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Show GOLDEN j i. PHANTOMS Fascinating TalCS Of rditha I. Waljon ; Lost Mines eNu. LETTER IN THE WALLET Hi AM searching for my brother." The speaker had driven up to a farmhouse In Wet Mountain valley, at the foot of the Sangre de Crislo range in Colorado, and was telling his story to the fanner. "George came West in IStiO, eight years ago," he continued, "and after he left our home in Illinois we heard no more of him. I am very anxious to find out If he Is alive or dead. I met a grocer in Denver who said that he sold George a bill of goods that year, and that my brother left some money in bis care, saying that he would not need it in the mountains, moun-tains, and that he would come back for it in the fall, but he never re- ' turned. All I can learn further is that he was headed for these mountains." moun-tains." The farmer shook his head. "I do not know anything about it." The next morning Skinner and his host went through the valley asking questions, but no one knew anything about his brother. At last Skinner decided to go up into the mountains, on the chance that he i might find some traces of the missing miss-ing man, and to this end he hired a guide and spent the summer wandering wan-dering about, following every lead, but without success. Autumn came. It was time to I return to the valley. On the way Skinner and his guide camped one night at timberllne on the eastern slope of Horn's peak. Nearby stood the remains of a cabin, and Skinner Skin-ner Idly explored the long-deserted place, finding nothing of interest but an old leather wallet During the night a snowstorm commenced, and in the morning the two men packed hurriedly and started for the valley. The wallet was forgotten for the time being, but sometime later Skinner remembered remem-bered his find, and carefully opened It. Its contents caused his heart to leap, for it was a letter written by his brother George about six months after he left Illinois. The letter related that George had found a wonderfully rich mine. He was planning a trip to "the settlements" set-tlements" to spend tlie winter outfitting out-fitting for the next spring, when he planned to return to the mine. Realizing Real-izing the hazards of travel through the mountains, George had given the location of his mine In this letter, let-ter, which he was leaving in his cabin, and also asked that anyone who found it should notify his brother in Illinois. Skinner said nothing nbout his discovery ; but as soon as spring came he went to his guide of the previous year and said that he was anxious to begin his search where it had been broken off at the old cabin on Horn's peak. The location was not hard to reach ; but when they arrived, they found everything changed. Snow-slides Snow-slides had peeled the face of the slope; trees had been carried away, great rocks had slid down and others oth-ers from above had taken their places. Nothing remained as It had been, and the cabin had disappeared entirely. Skinner was greatly disappointed. Still, he thought, he might find something some-thing more In spite of the changes made In the scene, and so he nnd the guide spent the entire summer at the place In the hope of finding some further trace of George, or of locating the mine. But fall came again, and they had learned nothing. noth-ing. They reluctuntly started back. They followed a different route from the one they had taken before, and the trail led them along the face of a steep precipice. It was a dangerous place: rocks loomed high above them and the bottom of the footing was narrow and insecure. inse-cure. One of the pack-burros began to plunge and rear, nnd finally It fell off the trail, rolling down into the depths below them. As soon as they could safely do so, Skinner and the guide climbed down to get the animals pack, for the burro itself had been killed In the fall. As they approached the dead animal, they saw two skeletons, skele-tons, one of a man and the other of a burro. It seemed a coincidence too apt to be true, but when the articles strewn about were collected, a book was found among them which proved to be George Skinner's diary, ' and showed that the skeleton must be that of the missing miner. The diary referred to the wallet left In the cabin, and Its last entry was apparently written the day after George left the mine. The camping I outfit which had been packed on George's burro lay strewn about I where the animal bad fallen, and considerable gold lay nearby, showing show-ing that George's death had been accidental. George Skinner's bones were Interred In-terred where they lay, and his brother returned to Illinois. The next summer he came back, attracted attract-ed by the Idea of finding the lost mine, and for several years he spent some time In the search, but the snowsllde had done Its work thoroughly, thor-oughly, and the gold remains hidden hid-den to this day. I |