John and Trudy on vacation.
After a restful few days at the cabin, Uncle Vernon took the kids
back to Utah and school Linc told them before they left that he would
see them at Christmas time. Things were quiet around the farm now that
John and Trudy had left on vacation. Linc made plans to go to Denver
as soon as they got back. He had no problem with the animals here at
the farm. Lucas said he would take care of the chickens, to give him
something to do.
A couple of ladies from the neighboring farms came to visit with
their cookies and all. Linc brewed up a pot of tea, and since it was
cooler now, he served it with their cookies in the living room. Since
there were two ladies, he let them handle the pouring. Linc sipped
his tea, ate a couple of cookies and listened to the other three
reminisce. He made his excuses and escaped to the office, letting a
smiling Lucas handle the ladies.
Up at the office, he booked a flight to Denver, and made arrangements
for a car rental.
He got a call from the owner of the mine, who claimed he was very
pleased with they way things were going with the minerals getting
identified. He told Linc that the professor told him the samples had
a clay base, even though they looked metallic. Told him how his own
geologist had put a sample in a kiln and found it could be formed
while still soft from the heat. He said the resulting material was
extremely durable, and could be molded into any shape quickly. He
said they really needed more information on the material before going
any further with it. Good thing too he said, by-passing the area of
the deposit, they had opened up an area that showed a promise of
better gold deposits.
When Trudy and John got back, Linc Flew off to Denver and picked up
the rental car. Drove to Cardiff where he rented a room in a motel.
He didn't know for sure just how long it would take him to find the
place where the lab was. He walked around town looking for a library,
and found out it was about time for it to close. He picked up a map
at the drug store and went to a café for supper. He would come back
to the library in the morning. The map he got was not much use to him
since it covered too much of the area. He needed one that just
covered the immediate area.
The next morning after breakfast, he went to the library and after
looking through a lot of older maps, found the map he was looking for.
It was an old forest service map that showed all the lumber camps and
mines. Although he didn't find a mining claim near the lumber camp
he was sure was the one he thought was the camp. He got a copy of
the area he wanted, and left. He saw where the river was on the map
and drove to where the road followed the river upstream. He knew when
he came to the bridge where they crossed from the little town they
went to when they had escaped, that he was on the right track. The
map showed the old lumber camp to be about seven miles or so upstream
from that bridge.
After driving almost nine miles, he was beginning to wonder if he was
right, but then around a bend, there it was, an old gate to the where
the lumber camp was.
He was in luck here, as there was no lock on the gate and he was able
to go though it. As he drove through the small trees, he hoped there
was nothing in the road since this was just a car, not a truck. Going
a mile or so over a bumpy road he finally came to a clearing. There
were some old foundations around, so he figured this was where the
lab was. He locked the car and took off in the direction he thought
the mine was. With the shorter trees, he could see the hill where he
thought it might be and headed in that direction. Sure enough this
was the place. He recognized the adit, even though it had caved in.
He looked around the tailing dump and picked up enough rocks to fill
the pack. Then he touched the broach, said retreat. When he got
there, he put the pack in the cave. He wasn't about to try and take
the rocks back on a plane, then went back to the mine. He entered the
location into his GPS, went back to the car, and drove back to the
motel. He felt good about this, as he had about forty pounds of rocks
in that pack. Hopefully enough for the professor and his colleges.
Since it was late afternoon now, he decided to spend another night in
the same motel and head for Denver in the morning.
He called the farm and talked to Lucas and told him about the rocks,
and about going to Denver in the morning. He called the professor and
told him he had found the old mine and had picked up thirty to forty
pounds of ore, and would send them and the quart of rusty sludge when
he got back from Denver.
The professor said fine, and told him that he had called the mine and
talked to the owner who was pleased with the news of the samples.
Owner was going to send more samples to test out.
The next morning he started out for Denver. He had looked on the
city map, for the address of Lewis Hanks, before he left, and headed
to that area of town. He got a motel nearby, and waited until he
figured Lewis would be home from work. No sense in going to his
place if he wasn't at home.
A few hours later he decided to take a run over to the address. It
was an apartment building. He parked in front of it, just as a csr
pulled up and parked in a spot in the building parking spot. A young
man about his age, wearing a suit, got out and headed for the
entrance. Linc went up to him and asked if he was Lewis Hanks. The
young man tilted his head, and asked, " do I know you? You look
familiar." Linc held out his hand and said, " Lincoln Hanks.
Remember, you bumped into me in the woods about twenty years ago."
"But that's impossible." Lewis said, you look about my age." Limc
shook his head, and told Lewis it was a long story and he didn't have
time to explain it now. But it did happen. We need to talk about what
happened back then. Is your Mom living in Denver too? Lewis looked
all around, and said quietly, Yes we do need to talk, but not here.
I am sure I am being watched. I know my rooms have been searched
everywhere I move to, and so has mom's. My rooms may have bugs
planted in them but I can't find them. I think this because when I
sometimes call mom to go somewhere, we get followed. She is living
with Uncle Jasper, down the street about three blocks from here.."
Linc said, 'you may have a tracking chip planted on you. Why not leave
your watch, cell phone and wallet locked here in your car and we will
take a ride in mine and see what happens." Lewis put the items in his
car, locked it and went with Linc back to the rental. Linc asked if
there was a noisy café around close where they could go talk and
not be heard easily. He could take him back to the motel, but they
would not be able to see anyone around them there. In a public place
was the best answer.
Lewis directed him to a café that catered to a lot of the teenage
crowd. Any other adults would stick out like a sore thumb, Linc
thought. Good place.
Lewis told Linc how they had been harassed by the police, government
officials, and some of the Chinese guards that were at the lab. They
even interrupted the funeral they had for his Dad. It seemed no one
believed them about what happened at the lab. Didn't think they were
kidnapped by Chinese thugs. Too many strange people asking questions
about things they could not understand, and too many "question" about
the process they were working on. Too many questions about any
materials or records they might have. Lewis told him that his mother
did have some back-up memory chips that she had hidden in a tampon box
that the Chinese didn't find before the cleaned out and left. Uncle
Jasper took them and put them in his safe deposit box so they can't
get to them. His mom said their place had been searched a number of
times. It was at a point where they didn't trust anyone any more. Linc
told him, he didn't know of anyone who could help right off hand, but
there must be someone who could figure out just what all the Chinese
are interested in, and why they were so insistent about it to the
extent they have followed them for so long. He told Lewis his Uncle
Axel was a lawyer and worked with the FBI once in a while. He said he
would ask his Uncle if he knew someone he could really trust with
might turn out to be a national security problem. He said he wouldn't
go into a lot of detail yet about what happened. Since his Uncle knew
nothing about it.
