Mexico Missouri message., 1914-12-10

Out III lHe utICeiy Uuihihb hasS Vi
these men whose ancestors had been
comrades.
Old Spicer South and his nephew
Samson we're the direct lineal descen-
dants OF the manner OF Misery. Their
kinsmen dwelt about them: the Souths,
the Jaspers, the Splcers, the Wileys,
the Millers and McCagers. Other fam.
lilies, related only by marriage and
close association, were, in feud align
ment. none the less "Souths." And
over beyond the ridge. where the
springs and brooks flowed the other
way TO feed Crippleshin. dwelt the
Hollmans, the Purvises, the Asberries.
the Hollises and the Daltons-men
equally strong in their vindictive
fealty 10 the code of the vendetta.
by mountain standards old Spicer
South was rich. His lands had been
claimed when tracts could be had for
the taking. and. though he had to make
his cross mark when there was a con-
tract 10 be signed, his instructive mind
was shrewd and far seeing. The tinkle
OF his cowbells was heard for long
distance along the creek bottoms. His
hillside fields were the rfcheet and his
coves the most fertile in that country.
Some day. when a railroad should bur
row through his section. bringing the
development Of coal and timber at the
head OF the rails. a sleeping fortune
would yawn and awake to enrich him.
There we're black outcropplngs along
the cliffs, which he knew ran deep in
veins Of bituminous wealth. But to
that time he looked with foreboding.
| for he had been raised TO the stand
ards OF his forefathers and saw In the
coming Of new regime a curtailment
Of personal liberty. For new-fangled
| ideas he held only the aversion OF
deep-rooted prejudice. He Hoped that
he might live out his days and pass
before the foreigner held his land and
the law became a power stronger than
| the individual or the clan. The law
was his emery, because II said 10 him.
Thou shalt not" when he sought to
take the yellow corn which bruising
labor had coaxed from scattered rock
| strewn fields to his own mash vat and
I still. II meant. also, a tyrannous
| power usually seized and administered
| by enemies, which undertook TO forbid
| the personal settlement of personal
quarrels. But his eyes, which could
not read print, could read the signs
OF the times. He foresaw the inev-
table coming of that day. Already he
| he had given up the worm and mash
vat, and no longer sought to make or
| sell Illicit liquor. That was a conces-
sion to the federal power, which could
no longer be successfully fought. State
power was still largely a weapon in
factional hands, and in his country
the Hollmans were the Office holders.
! To the Hollmans he could make no
| concessions. In Samson, born to be
the fighting man, reared to be the
fighting man, equipped by nature with
deep hatreds and tigerish courage
there had cropped out from time to
time the restless spirit OF the philos
opher and hunger for knowledge
That was a matter in which the old
man found his bitterest and most Sc
cret apprehension.
1t was at this house that George
Lescott. distinguished landscape paint
er of New York and the world at large
arrived in the twilight.
Whatever enemy might have to be
met tomorrow, old Spicer South rec
ognized as a more immediate cal
upon his attention the wounded CUES
of today. One of the kinsmen proved
to have a rude working knowledge o
bone setting, and before the half hou
had passed Lescott's wrist was in ;
splint, and his injuries as we'll tendec
as possible. which proved to be quit,
well enough.
While Spicer South and his cousin
, had been sustaining themselves O
building up completeness by tiIlinI
their soil the leaders of the other fac
; ton were basing larger fortunes o.
a the profits OF merchandise and trade
8 So, although Spicer South could ne
Their read nor write, his chief enemy
Micah Holman, was to outward seen
q ing an urbane and fairly equipped ma
7 OF affairs. Judged by their heads, tn
i, clansmen we're rougher and more iii
= crate on Misery, and in closer touc
n with civilization on Crippleshin.
deeper scrutiny showed this seemin
: to be one Of the strange anomalies {
:, the mountains.
- Micah HOLMAN had established hin
self at Hixon. that shack town whic
= had passed of late years from feud;
county seat TO the sections one poir
OF contact with the outside world;
i town where the ancient and moder
! orders brushed shoulders; where ii
new was tolerated, but dared not b
come aggressive. Directly across Ii
street from the courthouse stood a
ample frame building, on whose sic
le wall was emblazoned the legen
r. "Hollmans Mammoth Departmei
lie Store" That was the secret stron
lie hold of HOLMAN power. He had =