The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone, Part 3 - The White City: The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone, #3

By D.M. Sears

The White City is the exciting conclusion to The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone!  Molly has escaped the destruction of her small town of Laurentide.  She and Veronica have survived a dozen harrowing adventures as they raced through the 20th century on the Jeremy Bentham.  They've outwitted and out-battled not just Pug-Nasties but power-hungry presidents, panicky bankers, and whisky-smuggling gangsters.  But are they up to their greatest test of all - Ursula Bamcroft herself?

 

It's Chicago in 1893, at the greatest World's Fair ever to take place, and the girls must find Ursula, stop her from stealing the silver cups, and get Molly back to the Present before history is changed forever.  Easy, right?  Not hardly!  First, they can't find the missing circus train.  Then they realize there's no way to stop the cups from being stolen.  Worst of all, Veronica is kidnapped right when Molly needs her most! 

 

The White City is a gorgeous, sumptuous, heart-pounding adventure at the height of America's Gilded Age.  In the middle of the historic Columbian Exposition, Molly and Veronica are battling the most cruel forces ever to attack the nation.  On one side is Ursula with hundreds of Pug-Nasties.  On the other are Molly and the crew of the Jeremy Bentham, along with an ill-tempered mongoose, a mysterious magician, and a wild band of circus performers.  Will the White City go up in flames?  Will the bridge over the Chasm collapse under the greatest train race in history?  Will Molly and Veronica survive to reach Laurentide again?  And what does chocolate have to do with any of this?  Grab a seat and hold on, for history is on the move!  It's full speed ahead for The White City - all aboard!!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: MacGregor Books
• Release date: Nov 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9780996231541

D.M. Sears

D. M. Sears lives and writes in Virginia. He is a pilot who has written several books about flying under the name Michael Bleriot and now three books for younger readers. The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone was born when his niece requested an adventure story for a 12-year-old girl, one that included trains, horses, and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. She said it should also include the history of America, “but only the interesting parts.”

Book preview

Books by D.M. Sears

The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone

The Manifest Destiny of Veronica T. Boone

The Untimely Journey

of

Veronica T. Boone

Part 3 – The White City

by D. M. Sears

MacGregor Books

Washington DC  MMXVIII

Copyright © 2018 D.M. Sears

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner

whatsoever without written permission except in the case of

brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Cover art by H.D. Nichols, The Court of Honor.

ISBN: 0-9962315-6-0

ISBN-13: 978-0-9962315-6-5

Library of Congress Control Number:  2017915422

Printed in the United States of America

For Elizabeth Jeanne

With special thanks to

Alandra, Tayt, Greer,

Lady Eleanor, Kimberly, Matthew,

and Michael

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 3 – The White City

Chapter 33 – Silver

Chapter 34 – 1893

Chapter 35 – The Midway

Chapter 36 – The Conjurer

Chapter 37 – Talkie Town

Chapter 38 – The White City

Chapter 39 – Little Egypt

Chapter 40 – The Plan

Chapter 41 – Chocolate Man

Chapter 42 – A Close Call

Chapter 43 – The Robbery

Chapter 44 – The Chase Begins

Chapter 45 – The Crew

Chapter 46 – 1901

Chapter 47 – The Pan American

Chapter 48 – The Stockyards

Chapter 49 – The Final Run

Chapter 50 – Return to Laurentide

Illustrations

Glossary

———————————————————

Part 3

The White City

———————————————————

4. Image 3 - The White City picture.jpg

Chapter 33 – Silver

Outside St. Louis, Missouri - 1896

The Jeremy Bentham hurried through the night.  Stars stretched and blurred against the sky as the train slipped the bands of time and moved backward through the earliest years of the twentieth century.  1903, 1902, 1901 counted down.  Around midnight Molly awoke to see flashes in the dark.  She sat up and pushed the curtains aside.

Fireworks!

Rockets soared overhead in great arcs and burst into rainbows of light and sparks.  Hazy pictures of parties and banners and marching bands flitted through the fog.  Somewhere – sometime – a great celebration was happening.

It must be the Fourth of July, she murmured.

No, it’s the turn of the century, Veronica corrected her.  Her companion rolled over and propped herself up on an elbow.  We’ve crossed into 1899.

We’re in the 1800s? Molly gasped.  Her stomach felt hollow all of a sudden.  The 1900s were one thing but finding herself yet another century back in time was a whole new ballgame. 

Veronica, however, looked relieved.  Yes, she said with a quiet sigh.  I’m home.

––––––––

Mr. Magellan had expressed confidence they could arrive at the Columbian Exposition exactly when Veronica wished – in early spring of 1893.  But toward noon the next day the train suddenly slowed to a crawl.  Molly heard the whistle blow a long wail followed by two short blasts, a toooot..toot-toot which was the engineer’s way of signaling that something was amiss.  Outside, the fog cleared away and so did the hazy pictures.  The delicate span of tracks across the Chasm dropped behind and was replaced by a normal railway running across firm ground.

What’s happening? she asked.

Veronica hurried forward from the sleeping car.  I don’t know.  This isn’t Chicago.

