"That’s what we need for the kitchen," Mary whispered to her husband, Carl.

The table, among other pieces of furniture, was to be auctioned off to the highest bidders. No one thought that anything coming out of the old farm house had much value. Like Mary, the other bidders were there to supplement the furnishings of their summer cottages in the mountains of western North Carolina.

"I’ll start the bidding off and won’t go too high," she continued to whisper. Mary did not want the auctioneer or any potential buyer to know how interested she was in the table.

The auctioneer evidently thought the table worthless. The legs had been beaten up, perhaps by someone carelessly pushing back a chair or bench. It was a horrible black color, and there was a crack in the wooden top. Instead of starti…