I was only a boy, about nineteen years of age.

"We had a long and hard ride to Reed's camp, on Goff creek, whence Short
had sent up his message. Arriving there, we found Reed, who was catching
wild horses, together with a man by the name of Patterson and another
man, but Short was not in sight. From Reed we learned that Robinson had
gotten away from Short, who had started back, leaving word for Mr.
Cross, should he arrive, to return home. A band of men from Hugoton, we
learned later, had overtaken Short and his men and chased them for
twenty-five miles, but the latter reached Springfield, Seward county,
unharmed.

"Robinson, who had made his escape to a cow camp and thence to Hugoton
upon a fresh horse, now met and led down into the Strip one of the first
Hugoton 'posses.' Among them were Orrin Cook, Charles Cook, J. W.
Calvert, J. B. Chamberlain, John Jackson, John A. Rutter, Fred Brewer,
William Clark, and a few others. Robinson was, of course, the leader of
this band.

"After Sheriff Cross asked me to go down with him to see what had become
of Ed Short, I went over and got Wilcox and we rode down to the
settlement of Voorhees. Thence we rode to Goff creek, and all reached
Reed's camp about seven or eight o'clock on Wednesday morning, July 25,
1888. Here we remained until about five o'clock of that afternoon, when
we started for home. Our horses gave out, and we got off and led them
until well on into the night.

"At about moonrise, we came to a place in the Neutral Strip known as the
'Hay Meadows,' where there was a sort of pool of standing water, at
which settlers cut a kind of coarse hay. There was in camp there, making
hay, an old man by the name of A. B. Haas, of Voorhees, and with him
were his sons, C. and Keen Haas, as well as Dave Scott, a Hugoton
partisan. When we met these people here, we concluded to stop for a
while. Eaton and Wilcox got into the wagon-box and lay down. My horse
got loose and I was a few minutes in repicketing him. I had not been
lying down more than twenty minutes, when we were surprised by the
Hugoton 'posse' under Robinson. The latter had left the trail, which
came down from the northeast, and were close upon us. They had evidently
been watching us during the evening with field-glasses, as they seemed
to know where we had stopped, and had completely surrounded us before we
knew of their being near us.

"The first I heard was Cross exclaiming, 'They have got us!' At that
time the