It is not, Mr. Stewart informed them, entering the parlor.  We’re just outside St. Louis.  There is a disturbance that forced Mr. Thomas to stop.

Forced? Veronica enquired.  Are we being attacked?

Not at all, but there are people on the tracks.

––––––––

When they stepped outside it became clear what Mr. Stewart meant.  The Jeremy Bentham had stopped at the edge of a great crowd of people who swarmed over the tracks and across a nearby field.

I’m sorry, Miss Veronica, Mr. Thomas called.  He jumped down from the locomotive and ran back along the gravel embankment.  No one told me these people would be here.  I barely stopped in time.

That’s because they’re not supposed to be here! Mr. Magellan insisted, leaning out the window.  This line should be clear.

"Evidently it is not clear, Veronica corrected him.  Well done, Mr. Thomas.  You are to be commended in the highest terms for avoiding an unspeakable disaster."

Yes, yes, thank you.  The engineer was quite agitated.  He sat down and clutched his Saint Christopher medal, waiting for his nerves to steady.  Professor Cooke handed down a cup of tea.

What are they doing? Molly asked, trying to see over the crowd.  There appeared to be a man speaking from a platform at the far end of the field.

It might be one of those religious revivals, Lewis suggested, peering from the steps.  Maybe that fellow up front is a preacher.

Veronica strained her ears to hear what the speaker was saying.

Almost, she decided after listening.  I believe it’s a political rally.  She spoke to a man at the back of the crowd who confirmed her guess.  Yes, it’s Mr. William Jennings Bryan.  This is 1896, another election year, and he is heading up to Chicago to speak at his party’s convention.  Mr. Bryan is a famous orator and is practicing his speech today right here.

On a railroad track?  Holy cow, couldn’t he find a gymnasium or something?

Not for this many people, Veronica waved at the crowd.  We’re in the days before radio, Molly.  Before television and moving pictures, too.  Speeches are great entertainment and Mr. Bryan is one of the best.  Only a field will hold his crowds.

Since it didn’t look like they would be going anywhere soon, Mr. Thomas went back to the locomotive and shut it down.  Then they all sat and listened as Mr. Bryan’s voice floated to them over the heads of ten thousand people.

He seems upset about something, Molly commented.  But I don’t understand what.  He’s talking a lot about money...and silver?

He wants silver to be used as money, Professor Cooke explained from his window.  In 1896 the United States uses gold to back up its supply of paper money but there is only so much gold to go around.  So that means there can only be so much paper money to go around.  The two have to be matched up.  Mr. Bryan doesn’t like that.  He wants the country to use silver in addition to gold.  He figures then there will be more money to go around and poor people won’t be so poor.

It sounds like a good idea to me, Molly shrugged.

It sounds like a good idea to a lot of people, the professor agreed.  That’s why all these folks are here.  The problem is, it won’t work.

Why not?

The professor munched a celery stick.  Have you ever had a lemonade stand, Molly?

Yes, in front of my house last summer.

How much did you charge for a cup of lemonade?

Twenty-five cents.

Why didn’t you charge a thousand dollars? the professor asked.

Molly laughed.  Because nobody would pay a thousand dollars for lemonade!  Nobody in Laurentide has that much money.

Of course not, the professor agreed.  They don’t have it here, either.  But let’s say somebody dumped a big pile of free money in the center of town.  Then everyone in Laurentide would be rich, wouldn’t they?  And if everyone had free money in their pocket they wouldn’t mind if you raised your prices to a thousand dollars a cup, would they?  You could even charge ten thousand on a hot day.  In fact, you would be a fool not to.

Molly thought about that.  I guess so.  I could make a lot more money then.

Sure you could.  But of course, everyone else would do the same thing.  Everybody who sells something – lemonade, candy bars, cars, houses – would raise their prices, too, since all their customers would suddenly have lots of free money to spend.  But then if a candy bar suddenly cost a thousand dollars, it wouldn’t help you to make all that money, would it?  What’s the good of having a million dollars in your pocket if it costs you a million dollars to eat lunch?  So in the end, just throwing money around won’t work.

But if it won’t work, why does Mr. Bryan want to do it?

Professor Cooke laughed.  Politicians have a long record of doing things that don’t work, he said.  Being wrong never seems to bother them.

Mr. Bryan thinks he can stop people from being poor by handing them money, Veronica added.  He’s wrong but it’s a simple answer and people like simple answers.  That’s why he’s so popular.

So giving people silver isn’t going to help them? Molly asked.

No.  Actually it would make things worse.  When people get things for free they get lazy.  They stop taking care of themselves and start wanting everyone else to do things for them.  But don’t worry.  Mr. Bryan won’t win the election this year – or any year, for that matter.  And the United States will stick with gold as its money standard for many years yet.

But up in front of the crowd Mr. Bryan didn’t think so.  He ended his speech by shouting angrily, To those who refuse to let us use silver, I say:  You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns!  You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!

It was powerful stuff.  The crowd cheered.  Veronica stood up.

Mr. Stewart, this crowd will be here for a while yet.  Molly and I shall go for a walk.

