SHOOTING TO KILL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5256, 11 May 1895, Page 1

SHOOTING TO KILL.

[BT VOLITBU." {Qlobi Democrat.) Some years ago I crossed the ocean trom New York to Liverpool, and, as is usual afters few days out, we in the saloon all got pretty friendly with eaoh other. I made the particular acquaintance of * man of about thirty-five yean of age, whose name was Compton; Tall, thin, deeply bronzed, he looked like one who had aeen some knocking about, but anyone could aee, with half an eye, the unmistakable imprint of a gentleman. He waa returning home to England after twelve yeara' absence, during which he had made his pile in silver mine prospecting. Looking into hia berth one morning just after breakfast, I found him busy cleaning a Winchester magazine rifle. Alwaya fond of firearma, I examined the weapon with oare, and we fell to talking about various shooting episodes. " By-the-by," -aid he, "there is-aatety conneoted with that rifle whioh I think will interest yon, and if yon oare to heat it, we will go on deck and smoke fc cigar while I tell it to yon." Of course I waa only too glad, and I will give the etory in hia own worda, aa nearly ' aa I oan remember them. .^ "About four years ago, having lent some money on the seourity of a cattle ranch in Wyoming, circumstances aioae which compelled me to go to the property and remain there some months. My visit waa of a i oharacter calculated to rather prejudice me in the eyes of the little oolony of cow- '■ boyß and farmers in the neighbourhood, inasmuch aa it waa connected with money difficulties concerning my mortgage. - 4 "I found the proprietor by no means a prepossessing sort of a man, bnt he did hia best to be civil to me, seeing, nc, doubt, that it was policy to be ao, and aa.^'so^l, had ao far been very lenient with himv- " Amongat the hands, and more or less in the position of an under boss, waa a fellow oalled Crookford, a tall, heavy man, who from the very first showed me marked incivility, and whom I instinctively felt would do me harm if he could. Hia record was deoidedly bad, and not long before that time in another neighbourhood he had narrowly escaped lynching for horsethieving by flight; in fact ne wai noto* rionsly a ' tough ' all round. "Every man about the neighbourhood carried a heavy revolver, and mostly a Wincheater aB well. I deemed it beat, as a matter ot policy, not to carry any firearma at all. Even among thoae men a rough code of honour prevailed, and it waa deemed " bad form" to draw on a man' who hadn't a gun. Again, I was a ▼ery; bad shot with the revolver, a fault whioh I have eince then rectified. I may say, however, that I waa a rather good tine ahot, but up to that time, oddly enough, I bad never used a Wincheater. All these, men shoot well, some of them marvellouily ' well, and this fellow Crookford, although^ not reokoned anything wonderful, could' riddle a powder canister at thirty yards, and of course do muoh better with the rifle.. At two honored yards he could put; almost every bullet into the crown ot yonr hat. A

"Well, I had been at the place about • i month, when I slipped down to the store, one Saturday afternoon, partly tb buy aome thinge I wanted and partly to have a chat with Dalziel, a very intelligent Scotchman who kept the ettablishinentv Out weak, as yon may know, the store is • place for the sale of everything, and alao • aort of rendezvous for the 'boys' around the neighbourhood when they have any apare time. I had made my purchases ana had been chatting with Dalziel a few. minutes, when in came seven or eight of the cowboys with Crookford amongst them.

" The man was in a ferocious hnmonr, that was perfectly evident from hie countenance, end we aoon learnt from the boisterous chaff of whioh he was the viotim that he had, for a wager of the drinks round, backed himself to ride a particularly ngly tempered oolt over an awkward jump, and had got a * cropper' for his pains. "Calling for the liquors, he rudely brushed past me to the counter, and contrived to upset my drink in doing so. I aaid nothing at all to him, but called for another glass. The banter, which had been loud up to the moment, died away, aa everyone saw that Crookford had tried to insult me*

" After an awkward silence he turned to old Mottram, the veteran of the party, and aaid:

'Some people's mighty meek and for* givin' like— ought ter be angels, I guess, yes; and may be aooner than they reckon on, too. Say, mister,' he continued, turning to me, ' how long do you intend to atay around theae here parte P Take my advise and git, and git qnick; taint healthy, for you.' " ' lam going to stay about fonr months,' I replied quietly, ' but if necessary I will stay four years. When lam ready to go, however, do you think you could sell me a horse to ride away on ?"

