ably died in the belief that they were "bad." They were
not bad men, but imitations, counterfeit, and, indeed, nothing more than
cheap and dirty little murderers.

Of course, we all feel able to detect the mere notoriety hunter, who
poses about in cheap pretentiousness; but now and then in the West there
turned up something more difficult to understand. Perhaps the most
typical case of imitation bad man ever known, at least in the Southwest,
was Bob Ollinger, who was killed by Billy the Kid in 1881, when the
latter escaped from jail at Lincoln, New Mexico. That Ollinger was a
killer had been proved beyond the possibility of a doubt. He had no
respect for human life, and those who knew him best knew that he was a
murderer at heart. His reputation was gained otherwise than through the
severe test of an "even break." Some say that he killed Chavez, a
Mexican, as he offered his own hand in greeting. He killed another man,
Hill, in a similarly treacherous way. Later, when, as a peace officer,
he was with a deputy, Pierce, serving a warrant on one Jones, he pulled
his gun and, without need or provocation, shot Jones through. The same
bullet, passing through Jones's body, struck Pierce in the leg and left
him a cripple for life. Again, Ollinger was out as a deputy with a noted
sheriff in pursuit of a Mexican criminal, who had taken refuge in a
ditch. Ollinger wanted only to get into a position where he could shoot
the man, but his superior officer crawled alone up the ditch, and,
rising suddenly, covered his man and ordered him to surrender. The
Mexican threw down his gun and said that he would surrender to the
sheriff, but that he was sure Ollinger would kill him. This fear was
justified. "When I brought out the man," said the sheriff, "Ollinger
came up on the run, with his cocked six-shooter in his hand. His long
hair was flying behind him as he ran, and I never in my life saw so
devilish a look on any human being's face. He simply wanted to shoot
that Mexican, and he chased him around me until I had to tell him I
would kill him if he did not stop." "Ollinger was a born murderer at
heart," the sheriff added later. "I never slept out with him that I did
not watch him. After I had more of a reputation, I think Ollinger would
have been glad to kill me for the notoriety of it. I never gave him a
chance to shoot me in the back or when I was asleep. Of course, you will
understand that we had to use for deputies such material as we