Linc told him he went back out where the lab was to get samples of the
ore at the mine. He told him about the other ore samples and what
happened with and about them and the professor's experiments. He would
really like to talk to his Mom about the rocks and tell her all
about them too. He handed his cell phone to Lewis and asked him to
call his Mom and tell her that the cousin he ran into back in the
woods quite some years ago, was in town visiting him and why not come
down to the café and renew old times. Lewis did, and shortly his Mom
and Uncle came in. They had ordered burgers, fries and shakes while
they waited. Jane was so excited when she saw him. She recognized him
right away. She hugged him and then introduced Uncle Jasper., who
shook his hand and declared how glad he was that Linc had saved Jane
and Lewis from the Chinese thugs. Linc was able to tell her all about
the professor and the other rocks and the tests and so forth How the
professor and his colleges were working on more tests. Jane asked him
a lot of questions about the rocks, and Linc told her he didn't know
enough about the testing, because it was still in progress. Told her
when all the testing was done, maybe she could meet the professor and
talk about it. She told him about the memory chips, and maybe they
would help the professor. Linc said he didn't know, but it was
something to think about. Lewis said, don't look now, but a shadow
just walked in. he must have tracked Jane and Uncle Jasper. Linc told
them about the tracking chips to watch for. Told them he was in a
motel. They could maybe leave anything that might have a chip like
watches, phones, keys, wallets, purses and so forth at home and take a
taxi to the café the next day just after noon. Maybe they could talk
some more. Jane said that was a good idea, and Uncle Jasper could get
the memory chips for him to take back to the professor. They got up
and left right after the shadow had placed his order. Linc took
Lewis back to his apartment house then went to a small park close to
the motel to see if he was being followed. After he sat there a while,
watching the other cars he didn't see anyone who might be following so
he went back to the motel. Since he had already eaten at the café, he
watched some tv a while before he went to bed.
To be continued.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Friday, July 24, 2020
Other end of the island
After lunch, Link and Vernon went back to the cave, while Lucas and
Todd were playing a game of pool. The laptop wasn't fully charged yet
so they spent time looking at some of the artifacts. Vernon said he
really needed much more time to go through the stuff. There were so
many barrels, crates and boxes that contain things they couldn't even
begin to look through. Vernon said that he would like to have the
artifacts put in a museum if Linc didn't object. Linc said he wanted
that too, but what museum, and where?
Vernon said when he got back to Utah he would like to tell a few other
anthropologists about the stash here. He didn't need to tell anyone
where it is, just that he had access to it, and it may well be the
stuff from the French museum that disappeared during the first world
war. That along with a bunch of photos of some of the artifacts
should convince them that they all need to get together and find a
secure building for a new museum for it all.
Linc told Vernon to tell them, If they could all come up with a
building, he would take care of seeing the material transported to it.
Vernon said he hoped Linc could do just that. Linc told him, he could
do it.
They took some of the artifacts out to the kitchen and put them on the
table to take pictures. Vernon told Linc that he and Todd could sleep
down here at the cave and he could take more pictures before they went
to bed. Linc made a note to look for some clean bedding for the beds
in one of the dressers.
While Vernon took more pictures, Linc found the clean bedding, took
the spreads off the beds and made them up.
Linc said they really should be thinking about getting back to the
house and fix supper.
After supper they sat out on the veranda and talked until it was almost dark.
Vernon and Todd took some bottles of water with them and headed for
the cave while Lucas and Linc went off to bed.
The next morning Linc woke up to the smell of coffee. He went into the
kitchen, poured a cup and went out onto the veranda to find Vernon and
Todd sitting in the sunshine drinking theirs. A few minutes later
Lucas came out and joined them.
After breakfast, Linc told Vernon that he and the others were going to
explore the other end of the island after he was all set up in the
cave to start collecting info on the artifacts.
Linc was concerned about the walk to the other end of the island might
be too much for Lucas, but Lucas told him he felt fine and if he got
tired he would stop and rest a bit.
At the cave, while Vernon was getting setup, Linc got a hammer and a
chisel out of a tool kit in the pantry, and put them in a bag.
As they walked down the beach, Linc noticed that the beach was getting
much wider, and there were a few rocks and small bushes. Some of the
rocks were out in the water in places and there were a few tidal pools
by them. The further they walked, the more rocks and even some stuff
that had washed up on the beach. Seaweed, clam shells, crab shells and
even some driftwood. Tiny crabs was sliding in and out of it too.
As they walked, Linc noticed that the sand was not as solid near the
water, and was making the walking harder for Lucas so they went up
closer to the mountain.
There were a lot more rocks and brush up there but it was a lot easier
walking. Some of the shrubs had flowers and the bees were all over
them.
Todd had said he thought the end was a mile away, but Linc figured
they had already went over a mile and a half. He was about to ask
Lucas if he wanted to rest a bit, when Todd yelled and ran around a
couple of huge boulders. As they followed him, they saw that he had
climbed up on another huge boulder and was pointing up at the
mountain. As they got closer to him, they looked up at the mountain
and saw that there was a huge bowl in the side of it. Trees, vines,
shrubs, and a beautiful waterfall cascading in steps down the face of
it too. Linc could clearly see that this island was just the top of an
extinct volcano that had blown out at the side.
As they went around a big boulder, there were some smaller ones by a
huge pool of sparkling clear water that the waterfall fell into.
Lucas sat down on one of them by the pool to rest. Todd took off his
boots and jumped off the boulder into the pool and swam over to them.
As Linc looked around he could see coconut and date palm trees.
Looked like a few avocados and mangos too. Lots of birds that look
like parakeets flying around as well. He thought that this island was
in a tropical place for sure now.
Linc could see that there were a lot of rocks around the pool.
Material from the blowout Some of the boulders must have been from
the side of the volcano itself, and were mostly a basalt. Dark grey,
and a lighter grey that had a lot of tiny quartz particles in it, and
others were a couple of different types of lava ejected from the
explosion. A bit of tufa was in some of the chunks. That made them
quite friable.
Linc walked over to the pool and looked in. He could see where the
force of the water had scoured the bottom right down to bedrock, that
was black and shiny like a mirror. The water cascaded over the rocks
at the edge and flowed down the beach to the ocean.
Linc left the bag by Lucas and Todd sitting on the rocks, and followed
the stream down to the ocean. It had worn down through the sand to
the bedrock in quite a few places and made small pools. There were
quite a few flowering shrubs growing along side of it, and Linc
wandered in between them until he came out, looking at a long stretch
of beach between him and the waters edge. He walked clear down to
where the stream entered the ocean.
He walked back up through the rocks, trees and shrubs to the pool
where the others were. He saw that Todd had climbed out of the pool,
dripped off and put his boots back on. He picked up the bag and asked
Todd where the cave was. Todd led them around some big boulders and
pointed toward the mountain. He told them he almost missed it, but
saw how the bees were swarming up above to an overhanging ledge, where
he could see a huge honey combs hanging and bees swarming all over it.
Looking below it he saw another opening through the brush and trees.
They all went through the vegetation and went into the cave. It was
really an old lava tube.
The tube was quite large, almost cave like, here at the opening. They
saw along one side of it, wood had been stacked with an axe laying on
it. A shovel was sitting there as well. There was a nice fire pit in
the front of the cave with a grate on it, and a rusty iron pot sitting
there. On the other side were some rocks with a couple of crab traps
on it. The trunk was up against the wall of the cave so they drug it
out into the middle of the cave. Linc tapped the hinges and the hasp
with the hammer to loosen the corrosion, then used the chisel to pop
the hasp and to pry up the lid.
