<DIV>In 1861, as this story opens with the Yankee raid on the salt works at Cedar Key, Florida, a Confederate dollar is worth 90 cents in gold or silver. The Yankee soldiers, in their zeal to destroy the important Confederate salt works, kill young Henry Fern’s stepfather. From that moment on, Henry’s mind is locked on revenge. His goal to find the Yankee killers leads him throughout the South and much of the North as the war spreads. He studies medicine and offers aid to whichever side he needs to move through at the time. Through shrewd dealings, he manages to amass $40,000 in Confederate paper money, then sets out to change it into specie.</div>