The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-03-31
CHAPTER IL
Who Is Alan Conrad?

The recipient Of the letter which
Benjamin COrvet had written and
later so ~eXcitedly attempted to re-
cover, was asking himself a question
which was almost the same as the
question which Constance Sheriff. had
asked. He was, the second morning
later, waiting for the first of the Two
daily eaStbOund trains which stopped
at the little Kansas town of Blue
Rapids which he called home. AS
long rs he could look back into his life,
the question, who is this person they
call Alan Conrad, and what an / to
the man who writes from Chicago, had
been the paramount enigma OF exist
eace for him. Since he was now
tEenty-three, as nearly as he had been
able TO approximate it, and as distinct
recollection of isolated, extraordinary
events went back to the time When he
was five, it was quite eighteen years
since he had first noticed the question
put to the people who had him in
charge: $50 this is little Alan Con-
rad. Who is he?"
Following the arrival Of certain
letters, which were distinguished from
most others arriving at the house by
having no ink writing on the envelope
but just n sort Of purple or black
printing like newspapers, Alan in
variably received a dollar to spend
just as he liked. To be sure, unless
papa" took him to town, there was
nothing for him to spend it upon; SO,
likely enough, it went into the square
iron bank, of which the key was lost /;
but quite often he did spend it ac-
cOrding to plans agreed upon among
oil his friends and, in memory Of these
occasions and in anticipation Of the
next, "Alan'S dollar" became a COM
munity institution among the children.
"Who gives it to you, Alan?" was a
question more often asked, as time
went on. The only answer Alan could
give was, ut comes from CIAcago."
The post-mark on the envelope, Altar
noticed, was always Chicago; that
was all he ever could find out about
his dollar. He was about ten years
old when, for a reason as inexplicable
as the dollars coming, the letters with
the typewriter addresses and the en-
closed money ceased.
Except for the loss of the dollar at
the end Of every second month-a loss
much discussed by all the children
and not accepted as permanent till
more than two years had passed
Alan felt no immediate results from
the cessation Of the letters from
Chicago. Papa and mama felt them
when the farm had to be given up, and
the family moved to the town, and
papa went to work in the wooden mill
beside the river.
Papa and mama, at first surprised
and dismayed by the stopping of the
letters, still chung to the hope Of the
familiar, typewriter-addressed en-
velOpe appearing again; but when,
after two years, nc more money came,
resentment which had been steadily
growing against the person who had
sent the money began to turn against
Alan; and his parents" told him all
they knew about him.
In 1896 they had noticed an adver-
tisement for persons TO care for q
child; they had answered it to the
office of the newspaper which printed
it.. In response to the letter a man
called upon them and, after seeing
them and going around to see their
friends, had made arrangements with
them to take a boy Of three, who was
In good health and came of good
people. He paid in advance board for
a year and agreed to send q certain
amount every two months after that
time. The nan brought the boy;
whom he called Alan Conrad, and left
him. For seven years the money
agreed upon came; now 1t had ceased,
and papa had no way Of finding the
mun-the name given by him appeared
to be fictitious, and he had left no
address except general delivery, Chi
cago"-Papa knew nothing more than
that. He had advertised In the Chi
cage papers after the money stopped
coming, and he had communicated
with every n named Conrad In or
near Chicago, but he had learned moth
ing. Thus, at the e Of thirteen,
Alan definitely knew that what he
already had guessed-the fact that he
belonged somewhere else than In the
little brown hOuse-was all that any
one there could tell him; and the
knowledge gave persistence to many
internal q~uestionings. Where did lie