Here is a darkly humorous Appalachian folktale collected by prominent folklorist Richard Chase during his field research in western North Carolina and preserved through the oral history of R.M.W, Miles A.W. (Miles A. Washington Ward, 1869–1961), and Marshall P. Ward. As a grandson of the legendary patriarch Council Harmon, Miles was a vital traditional storyteller, banjo player, and singer in the Beech Mountain community who helped keep these old-world oral narratives alive.

The story tells of three brothers who went out to make their fortune with a one- hundred-dollar stake from their father and return in a year to see who did best. Two of them robbed the third, but in the end he did best and lived happily ever after.