What Spider should have done was enjoyed letting Jello finish me, and then emptied his revolver into the monster.
Even Jello Gorse couldn't have gotten up with a full cylinder of .357 Magnum bullets in him, I didn't think.
It was funny about Jello Gorse. Where Seeber's name had sort of died, along with public interest in the murders, Jello was still talked about.
It was probably due to his brute size and the official acceptance that, after being shot three times and head beaten with a table leg, Gorse had still crushed his assailant to death with only his hands.
Some idiot wrote a "Big John" kind of song about "Jello the giant, seeing the light, and despite his wounds, winning the fight...." It went on, making Gorse "born again and heroic at the end." Barf!
Then people began making up lies about how they had seen Jello lift a car front end or something. I even heard that a local scoutmaster told popular campfire yarns about Jello Gorse, "The Bigfoot of Perry County."
So, what the hell, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, they say.
I had some Jello Gorse posters made up. They depicted a monster on a Harley Davidson coming straight at you. It isn't a bad likeness. With beard and helmet, no facial characteristics show anyway. We get six dollars apiece, plus tax, for the posters. They sell well.
Standing in the Seeber dining room, I remembered older times, when Grampa Seeber told me stories and showed his secret hiding place. With all the more recent stuff, the secret panel had been wiped from my mind.
It was worth a look. The old fellow's nickeled pistol could still be there, maybe even the silver dollar. Sometimes the junkiest old stuff was found to be specially valuable.
I touched the wainscoting. It looked as it always had. I pushed and lifted. The panel section rose easily. I edged it free and bent down to have a look.
My knees turned rubbery, so I knelt on the floor. The back of my neck began to tingle, as though Spider was watching, from wherever he had ended up.
I was looking at money. Bills in thick stacks, held firmly by still flexible rubber bands.
Where, by all the gods, had this come from? Getting the money packets out, my hands shook and my palms became damp.
It was used money, in common denominations, apparently Spider's hoard, but from where? All the Perry County bank money was accounted for. The last of it had been found secreted inside the shirt of one of the dead men in the burial pit.
Other than the money, the secret compartment was empty, but somehow, I didn't regret not finding the pistol and silver dollar.
Sitting on the porch ruins, I rough counted about fifteen thousand dollars. Holy cow ... and it had almost been relegated to the flames.
I found myself looking at the old house wondering what other secrets it might hold.
Common sense told me there would be no other discoveries. I had found Spider's cache. This would be it.
I stuffed the bill packets into an old box and sat back to wait Lori's return. Whew, did I have a stunner for her.
This treasure was ours to keep. My conscience experienced no tweaks. Where Seeber had gotten the money, I would never know, but I found it, on our land, in a house we owned.
Fifteen grand would pay for the Seeber place and the cleaning up I was doing. I had, in effect, gotten Spider's land for nothing.
It occurred to me that if old Grampa Seeber could see all of this, he would be hooting with glee. This was the kind of discovery we had imagined together on the old front porch, so long ago.
Even better was my message to the cosmos, that I still hold close and savor on occasion.
"Take that, Spider, wherever you are!"
I again enjoyed the sweet taste. This time, things worked out just about right.
THE END
About Roy Chandler
Roy F. Chandler retired following a twenty year U.S. Army career. Mr. Chandler then taught secondary school for seven years before becoming a full-time author of more than sixty books and countless magazine articles. Since 1969, he has written thirty-one published novels and as many nonfiction books on topics such as hunting, architecture, and antiques.
Now 87 years of age, Rocky Chandler remains active and still rides his Harley-Davidson across the continental United States.
He divides his time among Nokomis, FL, St Mary's City, MD, and Perry County, PA.
