re was shooting, and Robinson called out, 'Boys, close in!' He
called out to Cross, 'Surrender, and hold up your hands!' Our arms were
mostly against the haystacks. Not one of us fired a shot, or could have
done so at that moment.

"Sheriff Cross, Hubbard, and myself got up and stood together. We held
up our hands. They did not seem to notice Wilcox and Eaton, who were
lying in the wagon. Robinson called out to Cross, 'Give up your arms!'

"'I have no arms,' replied Cross. He explained that his Winchester was
on his saddle and that he had no revolver.

"'I know better than that,' said Robinson. 'Search him!' Some one of the
Hugoton party then went over Cross after weapons, and told Robinson that
he had no arms.

"'I know better,' reiterated Robinson. The others stood free at that
moment, and Robinson exclaimed, 'Sheriff Cross, you are my first man.'
He raised his Winchester and fired at Cross, a distance of a few feet,
and I saw Cross fall dead at my side. It was all a sort of trance or
dream to me. I did not seem to realize what was going on, but knew that
I could make no resistance. My gun was not within reach. I knew that I,
too, would be shot down.

[Illustration: THE McSWEEN STORE AND BANK; PROMINENT IN THE LINCOLN
COUNTY WAR]

"Hubbard had now been disarmed, if indeed he had on any weapon. Robinson
remarked to him, 'I want you, too!' and as he spoke he raised his
Winchester and shot him dead, Hubbard also falling close to where I
stood, his murderer being but a few feet from him.

"I knew that my turn must come pretty soon. It was Chamberlain who was
to be my executioner, J. B. Chamberlain, chairman of the board of county
commissioners of Stevens county, and always prominent in Hugoton
matters. Chamberlain was about eight feet from me, or perhaps less, when
he raised his rifle deliberately to kill me. There were powder burns on
my neck and face from the shot, as the woman who cared for me on the
following day testified in court.

"I saw the rifle leveled, and realized that I was going to be killed.
Instinctively, I flinched to one side of the line of the rifle. That
saved my life. The ball entered the left side of my neck, about
three-quarters of an inch from the carotid artery and about half an inch
above the left clavicle, coming out through the left shoulder. I felt no
pain at the time, and, indeed, did not feel pain until the next day. The
shock of the shot knocked me down and numbed me, and I suppose