I will tell you that I have had him under my sights
more than once, and that I will never try to harm him while he remains
the man he is. I do not exaggerate when I say that I am naturally a good
judge of men, and I knew what he was in less than a minute after I met him.

"At this minute he is watching for me, he and Charley Winter and the
Larkin brothers. They are lying quietly out on the plain, waiting for
me to show up between them and the lights of the windows. This is not
guesswork, for I know it. And if it was only the sheriff, and I did show
up over his sights, he would call out and give me a chance to surrender
or fight, and not shoot me down like a dog; the others wouldn't. And
because of my faith in his squareness, and because I above all others
can fully appreciate it at its highest value, I am going to ask you to
remember this, Mrs. Shields: If he ever needs a man to stand at his
back, and I can be found, he has only to let me know. He is compromising
himself with certain people because he has been fair to me, so please
remember what I said. He is the sheriff, and he only does his duty,
for which I cannot blame him. Bill Howland may be able to find me if
trouble should come upon you and yours.

"Others have hunted for me as if I was a cattle-killing wolf. They have
tracked me and hounded me in gangs, determined to shoot me down at the
first opportunity, and unawares, if possible. They have laid traps for
me, tried to ambush me, and even stooped so low as to poison the water
of a remote water hole with wolf poison--strychnine. They knew that I
occasionally filled my canteen from it. Those who fight me foully I repay
in kind--but never with poison! It is my wits and gunplay against theirs
and against their cowardice and dirty tricks. When I fight, it is not
because I want to, except in the case of Indians, but because I must.
But your husband is a white man, madam, a thoroughbred. He stands so far
above the rest of the men in this country that I have only respect and
liking for him. Can you imagine the sheriff using poison to kill a man?

"Once when I had finally found a good berth punching cows, once when I had
started out aright, I was discovered. They didn't get me, though they
tried to hard enough. And they call me a murderer because I declined to
remain inactive while they prepared for my funeral! Ever since I was a
lad of fifteen I have fought for my life at every turn, and continually.
I have no frien