THE MYSTERIOUS MINER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 54, 5 March 1898, Page 2

THE MYSTERIOUS MINER.

By ALEX. ALLAN.

A man entered the local bank one night in the mining township of Blacks. The stranger, ragged and weather-beaten. forced his way through the crowd of miners who were in . front of the counter; and placed before the pay-clerk a large bag containing about a pound weight of gold. He gave his name as John Crabb. Immediately all eyes were upon him. His arrival with so much wealth was an event of muph importance to so small a community. Many questions were asked him as to where he had found the metal. His replies'were brief," and contained no more infortion than he gave to the banker. He had discovered, a rich spot in fche ranges. Having received value for his gold, he made for the nearest hotel, were he soon gathered a circle of welldisposed miners. These he treated till' closing-up time, after which he was seen no more.

A fortnight went by, another pay--1 night was at band, and once more ■ John Crabb,- more ragged and rougher : looking than before, entered the bank i with another bag of gold. The ex- ' citeinent was intense. Even the banker's eyes -glistened as he puffed at the heap of water-worn lumps with i his little bellows. The dust all out, iit was scaled and turned at two and a-half pounds net. The lucky owner deposited the proceeds this time. Then he went to the hotel again, and shouted for the crowd as before, disappearing after midnight. There .was not a soul on the field who could tell in which direction he had gone, not one who would have hesitated to follow him had he seen Crabb. mdke away. So it went on, month after month, until the mysterious stranger's account at the bank assumed immense proportions. His coming was looked for anxiously. His footsteps were dogged from the bank to the''pub,' yet at closing-up time he would get out of sight, leaving a bitterly disappointed mob to discuss bis whereabouts. Parties of experienced miners scoured the country, hoping thereby to hit his tracks. But after weeks of terrible wanderings through the hungry gorges of the Alps, they returned to Blacks baffled and sick.. No trace of Crabb could be seen. Even while the luckless prospectors made their weary way about the granite ranges, whose summits were lifted ice-stricken above the incessant banks of clouds, the mysterious miner appeared at -the bank to deposit his loads of virgin gold. It was tantalising, maddening; and no one felt this more than Craigie the banker. The last days of autumn were on the country. The snow bad come down from the ranges on to the lower bills about Blacks. Cutting ice winds rushed through, the gorges day- and nig-ht, making the 'shifts' button up close as they made their way to and from the mines. Yet Crabb continued to pay his fortnightly visits. He bought food and necessaries to take away with him, but did not seem to heed the cold, for his clothes were thin and in tatters. They, followed . him like shadows only to lose him unexpectedly. They gave him the name of Satan, he wns so uncanny in his movements. As he stood before them in the dim moonlight, with long hair, thin body, and rags fluttering in the wind, truly he looked like some spectre which had found its way to that quiet spot. He was evidentlypossessed of great strength and endurance, for he scaled with ease the steepest hills, leaving his followers exhausted far behind. Thus they always lost him.

One night—it was winter now—he came to the bank very, late and knocked at the private door. Craigie let him in, noticing as he did so that the load the man bore was very heavy. On opening the bag, the banker fairly gasped with amazement. There must have been fully half a hundredweight of coarse gold before him. So great was his excitement that he hardly had nerve to weigh and lock up the wealth. Crabb was almost knocked up with cold and hunger. Craigie fed him, gave him some old clothes and necessaries, then let him out- into the street. Something told him to follow the man. The thought was. father to the deed. In half a minute he was on Crabb'3 tracks, muffled up against the* cold.

The sky- was somewhat obscured by fast -fleeting- clouds which rushed across the valley from one range to the other. All the puddles were frozen hard, and from every elevated object long icicles hung down flashing- in the moonlight. The township was asleep, only a few straggling lamps being observable. On.the breeze came the music of the river as it rattled over its shingly bed; and from the swamps, and clumps of timber the wekas whistled to one another, a solitary mopoke joining in occasionally, with his melancholy cry. From the mines up on the north hillside came the monotonous roar of the stampers —tlie sweetest of airs to the miners who lay abed off duty.

Crabb made up the valley in the teeth of the wintry wind. He cast furtive glances on all sides, stopping frequently to see if he was followed. At such times Craigie stooped behind stumps or blocks of stone, keeping just near enough to see the figure ahead of him. They struck the hills above the mines, and here Crabb's wonderful agility threatened to take him away from his pursuer, who panted with the exertion of keeping him in sight.

Up, up they went from one ridge to another until the first of the great ranges was reached. Crabb stood upon a narrow saddle and turned to survey the sleeping township 2,000 feet below. The clouds had opened permitting' the winter moon to cast its blue light upon the magnificent panorama. The roofs of the houses, white with recently fallen snow, flashed like reflectors; the countless icicles glittered like fire flies dwarfing the yellow lamp-lights at the street corners; on all sides, rearing up their majestic heads, were the mountains o'er which- the 'Snow Queen' had spread her mantle; and against the steely sky was silhouetted the thin, muscular body of the mysterious miner. Almost at his feet, bidden by a jutting rock of icecovered granite, was Craigie, who hardly dared to breathe for fear of betraying himself.

Crabb plunged into the gorge separating the ridge he was on. from the next range. Soon he' was in semidarkness, and Craigie could only judge of his whereabouts by the echo of his footsteps. In this manner. they continued until about four o'clock in the morning. The moon set, leaving the two men without light. The road Crabb'now took led through a rocky defile, the mountains' on either side almost seeming to meet overhead. Progress was slow and difficult to

Craigie, who was an utter strand. the locality. He followed r^? merely by guesswork; the noise of tv man tumbling over stones 'J 1 through thin sheets of i ce a*W him that he was still on till® j track. He feared his own. foot _.! ' might be heard, but Crabb took P$ heed now even singing snatches S: j song as he went forward. At h I [the lucky miner stopped, struck i match and lit a candle. By its ~, * Craigie saw that the end of the S j ney was reached. Crabb stood in • I circular hollow which was complect 1 surro-anded by granite precipices tV | summits of which could not W-'-__W This place was about forty f ee + • I diameter, and had only the one-el! 1 I trance. Craigie hid behind a bouliW ! clasping his jaws in both hands h! stifle the noise of his chattering teeth He concluded this was merely tv miner's resting-place. No gold'coqi!. possibly exist amongst so; much granite! He watched Crabb f e J, some old sacks from a cornel, and make up a bed, iipon which' he soon threw himself. Then, overcome with cold and fatigue, the banker sle^ where he knelt. : L :,. He was awakened by Crabb smgiup Peeping from his hiding place he saw in the dim light, which now filled the place, that the man was sifting earth which he had picked away from the base of the far wall. A glance Was enough to show him that^Crabb was dividing gold from the dirt, and the cries of satisfaction with which h» every now and again interrupted his song proved the result of his work was all that could be desired. Human nature could stand no more. With a cry of joy Craigie sprang intone open space, only though to be confronted by the miner in whose, eyes flashed the fire of murderous intent.l *> 'Your .secret's out,' exclaimed Craigie, exultantly. .

'And so is your life!' replied-Crabb closing with him. '

Then a terrible struggle commenced One fought for his existence— the other for his secret.

A party of Cornish prospectors one day came upon a very rich pocket of gold in the Southern Alps. Close at hand were two skeletons with their arms and legs intertwined. Further investigation proved the identity of the deceased, the cause of their joint death being only too plain.