Spriggs stood up and extended his right hand when Winndrow approached the table. "Ah, Mr. Pinkham," he said, "Thank you for joining us! I trust you had an agreeable rest of the afternoon!"

"Well, I reckon I don't know who you are, and I 'spose that's the point, ain't it?" Winndrow shot Miss Smithers a quick grin just to see where she stood in the conversation.

Spriggs waved off the waitress and withdrew a folded map from his briefcase which he proceeded to unfold and spread out on the table. "Here's a map of the battlefield. We're right here, by the way." He pointed to a small penciled dot below the word, "Dover."

He let his finger come to rest at a spot above the town, flush with the Cumberland on the map. "This is Pinkham Ridge," he said.

"Right where I thought it was," said Winndrow, reaching for the beer on the retreating waitress' tray.

"Am I correct in assuming that this land is still in your family's possession?" Spriggs asked.

"I’m all that's left of the famous Pinkhams," said Winndrow.

"Fine. Then, let's get down to brass tacks. As I mentioned when we spoke this afternoon, I believe that your piece of land figured in heavily to the outcome of the battle that made this town famous. But, it is a little-known fact. That's why I'm here. To put your little piece of land in the history books and to set the record straight."

Winndrow seemed nonplussed. "I'm listening," he said, "but I still ain't heard no cash register dinging."

"Oh, yes, of course. We.re proposing to pay you one hundred dollars so we can conduct our research and investigation on your land."

Miss Smithers began to fidget in her chair. "What is this 'we' business," she thought. Winndrow squinted as he let that piece of information about the money digest. A hundred dollars was more than he could make in a week working at the Highway 79 Gulf station. Still, something didn’t seem quite right. "What does your so-called research and investigation involve?" he asked finally.

"Well," said Spriggs, trying hard to hide his agitation, "it just means we spend a couple of days going over your land with a metal detector and comparing landmarks with my charts and maps."

"Maybe I'm being stupid," said Winndrow, "but why would you need a metal detector?"

"Excellent question!" said Spriggs, his finger on his mustache. He shot a glance over at Miss Smithers who seemed as anxious as Winndrow for an answer.