Book excerpt: More than three decades ago, research began on a mysterious story. Parts of which were told me by a desert prospector, nicknamed Seldom Seen Slim, with whom I shared many a campfire evening. These parts worked their way into The Unheard Silence, a novel of fact-based fiction. The story, later semi-confirmed by Texas and Mexico research, seemed to overstate itself. At about that time, while rummaging through Pennsylvania’s erudite extravaganza, The Book Barn, I found and purchased an encyclopedic dictionary left behind somewhere by the 1800s. What fun to use a few of those now-derelict words and to include their meanings and other useful information as footnotes. Hence evolved the format exploited in this book. I hope you enjoy these add-ons.