The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1914-12-31

Judge holman. No wheel, 1t seemeu,
could turn without his nod. 1t was
natural that the genial storekeeper
should become the big man of the
community and inevitable that the one
big man should become the dictator.
His inherited place as leader of the
Hollmans in the feud he had seem
ingly passed on as an obsolete pre-
rogative.
Yet. in business matters, he was
found to drive hard bargain. and
men came to regard it the part of
good policy to meet rather than COM
bat his requirements. 1t was essen
tial to his purposes that the officers
OF the law in his country should be in
sympathy with him. Sympathy soon
became AFFECT 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 coincidence which
pointed to Jim Asberry. the judges
nephew, as the assassin. At all events.
the judges nephew was a poor boy,
and 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" It was said that these
exclusive sessions were 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 amazed 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 a bolt from
the laurel
That was the first public accusation
against the bland capitalist, and it car.
ried it's 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 Is miles from the rail.
road. Like Holman, he had won a
reputation for open-handed charity,
was liked-and ha ed. 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 it's old
power to escape the laws retribution
and to hold it's dictatorship, but the
efforts of John South had not been
altogether bootless. He had ripped
away two masks, and their erstwhile
wearers cou'1 no longer hold their old
semblance of law-abiding philanthro-
pists. Jesse Purvy's home was the
| oh Mo 0f hn
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
powers. But back of the place rose
the mountain side, on which Purvy
never looked without dread. Twice
it's 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 faccid; 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 cali. A
married daughter was chatting with
her father while her young baby
played among the barrels and cracker
boxes.
Tho dauphter wont IN a roar win.