There was a tray in the top of the trunk that contained a few
toiletries and a fire starting kit.
Linc took the tray out and put it aside. In the trunk was two old
musty bedrolls, a pair of pants some old newspapers and a book. On the
inside cover was written, Claude Hancks So Claude and Marchard must
have stayed in this cave while the big cave was being formed.
As Linc and Lucas were looking at the book, Todd took the bag and
left the cave.
Lucas said the book was a volume of poetry, and browsed through it
reading a line or two here and there in it. It had beautiful
illustrations in it.
Todd came back to the cave with a bag of mangos and avocados. He
showed Linc and asked how the fruit, shrubs and critters came to be on
an island so far from land. Linc explained that millions of years ago
this volcano might have erupted many times very close to the mainland
to form an island. It was a very old island because a lot of it had
crumbled into sandy beaches. After the side blew out from the last
eruption, and the water began to fall , the big birds, could have
nested in the rocks, leaving seeds to grow. Bees and smaller birds
came as the trees and shrubs grew. Then as the tectonic plates
drifted apart, the island had moved away from the mainland to the
middle of the ocean.
They went back to the big cave where Vernon was still trying to finish
up. He was in one of the rooms trying to get a picture of the room
but told them the light from the lamp was not bright enough and his
phone didn't have a flash. He asked Linc if he had a camera, to which
Linc said no. Todd popped up with, " I have one in my pack, and no I
didn't take any island pictures either." "That's my man" said Linc
as Todd went for the camera.
After taking some pictures of several rooms, The took the laptop to
recharge and went up to the house for lunch.
After lunch, they sat around and talked about finding a museum, the
book from the trunk and the other end of the island. After a while,
Vernon said, " I'm at a standstill here, why don't we go back to the
cabin and finish out the rest of our time here. Todd and I can get in
some more fishing, Ok"? Linc told them to gather up their stuff, and
they went back to the cabin.
At the cabin the next morning after breakfast, Linc heard Vernon tell
Todd he was going to catch the most fish. He had to smile to himself,
because Vernon used to tell him the same thing when he was a kid.
To be continued.
After lunch, Link and Vernon went back to the cave, while Lucas and
Todd were playing a game of pool. The laptop wasn't fully charged yet
so they spent time looking at some of the artifacts. Vernon said he
really needed much more time to go through the stuff. There were so
many barrels, crates and boxes that contain things they couldn't even
begin to look through. Vernon said that he would like to have the
artifacts put in a museum if Linc didn't object. Linc said he wanted
that too, but what museum, and where?
Vernon said when he got back to Utah he would like to tell a few other
anthropologists about the stash here. He didn't need to tell anyone
where it is, just that he had access to it, and it may well be the
stuff from the French museum that disappeared during the first world
war. That along with a bunch of photos of some of the artifacts
should convince them that they all need to get together and find a
secure building for a new museum for it all.
Linc told Vernon to tell them, If they could all come up with a
building, he would take care of seeing the material transported to it.
Vernon said he hoped Linc could do just that. Linc told him, he could
do it.
They took some of the artifacts out to the kitchen and put them on the
table to take pictures. Vernon told Linc that he and Todd could sleep
down here at the cave and he could take more pictures before they went
to bed. Linc made a note to look for some clean bedding for the beds
in one of the dressers.
While Vernon took more pictures, Linc found the clean bedding, took
the spreads off the beds and made them up.
Linc said they really should be thinking about getting back to the
house and fix supper.
After supper they sat out on the veranda and talked until it was almost dark.
Vernon and Todd took some bottles of water with them and headed for
the cave while Lucas and Linc went off to bed.
The next morning Linc woke up to the smell of coffee. He went into the
kitchen, poured a cup and went out onto the veranda to find Vernon and
Todd sitting in the sunshine drinking theirs. A few minutes later
Lucas came out and joined them.
After breakfast, Linc told Vernon that he and the others were going to
explore the other end of the island after he was all set up in the
cave to start collecting info on the artifacts.
Linc was concerned about the walk to the other end of the island might
be too much for Lucas, but Lucas told him he felt fine and if he got
tired he would stop and rest a bit.
At the cave, while Vernon was getting setup, Linc got a hammer and a
chisel out of a tool kit in the pantry, and put them in a bag.
As they walked down the beach, Linc noticed that the beach was getting
much wider, and there were a few rocks and small bushes. Some of the
rocks were out in the water in places and there were a few tidal pools
by them. The further they walked, the more rocks and even some stuff
that had washed up on the beach. Seaweed, clam shells, crab shells and
even some driftwood. Tiny crabs was sliding in and out of it too.
As they walked, Linc noticed that the sand was not as solid near the
water, and was making the walking harder for Lucas so they went up
closer to the mountain.
There were a lot more rocks and brush up there but it was a lot easier
walking. Some of the shrubs had flowers and the bees were all over
them.
Todd had said he thought the end was a mile away, but Linc figured
they had already went over a mile and a half. He was about to ask
Lucas if he wanted to rest a bit, when Todd yelled and ran around a
couple of huge boulders. As they followed him, they saw that he had
climbed up on another huge boulder and was pointing up at the
mountain. As they got closer to him, they looked up at the mountain
and saw that there was a huge bowl in the side of it. Trees, vines,
shrubs, and a beautiful waterfall cascading in steps down the face of
it too. Linc could clearly see that this island was just the top of an
extinct volcano that had blown out at the side.
As they went around a big boulder, there were some smaller ones by a
huge pool of sparkling clear water that the waterfall fell into.
Lucas sat down on one of them by the pool to rest. Todd took off his
boots and jumped off the boulder into the pool and swam over to them.
As Linc looked around he could see coconut and date palm trees.
Looked like a few avocados and mangos too. Lots of birds that look
like parakeets flying around as well. He thought that this island was
in a tropical place for sure now.
Linc could see that there were a lot of rocks around the pool.
Material from the blowout Some of the boulders must have been from
the side of the volcano itself, and were mostly a basalt. Dark grey,
and a lighter grey that had a lot of tiny quartz particles in it, and
others were a couple of different types of lava ejected from the
explosion. A bit of tufa was in some of the chunks. That made them
quite friable.
Linc walked over to the pool and looked in. He could see where the
force of the water had scoured the bottom right down to bedrock, that
was black and shiny like a mirror. The water cascaded over the rocks
at the edge and flowed down the beach to the ocean.
Linc left the bag by Lucas and Todd sitting on the rocks, and followed
the stream down to the ocean. It had worn down through the sand to
the bedrock in quite a few places and made small pools. There were
quite a few flowering shrubs growing along side of it, and Linc
wandered in between them until he came out, looking at a long stretch
of beach between him and the waters edge. He walked clear down to
where the stream entered the ocean.
He walked back up through the rocks, trees and shrubs to the pool
where the others were. He saw that Todd had climbed out of the pool,
dripped off and put his boots back on. He picked up the bag and asked
Todd where the cave was. Todd led them around some big boulders and
pointed toward the mountain. He told them he almost missed it, but
saw how the bees were swarming up above to an overhanging ledge, where
he could see a huge honey combs hanging and bees swarming all over it.
