The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1915-02-05


vais Of truce. lives had been snufed
out in the ferceiy burning hate Of
these men whose ancestors had been
| comrades.
Old splcer South and his nephew
Samson were the direct llneal descen-
dants Of the manner OF Misery. Their
kinHmen dwelt about them. the souths.
the Jaspers. the spicera. the Wiieys,
the Mlllers and MeCagers. other fam.
lies. related only by marriage aud
close association, we're. 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
HollmRns, the Purvises. the Asberries,
the Hollises and the Daltons-men
equally strong IN their vindictive
fealty &c tho code OF the vendetta.
BY mountain standards old spicer
South was rich. His lands hae 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 to be signed. his instructive mind
vas shrewd aud far seeing. TIE tinkle
OF his cowbells was heard for a long
distance along the creek bottoms. His
hillside fields were the richest 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 10
that time he looked with foreboding.
for he had been raised TO the staad-
ards Of his forefathers and raw In the
coming Of a new regime a curtailment
Of personal liberty. For n~ew-fangled
ideas he held only the aversion Of
deep-rooted prejudice. He hoped that
he might live u 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 to him,
Thou shalt not" when he sought to
take the yellow corn which brulsing
labor had coaxed from scattered rock
strewn fields 10 his own mash vat and
still. II meant, also. a tyrannous
power usually seized and administered
by enemies, which undertook 20 forbid
the personal settlement OF personal
l~uarrels. But his eyes. which could
not read print. could read the signs
OF the times. He foresaw the Inev-
liable coming OF that day. Already he
he had given up the worm and mash
vat. aud 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 al still largely a weapon in
fGctional hands, and In his country
the Hollmans we're the ONCE holders.
To the Hollmans he could make no
concessions. In Samson. born TO be
the hghting mar, reared to be the
fighting man, equipped by nature with
deep hatreds and tigerlsh courage
there had cropped out from time to
time the restless spirit of the phIlos.
opher and a hunger for knowledge.
That was a matter in which the old
nan found his bitterest and most sc.
cret apprehension.
Il 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 10 be
met tomorrow, old Spicer South rec
ognized as a more immediate call
upon his attention the wounded guest
OF today. One Of the kinsmen proved
to have a rude working knowledge OF
bone setting, and before the half hour
had passed Lescott's wrist wal in a
splint, and his injuries as we'll tended
as possible, which proved to be quite
well enough.
While splcer South and his cousins
had been sustaining themselves OF
building up completeness by tillinR
their soil the leaders OF the other fac.
ton were basinR larger fortunes on
the profits OF. merchandise and trade
So, although Spicer South could nei
Their read nor write, his chief enemy
Micah HOLMAN. was to outward seem
ing an urbane and fairly equipped maj
OF Affairs. Judged by their heads, IN,
clansmen we're rougher and more illit
crate on Misery. and In closer touch
with civilization on Crippleshin. 4
deeper scrutiny showed this seeming
to be one OF the strange anomalies o
the mountains.
Micah HOLMAN had established him
self at Hixon. that slack town whicl
had passed Of late years from feuda
county seat 10 the sections one poln
OF contact with the outside world;
town whore the ancient and modeTl
orders brushed shoulders: where tn
new vas tolerated. but dared not bs
come aggressive. Directly across IN
street from the courthouse stood Al
ample frame building. on whose sid
wall was ~emblaEoned the legend
"Hollman's Mammoth Department
D / Gf0rn That maa ehu u.n..t -f-..a