Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in the 1800s and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. The books are available from Lintern for $25 a set, tax and shipping included. Each book is about 120 pages written for intermediate readers (4th grade) with local illustrations. Volume I is Amelia Changes Her Tune. Volume II is Isaac and Wolf Paw Find Their Home. Volume III is Autumn Keeps Her Secret. Volume IV is Mr. Gamble Starts a School. Volume V is Jacob Blows his Horn. Volume VI is Cassie Fights the War. Volume VII is Emilene Adopts Her Family. Volume VIII is David Dances the Bases.
“That was quite a find you made, Little Lady,” General Brinkerhoff said. “We’ve been looking for it for almost 20 years!”
You were?
“Technically, 3-year-old Johnny found it,” Uncle Lucas said.
But I knew it was something important.
“But she knew it was something important,” Lucas replied.
“It is a lot of money, we didn’t even get it all counted,” Natalie said.
“Well, I did,” Uncle Lucas said. “It is a significant.”
“It is the missing payroll for the Sherman Brigade.”
“Missing payroll?”
“The Civil War started and we were training 3,000 men at Camp Buckingham, over there near where the fairgrounds are now. I was the quartermaster,” General Brinkerhoff said.
“Is that why they call you General?” Natalie said, suddenly embarrassed that she had interrupted.
He laughed.
“I was a lieutenant then, but through four years of helping where I could, I went through the ranks and ended up a quartermaster general. A brigadier general.
“I am Mr. Brinkerhoff here at the bank or at the YMCA or at the Congregational Church, but those who served with me often still call me General.”
“Should I call you Mr. or General?” she asked.
“Either is fine. Just don’t call me late for dinner,” he laughed.
Why do all old people make that joke?
“What about the money?” she asked.
“Perhaps my biggest job was to be sure everyone was paid their salary for being a soldier, which happened once a month. It meant that a lot of money would be brought to the camp by armed guard and distributed in an orderly way.
“I asked your grandfather to help me with the task.”
“Papa was in the war?”
“I promised your grandmother I would keep him behind the lines; I needed someone capable and trustworthy,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said.
“Then how…”
“Did the money end up at your farm? That is a good question, and I don’t have a good answer,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said.
“And neither do I.”
Papa!
Natalie hopped up and hugged her grandfather.
Please tell me you didn’t do something wrong.
“I pray you found the missing payroll,” he said.
“The whole thing, according to Lucas,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said. “The army will be glad to have it back, even 20 years late.
“But the authorities will wonder why it was found on your farm, Levi.”
Papa’s in trouble!
“I wonder, too,” he replied. “I remember the moment we found out about the heist. We opened the payroll chest and found two bags of rocks and a bag of newspaper strips.
“You were with me, Roelliff.”
“The lock had not been tampered with, and I had the key, Levi. And that was the first you had seen the chest, Levi, so I think that in itself should clear you of wrongdoing.”
“What do you think happened?” Natalie asked.
“People think the war took place in the South, but actually the War was going on in every town, every state, everywhere people lived and discussed things,” Uncle Lucas said.
“Everyone had to decide one way or the other, but depending on where you lived, you may have had to be quiet about it,” Papa said.
“And our town had a faction of dissenters — rebel sympathizers we called them,” Mr. Brinkerhoff added.
“And spies,” Lucas said.
“Spies who gathered information and wanted to disrupt proceedings in any way they could,” Papa said.
“And who knew the cause would need financing, and where better to get it than to steal it from the enemy,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said.
“That heist caused tremendous inconvenience for us, and many of the soldiers were furious that what little they had been promised was not being delivered.
“It put a big hole in my standing as a new quartermaster. And thankfully, Mr. Sherman was able to get the money replaced quickly and to keep it rather quiet. He didn’t want a black mark on his brigade.”
“We looked all over for signs, clues. The Army had its detectives, but no one found anything,” Papa said.
Then how did it end up at our farm?
“It had to be a spy, a Confederate agent,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said. “A thief would have spent at least some of the money, and would not have bothered with the satchel of records. This man wanted names, and certainly hid it in order to give it all to someone else, to the Cause.”
“Then how did it end up at our farm?” Natalie asked.
“Because, it wasn’t your farm,” Uncle Lucas said. “It was an old abandoned inn a short distance from the camp, and the site of the theft. And it offered some good hiding places to which the thief could return, or could send someone to retrieve it.”
“Then why didn’t they come back?”
“Something prevented them. Perhaps they got caught doing something else,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said.
“Or maybe they died,” Papa said. “War does that to people.”
“And it just happened to be buried in our fruit cellar,” Uncle Lucas.
“That is a coincidence,” Mr. Brinkerhoff said.
“An unfortunate one,” Papa said. “It makes me look suspicious.”
“You were never suspected, Levi. John and I knew better. And the authorities will agree.
“We all were in an embarrassing position, and I am thankful that Senator Sherman can hide certain things through official government business. I don’t even think this find will be publicly noted, because the theft never was.
“We may be the only ones who know of it, but be we are the ones who are happiest to know it is found and returned.”
Speak for yourself. Whatever happened to finders keepers?
