The following letter seems to clear up a little about Harold Smith, but it mostly adds to the muddle. That's just my opinion.

Dear Mr. Blathe,

There are many things I wish to share with you. All of what I have to write will be of interest and use. I will tell you at this point in the correspondence that I have no bad news to present to you. I feel a general sense of peace and optimism as I press on with this endeavour.

I have taken measures to protect myself from the CRA. I realize that it may seem excessive to worry about such a small organization, but you are privy to an insignificant portion of the information I have thus far uncovered. I write sparingly of them to insulate you and others from them. I know that I must do more to inform you of their nature, but I resist. Forgive my paranoia. It is warranted. Now, the above is not bad news, only a small clarification and update.

Nigel Bently(sic), I must say, is a gem of a human being. He is a bit rough around the edges and occasionally lacks for the skills needed to habituate one's self to human contact. However, he makes up his lacks with a keen eye for his objective. To wit, Mr. Bentley has spent a great deal of effort in tracking down information about Harold Smith. Remember that mention in the newspaper from more than a century ago? That mention came with an image. Nearly the spitting image of our Mr. Smith. However, this person was mentioned a second time, in the paper, in an obituary. He was deceased. I have enclosed a photocopy of the the image of our Harold Smith, and the century old photo. Mr. Bentley and I agree that this is a relative of our Mr. Smith. Probably a direct antecedent. I expect it to be his grandfather.

This is a promising development. We now have access to the resources sufficient to the objective of learning who Harold Smith is.

There is one point I nearly neglected to mention. References to the CRA are found in some documents in Virginia City archives; found in that city, Carson City, and scattered around Washoe County. It appears that they were often referred to as the "Royal Communion" and the "Joyful Jackasses." Mr. Bentley states that membership in one group was nearly identical to that of another. There are other pieces of evidence that support the referent of the names being the same.

I suspect strongly that there is a link to our Mr. Smith in these archives.

Again, and with no reservation, I thank you for your indulgence,

I. McNutt