Arizona republican., 1908-11-09
 THE SHADOW AGAIN

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l Dlem of sunshine, shouts and plays l joyfully throughout the house and into
 the big hack yard. all unconscious of 1 the great shadow on the house where she indulges in the illusions of inno- | cent childhood throughout the live l long day and until night calls her to
 peaceful slumber
 There are yet other stories to be told about the old house, and one of l them is damp and musty with age. i This relates to an old miner who came
 down from the mountains loaded down
 with gold. He was infirm of many years, but robust and strong of health. 1 He was looking for a place to store his gold and put his blankets for
 sleeping. and found this ancient struc-
 ture. He was quiet of person, but alert of eyes and watchfulness. quick ] ly turning his face in the direction of
 the slightest sound. He admitted no
 one to his room, formed no close or
 intimate acquaintances, and he be-
 came to be acknowledged as "a little
 off in the head" Be this as it may,
 the old miner maintained an even
 silence and seclusion from the public
 or individuals. and when to town, as he was forced to for something to eat,
 he paid gold and returned quickly.
 Unlocking his back door. he kept his eyes to the right and left as if afraid of an eavesdrOpper or some one observing him enter his own house. There would
 be days at a time when the old man would not be seen, and with doors closed and tightly barred. On one of these occasions of the old mans non appearance for such a period some Mexican children oyercame their fear of him and ventured to a crack on the wall and peeped in. They turned and fled home as fast as their feet could carry them and reported that the old man was digging his grave. At other times, it was said. when slumber ruled the night and only the piping notes of a far-away bird could be heard. the strokes and dull thud of a pick in the hard ground of the shed room would be prevalent. At inter- vals he would make trips to the court house and these visits were attributed to the recording of mining locations and the filing of papers. So he lived from day to day. and the dull thud of the pick and shoveling of dirt was forgotten for other habits and eccen- tricities more closely connected with him. But time came when the old man was indoors longer than had been | his wont, and inquiring and remarks | came to be breeZed about, but nothing definite could be had of him. Many | answers to the inquiries made about | him would be, 70, the old man is in | hn E-inalIx- ] the long non-appearance of the old | man reached the ears of the local au- thorities. and after the back door was | broken open an entrance was effected | and the old miner was found lying | stretched on his blankets dead, with | his throat cut by his own hand. His | name and life-character was never known, and anything definite as to | his past life is as much of a mystery today as to what became of his gold. His remains were conveyed to the usual burying ground of that day and time, and his grave, as those of others, are covered up and lost sight of by trees and weeds.
 Since the reincarnation or the re- turning of the spirit at No. 113, the
 
 the hard dirt floor of the shed room has been recalled by the same sounds heard over again when night is in slumber. But maybe this is only a of sleep but there is nothing Elusive about the appearance of the spirit through the night, it's shadow continuing to drop from above from the air of the room. Then the occupant of the room rises up in bed and hand put forth to grasp it. but 1t is like grasping handful of thin air and vanishes with a touch. Val entine Walters, a consumptive who the room upon the former visit of the spirit. told, when he was )n his death bed, that he had heard the dull thud of a pick in the back room night after night, and could even hear the dirt falling back in the lole as it was shoveled out, but said nothing about it at the time, be cause" he said, git would only aug nent trouble and talk.
 The present tenant of the house is to discover a means of and a solving of the mystery and appease the troubles of some departed spirit and let it abide n happiness amid the green fields md clear waters of another world.