Looking below it he saw another opening through the brush and trees.
They all went through the vegetation and went into the cave. It was
really an old lava tube.
The tube was quite large, almost cave like, here at the opening. They
saw along one side of it, wood had been stacked with an axe laying on
it. A shovel was sitting there as well. There was a nice fire pit in
the front of the cave with a grate on it, and a rusty iron pot sitting
there. On the other side were some rocks with a couple of crab traps
on it. The trunk was up against the wall of the cave so they drug it
out into the middle of the cave. Linc tapped the hinges and the hasp
with the hammer to loosen the corrosion, then used the chisel to pop
the hasp and to pry up the lid.
There was a tray in the top of the trunk that contained a few
toiletries and a fire starting kit.
Linc took the tray out and put it aside. In the trunk was two old
musty bedrolls, a pair of pants some old newspapers and a book. On the
inside cover was written, Claude Hancks So Claude and Marchard must
have stayed in this cave while the big cave was being formed.
As Linc and Lucas were looking at the book, Todd took the bag and
left the cave.
Lucas said the book was a volume of poetry, and browsed through it
reading a line or two here and there in it. It had beautiful
illustrations in it.
Todd came back to the cave with a bag of mangos and avocados. He
showed Linc and asked how the fruit, shrubs and critters came to be on
an island so far from land. Linc explained that millions of years ago
this volcano might have erupted many times very close to the mainland
to form an island. It was a very old island because a lot of it had
crumbled into sandy beaches. After the side blew out from the last
eruption, and the water began to fall , the big birds, could have
nested in the rocks, leaving seeds to grow. Bees and smaller birds
came as the trees and shrubs grew. Then as the tectonic plates
drifted apart, the island had moved away from the mainland to the
middle of the ocean.
They went back to the big cave where Vernon was still trying to finish
up. He was in one of the rooms trying to get a picture of the room
but told them the light from the lamp was not bright enough and his
phone didn't have a flash. He asked Linc if he had a camera, to which
Linc said no. Todd popped up with, " I have one in my pack, and no I
didn't take any island pictures either." "That's my man" said Linc
as Todd went for the camera.
After taking some pictures of several rooms, The took the laptop to
recharge and went up to the house for lunch.
After lunch, they sat around and talked about finding a museum, the
book from the trunk and the other end of the island. After a while,
Vernon said, " I'm at a standstill here, why don't we go back to the
cabin and finish out the rest of our time here. Todd and I can get in
some more fishing, Ok"? Linc told them to gather up their stuff, and
they went back to the cabin.
At the cabin the next morning after breakfast, Linc heard Vernon tell
Todd he was going to catch the most fish. He had to smile to himself,
because Vernon used to tell him the same thing when he was a kid.
To be continued.
Friday, July 10, 2020
cabin set up
Cabin setup.
Up at the cabin they got things unloaded and put away. Linc explained
that Grandpa and Uncle Vernon would have the bunks and he and Todd
would have the fold-up cots. They brought the fold-up table and
chairs since there wasn't much room in the cabin for them all to sit
at the table. Everyone liked eating outside anyway.
Todd went down to the creek as Vernon and Linc went up to look at
the mine and the trench. Lucas said he was going to take a nap.
In the mine, Linc explained about all that happened with the guy Lucas
thought he had killed. Linc could see no difference with the rusty
water seep. And the trench looked about the same, so they went back
and got a bottle of water and sat outside. Todd came back from the
creek and wanted to know where the fishing pole was, he saw a big
fish down there. Linc got the pole hanging above the door in the
rafters for him, then he told Uncle Vernon everything about the time
masters and the retreat and all that had happened to him so far.
"You're kidding…..You're not kidding? Wow! I find this hard to
believe". Vernon exclaimed. Linc said, I've got to have a talk with
Todd. Have to make sure he can keep the secret and not tell all his
friends, and we will all go to the retreat tomorrow." Vernon said,
"We, will have a talk with him. I think you can trust him all right".
Vernon replied.
An hour or so later, Todd came back to the cabin with two very nice
big cut throats. He had them all cleaned out and ready to cook.
Looked to be a couple pounds each. He wanted to grill them for supper
that night. Linc said fine with him.
Linc set up the BBQ and made a pot of coffee, as Lucas got up from his nap.
As they sat around drinking coffee, The men told Todd about the time
masters and the retreat. As he listened to them, his eyes grew big
and round. They could see he was having a hard time taking it all in
until Lucas told him it was a great place to go. He had been there
and loved the place. Todd's mouth hung open for a second, then he
said, " I can see you are all right about this.. I can keep my mouth
shut just as well as you can". Linc told him, that in the morning
after breakfast they would all go to the retreat.
Linc got the BBQ ready to grill the fish, and they all set up the
table for supper. After supper clean up. They sat outside and talked
about the retreat, the time travelers and Linc's adventures so far.
Todd asked so many questions, and so did Uncle Vernon. They talked
until dark, then went to bed.
The next morning, after breakfast and clean up. Linc touched the
broach and they went to the retreat.
As they stood there on the beach, Uncle Vernon and Todd both had to
shake their heads in amazement. Linc decided to go to the cave first,
and headed gown the beach that way, as the rest followed.
At the cave, Uncle Vernon marveled at how the walls of the cave were
so smooth and highly polished. So unusual. Linc showed them all thru
the cave , but saved the master bedroom for last.
Linc took the packet out of the desk, and handed it to Uncle Vernon,
who opened it up, and spread the contents on the top of the desk As
he looked at the papers for the estate of Roland's Father, He
recognized the name as a museum, Chateau de la Hancks, estate of
Claude d' Luc. that he had read about years ago. This had to be the
Father of Marchand Hancks He said that during the first world war,
a German officer took something from the estate museum without asking.
Then a few weeks later everything disappeared. The academic world
wondered what happened. It was never explained, since the old man
went to live at the other estate with his son, Marchand.
As Uncle Vernon told about some of the stuff in the packet, Todd and
Lucas searched the rest of the room. Looking under the mattress and
the drawers in the bedside tables. Lucas opened the trinket box and
was looking at the jewelry in it. There was a small ring with a star
ruby in it. He took it out and had just put it on his little finger,
when Linc opened up the door to the secret tunnel. He forgot he
had it on as they went into the tunnel.
As they walked inside the pink lights were much brighter. At the
first notch, Lucas was pulled forward, and yelled, "Whoa, whoa, what's
going on". The ring on his finger glowed brightly and Linc said, "
let me see that ring". "gladly" he said to Linc as he tore it off
and handed it to him.
Linc put it on his little finger and the room opened up before them.
As they looked in, Uncle Vernon's eyes widened and his mouth gaped
open. "Unbelievable" he said. All the items in this room were from
some African country. Mostly from the past. But many he had never
seen before. He was immediately in anthropologists heaven. He walked
around examining different things, commenting on some as he picked
them up.
They left this room and went to the next one, that had objects from
Egypt. Here Linc saw the necklace that he read about on Roland's
computer. So this is where the artifacts were stored, that they
brought back from their time travels. Looks like things from the past
and the future as there were things here that were never seen before.
