. Smith, that's one. Is anything wrong? Slowly, in the next weeks and months, I saw a man named Smith resume his place in the world. I saw him make friends. I heard him laugh. I saw him live again. One day he came to me at the depot. I figure I cost travelers aid about $50 in cash. Here's a hundred. A hundred? Yes. The second fifty is for another Fred Maxwell, any time he shows up. That's very nice. Don't be foolish. You know, Miss Wiley, I've been thinking. I've had a lot of time to think. If you have no objection, I'd like to tell you some of the things that have come to me. Please do. Well, I miss my wife, Miss Wiley, but she's dead and she's never coming back to life. And meanwhile, there's a world full of people, people just like me, in trouble, lost, needing help. I was so full of my own misery, I didn't see them, did I? No. And I've been running away from the job of trying to live, running away from responsibility. What good does running away do me? No good at all, Mr. Smith, because by running away you carried all your grief with you, all your loneliness and helplessness. Yes. And you left behind 26 good years, 26 years of happiness, everything you had ever achieved. I must have been out of my mind, Miss Wiley. I'll never be able to tell you how grateful I am. I didn't do it all. You did it yourself. And if I helped you, well, I'm happy. It's kind of you to say that, but whatever else happens, I'm not running away again. Then you'll be going back home, Mr. Smith? Not right away, not just yet, but just as soon as I know I'm standing on my feet, I'll go back then. It'll be hard facing old friends, remembering her. Sure it'll be hard, but I've learned something. The only things you never lose are the things you've lost forever. We of the Travelers' Aids sit in the places where the Travelers go, and they come to us. More than a million people each year. Some with little problems, some with big problems, some in great trouble. And we sit behind our desks, giving them the help which assures them that they are neither friendless, nor strangers, nor alone. Just human beings in trouble in a strange place. It isn't glamorous work, but it is useful, and it has its large reward. Thanks to Lorraine Day, Thomas Mitchell and the Cavalcade players for tonight's story about the Travelers' Aid. This year, the Travelers' Aid Society celebrates an important anniversary. One hundred years ago, the Mayor of St. Louis, Brian Malanthi by name, remembered that he was born of Irish immigrants, and so, during his lifetime, and after his death through his fortune, he began to help other immigrants, wayfarers, travelers, men and women on the move in need of help. The Travelers' Aid is one of the red feather agencies of your community chest, so, again this year, we urge you to give and give generously, when the community chest seeks your help to finance the work of the many red feather agencies in your community. Thank you. Next week, the star of the DuPont Cavalcade will be John Caulfield in Girl on the Mission. A story of a woman whose wit and daring helped turn the tide of a great war. Be sure to join us. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade, No One is Alone, starring Lorraine Day and Thomas Mitchell, was written by Morton Wishingrad. With Lorraine Day and Thomas Mitchell tonight, you heard Les Damon, Danny Akko, and Grace Elbert. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Boris. The program was directed by John Zoller, Mrs. Sy Harris speaking. Don't forget next week, our star, John Caulfield, our play, Girl on a Mission. The DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York, and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living, through chemistry. Now here Brian Don Levy on his dangerous assignment on NBC.