fe from the old Mexican, and concluded to go over and
cut himself off a piece of meat from the quarter at Maxwell's house.
This is how the story arose that he came into the house with his boots
in his hand to keep an appointment with a Mexican girl.

"The usual story is that I was down close to the wall behind Maxwell's
bed. This was not the case, for the bed was close against the wall. Pete
Maxwell was lying in bed, right here in this corner, as I said. I was
sitting in a chair and leaning over toward him, as I talked in a low
tone. My right side was toward him, and my revolver was on that side. I
did not know that the Kid was so close at hand, or, indeed, know for
sure that he was there in the settlement at all.

"Maxwell did not want to talk very much. He knew the Kid was there, and
knew his own danger. I was talking to him in Spanish, in a low tone of
voice, as I say, when the Kid came over here, just as I have told you.
He saw Poe and McKinney sitting right out there in the moonlight, but
did not suspect anything. '_Quien es?_'--'Who is it?'--he asked, as he
passed them. I heard him speak and saw him come backing into the room,
facing toward Poe and McKinney. He could not see me, as it was dark in
the room, but he came up to the bed where Maxwell was lying and where I
was sitting. He seemed to think something might not be quite right. He
had in his hand his revolver, a self-cocking .41. He could not see my
face, and he had not heard my voice, or he would have known me.

"The Kid stepped up to the bedside and laid his left hand on the bed and
bent over Maxwell. He saw me sitting there in the half darkness, but did
not recognize me, as I was sitting down. My height would have betrayed
me had I been standing. 'Pete, _Quien es_?' he asked in a low tone of
voice; and he half motioned toward me with his six-shooter. That was
when I looked across into eternity. It wasn't far to go.

"That was exactly how the thing was. I gave neither Maxwell nor the Kid
time for anything farther. There flashed over my mind at once one
thought, and it was that I had to shoot and shoot at once, and that my
shot must go to the mark the first time. I knew the Kid would kill me in
a flash if I did not kill him.

"Just as he spoke and motioned toward me, I dropped over to the left and
rather down, going after my gun with my right hand as I did so. As I
fired, the Kid dropped back. I had caught him just about the heart. His
pistol, already p