"A buret of laughter greeted thii allnaion to Crockford's former horse stealing exploita, and without an instant's pause he flung hia tumbler ot whiskey foil in my face. Expecting something of tho kind I flew from my chair, and, being within a yard of him, I struck him a heavy blow on the mouth. He reeled back, and catching a seat with hia leg, fell to tho floor. He waa on hia feet in a second, revolver in hand, and I waa sure that my last minute had come; and so it would have had not Dalziel seized hia arm, and by a wrench, torn the weapon from his grasp. Only juat in time, too, as a bullet flew past me and buried itself in the woodwork.

'"For ahame, Crookey,* aaid Mottram, 'you know that the stranger don't carry no gun; 'twould have been murder, yes, an' me an' the rest of the boya wonld her let you know of it, too.* A murmur of aaseut warned Crookford that he had transgressed the -unwritten law of frontier life. The man waa deadly pale with passion, and aave where the blood staine on the lips showed the severity of the blow, all traces of colour had left his usually ruddy face. " ' Boyß,' he said, with an effort, 'l did. wrong to draw my gun, and I acknowledge it, bnt,' turning to me, ' the earth ain't y , enough for ua two, by G— . Yon n/ A\ fight me, or I will shoot you dead oa sight.' " I suppose I onght to have declined, bnt I didn't. I was fighting mad, and longed to puniah the ruffian even at the imminent riak of my own life, aol aaid: "'I will fight you, and fight you now, but mark you, we will fight on something like equal termß. With revolver* I should be nothing but a viotim to yonr skill, so a8 I am entitled to the choice of weapons, we will use Winchesters, for although I never fired one in my life, I can nse the rifle better than the revolver.'

"A dead quiet fell on the group aa Crookford nodded his head in token of assent. I had, as I knew, ohosen the deadliest style of duelling in force ont there.

"Old Mottram broke the silence by saying: 'It aeema, boys, that this affair must go on. Crookford, her ye yer weapon heref

t »| r No, bnt I will Boon bring it/ was the

response bs he turned and walked out of tbo store.

"I now had about an'hour ab my disposal, nnd taking Dalziel aside I asked him to be my second, which ho acceded to. I gavo him all tho money T hp.d on ma, somo GOOdol, and told him that if I should be killed he was to bury ma deceatly, and that he might keep s\ny balance leftover. Then on a sheet of uoio paper I wrote a brief will, disposing of my interests in certain concerns.

"I did not waste any time in thinking of ay poor mother, my sisters, or any dearor one than all. The fact waa that I hadn't any Bweethearh or relations of any kind aavo and except my cbar old dad, snd well I knew that he, a Major under the flan of old England, would rather havo helped to bury me with hia own hands than that his son should turn tail in such a esse. Neither waa I disturbed in my mind about what respectable old ladies (of both aexee) would call the awful r'jgponsibility which rnnafc rest ou me if I killed thia man. No, nir 1 I juat meant to drill as many and aa deadly holes in hia rascally carcase as good fortune and my skill could together effacfr. Brutal, no doubt you will .aay. Perhaps it was, but I was going to shoot to kill for all that, for if ever a man meant bloodohed in thia world, Bill Crockford meant it when ho went out of that «toro.

" What I did think of, however, was how to increase my chances of succeso, aa 1 certainly did not want to be killed, or even wounded, so I mentally laid down a plan of campaign, or a method of operations fis it wero.

"There waa still about half an hour before my adversary could get back, so Dalziel proposed my having a tew, ehota to get used to the Winchester which I was to rise. About two hundred yards away stood an old shanty, empty and tumble down; on this Dul-ial, otruck the white lid of a box, offering a plain mark cf perhaps twelvo inches square. I took the rifle, and, af tor firing two shots for direction and elevation, I walked over to see how I had got on, then came back and resumed firing. When I got through three and twenty cartridges, we all, that ia, the rest of the men in the store — with Dalziol and myself, walked over to the target.

