02/20/01

After Phebe got back from God Knows Where to relieve me and Percy with the baby, I had to catch a ride back to Percy’s house to get my truck. During the ride Percy brought up the old story my father told of finding Claudius Smith’s stash of stolen silver on the farm when he was a boy.

I don’t know, it was like Percy was purposely looking to stir some shit up with me:

You do realize the likelihood of that story being true is pretty low, Percy says.

What do you mean? I say defensively, That’s what Dad told me happened: He found a chest of silver. . .buried by Claudius Smith.

It pains me to tell you this, Percy goes on, but I think ‘Dowser Boy’ was some kind of scam your grandfather concocted.

What the. . . where the Hell would you get that! I protest.

I think your Dad believed he had special powers to discover treasure because he was exploited. I think he was made to believe what he did to carry out the scam convincingly. And the adults who were handling him never let him in on the reality of the scam.

You’re crazy! I holler.

Maybe the silver your father supposedly found was stuff that was stolen by your grandfather’s friends. Maybe it was something Dutch Schultz cooked up. It’s planted on the farm, your father is led to it. He discovers it. ‘Wow! This must be Claudius Smith’s treasure!’. Your father develops some ego over the accomplishment. He comports himself with confidence now. That’s the key to selling the whole thing: getting a child to appear confident in his abilities. People say, ‘you see that little kid out there strutting around like a peacock with that forked stick. That boy is really gifted. Can’t never be a scam!’ Next thing you know you have ‘Dowser Boy’ traveling around the countryside during dry summers charging $50 a pop to site new wells.

You’re crazy! I holler again. You know, you’re really nuts, Percy! You’re really just a fucking nut!