So Marchand's Father was the one who started this retreat and here
is where he stored the items from his museum.
In one, there were a bunch of beautiful painting signed, CDH. These
must have been painted by Claude Hancks. So he was an artist too.
They looked in all the rooms in the tunnel, and at the end a room
opened up that had a very unusual large piece of equipment. This
had to be something brought from the future to carve the cave. Other
pieces they had no idea what they were and what they were for.
Uncle Vernon shook his head and said, "Lincoln my boy, you have no
idea how much seeing all this means to me. I would love to have time
to look and catalog these things. It's all so astounding." "Well we
can stay here a week and give you a chance to do some of it". said
Linc. "Huh? I have to get the kids back home for school", exclaimed
Vernon.. "Lets go on up to the house and I'll explain how we can do
this, Ok", said Linc.
Linc showed them all around the house. As he was making lunch, he
explained to Uncle Vernon about the time difference. How they could
spend a week here and be gone only a few hours from the cabin. He
told them, that after lunch they would go back to the cabin and get
Uncle Vernon's laptop from the truck, a change of clothes and the ice
chests and any other things they would need for a weeks stay.
When they got back from the cabin, Vernon put the laptop on charge.
Lucas decided to take a nap and Todd said he wanted to explore the
island as Linc and Uncle Vernon went to the tunnel and worked.
AS they looked around at some of the exhibits deciding which ones to
do first, Linc discovered that there were memory chips in each room.
That meant that some one had put on them something about the objects
in the room. Would be interesting to see what was on them. Hopefully
they explained about the items from the future.
They went out to finish examining the items in the desk. Uncle Vernon
explained some of the other items in the packet. One was a legal paper
absolving any liability from the duel. So that was why the dueling
pistols were in the desk. Seems Marchand had a duel with some one and
won.
The pistols went to the winner. Uncle Vernon exclaimed how beautiful
they were. " Strange how something so deadly could be beautiful," he
said.
He looked at the packet of money. "Wow, my boy, you have a fortune
here. These are very rare five frank notes. Not a lot of them were
printed with the two people on them, and all in order too. Twenty
notes from before 1914 when the government changed the currency
because of the first world war.. A hundred years or so ago this was
only one hundred dollars. Now … it's hard to say for sure how much
they are worth.. You will have to research these my boy". Limc said
he would, and they might come in handy some day, who knows.
There were a lot of other papers in the desk that Uncle Vernon
explained to Linc. Nothing really important. Linc said he liked the
desk, and maybe he could get it up to the house. He really didn't know
what to do about all the artifacts. Maybe his Uncle could help him
out there when he had a chance to look at every thing. Vernon said a
week would never be enough time to examine every thing in the rooms.
This was going to be a time consuming undertaking to say the least.
This was going to take some serious thought. Are the items better left
here or taken to a museum to be studied by other anthropologists, as
well as him? Maybe after a week, checking them out, he could give
Linc an answer.
They decided to go back up to the house for lunch. As they left the
cave, Todd came running up the beach toward them yelling, " wait for
me". They waited until he caught up then continued up to the house,
with Todd telling them about where he went.
Lucas was awake and had already started to fix sandwiches. They sat
on the deck and ate. Todd told them about another big natural cave
and a waterfall with a deep pool at the other end of the island. This
was about a mile on past the man made cave. He said it looked like
someone had spent time there because there was a fireplace and a big
trunk in the cave. He said he couldn't open the trunk because the
hinges were too corroded. Cool place he said. Linc confessed he hadn't
explored the rest of the island. He just hadn't had the time. This
could be something to do while Vernon checked the contents of the
rooms that he could in the time spent here on the island.
To be continued.
Up at the cabin they got things unloaded and put away. Linc explained
that Grandpa and Uncle Vernon would have the bunks and he and Todd
would have the fold-up cots. They brought the fold-up table and
chairs since there wasn't much room in the cabin for them all to sit
at the table. Everyone liked eating outside anyway.
Todd went down to the creek as Vernon and Linc went up to look at
the mine and the trench. Lucas said he was going to take a nap.
In the mine, Linc explained about all that happened with the guy Lucas
thought he had killed. Linc could see no difference with the rusty
water seep. And the trench looked about the same, so they went back
and got a bottle of water and sat outside. Todd came back from the
creek and wanted to know where the fishing pole was, he saw a big
fish down there. Linc got the pole hanging above the door in the
rafters for him, then he told Uncle Vernon everything about the time
masters and the retreat and all that had happened to him so far.
"You're kidding…..You're not kidding? Wow! I find this hard to
believe". Vernon exclaimed. Linc said, I've got to have a talk with
Todd. Have to make sure he can keep the secret and not tell all his
friends, and we will all go to the retreat tomorrow." Vernon said,
"We, will have a talk with him. I think you can trust him all right".
Vernon replied.
An hour or so later, Todd came back to the cabin with two very nice
big cut throats. He had them all cleaned out and ready to cook.
Looked to be a couple pounds each. He wanted to grill them for supper
that night. Linc said fine with him.
Linc set up the BBQ and made a pot of coffee, as Lucas got up from his nap.
As they sat around drinking coffee, The men told Todd about the time
masters and the retreat. As he listened to them, his eyes grew big
and round. They could see he was having a hard time taking it all in
until Lucas told him it was a great place to go. He had been there
and loved the place. Todd's mouth hung open for a second, then he
said, " I can see you are all right about this.. I can keep my mouth
shut just as well as you can". Linc told him, that in the morning
after breakfast they would all go to the retreat.
Linc got the BBQ ready to grill the fish, and they all set up the
table for supper. After supper clean up. They sat outside and talked
about the retreat, the time travelers and Linc's adventures so far.
Todd asked so many questions, and so did Uncle Vernon. They talked
until dark, then went to bed.
The next morning, after breakfast and clean up. Linc touched the
broach and they went to the retreat.
As they stood there on the beach, Uncle Vernon and Todd both had to
shake their heads in amazement. Linc decided to go to the cave first,
and headed gown the beach that way, as the rest followed.
At the cave, Uncle Vernon marveled at how the walls of the cave were
so smooth and highly polished. So unusual. Linc showed them all thru
the cave , but saved the master bedroom for last.
Linc took the packet out of the desk, and handed it to Uncle Vernon,
who opened it up, and spread the contents on the top of the desk As
he looked at the papers for the estate of Roland's Father, He
recognized the name as a museum, Chateau de la Hancks, estate of
Claude d' Luc. that he had read about years ago. This had to be the
Father of Marchand Hancks He said that during the first world war,
a German officer took something from the estate museum without asking.
Then a few weeks later everything disappeared. The academic world
wondered what happened. It was never explained, since the old man
went to live at the other estate with his son, Marchand.
As Uncle Vernon told about some of the stuff in the packet, Todd and
Lucas searched the rest of the room. Looking under the mattress and
the drawers in the bedside tables. Lucas opened the trinket box and
was looking at the jewelry in it. There was a small ring with a star
ruby in it. He took it out and had just put it on his little finger,
when Linc opened up the door to the secret tunnel. He forgot he
had it on as they went into the tunnel.
