It's about the only thing he has left that's worth anything. His second wife's kids pretty much took everything he had and sold it for drugs -- a couple of very very good hunting rifles, a handmade fly rod, a six-string Martin (he thinks it was a D-38), other things. The kids are in jail big-time, but the stuff is long gone.

I think it's a damned shame, but he has lots of friends at the Library and he comes in whenever he can. I kid him about getting a sword cane or pretend to swipe his cane or hat and he knows it's me. Herb's just a good old guy who spent his life working for the Union Pacific and has gotten a raw deal at the end. We try to treat him well and he appreciates it.