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Show 8TORY OF A DE8ERTED CAMP. Mysterious Stranger Care for Qravee of Early California Miners. One of the old residents of California Cali-fornia 1 Jeremiah Van Horn, who Id now a retired merchant and spend hi time in traveling. He 1 full of tale of the state and last night told one ot an old mining camp near Maryavllle, "Near the town of Marysville," said he, "there Is an old .mining camp, now deserted. On a hillside lie the bodies of 60 miner. ' Their resting places are fenced In and a few hardy flowers bloom In the spring, only to dry aad wither In the summer. No name Is to he seen en the rude headboards. But one man himself as unknown to the people of the region as the dead men below know the secret ot the graves. About Eastertide ot each year this man now agod and somewhat bent, but with vigor still In his walk appears ap-pears from out ot the mysterious east.. Ho arrives at Marysville, hires a conveyance, con-veyance, and visits the graves of three ot the old-timers. There Is nothing of tho miner about him. Ho is prosperous prosper-ous and perhaps wealthy. His clothing cloth-ing Is ot the city cut. His gray beard Is well trimmed and his gold rimmed glasses hldo a pair ot shrewd bluo eyes. His business Is to look after the graves. He straightens up the fence, waters the thirsty plants and when everything is shipshape spends a half hour in looking over tho valley and the hills. Then, jumping into his carriage, car-riage, ho returns to Murysvllle, takes the train to San Francisco, and Is lost for another year In tho solitude- of civilization. civ-ilization. v "Who Is ho? What tie binds him to the throe men whoso bodies long ago crumbled Into dust? Was ho himself one of the Argonauts, bound by ties closer than those of blood to tho trio upon whom tho winter rains have fall-on fall-on for half a century? Great 13 tho curiosity- of tho peoplo ot Marysville.' Thoy watch him narrowly on his annual an-nual pilgrimages, and some of tho forward for-ward ones have boen mado bold to question htm. Ho has always turned them away with courtesy and strict resorvo. They do not oven know his name or station, but thoy marvol much over what thoy boliovo to' bo on example ex-ample of brothorly love and affection that strotchos over many decades and nover targets tho past." |