The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-10-05
THE NERMoUNTAN AND COLORADO CATHOLIC: OCTOBER 1907

"Ah Cara Mia" spoke the lone man, my heart !
dead within me, but 1 must go to your funeral an
see YOU laid to rest and I'll soon be with you.
Still the bell kept tolling. Before it ceased, An
tonic was flying out of the canyon haggard, NUT
tering to himself, wildly gesticulatlng and tear
flowing down his cheeks. He made his way to Sal
Rafael, starting up at night to hurry on anc
pushing over the almost impenetrable country a
such a speed that when he reached his destina
ton he was broken down, wreck and half de
mented.
SPECTRES OF THE MOUNTAINS.
At times the awful solitude, the Unreasonable
stiffness and isolation from human homes close
in upon the lonely prospector and wear down the
texture of the brain. SO stealthy does the enemy
of sanity creep in upon the dominion of the mind
that the doomed man is not conscious or only
DREAMY conscious of it's approach. In the begin
ming he notices that he is talking aloud to him
self then, after time he talks as II some one is
listening to him and presently HIS questions are
answered by, presumably, living voice. Then, at
his meals going and coming from his cabin, when
he is burrowing into the side of a prospect he
hears lone voice or many voices IN conversation
or in angry alteration. 1t IS no use trying to
persuade himself that his Imagination is imposing
on his sense of hearing the voices are too real and
audible for that Presently, lonely apparitions
float in the air, mist like and mishapen at first i;
then, as they approach nearer, they assume human
appearances descend to the earth and begin to talk
and gesticuate. Then sometimes the wrath of
dead companion appears to him. walks with him to
his rude hut mile away, talks over old times
sits with him at his meals and sleeps with him.
Nor, when wind-tanned and sun-scorched, he re-
turns to his friends may he ever be talked out of
his decisions. He has heard the voices, seen the
spectres, companoned with the dead and there's
the end of it. Something like this happened to
Pedro Pomaro who died, rich man, few years
ago in the little burg of Santa Rosilla at the foot
of Monta Reccia. He was prospecting in the Eu
genia range with Alphonso Thlmm who persisted
of mountain fever seven weeks after they made
camp Pedro buried his friend and companion in
a side of the mountain, said "de profundis" for
the repose of his SOUL and returned to his lonely
tent Three days after the burial of his compan-
ion he was examining some ore he had taken out
of the shaft when he saw Alphonso coming toward
him. He dropped the sample and began to run,
shouting for help. He fell at last from exhaus-
ton and lost consciousness. When he returned to
his Senses Thimm was gone and Pedro retraced
his way back to his tent The next afternoon, al
about o'clock, when he was working at the shaft,
Alphonso again appeared, and held him by his
eye, as did the Ancient Mariner the wed
ding guest. He beckoned to Pedro TO follow him
and Pedro followed. The ghost led HIN away to
the north, over rocky, broken ridges and at last
stopped. Then he took Pedro by the arm and said,
Come here tomorrow and dig" Thimm vanished
and Pedro, marking the spot the ghostly finger
pointed out, dragged himself back to his tent. lie
awoke at noon the next day. cooked and eat his
simple meal and shouldering his miners pick re-
turned to the place shown him by his dead compan-
ion. Here he discovered and located the "El Col
lado" mine, which he sold to a. Mexican syndicate
for 10000 pesos Ghost or no ghost, Pedro found
the NINE and from the proceeds of the sale built
himself pretentious and comfortable home occu-
pied today by one of his daughters with her hus-
band and children.