The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1878-08-17
ONLY A MOMAN,S GRAVE.


ing camp OF Cold Springs, half way hc-
tween PlareTville and COlnma. The
sitting sunlight, trembling through the
leaves Of grand Old live oak, falls low
ingly, tendeIly upon the grave, just as
II did twenty years ago. Marvellous
changes have crept with the years over
all of the surroundings Five thousand
miners worked IN the fiat and gulchts
OF that little mountain rimmed camp in
those early golden days. No claim was
allowed to be over 10 feet square, and
even then, the ravincs aud hOilOws, the
valleys and hill slopes were all located
and there were minersto spare. 1t was
one of the loveiest camps in the foot
hills. There we've some OF the grand
est men, the mGst numerous, the most
heroic, in the mines Of those days that
ever the sun shone On-men whose no.
bility Of sUul would have stamped them
heroes In any age OF clime And one
such was large broad -shOuldered
n-handsOme, well educated, gem
eral favorite among his fellows, and
who was always known as Judge"
There / had almost written his name,
and you would know him, and it is the
one tender event of his life am tell
ing.
If you chsnced to be in Cold Springs
on the day June Meredith anG her hus-
band came to town, you were doubtless
standing with the crowd by the hotel,
watching the stage as it came lumber.
ing down the HangtoWn hill. The
news had flown ahead of the stage that
o genuine respectable married woman
was coming with her husband to live
at the Springs, Every claim was va
Gated that afternoon to see the phenOm.
enon; for, in that little valley, with its
hundreds of men, it was, indeed, a
phenomenon to have real lady come
and settle among them.
Just as the plump, pretty figure, the
blue eyes aud the light brown hair
emerged from the stage, and thou
sand breathless voices were whispering,
GLOW beautiful" she gave little
stiied scream and fell faintng in the
arms Of her husband Everybody said
1t was the heat, the fatigue, the excite
ment which caused her to swoOn, and
all were too much engaged with the
event to observe the blanched face of
the Judge, who clutched the column of
the porch to keep from falling.
When few days had elapsed and the
excitement over the new arrivals had
partially subsided, it was discovered
that the judge had disappeared. No
one RENE mbered to have seen him after
the stage drove in,
Il \
Ere the swarm of busy life swept
away from the placers, and the hum of
mining and miners voices ceased, the
little knoll overlooking the plat became
dotted with graves. Many who left
home and friends with an ardent eager
thirst for gold, wearied and fell asleep
among the gold vens-fOund resting
places in the very heart of the digging
where they worked And some MOUNDS
iu this mining camp burial ground COW
cred hearts that in lie weIe warmer
and tenderer, If possible, than those of
the brave, generous pioneer covered
hearts of the pioneers wives. In one
of these graves, the one whose romance
am telling, lay June Meredith.
When the mines were worked out,
and the bustling camp had become
farming village, most ofthe graves were
removed to a filter burying place near
the road. When the bOdi, were being
removed, the workmen found a we'll
dressed, mide-aged stranger sitting on
the grave under the oak. He had been
seen to enter the village at dusk the even
ing before, and it wa, readily cCnject
ured that he had been at the grave all
night. He said few words to the man
who had charge of the work, and en-
phasized his language with handful of
money, and then he disappeared without
letting any one know who he was or
whence he came. 1t was scarcely neces-
sary to say that this grave was not
touched. The knoll was robbed of all
its other dead but June Meredith sleeps
where they laid her. The date ON the
marble tombstone showed that the
stranger had visited the spot on the an.
niversary night of the death OF the wo-
man who lay slumbering there. In
speaking, one with another, concern
Ing the event, 1t was aSceTtained that
the stranger, or some one resembling
him, had been seen in the neighborhOod
during prior years, at about the same
time OF the year.
This is about all. The "Judge" had
never been seen at the Springs after
his sudden disappearance, until the
stormy, dreary, night when June Mere.
dith died. No matter how completely
he Worshipped her, ,Lo matter how desc
late was his aimless lie, his sense of
honor forbade him from so much as visi.
ting her while she was anOther's.
But when she was dying, when all
hope Of life was gone, when she lay
with closed eyes SO quiet and still and
seemed to be listening to voices from
the further shore, the door opened softly
and the Judge entered the room. He
was pale and hagpard and careworn,
and was only shadow OF his former
self. but the blue eyes unclOsed and
frightened with a joyous recognition.
In tho dim shadow land Of death there
MAS no hesitation. With eager, out
stretched arms she clasped his neck
and bis lips touched hers she murmuTed
"ln heaven?"
The next moment she was dead.
Every year on tie anniversary night OF
her death, he visits her grave SscIa-
meRtO Record Union,
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