Fortune hunters
Nothing galvanises men to action faster than a gold or silver token not to mention a treasure map. They’ll go to any lengths to stake their claim. Seeking companionship after interminable digging, women aren’t far off. All for nuggets or valuable dust.
Alas, all too many miners come away with nothing for all their hard work. Yet they will go through it again, next time.
Novels are penned and songs written about then. Treasure hunters can’t be restrained. They peruse histories and memoirs, talk to old-timers and study charts. The search never stops. The Spanish galleon that sank in a storm. Where was Alexander the Great buried with his riches? Captain Kidd’s buried treasure has yet to be discovered. The Golden Fleece. Did it ever exist? The Holy Grail. And so on.
Yank Steve Berry’s novels aren’t wholly imaginary and make you wonder. As does his latest, The Lost Order. Indeed, there are documents in the National Library about the Knights of the Golden Circle. Not carryovers from the Crusades like the Knights Templars, yet similar in one respect. Both orders had accumulated wealth. An amateur historian, I have my doubts.
Formed in the 1850s — a cross surrounded by a circle its symbol — the Order favoured the South during the Civil War. More through foul means than fair. My problem with this is that the conflict impoverished the Confederacy. Where did the treasure (not valueless paper money) come from?
In any case, the Order chose to hide their ill-gotten gains. There was so much of it that more than a few burial places were used throughout the country. In the century and a half since, not one has been discovered.
Curiously, this has not led to a gold rush. The activities of the Order throughout the war was printed in newspapers on both sides. So why didn’t it produce the expected effect?
Be that as it may, a sizeable fortune awaits those with shovel in hand. Then again, the US has undergone a great deal of construction since Appomattox and nothing has been uncovered. Somewhat strange, don’t you think?
Given the billions of heavenly bodies out there, I think it not inconceivable that a number of them have valuable minerals like our planet. I feel it reasonable to assume that it will be populated by Earthlings as soon as they can find the transportation.
Why don’t scriveners start turning this certainty into novels, beginning right about now.
Don’t be surprised when Steve Berry leads the pack.