“So what did you do in the War, Winston?” Robert asked.

“A somewhat long story,” he answered, “but nothing secret.”  He poured himself another cup of coffee, added a generous dollop of milk, and launched into a description of his adventures with German spies in Denmark.

“With all those degrees, and Harvard being a fine school,” Robert said, “I’d’ve thought you could do better than being our Associate Sheriff.  Not that there’s anything wrong with what you’re doing.”

Winston explained his debt to Gramps, and how he had promised to pay it off.

“If you’re trying to impress people with your honesty,” Ronald observed, “you certainly succeeded.  Most of my customers would’ve found some wiggle room in the agreement, some smart Yankee attorney, and by-and-by repaid your Grandfather with cash, not with staying here as a Deputy.”

“Amen to that,” Winston said, “But Gramps, Sheriff Cooper, is a relative, and decent men never cheat relatives.  Which reminds me.  Have either of you gentlemen heard anything that’s not been in the paper, anything about the heath?”

Robert shook his head.  “Not I,” he answered.

“You might ask Karl Eisenhower,” Ronald said.  “He’s Honest Ike’s Gemstones.  He’s paid several people to search the edge of the heath, not going in, looking for some sort of  crystal.  It’s a beautiful violet color, the one I saw, and almost as hard as a diamond. I’ve had people talking about mining the heath for all the funny color stones, and that orange sand.  They were talking about drag buckets, so you they could pull stuff out without going onto the heath yourself.  That all talk, so far; no one has asked me for a loan to pay for machinery.”