As they walked inside the pink lights were much brighter. At the
first notch, Lucas was pulled forward, and yelled, "Whoa, whoa, what's
going on". The ring on his finger glowed brightly and Linc said, "
let me see that ring". "gladly" he said to Linc as he tore it off
and handed it to him.
Linc put it on his little finger and the room opened up before them.
As they looked in, Uncle Vernon's eyes widened and his mouth gaped
open. "Unbelievable" he said. All the items in this room were from
some African country. Mostly from the past. But many he had never
seen before. He was immediately in anthropologists heaven. He walked
around examining different things, commenting on some as he picked
them up.
They left this room and went to the next one, that had objects from
Egypt. Here Linc saw the necklace that he read about on Roland's
computer. So this is where the artifacts were stored, that they
brought back from their time travels. Looks like things from the past
and the future as there were things here that were never seen before.
So Marchand's Father was the one who started this retreat and here
is where he stored the items from his museum.
In one, there were a bunch of beautiful painting signed, CDH. These
must have been painted by Claude Hancks. So he was an artist too.
They looked in all the rooms in the tunnel, and at the end a room
opened up that had a very unusual large piece of equipment. This
had to be something brought from the future to carve the cave. Other
pieces they had no idea what they were and what they were for.
Uncle Vernon shook his head and said, "Lincoln my boy, you have no
idea how much seeing all this means to me. I would love to have time
to look and catalog these things. It's all so astounding." "Well we
can stay here a week and give you a chance to do some of it". said
Linc. "Huh? I have to get the kids back home for school", exclaimed
Vernon.. "Lets go on up to the house and I'll explain how we can do
this, Ok", said Linc.
Linc showed them all around the house. As he was making lunch, he
explained to Uncle Vernon about the time difference. How they could
spend a week here and be gone only a few hours from the cabin. He
told them, that after lunch they would go back to the cabin and get
Uncle Vernon's laptop from the truck, a change of clothes and the ice
chests and any other things they would need for a weeks stay.
When they got back from the cabin, Vernon put the laptop on charge.
Lucas decided to take a nap and Todd said he wanted to explore the
island as Linc and Uncle Vernon went to the tunnel and worked.
AS they looked around at some of the exhibits deciding which ones to
do first, Linc discovered that there were memory chips in each room.
That meant that some one had put on them something about the objects
in the room. Would be interesting to see what was on them. Hopefully
they explained about the items from the future.
They went out to finish examining the items in the desk. Uncle Vernon
explained some of the other items in the packet. One was a legal paper
absolving any liability from the duel. So that was why the dueling
pistols were in the desk. Seems Marchand had a duel with some one and
won.
The pistols went to the winner. Uncle Vernon exclaimed how beautiful
they were. " Strange how something so deadly could be beautiful," he
said.
He looked at the packet of money. "Wow, my boy, you have a fortune
here. These are very rare five frank notes. Not a lot of them were
printed with the two people on them, and all in order too. Twenty
notes from before 1914 when the government changed the currency
because of the first world war.. A hundred years or so ago this was
only one hundred dollars. Now … it's hard to say for sure how much
they are worth.. You will have to research these my boy". Limc said
he would, and they might come in handy some day, who knows.
There were a lot of other papers in the desk that Uncle Vernon
explained to Linc. Nothing really important. Linc said he liked the
desk, and maybe he could get it up to the house. He really didn't know
what to do about all the artifacts. Maybe his Uncle could help him
out there when he had a chance to look at every thing. Vernon said a
week would never be enough time to examine every thing in the rooms.
This was going to be a time consuming undertaking to say the least.
This was going to take some serious thought. Are the items better left
here or taken to a museum to be studied by other anthropologists, as
well as him? Maybe after a week, checking them out, he could give
Linc an answer.
They decided to go back up to the house for lunch. As they left the
cave, Todd came running up the beach toward them yelling, " wait for
me". They waited until he caught up then continued up to the house,
with Todd telling them about where he went.
Lucas was awake and had already started to fix sandwiches. They sat
on the deck and ate. Todd told them about another big natural cave
and a waterfall with a deep pool at the other end of the island. This
was about a mile on past the man made cave. He said it looked like
someone had spent time there because there was a fireplace and a big
trunk in the cave. He said he couldn't open the trunk because the
hinges were too corroded. Cool place he said. Linc confessed he hadn't
explored the rest of the island. He just hadn't had the time. This
could be something to do while Vernon checked the contents of the
rooms that he could in the time spent here on the island.
To be continued.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Story
Back from town.
Linc took the stuff for Trudy from the truck, and went inside with it.
Lucas had gone upstairs to take a nap so link decided to look up
Cardiff, Colorado. From what he could tell on Google Earth, the
place where he figured the old lab would be, there was nothing left
there now. Looked like the area had been clear cut a few years ago.
He would have to fly to Denver and rent a rig there, to go on to
Cardiff. He Googled Lewis Hanks, and found one in Denver. It might
be the son, Who knows. He would check that out when he got there.
He heard Lucas going down the stairs, so he logged off the computer
and went on down himself.
As usual, Lucas was on the porch in the swing drinking ice tea. Linc
sat down beside him and said, "You ain't going to believe this but I
had another adventure on my way to town this morning." Linc told him
everything that had happened, and Lucas said he was darn glad he
didn't go to town with him. Linc said he had found where the mine was
that he got the crazy samples from, and sometime after John and Trudy
got back from their vacation, he was going to fly back there and see
what's what and maybe get more samples. He just didn't know yet for
sure,
Linc could hardly wait for Vernon and the kids to get here. He was
anxious to tell Vernon about the retreat, and take him there. He
also wanted to find out about the hidden hall, maybe Lucas and Vernon
could help him find a clue to open the pink notches.
The next morning after breakfast, Lucas went into the living room to
read the papers so Linc went up to the office and did some research on
the bell. He had read about the early Hanks family, but still was
surprised to learn how many of them were so talented.
He called Axel to ask about the bell. Axel told him he never knew just
where it went to. Said Edith wanted it and he wouldn't give it to
her. She took it and hid it somewhere and he never could find it.
Linc told him how he found it, and Axel could hardly believe it. Said
Edith hated to go in the barn, so he never looked there. He told
Linc to keep and use the bell, because he was giving it to him since
he never had kids of his own to give it to. Linc told him many
thanks, he would take very good care of it since it was a family
heirloom.
He had an e-mail from the professor. He said he had showed his
college the samples and they had a good discussion about them. No
Idea exactly what they were but they did know what they weren't. He
wanted to do some more experiments with them. He wondered if Linc had
more samples of the single rock he had sent, since the sample was
almost too small to do anything with. Linc e-mailed back, that he was
going to try and get more samples sometime in the next month, if he
was lucky.
He was reading other mail, when he heard a car coming in the yard. He
went downstairs and saw the kids flying out of Vernon's rig. Lucas
was out on the porch now and was swarmed by three very happy kids who
covered him with hugs and kisses, then they turned on Linc. After all
the greetings, the girls went to find Trudy. Vernon hugged Linc and
Lucas, and sat down on a lawn chair. Declared that he must be
getting old as he was already tired. He was looking forward to going
to the cabin and taking a good long rest.
