(continued)

Because there were no lights in the tunnel or miners with candles on their caps, it was pitch black behind and ahead of him. Kennedy became very much aware of the blackness but he did not want to go up yet, for the men were waiting for him at the surface and they would think he was fainthearted. He made his way slowly on toward the sound. The pick grew louder and struck with a terrifying regularity. He reached a turn in the tunnel and when he rounded it he saw a pale, shadowy figure surrounded by a halo of silvery light. Frank Kennedy could not believe it when he saw the face. Revolting as it was in death, he recognized it as the face of Henry Comstock himself, the first man to discover the wealth of this mine. There stood the ghost only a few feet away from him.

The phantom that had once been Henry Comstock put down the pick and turned toward him. The face was shocking to see. Wrinkled flesh clung to the skull bones in putty-colored chunks. The eyes were an orangey yellow with pupils that danced as if filled the blue flames. Kennedy began to shake with fear.

"It was January of 1859 when I first dug here. Are you trying to take it away from me? Are you trying to take it away from me? I found this lode, dug the first ore from it, and carted it by ox all the way to California. This mine is worth millions and the gold and silver here belong only to me!" He took another step toward Kennedy, shaking his first viciously. The young miner stayed no longer but fled back along the tunnel until he reached the elevator. Frank Kennedy was never the same man, nor could he ever be persuaded to reenter the seven-hundred-foot level.

The Ophir Mine was right below the spot where Comstock had first dug and taken his rock samples. Another habit of the ghost was going down the tunnels and one by one blowing out the candles on the sides of the walls until the miners found themselves plunged into darkness. The mine superintendent would come along, and as he watched, the lights would flicker out of one level after another. The superintendent would call out to the miners, "What are you doing here in the dark?" And they would angrily reply, "Waiting for a light! In the devil's name, what trick is this?"

Howling laughter would reverberate down the tunnels and the men would know that the ghost of Comstock was with them again.