Pete and his men left to trade their furs, while I schmoozed Leavenworth some more until Lt. Douglas, the Quartermaster, showed up. I had planned to gift him some bourbon, but wasn’t going to waste it on him now; I did, however, accept a glass of his proffered scotch. This guy was definitely living it up. I also garnered a dinner invite, which I politely declined, explaining that I was not in proper health just yet.
Lt. Douglas was the prototypical example of a quartermaster. He was non-descript and lacked any professional appearance or bearing. He looked like what he was, a corrupt banker.
He got straight to business, making Colonel Leavenworth grimace at the poor decorum displayed by one of his officers. Added to that, Douglas turned out to be a self-important jerk with an over-inflated value of himself. Give us two minutes alone and I could fix that for him.
“Henry tells me you want to trade some gold. We pay a standard fixed rate with US Dollar coin.” God, this guy was a dick.
Leavenworth scowled and I simply stood up to leave.
“Mr. Narrater, please sit back down. I truly believe we can reach an agreement to your liking. The Lieutenant may have spoken a bit rudely and rashly. I apologize to you, sir.” Henry wasn’t happy at all and Douglas looked surprised.
I paused for dramatic effect and then pulled one gold and one silver nugget out of my pocket and placed it on the desk in front of Henry.
“These were a prize from the Derna campaign during the Barbary War. Well earned, I might add.” Then I slowly sat down.
The nuggets had their attention. Pure ore will do that to a greedy person and I had the feeling these two were experts at creative accounting.
“I’m asking $60 in US coin per ounce.” Simple and to the point.
Douglas was outraged, “The US Government has set the price of gold at $20. What you ask is unmanageable!”
“Control yourself, Lieutenant!” Leavenworth warned him, “Have you never heard of haggling?”
Turning back to me, Henry said, “I’m afraid Douglas gets carried away sometimes. However, sir, he is correct in that $60 would be completely unmanageable. Perhaps something in the range of $30 would be acceptable. We also have to consider the coinage we have on hand sir.”
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“Colonel, I do understand the constraints that you face and I also understand the abilities of a good Purser, such as Douglas. Perhaps $45 would be within your abilities?”
Leavenworth considered that for a strategic minute and came with the expected $40 offer at which point I simply stuck out my hand. “Colonel, sir, I do believe we have a deal. I can exchange ten ounces of each immediately and return with an additional seventy ounces of each at the end of the summer. Each ounce nugget is the same high grade ore on my word as a Marine and a gentleman.”
We shook and the deal was done, I had just doubled my money and converted it to spendable cash. Leavenworth and his lackey would make out well on the deal. Douglas left to get my currency and I had a bit of time to curry favor with Leavenworth.
I pulled the unopened bottle of bourbon out of my bag.
“Henry, I’d like you to have this. It is a fine aged Bourbon made by a friend of mine back home. I think you will find it to be without peer." Well, now, this was an expensive bribe and I was about to go a bit deeper. This man would be a power in the area for the next decade and a good relationship was vital.
We had a glass of his new bottle as was polite. His demeanor regarding the gift changed as soon as the mellow magic rolled across his tongue. He actually looked at the bottle in surprise. I knew that it was probably the very best bourbon he had ever tasted; it was quality stuff.
“Henry, I do have another small problem you might be able to provide me some guidance. I am looking to obtain or hire a river boat to hasten my return home.”
He pondered for a moment and then shuffled through some papers on his desk. “Ah, here!" he exclaimed, as he held a hand-written report up.
“It seems we recently seized a river boat for failure to pay fees and fines. Sir, I think we maybe able to assist you. It seems we have need to dispose of this asset to recover the fines.”
He made it too easy, “Colonel, I would be happy to offer half an ounce of gold for the boat if you are willing to sell it.”
“Mr. Narrater, sir, you have a deal.”
So I passed him a gold nugget and threw on the sweetener.
“Colonel, please hold any excess funds from my payment for me. Perhaps you could use a little of it to assist me in locating some trustworthy men with families who may be looking for a home now that they’ve be mustered out.”
“Sir, it would be my pleasure,” was his immediate reply.
He hollered for his aide and, within minutes, a list of recently separated solders was being assembled for me.
Douglas finally showed up with a bag of coins and I handed over the rest of the nuggets to Henry. “Thank you, Colonel. I had heard much about you and was not disappointed upon our meeting.”
Now that would have earned me a duel challenge at many of the international diplomatic events I had attended overseas, but Henry just beamed, oblivious to the insult.
I took the bag from Douglas and didn’t bother to count the coins, which infuriated him even more. I made my leave and stopped by the aide's desk on the way out. He had a list of five men ready for me. I handed him a five dollar coin and asked him to send the men to my camp late this afternoon, while giving him brief directions.
I headed down to the docks to check out my new vessel. I’d be on my way home soon.