- Michael Anthony: [Anthony enters the study to find Tipton, seated in a high-backed chair at his desk, smoking a cigarette. The room contains a world globe and a map of the United States. On Tipton's desk is an electrical device with buttons. Only Tipton's right arm is visible to the viewers] You sent for me, sir?
- John Beresford Tipton: Mike, I've been thinking about this fair land of ours and the people who wander across it, the people who never stay in one place - the wanderers, the footloose. Today, they may be in Seattle.
- [Tipton pushes a button, and a light appears on the U.S. map at Seattle]
- John Beresford Tipton: Next week, they may very well be in New Orleans,
- [Tipton pushes another button, and a light appears on the map at New Orleans]
- John Beresford Tipton: or Buffalo or New York or any place their fancy dictates.
- [Chuckles]
- Michael Anthony: You mean the knights of the road, sir? The hoboes?
- John Beresford Tipton: No, Mike, I don't mean hoboes. I mean the men who just like to get around. They work for a living. They eat well and they sleep well. But they don't stay long in one place.
- [Tipton hands an envelope to Anthony]
- John Beresford Tipton: You'll see the kind of man I mean when you deliver that.
- [Anthony bows]
- Michael Anthony: [to the viewers] My name is Michael Anthony. Until his death, I was executive secretary to one of the world's richest men - John Beresford Tipton. He had what was perhaps the strangest hobby in the world, and one of the few fortunes large enough to indulge it. This is Silverstone, Mr. Tipton's fabulous 60,000-acre estate. Here, after his retirement from the world of business and high finance, he pursued this hobby, which was nothing less than every now and then, giving away to a total stranger the sum of $1,000,000. And because he insisted on remaining anonymous, I was the man who actually delivered the check.
- Michael Anthony: [to the viewers] Hap Connelly had been a traveler since he was nineteen, roaming the 48 states, until one day, he stopped at a farm in the middle west and stayed longer than was his habit. And then a tragedy occurred. The farmer and his wife were killed in an accident, leaving their only son an orphan. Hap remained to pay his respects. But there was nothing to keep him now, and he was anxious to be on the move again.
- Michael Anthony: [Anthony raps on the boardinghouse room door of Connolly, Hap responds] Mr. Connolly?
- Hap Connolly: Yeah?
- Michael Anthony: My name is Michael Anthony. I'd like to speak to you for a moment.
- Hap Connolly: Sure. What about?
- Michael Anthony: I have a gift for you.
- Hap Connolly: Huh?
- Michael Anthony: [Looking around the boardinghouse corridor] It's rather confidential.
- Hap Connolly: Well, come on in.
- [Anthony enters and Connelly shuts the door]
- Hap Connolly: What's this gift business? Some kind of come-on?
- Michael Anthony: [Anthony opens his briefcase and removes a check] No. I have a cashier's check made out in your name for one million dollars.
- [Holds up the check before Connelly's eyes]
- Hap Connolly: Who'd want to give me a million bucks? I mean... what?... Are you kiddin'?
- Michael Anthony: Not at all. It's a gift from an anonymous donor.
- [Connelly finally accepts the check as Anthony removes a paper from his briefcase]
- Michael Anthony: And it's yours, free and tax-clear, provided you sign this document.
- Hap Connolly: Now comes the hook.
- Michael Anthony: You merely pledge yourself not to tell anyone, except your wife if you should marry, the exact amount of this gift or the way you got it. If you do, you forfeit what's left.
- Hap Connolly: Then this is on the level?
- Michael Anthony: Oh, absolutely.
- [Connelly signs the agreement, which Anthony retains]
- Michael Anthony: Thank you, Mr. Connolly.
- [Anthony starts to leave]
- Hap Connolly: [Calling after him] Who takes the rap if the check bounces?
- Michael Anthony: It won't bounce, I assure you. Goodbye, Mr. Connolly.
- Hap Connolly: Goodbye.