The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1914-12-31
expected event:
well, they've got me-"

| cApcClSU cV0ut.
well, they've got me-"
An ordinary mountaineer would,
have been carried home to die in the
darkness Of a dirty and windowlesd
shack. The long-suffering star Of Jessd
Purvy ordained otherwise. He might
60 under or he might once more beat:
his way back and out Of the quick
sands Of death. At all events, he would
fight for life to the last gasp. !
| Twenty miles away in the core Of
the wilderness, removed from a rail-
road by score Of semi-perpendicular
miles. fanatic had once decided to-
found school.
Now a faculty of ten men taught
such as cared to come such things as
they cared to learn. Higher up the
hillside stood a small, but model hos
pital, with a modern operating table
and case Of surgical Instruments,
which, it was said. the state could not
surpass.
To this haven Jesse Purvy, the mur-
der lord. was borne in a litter carried
on the shoulders Of his dependents
Here, as his steadfast guardian star
decreed. he found two prominent med
ical visitors, who hurried him to the
operating table. Later he was re-
moved to white bed, with the June,
sparkle in his eyes, pleasantly modu-
lated through drawn blinds, and the
June rustic and bird chorus in his
ears-and his own thoughts in mis-
brain. I,
Conscious, but in great pain, Purvy
beckoned Jim Asberry and Aaron Hol-
lis. his chiefs of bodyguard. to his bed
side and waved the nurse back out Of
hearing
If l don't get WE'LL" he said feebly,
there's job for you two boys.
reckon you know what it isl"
They nodded, and Asberry whis-
pered a name:
Samson South"
YES" Purvy spoke in a whispers
but the old vindictiveness was not
smothered. you got the old man, I
reckon you can manage the cub. IL
you don't he'll get you both one day"
The two henchmen scowled.
'Ill git him tomorrer," growled As
berry. Thar haint no sort of use
in a-waitin'"
mol" For an instant Purvy's voice
rose out Of it's weakness to it's old
staccato tone Of command, tone
which brought obedience. III l get
we'll l have other plans. Never mind
what they are. That's my business.
II don't die, leave him alone, until
l give other orders.
IF get we'll and Samson South is
killed meanwhile l won't live long
either. 1t would be my life for his.
Keep close to him. The minute you
hear Of my death-get him." He
paused gain, then supplemented.
You two will find something mighty
interestin' in my will"
1t was afternoon when Purvy
reached the hospital. and, at nightiall
Of the same day, there arrived at his
stores entrance, on stumbling hard
ridden mules, several men, followed
by two tawny hounds whose long ears
tapped oven their lean jaws, and
whose eyes Were listless and tired, but
| WHOSE DldCk muZZIeS WrlnKIeO ana
shifted with that sensitive instinct
which follows the man scent. The ex-
sheriff's family were instituting pro-
ceedings independent of the chiefs Or
ders. The next morning this party
plunged into the mountain tangle and
beat the cover with the bloodhounds
in leash.
The two gentle-faced dogs picked
their way between the Towering rho
dodendrons the glistening laurels, the
feathery pine sprouts and the moss
covered rocks. They went gingerly
and alertly on ungainly, cushioned
feet. Just as their masters we're de-
spairing they came to a place directly
over the store, where branch had
been bent back and hitched to clear
the outlook and where a boot heel
had crushed the moss There one of
them raised his nose high into the
air, opened his mouth, and let out .
long, deep-chested bay of discovery.
ITO be Continued.)