The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-05-19
FRANK ELDERS GHOST,
A Veracious Miner Story A Stag-Driver
Smells Blood in the ir-His Horses
Stop He Feels Cold Hand
Passed Over His Face
Wind and Fog,

There is lonely spot in the Gunni'
son country not yet penetrated by rail-
roads, but through which a stage pass
es ut stated intervals. Stage drivers
dislike to travel through the place at
night, for they claim that the horses
suddenly stop before ravine in which
stand the ruins of Il burned cabin. The
Denver Ncws says that nothing in the
shape of ghost orunnatural appearance
has ever been seen TO warn or brighten
the beasts or the traveller, but sense
of something uncanny seems to lie
around the spot, as If
over all there hangs cloud of fear;
sense OF mystery the spirit daunted,
And said rs plain as whispered 10 tue eur,
The place Is haunted.
An old STAGE driver named Sam Eek
efclt pives the following explanation of
the feeling that affects the traveller He
says that for the few years that stage
line has travcrsed the spot the same
phenomena have been observable at
nightfall The night may be rs still us
the heart of the dead, but whenever the
stage draws near the spot a sudden
whirlwind springs up and dense fog
seems to settle over nature. The horses
always stop, and it is with the greatest
officially that they can be induced to
start again The sense of something
near one, unseen but partly felt, comes
10 the mimi. What this something Is it
seems impossible TO determine. Some
times it seems as if II cold hand passed
over the face OF the one who waits but u
moment on the dreadful spot, and the
wind seems 10 carry Il voice low and
mnttcring. sam AYERS that he has sew
ersi times smclled blood in the air, rs
his horses have stopped, and that he
has heard Il sound of steel knife strlk-
no against piece Of rock. Sam al
wavs declares he knows nothing about
the history Of the place, but Jabez
Brown, IN old miner who has Travelled
all through the mountains, tells this
story, and has told it more than once to
Sam Eckcfelt without variation or
change:
"About fifteen years ago, when the
Gunnison began To be first settled, had
a friend in California gulch named Joe
Sommcrs Joe got disappointed in the
gulch and started of to locate some new
claim. he said he didn't care much
where. He fell in with another fellow
named Frank Elder, Elder was rather
aweak, sickly fellow, Kind of tender
foot but was bent Oh making aforlune.
| never could see how he and Sommers
could iibe very well together. Sommers
was rough sort of fellow, but with II
big heart, and was rather too fond of
whisky. Somehow or other the two
drifted into the Gunnison country. They
roamcd about for a year or more, and
at last concluded To settle down in II
place they christcncd Dcsolation gulch.
II was wild. rough sort of a place, and
mountain lions and Indians used to
swoop down once in while and sneak
off with their grub. But they built a
cabin and went to prospecting. SOM
mers somehow thought the place looked
well. They dug away ut prospect
hole, but nothing seemed to pan out.
At last, one day, while Elder was lying
sick in the cabin and cursing Desolation
gulch and his own bad luck, Sommers
thought he struck lead. He told Ed
er of it, and the brave young fellow
jumped out of his bed, put on his pants
duu DOOtS anu oub W iiD. III 81
short time they saw their efforts re-
warded, and in few weeks they had
dug up good quantity OF ore. In
about two months they thought they
had stuff enough on the dump to be
worth quite little pile, andwere going
to start off to the nearest smelter. They
had already loaded train Of burros
with the ore, when in some way or 9TH
er they fell TO talking on a division of
the profits of the dump, and Sommers
said, elder. I'll be ID if you are en-
Titled TO an equal pile with me. You
were lying sick like nm old woman in
the cabin when | struck this lead. "
Elder said quietly Joe, don't want TO
quarrel with YOU but | got off Il sick
bed to work on that lead, and | think,
old pard, you ought to let me have half
the profits. Then they got into a dis
cusSion in which | suppose pretty high
words were used on both sides. Final
~ Sommers, having become thoroughly
mad. said, with "A big vein swelling in
his forehead, You
I'll teach you what sort of a divy there
is going to be in this outfit, and draw
Ing stiletto from his belt he iabbed it
quicker than lightning into Elders
heart. The poor little fellow sank back
dead, never speaking after the fatal
lunge was made. The stiletto had
been given TO Sommers by little Ger
man girl he used to be sweet on in Gin
cinnati.
when she gave it TO him she told
. him never TO use it except in defense Of
his own life or woman's honor. He