“Brigham Young wrote this?” Rowan asked.
“It is his script.”
“The lost gold and our great secret are linked?”
Snow nodded. “From the beginning. Solve one and you solve the other.”
“What did the prophet mean by the reference to Samuel and the telegram?”
“That’s where Lincoln was quite clever. In mid-1863, to ensure the lines still operated, the president sent a telegram to Brigham Young. He told the prophet that what he’d read about Samuel in our good book rings true, so what better sentinel than a Lamanite.”
Cryptic, for sure. But all new information. “This telegram still exists?”
“Sealed away, for the eyes of a prophet only. Its wording is actually quite meaningless unless you’ve read what you’re holding. But now you and I both know the truth. Tell me, Thaddeus, how do you know of this secret? This was supposedly only for prophets.”
The time for pretense was over. “As Prophet Brigham said, there were two sides to that bargain. Ours and Lincoln’s. References to America’s involvement with Brigham Young still exist in the national archives.”
“I have known for some time that you were searching. Your accomplice, Senor Salazar, has made a nuisance of himself.”
“You have a problem with Josepe?”
“He’s a fanatic, and they are always dangerous, no matter how sincere they profess to be. He follows blindly the teachings of Joseph Smith, ignoring the continuing revelations prophets have received through the years.”
“That sounds like blasphemy.”
“Because I question what I know to be wrong? How could that be anything other than smart and practical?”
“Strange talk from our prophet.”
“But that’s the point, Thaddeus. I am the prophet. So my words carry the same significance as the ones spoken by those who came before me.”
He motioned with Young’s message. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Because I, too, now want to know the great secret. The White Horse Prophecy was always thought by us to be false, written years after the fact, incorporating what its drafters already knew to be reality, making Prophet Joseph sound more accurate than he deserved.”
“It’s real, Charles. Brother Salazar has proven that.”
“I’ll be interested in seeing that proof.”
“We have an opportunity to fulfill the prophecy. We can stand by the Constitution of the United States, as it was given by the inspiration of God.”
“And if that destroys all that He created?”
“Then so be it.”
“Study the second page.”
He stared through the next stiff plastic protector and saw a map.
“That’s where both the secret and the gold are hidden,” Snow said.
“But it tells us nothing.”
“Young apparently made the quest a challenge. I assume there’s a good reason for that. It seems you must find what Mr. Lincoln hid away to solve this puzzle.”
And he already knew exactly where to look.
“May I have these?”
Snow shook his head. “Not those. But I’ll provide copies.”
“You want me to go after it, don’t you?”
“I want you to pray on the proper course. Whatever answer Heaven provides, act upon it. That’s what I’ve done.”
NINETEEN
ATLANTA
STEPHANIE HAD FOUND ONLINE THE U.S. SUPREME COURT decision of Texas v. White, issued April 12, 1869.
The issue was simple.
Were $10 million of treasury bonds, transferred by Texas to private individuals after Texas seceded from the union , valid? Everyone agreed that the transfer violated federal law, and happened at a time when Texas had declared itself no longer part of the union , the former state setting up its own rules governing the transfer. So if Texas’ secession from the union was legal, then the bonds were valid and worth their face value. If not, they were worthless. An elementary dispute that, at its heart, raised a monumental question.
Was secession allowed by the Constitution?
She again scanned the opinion, just as she and Edwin had done two hours ago. He was gone, due back in Washington for an evening engagement. They would meet again tomorrow. The relevant portion came about halfway through.
The union of the States never was a purely artificial and arbitrary relation. It began among the colonies, and grew out of common origin, mutual sympathies, kindred principles, similar interests, and geographical relations. It was confirmed and strengthened by the necessities of war, and received definite form, and character, and sanction from the Articles of Confederation. By these the union was solemnly declared to “be perpetual.” And when these Articles were found to be inadequate to the exigencies of the country, the Constitution was ordained “to form a more perfect union .” It is difficult to convey the idea of indissoluble unity more clearly than by these words. What can be indissoluble if a perpetual union , made more perfect, is not?