 His mother Molly (Martha Wentwroth) then becomes distraught when she gets a letter from his "uncle" Pete Monahan (Noah Beery), a rancher friend of his late father, stating that he will soon visit them in New York.Molly explains to her only child that ever since his father lied to Pete that he had seven children, Pete has been sending birthday checks for each child.Pete is unaware that the McGinnises are so poor that they could never afford to return the checks.