Rocky Chandler: Author, Educator, Soldier, Patriot in 2012
Books by Roy Chandler
Reading order of fiction books in the Perry County Series
Friend Seeker
The Warrior
Arrowmaker
The Black Rifle
Fort Robinson
Song of Blue Moccasin
Tim Murphy, Rifleman
Hawk's Feather
Shatto
Chip Shatto
Shatto's Law (Ted's Story)
The Boss's Boy
Tiff's Game
Cronies
The Didactor
The Perry Countian
The Sweet Taste
Old Dog
Gray's Talent
Ramsey
Shooter Galloway
Shatto's Way
All Books By Publication Date
All About a Foot Soldier, 1965 (A colorful book for children)
History of Early Perry County Guns and Gunsmiths (With Donald L. Mitchell), 1969
A History of Perry County Railroads, 1970
Alaskan Hunter: a book about big game hunting, 1972
Kentucky Rifle Patchboxes and Barrel Marks, 1972
Tales of Perry County, 1973
Arrowmaker, 1974
Hunting in Perry County, 1974
Antiques of Perry County, 1976
The Black Rifle, 1976
Homes, Barns and Outbuildings of Perry County, 1978
Shatto, 1979
The Perry County Flavor, 1980
Arms Makers of Eastern Pennsylvania, 1981
The Didactor, 1981
Fort Robinson: A novel of Perry County Pennsylvania, the years 1750-63, 1981
Friend Seeker: A novel of Perry County PA, 1982
Gunsmiths of Eastern Pennsylvania, 1982
Perry County in Pen & Ink, 1983
Shatto's Way: A novel of Perry County, Pa, 1984
Pennsylvania Gunmakers (a collection), 1984
Firefighters of Perry County, 1985
The Warrior, A novel of the frontier, 1721-1764, 1985
Perry County Sketchbook (And Katherine R. Chandler), 1986
A 30-foot, $6,000 Cruising Catamaran, 1987
The Gun of Joseph Smith (With Katherine R. Chandler), 1987
The Perry Countian, 1987
Hawk's Feather - An Adventure Story, 1988
Ted's Story, 1988
Alcatraz: The Hardest Years 1934-1938 (With Erville F. Chandler), 1989
Cronies, 1989
Song of Blue Moccasin, 1989
Chugger's Hunt, 1990
The Sweet Taste, 1990
Tiff's Game: A work of fiction, 1991
Tuck Morgan, Plainsman (Vol. 2) (With Katherine R. Chandler), 1991
Death From Afar I (And Norman A. Chandler), 1992
Kentucky Rifle Patchboxes All New Volume 2, 1992
Behold the Long Rifle, 1993
Death From Afar II: Marine Corps Sniping (And Norman A. Chandler), 1993
Old Dog, 1993
Tim Murphy, Rifleman: A novel of Perry County, Pa. 1754-1840, 1993
Choose the Right Gun, 1994
Death From Afar Vol. III: The Black Book (And Norman A. Chandler), 1994
The Kentucky Pistol, 1994
Ramsey: A novel of Perry County Pennsylvania, 1994
Gray's Talent, 1995
Hunting Alaska, 1995
Last Black Book, 1995
Dark Shadow (The Red book series), 1996
Death From Afar IV (And Norman A.
Chandler, 1996
Morgan's Park (Vol. 3) (With Katherine R. Chandler), 1997
White Feather: Carlos Hathcock USMC scout sniper (And Norman A. Chandler), 1997
Death From Afar V (And Norman A. Chandler), 1998
Ironhawk: A frontier novel of Perry County Pennsylvania 1759-1765, 1999
Sniper One, 2000
One Shot Brotherhood (And Norman A. Chandler), 2001
Shooter Galloway, 2004
The Hunter's Alaska, 2005
The Boss's Boy, 2007
Pardners, 2009
Hawk's Revenge, 2010
Antique Guns (included above)
History of Early Perry County Guns and Gunsmiths (With Donald L. Mitchell), 1969
Kentucky Rifle Patchboxes and Barrel Marks, 1972
Arms Makers of Eastern Pennsylvania, 1981
Gunsmiths of Eastern Pennsylvania, 1982
Pennsylvania Gunmakers (a collection), 1984
Kentucky Rifle Patchboxes All New Volume 2, 1992
Behold the Long Rifle, 1993
The Kentucky Pistol, 1994
Hunting
Alaskan Hunter: a book about big game hunting, 1972
Choose the Right Gun, 1994
Hunting Alaska, 1995
The Hunter's Alaska, 2005
Sniper Series
Death From Afar I (And Norman A. Chandler), 1992
Death From Afar II: Marine Corps Sniping (And Norman A. Chandler), 1993
Death From Afar Vol. III: The Black Book (And Norman A. Chandler), 1994
Death From Afar IV (And Norman A. Chandler), 1996
White Feather: Carlos Hathcock USMC Scout Sniper (And Norman A. Chandler), 1997
Death From Afar V (And Norman A. Chandler), 1998
Sniper One, 2000
One Shot Brotherhood (And Norman A. Chandler)
Gun of Joseph Smith Trilogy (Young Adult)
Gun of Joseph Smith, The (With Katherine R. Chandler), 1987
Tuck Morgan, Plainsman (Vol. 2) (With Katherine R. Chandler), 1991
Morgan's Park (Vol. 3) (With Katherine R. Chandler), 1997
Children's Books
All About a Foot Soldier, 1965