––––––––

On the edges of the crowd a number of merchants had set up stalls.  These were people who didn’t mind working for a living and who saw a chance to profit from the crowd.  A blacksmith fixed horseshoes.  Another man repaired carriage wheels.  A third offered a miracle hair tonic that he promised would cure baldness.  A woman sold homemade quilts.

Are we looking for anything? Molly asked as they stepped carefully through the trampled grass of the farmer’s field.

No, Veronica said.  I just wanted you to have a chance to see 1896 as long as we were stopped.  It’s an interesting time.  There’s another depression just ending...

"Another depression?"

Well, yes.  I told you, they used to happen every now and then.  This one started in 1893, right after the Columbian Exposition ended.  But it only lasted a few years because the government stayed out of it.  And after this there won’t be another one until 1920.

Is that why people are all excited about silver? Molly asked.  Because they think it will help them out of this depression?

That’s one reason.  But mostly it’s because they don’t understand why the economy isn’t doing well.  When people don’t understand something they get scared, and when they get scared...

...they make bad decisions, Molly finished.  Oh, boy.  Are they going to make another bad decision in 1896?  Are they going to do what they did in the 1930s and elect someone like Franklin Roosevelt?

Not this time, Veronica assured her.  As I said, Mr. Bryan will run for president this year but he won’t win.  By the time of the election people will realize his ideas aren’t that smart.

I never knew silver was such a big deal, Molly admitted.  As she spoke they passed a tent with a sign that read:  F&F Glessner, SilversmithS.  Veronica had an idea.

Let’s go talk to an expert, she suggested.  If an entire presidential election is going to be about silver, maybe this fellow can tell you why everyone is so crazy about it.

Inside the tent Mr. Francis Glessner was surprised by their question.  He had slick hair pressed flat on his head and a moustache that curled up at both ends.

Why is silver popular? he repeated.  La-la-la!  That’s easy.  Because it’s beauuuuuutiful!!  He held out a handful of silver coins for them to feel.

"Look at these.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  And they’re real.  People can relate to silver.  It’s soft but strong, light but durable, as shiny as King Arthur’s sword yet quick to tarnish if not cared for.  It’s not aloof and unreachable – no, silver is something people can actually imagine owning."

But everyone always talks about gold... Molly started to say.

Gold...bosh! Mr. Glessner scoffed.  Gold is for kings but silver is for people!  Look here, he said, holding up a dinner platter that sparkled like glass.  You can see your reflection in it.  It touches your heart just to look at it!  You’re not afraid of it, not intimidated by it like you would be if it were gold.  When people see gold they see money and greed but when you look at silver you see beauty and opportunity!  Not only that, but a smith like me can work silver in a million ways that I cannot work other metals.

He gestured around the tent where shelves held some of his creations.  Look here.  Silver makes a wonderful coin, yes, but artists design more than just money with it.  Cutlery, candelabras, jewelry of course, trophies, memorial cups, plateware, and even crowns.  Why, it may sound ridiculous but let me show you this design we made for a fellow in Toledo who fancied himself a king.  It’s a crown but if you look at it just right...

What did you say? Veronica interrupted him.

I beg your pardon?

Did you say something about memorial cups?

The man twirled his moustache.  Of course!  A silver memorial cup.  We’ve only made one, mind you, but it was one of our biggest orders a few years ago and a magnificent creation.  He searched around in crates at the back of the tent and pulled out a dusty white object.  Ah, here it is.  He put a plaster model of a cup on the table.  This is only a cast, you see – the actual cup we sold.  But it gives you an idea of the quality of the workmanship we do here.  My wife did the details – she is the real artist in the family.  Oh, Florence!...

Mrs. Glessner bustled in but Veronica hardly noticed.  Even Molly couldn’t believe what they were seeing.  The plaster cast was an exact copy of a Laurentide Memorial Cup!

Where did you get this? Veronica demanded.

We made it, the man replied proudly.

Of course we did, his wife agreed and held her chin high.  That is a Glessner replica, make no mistake.  No one else could copy a detail so perfectly.

Copy? Veronica repeated.  What did you copy it from?

From the original, silly goose, Mr. Glessner answered.  A young woman came in one day and made us a proposition.

What kind of a proposition?

She had the original cup and wanted a copy and said she would pay us well.  But what she wanted wasn’t easy, I tell you.  Her cup was like nothing I had ever seen.  Light, lustrous, and incredibly strong – she wouldn’t let it out of her sight, either.  I had to make a plaster cast right there in our store while Florence wrote down fifty details to make sure we didn’t miss anything.  That lady was terribly demanding – in fact, she was rather harsh.  She wanted perfection and threatened us with all manner of ills if she didn’t get it.

You say you did this a few years ago.  Where?  When?

It was in Chicago, of course.  That’s where our store is.  Lately we’ve just been following around Mr. Bryan because he stirs up so much interest in silver – he’s like a walking advertisement for us! – but back then we had a booth at the World’s Fair and...

This woman found you at the Columbian Exposition? Molly interrupted.

"Absolutely.  We had a stall on the Midway there.  We did such a good business that when this young miss burst in one day wanting a commission immediately we almost