The Gospel of Silk

William L. Payne preached silk as the salvation of the impoverished village of Rosewick in 1926. He persuaded investors his silk factory would make them rich and the region prosperous. He was mysterious, charismatic, and a little scary. He was said to have performed miracles, though he was anything but divine. He claimed to be an illegitimate son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and he nurtured the notion that he carried the German crown jewels in his little black satchel. Though Howard Godwin, 9, suspected Payne was a German spy, he became his most devoted disciple . . . and his Judas.