OCR Text |
Show OTORY OF A DE8ERTED CAMP. Mysterious Stranger Cares for Graves ' of Early California Miners. Ono of tho old residents of California Cali-fornia Is Jcrcmlnh Van Horn, who Is now a retired merchant nnd upends his time In traveling. Ho Is full of tales of tho state ami last night told one nf un old mining camp near MaryBvlllc, "Near tho town of Mnrysvlllo," said he, "thero Is nn old mining camp, now deserted. On n hillside llu tho bodies of GO miners. Their resting places are fenced In and a few hardy Mowers bloom In tho spring, only to dry nnd wither In the summer. No nnmc Is to bo seen on the rudo headboards. But ono man hlmsclr as unknown to the people of the region ns the dead men below know3tho Bccretof tho grave?. About Kastcrttde of each year this man now aged and ooniowhnt bent, but with vigor still In his walk appears ap-pears from out of the mysterious cast. Ho arrives at Mnrysvlllo, hires a conveyance, con-veyance, and visits tho graves of three of tho old-timers. There Is nothing of the minor about him. He Is prosper-oui prosper-oui and perhaps wealthy. His clothing cloth-ing Is of the city cut. His grny beard Is well trimmed and his gold rimmed glasses hide a pair of shrewd blue eyes. His business is to look after the graves. Ho straightens up tho fence, wnters tho thirsty plants and when everything Is shlpshnpo spends a half hour In looking ovor tho valley nnd tho hills. Then, Jumping into his car-rlagc, car-rlagc, ho returns to Mnrysvlllo, takes tho train to San Francisco, nnd is lost for nnothcr year in tho solitude of civilization. civ-ilization. "Who Is ho? What tlo hinds him to tho threo men whoso bodies long ago crumbled Into dust? Was ho hlmsolf ono of tho, Argonauts, bound by ties closor than thoso of blood to tho trio upon whom tho winter rains havo fallen fall-en for half a century? Great Is the curiosity of tho people of Mnrysvlllo. Thoy watch him nnrrowly on his annual an-nual pligrlmngcs, nnd somo of tho forward for-ward ones havo been mado bold to question Mm. Ho hns always turned them away with courtesy nnd strict reserve. Thoy .do not oven know his nnmo or station, hut they marvel much over what they bellevo to bo nn example ex-ample of brotherly lovo and affection that stretches over, many decades and novor forgets tho past." |