Todd had stayed out on the porch with the men and had just seen the
bell, instead of the triangle. He asked about it, and just as Link
was about to tell him, the girls came back out of the house bringing a
tray of lemonade and glasses for all. After Jessica poured lemonade
for all, Linc explained that he had found the bell in the barn and it
belonged to Uncle Axel. It was a family heirloom, given to him by
their great grand parents. He went on to tell them how very talented
the Hanks that came to America first were.
He told them about Benjamin Hanks
In 1808 Benjamin Hanks became a partner in a foundry with his son
Julius Hanks in Troy, New York. They took out a newspaper
advertisement describing the brass cannons and church bells they
manufactured. Their foundry also made goldsmith's items, stocking
looms, clocks, and surveyor's compasses based on David Rittenhouse's
designs. Hanks obtained a patent for "Molding and Casting Bells" in
1816. The Troy foundry manufactured large church bells under this
patent. The Troy foundry also manufactured tower clocks and surveying
tools. After Hanks' first large church tower bell was mounted in
The Old Dutch Church in New York City in 1780 when he was contracted
to make the church tower clock. Hanks obtained a fourteen-year
intellectual rights patent in 1783 on this tower clock that
automatically wound itself by air. The patent said the clock would
wind itself up to operate by the use of air. It would automatically
continue to wind itself up and operate until the mechanical parts wore
out due to friction.
Hanks made the first two bronze cannons made in the United States in
1797. The First Company of Connecticut Artillery carried them. Hanks'
death in 1824, the Troy foundry was operated for a year by his son
Julius By 1777, at the age of twenty-two, Benjamin Hanks advertises
form Windham, Connecticut as a Clock and Watchmaker and that he
continued in the metal-smith's trade making (according to an
advertisement from the late 1770s) spurs, buckles, beads, hilts,
clocks and watches, as well as general silver and gold work. In 1780,
Benjamin moves to Litchfield, CT and builds a house and shop at 39
South Street to carry on his businesses. It is in the town of
Litchfield that he performs the following accomplishments. Shortly
after the move Benjamin is awarded the contract to make the clock for
the Old Dutch Church at Nassau and Liberty Streets in New York City.
In 1783, he petitioned the General Assembly for a patent for his
invention of a clock wound automatically by air, and in 1785
advertised his clocks, Church clocks, pneumatic clocks, watches with
center sweep seconds, surveyors' compasses, etc. In 1786 he
established a foundry and began casting large church bells. On the 6th
of August 1787, Benjamin installs a bell in the Litchfield meeting
house. The original one was broken. This bell was paid for by the
society. In 1790, Benjamin moves to Mansfield where he continued to
make clocks, bells and carried on the woolen business. In 1808 he and
his son Truman form a partnership in the bell business and build a
foundry in Troy, NY. The foundry made an assortment of items,
including tower clocks, surveying tools, and church bells. On the 4th
of November, Benjamin was granted a patent for Molding and Casting
bells.
Benjamin Hanks Served as a drummer in Revolutionary War. In addition
to clockmaking business, carried on goldsmith trade; made stockings,
looms, compasses, brass cannon and large church bells. In 1779 removed
to Litchfield, where in 1780 he built his home from which he carried
on his business until 1790. His home served as one of Litchfield's
early hotels. Removed to Mansfield CT where he "continued to make
Clocks and Bells." In 1793 sold Amherst church its first bell. Set up
second foundry for bell casting in Troy NY with son Truman, under firm
name of BENJAMIN HANKS & SON. Advertised from 1777 to 1779 (Windham
CT), as watch and clockmaker and gold- and silversmith offering beads,
buckles, spurs, spring lancets, etc. 3 He worked from 1780 to 1790 as
a silversmith and bell founder in Litchfield CT 3 He worked after 1790
as a silversmith and bell founder in Mansfield Center CT 3
Their foundry also made goldsmith's items, stocking looms, clocks, and
surveyor's compasses based on David Rittenhouse's designs. Hanks
obtained a patent for "Molding and Casting Bells" in 1816. The Troy
foundry manufactured large church bells under this patent. The Troy
foundry also manufactured tower clocks and surveying tools.
This is where he cast these house bells. He presented a bell to each
member of the Hanks family, as keepsake. Each family has passed the
bells to later members of their family as heirlooms. This is how
Axel got this bell, and now I have it. I'm proud to be a member of
the Hanks family, and you should be too.
Todd piped up and said, " My name is Hanks now, does that include me"?
" You bet your boot's it does little Brother, and that goes for the
girls as well," exclaimed Linc. Todd said, " what he liked about
the bell, is it didn't go clang, clang. It went ring a ding, ding.
I'm glad Uncle Axel gave it to you, so we could learn about it and
the Hanks family". "So do I", Amy, piped up.
John came out on the porch and said, " grab your glass, lunch is
ready". Leslie said to Vernon, " Trudy has made our favorite soup".
" You wouldn't kid an old man, now would you", he asked. "Nope, " she
replied.
Trudy was just setting a big tureen of soup on the table as they
entered the dining room. " Aw me! " Vernon sighed. ' Trudy my dear.
You are the only person I know who puts navy beans in vegetable soup.
That's what makes it so much better than any other. If you were not
already married, I'd be kneeling at your feet." Trudy waved at him
and said, "Go on now, eat your soup." " And cornbread too. Now I
know I'm in heaven" , Vernon grinned.
He looked over at Leslie, and said, " take a lesson here darlin, she
knows the way to a man's heart".
After eating, Vernon said he was full as a tick, as Linc and the kids
gathered up the dirty dishes to take to the kitchen.
Later as they were all out on the porch, Linc told them to get all
their stuff together and in the trucks, they would be heading up to
the cabin with in the hour. Just the guys, the girls were going to
stay with Trudy and learn to bake.
To be continued.
Linc took the stuff for Trudy from the truck, and went inside with it.
Lucas had gone upstairs to take a nap so link decided to look up
Cardiff, Colorado. From what he could tell on Google Earth, the
place where he figured the old lab would be, there was nothing left
there now. Looked like the area had been clear cut a few years ago.
He would have to fly to Denver and rent a rig there, to go on to
Cardiff. He Googled Lewis Hanks, and found one in Denver. It might
be the son, Who knows. He would check that out when he got there.
He heard Lucas going down the stairs, so he logged off the computer
and went on down himself.
As usual, Lucas was on the porch in the swing drinking ice tea. Linc
sat down beside him and said, "You ain't going to believe this but I
had another adventure on my way to town this morning." Linc told him
everything that had happened, and Lucas said he was darn glad he
didn't go to town with him. Linc said he had found where the mine was
that he got the crazy samples from, and sometime after John and Trudy
got back from their vacation, he was going to fly back there and see
what's what and maybe get more samples. He just didn't know yet for
sure,
Linc could hardly wait for Vernon and the kids to get here. He was
anxious to tell Vernon about the retreat, and take him there. He
also wanted to find out about the hidden hall, maybe Lucas and Vernon
could help him find a clue to open the pink notches.
The next morning after breakfast, Lucas went into the living room to
read the papers so Linc went up to the office and did some research on
the bell. He had read about the early Hanks family, but still was
surprised to learn how many of them were so talented.
