The Adair County news., 1922-10-17

give 1t to the FIRST stranger to mall.
one Of my enemies got 1t away from
hs5 7 expsctsd e dis that Plget. J
clan came. The only reason 1 didn't
was because Simon-the greatest Of
them all and the one 1 hate the most
kept his clan from coming. he had
his own reasons.
''FrOm then on she had to depend
on word Of mouth. But at last-just
a few weeks ago-she found a man
that knew you. And 1t is your story
from now on"
They were still a little while. Bruce
arose and threw more wood on the
fire.
"It's only the beginning" he said.
"And you want me to tell you all?"
she asked hesitantly.
"Of course. Why did come here?"
You won't believe me when 1 say
that I'm almost sorry l sent for you"
She spoke almost breathlessly. 81
didn't know that it would be like this.
That you would come with smile on
your face and light in your eyes,
looking for happiness. And instead
of happiness-tO find all this!"
She stretched out her arms to the
forests. Bruce understood her per-
fectly. She did not mean the woods
In the literal sense. She meant the
primal emotions that were their spirit.
ITO know the rest, you've got to go
back a whole generation. Bruce, have
you heard Of the terrible bloOd-feuds
that the mountain families sometimes
haveY
''Of course. Many times"
''These mountains of Trails End
have been the scene of as deadly a
bloOd-feud as was ever known in the
West. And for once, the wrong was
all on one side.
"a few miles from here there is a
wonderful valley, where a stream
flows. There is not much tiIlable land
in these mountains, Bruce, but there,
along that little stream, there are al
most five sections-three thousand
acres-of as rich land as was ever
plowed. That tract Of land was ac-
Quired long ago by a family named
Ross, and they got 1t through some
kind Of grant. I can't be definite as
to the legal aspects of all this story.
They don't matter anyway-only the
results remain.
'These Ross men were frontiersmen
Of the first order. They were virtuous
men too-trusting every one, and oh
what strength they had! With their
own hands they cleared away the for
est and put the land into rich pasture
and hay and grain. They raised great
herds Of cattle and had fiocks Of sheen
too.
at was then that dark days began
to come. Another family-headed BY
the father of the man 1 call Simon
migrated here from the mountain dis
tricts of Oklahoma. But they were
not so ignorant as many mountain
people, and they were killers Per
hapS that's word you don't know
Perhaps you didn't know it existed. A
| killer is man that has killed other
men. 1t isn't a hard thing to do al
all, Bruce, after you are used to it
These people were used to it. AnC
because they wanted these great land!
my own fathers home-they begar
to kill the ROSses.
"At first they made no war on thC
Folgers. The Folgers, you must know
were good people, too, honest to the
last penny. They were connected, By
marriage only, to. the Ross family
They were on our side clear through
At the beginning Of the feud the heaC
of the Folger family was just youni
man, newly married. And he had
son after a while.
"The newcomers called it a feud
But it wasn't a feud-it was simpl,
murder. Oh, yes, we killed some o
them. Folger and my father and al
his kin united against them, making
great clan-but they were nothing Il
strength compared to the usurpers
Simon himself was just a boy whel
1t began. But he grew to be the great