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

iAxed vigilance. He stood theru pos
sihly thirty seconds, then q sharp tu-
sillede Of clear reports barkod out and
was shattered BY tho hills into q long
reverberation. with q hand clasped
10 his chest. Puryy turned, walked 20
the middle Of the floor. and fell.
The henohmen rushed TO the open
sash. They ieaped out and plunged
up the mountain. tempting the ahsas-
sims fire, but the assassin was salts
fed. The mountain was again as
quiet as It had been at dawn. Inside,
At the middle Of the store, Jesse Purvy
shifted his head against his daugh-
ter's knee and said. az one stating an
expected event;
We'll. they've got me-"
An ordinary modntaineer would
have been carried home to die IN the
darkness OF a dirty md windowless
shack. The l~ong-sufering star OF Jesse
Purvy ordained otherwise. He might
SO under or he might once more beat
his way back and out of the quick.
sands Of death. AZ all events, he would
eight for life % the last gasp.
Twenty miles away Ia the n OF
the wilderness, removed from a rail
road by a score Of semi-perpendicular
miles, a fanatic had once decided to
found a school.
Now a faculty OF ten men taught
such as cared 10 come such things an
they cared 10 learn. Higher up the
hillside stood a small. but model hos
pital. with n modern operating table
and a Ease 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, az his steadfast guardian star
decreed, he found two prominent med
ical visitors. who hurried him TO the
| operating table. Later he was re-
moved 10 a white bed. with the June
sparkle in his eyes, pleasantly modu-
lated through drawn blinds. and the
June rustleN and bird chorus in his
ears-and HIS own thoughts in his
brain.
Conscious. but in great pain, Purvy
beckoned Jim Asberry and Aaron Hoi-
lis. his chiefs OF eodyguard. 10 his bed
side and waved the nurse back out Of
hearing.
"Tf ! don't get WELL" he said feebly,
there's a Job for you two boys.
reckon you know what II Isl"
They nodded. and Asberry whis'
pered a name:
Samson South"
Yes" Purvy spoke in a 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.
I'll 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 It's weakness TO It's old
~staccato tone Of command. a tone
which brought obedience. III I get
we'll | have other plans. Never mind
what they are. That's my business.
II ! don't die. leave him alone. until
/ give other orders.
III / get well and Samson South Ia
killed meanwhile l won't live long
either. It would be my life for his,
Keep close 70 him. The minute you
hear Of my death-get him" He
paused again. then supplemented
you TWO will md something mighty
interestin' in my will"
II was afternoon when Purvy
reached the hospital. and, at nightfal
Of the same day. there arrived at his
stores entrance, on stumbling. hard
ridden mules, several men. followed
by two tawny hounds whose long ear
tapped over their lean jaws, ant
whose yes we're ~listless and tired, bu.
whose black muzzles wrlnkled anC
shifted with that sensitive instlnc
which follows the man scent. The ex
sheriff's family we're instituting pro
ceedings independent OF the chiefs OF
ders. The next morning this part!
plunged into the mountain tangle ant
beat the cover with the bloodhound
In leash.
The two gentle-faced dogs pioke'
their way between the towering rho
dodendrons, the gllstening %laurels. tn
feathery pine sprouts and the moss
covered rocks. They went glngerl.
and alertly on ungainly. oushionel
feet. Just as their masters were de
spairing they came to a place directl'
over the store, where a branch haI
been bent back and hitehed TO clea
the outlook and where a boot hee
had crushed the moss. There n o
them raised his nose high into th
air. opened his mouth, and let pat
long. deep-chested bay OF discovery,
CHAPTER ~.
George Lescott had known hospita
ity Of many brands and degrees. II