Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1914-12-17

bat his requirements It was essen
tial to his purposes that the officers
OF the law in his countrr should be in
sympathy with him. Sympathy soon
became abject subservience. When a
South had opposed Jesse Purvy In the
primary as candidate for high sheriff
he was found one day lying on his
face with a bullet-riddled body. 1t
may have been a coincidence which
pointed to Jim Asberry, the judges
nephew, as the assassin. At all events,
the judges nephew was a poor boy,
and a charitable grand jury declined
to indict him.
In the course of FIVE years several
South adherents, who had crossed
Holman's path, became victims Of the
laurel ambuscade. The theory Of CO.
incidence was strained Slowly the
rumor grew and persistently spread,
though no man would admit having
fathered it. that before each of these
executions star-chamber conferences
had been held in the rooms above
Micah Hollman's Mammoth Depart
ment Store" II was said that these
exclusive sessions we're attended by
Judge Holman, Sheriff Purvy and GER
tain other gentlemen selected by rea-
son OF their craftsmanship. When
one of these victims fell John South
had just returned from a law school
down below" wearing "fotched-on"
clothing and thinking "fotched-on"
thoughts. He had amazsd the COM
munity by demanding the right to as
sist in probing and prosecuting the
affair. He had then shocked the COM
munity into complete paralysis by re-
questing the grand jury to indict not
alone the alleged assassin, but also
his employers, whom he named as
Judge Holman and Sheriff Purvy.
Then he. too, fell under bolt from
the laurel.
That was the first public accusation
against the bland capitalist, and 1t car.
ried its own prompt warning against
repetition. The judges high sheriff
and chief ally retired from office and
went abroad only with a bodyguard.
Jesse Purvy had built his store at a
crossroads 20 miles from the rail-
road. Like Holman, he had won
reputation for open-handed charity,
was liked--and hated. His friends
were legion. His enemies were so nu-
merous that he apprehended violence
not only from the Souths but also
from others who nursed grudges In
no way related to the line of feud
cleavage. The Hollman-Purvy comb
nation had retained enough of Its old
power to escape the laws retribution
and to hold its dictatorship. but the
efforts of John South had not been
altogether bootless. He had ripped
away two masks, and their erstwhile
wearers could no longer hold their old
semblance of law-abiding philanthro-
pists. Jesse Purvy's home was the
show place Of the countryside. Com
modious verandas looked out over
pleasant orchards. and In the same
Enclosure stood the two frame build.
ings of his store-for he, too, COM
bined merchandise with baronial
pONSIo. put DdCh Vi tuC pldCC IObc
the mountain side, on which Purvy
never looked without dread Twice
its impenetrable thickets had spat at
him. Twice he had recovered from
wounds that would have taken a less
charmed life. And in grisly reminder
of the terror which clouded the peace
of his days stood the eight-foot log
stockade at the rear of the place,
which the proprietor had built to
shield his daily journeys between
house and store. But Jesse Purvy was
not deluded by his escapes. He knew
that he was marked down"
The years of strain were telling on
him. The. robust, full-blooded face
was showing deep lines; his flesh was
growing fiaccid; his glance tinged
with quick apprehension. He told his
intimates that he realized they'd get
him." yet he sought to prolong his
term of escape.
Yesterday morning Jesse Purvy had
risen early as usual, and. after sat
isfying breakfast, had gone to his
store to arrange for the days bust.
ness. One or two of his henchmen.
seeming loafers, but in reality body
guard, were lounging within call. A
married daughter was chatting with
her father while her young baby
played among the barrels and cracker
boxes.
The daughter went to rear win
dow and gazed up at the mountain.
The cloudless skies were still In hid
ing behind a curtain Of mist The
woman was idly watching the vanish
ing fog wraiths, and her father came
over to her side. Then the baby cried
and she stepped back. Purvy himself
remained at the window. 1t was
thing he did not often do. II left him
exposed, but the most cautiously
guarded life has its moments of re-
Taxed vigilance. He stood there pos
sibly thirty seconds, then a sharp fu-
sillade of clear reports barked out and
was shattered by the hills into long
reverberation. With a hand clasped
to his chest, Purvy turned. walked to
the middle of the floor, and fell.
The henchmen rushed to the open
sash. They leaped out and plunged
up the mountain, tempting the assas-
sins fire, but the assassin was salts
fed. The mountain was again as
quiet as 1t had been at dawn. Inside.
at the middle Of the store. Jesse Purvy
shifted his head against his daugh-
ter's knee and said, as one stating an
expected event:
We'll. they've got me-"
An ordinary mountaineer would
have been carried home to die In the
darlnaGs nf dirfu and uindoWlaaa