The King and I

My friend Will Chausee had a sapphire mine in Montana about 35 miles east of Hamilton.

He was an unlikely friend. Will owned a high-class cedar lumber operation, catering to high-end builders. He was a burly chap, probably 200 pounds if an ounce.

Over time we got thrown together through the Rotary Club and other endeavors.

Will kept inviting me to vacation at his Gem Mountain sapphire mine. So, my wife and I decided to do just that.

The mine was located high up in the mountains, a fun and scenic drive, if nothing else.

He spent time there in a house that reminded you of both Will and mines in general.

My wife spent the better part of a couple of days making the house more livable both for us and for Will.

He had a local business of selling a bucket of gravel to you and you could keep any sapphires you found. He guaranteed that you would find at least one sapphire or he would furnish gravel until you did.

Over time, we spent several vacations there and our friendship grew.

One day, Will looked me up to show me a sapphire he’d found that had a perfect form of a pagoda in it. He said it was a gem fit for a king and asked me if I would take it to Thailand with me and give it to the king. I said yes, not knowing what I was getting myself into.

I had discussed with Will that I would be stopping over in Bangkok and I could hardly say no.

Will called the Thai embassy in D.C. and was told what to do and how to go about it.

He asked me to go with him to talk with a guy who prepared art items made of gold.

It was upstairs in a rundown building in the poorer part of Seattle. The person had a very small space, that you could see. Will told the guy the story, and he took some notes and peered at Will over his glasses.

A few weeks later, Will called me to go with him and see what he was getting for a rather large sum of money.

The guy showed us the gift. He had cast a good-sized gold case with the king’s emblem on it and the sapphire on a gold chain resting on a satin cloth. It was beautiful. I never learned what Will paid for it.

Now it was up to me as to how I was going to deliver it.

When I arrived, I went to the palace and asked about what would be expected of me. The next day, I returned only to learn that the king had left the previous day upcountry to the old capital.

I told them why I was there and was ushered into the palace. I waited for what seemed like a long time. The waiting area was gorgeous and certainly fit for a king.

I watched as a formal looking fellow came down a long flight of stairs. I told him of Will’s sapphire mine, but had to help the man understand where Montana was. I gave him a letter from Will and opened up the gold gift so he could see it.

He said he was the king’s first secretary and that he would see that the king received the gift.

The first secretary said that gifts to the king were placed in a special room and that the king would visit his gifts when he had the time.

A handshake later I gave him the gift and he remarked how special it was.

While I didn’t meet the king, I got a glimpse of how he lived.