May 18th, 1869

The undignified nature of lower class people never ceases to surprise me. I despise having to blend in with them, wearing simple, dirty clothes. I haven't worn such rudimentary garments since I was a child, but it is necessary to avoid suspicion from the miners. What crude folk they are, uneducated, and rather stupid. I suppose that is why my Father hires them to stay out of sight in the earth, like worms. Thankfully, I have returned to my temporary cabin, though after having a rather unproductive day. The miners are slow to accept new faces, so I will have to work to gain their trust. I never got a chance to ask any of them about the incidents that I'm investigating, as when I made attempts to introduce myself, I got little more than a sideways glance from most of them. One particularly surly bastard even spat at me. I knew it would prove difficult to directly harvest information from slobs like these, but they are careless enough with their words that I did gather some interesting tidbits. The miner who has been injured goes by the name Ralph Walters. He suffered fractures to both legs, many lacerations, and a head injury. He is now in critical condition. The strange part is the fact that no-one knows exactly how he was injured. He was found in a deep section of the mine that is currently out of service, after being reported missing for two hours. The miners have their legends and folklore regarding the world beneath the earth, and many believe he was attacked by a supernatural beast. Talk of the beast is always stifled and careful, as they believe speaking of it attracts it. All ridiculous nonsense of course. The more likely cause was violence from another miner. This Ralph fellow was not kindly regarded by all, though I have yet to find who could be the attacker. The next time I write, I hope to have a better understanding of the situation. Perhaps I will even find out the name of this laughable supernatural beast. That's all for now.

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