The state herald., 1915-06-04

laxe1 vigilance. He stood there Dos.
sibly thirty seconds, then . sharp fl-
sillade Of clear reports barked out and
was shattered by the hills into long
reverberation. With 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.
J 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
darkness Of a dirty and windowless
shack. The long-suffering star of Jesse
Purvy ordained otherwise. He might
go 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 a school,
Now faculty Of ten men taught
such as cared to come such things as
they cared to learn. Higher up the
hillside stood small. but model hos
pital. with a modern operating table
and case of surgical instruments,
which, II was said. the state could not
surpass
To this haven Jesse Purvy. the muir
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 his
brain.
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 don't get well," he said feebly.
there's Job for you two boys. l
reckon you know what II is?"
They nodded. and Asberry whis-
pered n name:
Samson South?"
Yes" Purvy spoke in q whisper;
but the old vindictiveness was not
smothered. You got the old man. !
reckon you can manage the cub. II
you don't he'll get you both one day"
The two henchmen scowled.
IN git him tomorrer." growled As
berry. Thar hain't no sort OF use
In a-waitin'."
mol" For an instant Purvy's voice
rose out OF its weakness to its old
staccato tone OF command. a tone
which brought obedience. IF get
what they are. Thats my business.
II ! don't die. leave him alone. until
give other orders.
III get well and Samson South 10
killed meanwhile won't live long
either. II would be my life for his.
Keep close to him. The minute you
hear OF my death-get him." He
paused again, then supplemented,
"You two will find something mighty
interesun' In my will"
II was afternoon when Purvy
reached the hospital. and. at nightfall
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 over their lean jaws. and
whose eyes were listless and tired. but
whose black muzzles wrinkled and
smiled with that sensitive instinct
which follows the man scent. The ex.
sherin'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-faccd dogs picked
their way between the towering rho
dodendrons. the glistenins laureis, the
feathery pine sprouts and the moss
covered rocks. They went gingerly
and alertly on ungainly. cushioned
feet. Just rs their masters were do.
spsiring they came to n place directly
over tho 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 n
long. deep.chested bay OF discovery.
CHAPTER ".