Confederate Gold and Silver (80 page)

After his third cup of coffee, with his breakfast long since finished, Paul could not wait to get it over with. “OK, I’m done, Betty. I’ve got to go.” As he picked up the bill from the table, she thanked him for taking the time to tell her all about what he had found. After hugging him one more time, he handed her eight dollars to cover the cost of his breakfast. Finally saying goodbye to her, he started to leave, but then stopped and walked back to the booth where he had eaten his breakfast. Betty had just begun to clear away his dirty plates. “Hey, I’m not sure I left you enough for a tip. Here take this.” He placed the additional tip into her right hand. Then he turned and left.

Betty’s hands had been full of dirty dishes when he had given her the extra tip. Placing the dishes down on a nearby table, she looked to see what he had given her. It took a moment for her to realize what he had given her, but as he walked across the diner’s parking lot to his truck, Paul could hear the scream she let out. It was the first 1861 three dollar gold coin she had ever received as a waitress.

After eating breakfast, Paul went to the Socastee Public Library to bring back some long overdue books he had signed out. Walking into the library, he looked over at the Reference Desk and saw Caren was busy working with someone. He had been to the library on several occasions seeking answers to the clues Francis had left in his letter. On several of those occasions she had assisted him with his research needs.

As she finished with her customer, Caren looked up and saw Paul walking over to her desk.

“Remember me?”

“Sure I do, you’re the guy I joked with the first day I saw you here. You needed help with some research. If my memory serves me right, I helped you on a couple of other occasions after that, right?”

“Good memory.”

“Hey, wait a minute! Aren’t you the guy I saw on television and in the newspapers as well? You’re the one who found the dead soldier and all of the Confederate money, aren’t you?”

“Good memory, again.”

“Well, I’ll be. Hey, I think I joked with you about sharing some of the gold with me after you found what you were looking for. I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. I’m just here today because I wanted to return the books I had taken out and while I was here I wanted to thank you for all of your help.”

Paul extended his hand to her and they shook hands. They talked for a couple of minutes as he answered a few of her questions regarding what he had found, but soon he told her he had to get going. “I’m glad I was able to help you a little bit. This is something I won’t forget for some time.”

“Me either, Caren, me either.”

As Paul started to walk away, he saw she was still looking at him. Stopping, he turned to look back at her. “Sorry, Caren. I almost forgot. Here you go!”

Caren reached up with both hands and caught what Paul tossed to her. It was an 1862 gold dollar coin. Watching her expression as she examined the coin, Paul could tell she had been surprised by what he had tossed her. “I promised I would share what I found with you!”

Still smiling from the expression he had seen on Caren’s face, Paul walked out the double sliding front doors of the library and across the sun drenched parking lot to his truck. He had fulfilled the promises he had made.