He called Axel to ask about the bell. Axel told him he never knew just
where it went to. Said Edith wanted it and he wouldn't give it to
her. She took it and hid it somewhere and he never could find it.
Linc told him how he found it, and Axel could hardly believe it. Said
Edith hated to go in the barn, so he never looked there. He told
Linc to keep and use the bell, because he was giving it to him since
he never had kids of his own to give it to. Linc told him many
thanks, he would take very good care of it since it was a family
heirloom.
He had an e-mail from the professor. He said he had showed his
college the samples and they had a good discussion about them. No
Idea exactly what they were but they did know what they weren't. He
wanted to do some more experiments with them. He wondered if Linc had
more samples of the single rock he had sent, since the sample was
almost too small to do anything with. Linc e-mailed back, that he was
going to try and get more samples sometime in the next month, if he
was lucky.
He was reading other mail, when he heard a car coming in the yard. He
went downstairs and saw the kids flying out of Vernon's rig. Lucas
was out on the porch now and was swarmed by three very happy kids who
covered him with hugs and kisses, then they turned on Linc. After all
the greetings, the girls went to find Trudy. Vernon hugged Linc and
Lucas, and sat down on a lawn chair. Declared that he must be
getting old as he was already tired. He was looking forward to going
to the cabin and taking a good long rest.
Todd had stayed out on the porch with the men and had just seen the
bell, instead of the triangle. He asked about it, and just as Link
was about to tell him, the girls came back out of the house bringing a
tray of lemonade and glasses for all. After Jessica poured lemonade
for all, Linc explained that he had found the bell in the barn and it
belonged to Uncle Axel. It was a family heirloom, given to him by
their great grand parents. He went on to tell them how very talented
the Hanks that came to America first were.
He told them about Benjamin Hanks
In 1808 Benjamin Hanks became a partner in a foundry with his son
Julius Hanks in Troy, New York. They took out a newspaper
advertisement describing the brass cannons and church bells they
manufactured. Their foundry also made goldsmith's items, stocking
looms, clocks, and surveyor's compasses based on David Rittenhouse's
designs. Hanks obtained a patent for "Molding and Casting Bells" in
1816. The Troy foundry manufactured large church bells under this
patent. The Troy foundry also manufactured tower clocks and surveying
tools. After Hanks' first large church tower bell was mounted in
The Old Dutch Church in New York City in 1780 when he was contracted
to make the church tower clock. Hanks obtained a fourteen-year
intellectual rights patent in 1783 on this tower clock that
automatically wound itself by air. The patent said the clock would
wind itself up to operate by the use of air. It would automatically
continue to wind itself up and operate until the mechanical parts wore
out due to friction.
Hanks made the first two bronze cannons made in the United States in
1797. The First Company of Connecticut Artillery carried them. Hanks'
death in 1824, the Troy foundry was operated for a year by his son
Julius By 1777, at the age of twenty-two, Benjamin Hanks advertises
form Windham, Connecticut as a Clock and Watchmaker and that he
continued in the metal-smith's trade making (according to an
advertisement from the late 1770s) spurs, buckles, beads, hilts,
clocks and watches, as well as general silver and gold work. In 1780,
Benjamin moves to Litchfield, CT and builds a house and shop at 39
South Street to carry on his businesses. It is in the town of
Litchfield that he performs the following accomplishments. Shortly
after the move Benjamin is awarded the contract to make the clock for
the Old Dutch Church at Nassau and Liberty Streets in New York City.
In 1783, he petitioned the General Assembly for a patent for his
invention of a clock wound automatically by air, and in 1785
advertised his clocks, Church clocks, pneumatic clocks, watches with
center sweep seconds, surveyors' compasses, etc. In 1786 he
established a foundry and began casting large church bells. On the 6th
of August 1787, Benjamin installs a bell in the Litchfield meeting
house. The original one was broken. This bell was paid for by the
society. In 1790, Benjamin moves to Mansfield where he continued to
make clocks, bells and carried on the woolen business. In 1808 he and
his son Truman form a partnership in the bell business and build a
foundry in Troy, NY. The foundry made an assortment of items,
including tower clocks, surveying tools, and church bells. On the 4th
of November, Benjamin was granted a patent for Molding and Casting
bells.
Benjamin Hanks Served as a drummer in Revolutionary War. In addition
to clockmaking business, carried on goldsmith trade; made stockings,
looms, compasses, brass cannon and large church bells. In 1779 removed
to Litchfield, where in 1780 he built his home from which he carried
on his business until 1790. His home served as one of Litchfield's
early hotels. Removed to Mansfield CT where he "continued to make
Clocks and Bells." In 1793 sold Amherst church its first bell. Set up
second foundry for bell casting in Troy NY with son Truman, under firm
name of BENJAMIN HANKS & SON. Advertised from 1777 to 1779 (Windham
CT), as watch and clockmaker and gold- and silversmith offering beads,
buckles, spurs, spring lancets, etc. 3 He worked from 1780 to 1790 as
a silversmith and bell founder in Litchfield CT 3 He worked after 1790
as a silversmith and bell founder in Mansfield Center CT 3
Their foundry also made goldsmith's items, stocking looms, clocks, and
surveyor's compasses based on David Rittenhouse's designs. Hanks
obtained a patent for "Molding and Casting Bells" in 1816. The Troy
foundry manufactured large church bells under this patent. The Troy
foundry also manufactured tower clocks and surveying tools.
This is where he cast these house bells. He presented a bell to each
member of the Hanks family, as keepsake. Each family has passed the
bells to later members of their family as heirlooms. This is how
Axel got this bell, and now I have it. I'm proud to be a member of
the Hanks family, and you should be too.
Todd piped up and said, " My name is Hanks now, does that include me"?
" You bet your boot's it does little Brother, and that goes for the
girls as well," exclaimed Linc. Todd said, " what he liked about
the bell, is it didn't go clang, clang. It went ring a ding, ding.
I'm glad Uncle Axel gave it to you, so we could learn about it and
the Hanks family". "So do I", Amy, piped up.
John came out on the porch and said, " grab your glass, lunch is
ready". Leslie said to Vernon, " Trudy has made our favorite soup".
" You wouldn't kid an old man, now would you", he asked. "Nope, " she
replied.
Trudy was just setting a big tureen of soup on the table as they
entered the dining room. " Aw me! " Vernon sighed. ' Trudy my dear.
You are the only person I know who puts navy beans in vegetable soup.
That's what makes it so much better than any other. If you were not
already married, I'd be kneeling at your feet." Trudy waved at him
and said, "Go on now, eat your soup." " And cornbread too. Now I
know I'm in heaven" , Vernon grinned.
He looked over at Leslie, and said, " take a lesson here darlin, she
knows the way to a man's heart".
After eating, Vernon said he was full as a tick, as Linc and the kids
gathered up the dirty dishes to take to the kitchen.
Later as they were all out on the porch, Linc told them to get all
their stuff together and in the trucks, they would be heading up to
the cabin with in the hour. Just the guys, the girls were going to
stay with Trudy and learn to bake.
To be continued.
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