"'txreat Scott!' exclaimed old Mottram, 'why, fchoro ain'fc a single bullet, wifchipT five feet, of that box lid. Tou ain't.gfit no ohow at all agin' Crockey, Mr Compton, an' if I waß you I'd own up and apologise. *, ...... "'I fchank you. for your advice,' I.replied. ' I : beliove I havo moro chance' than you fancy; bub if I had none, this affair would bavo to go on, unless, indeed, your man should beg my pardon for throwing hia glass in my face.'

"f There ain't much chance of that, I •fear. Ho'a dead »et on ahooting yer, Bir, but I wish thsre waß eome way of stoppin' thiß affair. Ib eeema oarensonabla that you Bhould meet a man sioh a tremonjoua lot better ner yourself when your life will mo - Bfc likely bev to pay the stake.'

" Crockford aoon arrived nt the Btore, bringing his rifle with him, and, of course, a whisper or two from his friends made him acquainted with the reßulta of my target practice. Dalziel, made a laat Attempt to prevent a .meeting, and addresnod Crockford upon tho evil of carrying thia affair to a termination, which must; almost inevitably terminate fatally to mo.

" ' There ain't no particular reason for fighting, if he will oppolergize for strikin' that blow, but he's gob ter do it, and got tier do_it. humble, too, or else let him gib hold of his rifle ; I won't aay no more.'

" I impatiently waved bo Dalziel to desiat and signed to Mottram to proceed with the necessary preliminaries. . Taking the two rifles from our hands, he pressed, ono oy one, into tho magazines of each of them oeven cartridges.

, •" Now,' said he when this was done, 'you, Crookford, are. -well posted aa to bow theoe aifaira are managed here, but for fear that yon (turning to me) may not be so well acquainted With them, I will tell yer the condition?. These two rifles will be laid down on the middle of the road, where it goes over the plain in a straight line; they will be placed aboub two hundred yards apart, and you will stand each beside hia gun. We, that is, Dalziel and myself, will stand between you' and to one side. When I throw ray hat tip you are eaoh at liberty to get your gun and make the, best use of it against one another. . You may etand and lire, kneel and fire, or ley down and are, as you please ; you kin run in on ono another, or, if either of yoa chooses, he kin run back; thsr's plenty of road, too; eaoh of you haa about 60 miles of straight travellin' behind him ef he don't like "the looks of things in front; bub neither of you muat leavo the road, and tho eaven shots in each of your guna muat docide the affair, hit or mias. Mind, if these conditions are broken by either man. me and Dalziel are here to aee fair play, and we have guns, and will übo thom, too.' Without another word Wo all left the store, and the two aeoondo, placing the rifles on tbe road baside Crookford and rayeclf, retired to the little hillock to give the signal. " I, perhaps, ought to give you a description of my feelings at that moment, but really I can hardly do'ao, nor do I roEQember any very predominant emotion, save that I felt a sorb of stony calm, mixed with a strong desire to draw a bead on that figure standing quietly besida bis weapon some two hundred yards a way. "Aa I before told you, I had .laid down my mothod of proceeding, and the basis of it was to remain on the defensive for I felt sure that Crockford, despioing my abilities •with the Winchester, would advance upon me, nor was I ab all mistaken. Directly the signal waa given he seized his rifle, and almost instantly discharging a shot, which passed within a foot of me, he started on a xiz-zsg run towards me. Meanwhile I had gone down fiat on the road, bringing my rifle to bear upon him, and, getting sight after he had run in perhaps fifty yards, I fired my firat ebot.

" I shot primarily to atop him, of course, if I could, but also with the intention of throwing a thin cloud of smoke immediately in front of me, beneath which I could again take eight. The day was still, bright and warm, and far away along, the road behind Crockford a little whito puff of dust told me that I had missed my man. Jerking tho lever of the rifle forward and back to its place again, I had my second shot ready lor delivery. This time I waited, judging that when ho came to a atop, either to lie down or stand, I should have the beat chance I was , likely to get, but Btill vay rifle muzzle followed his every movement. . On ha came, till less than one hundred yards separated ua ; dropping on to his hands and knees he was juat reaching the prone position, when, onc9 more, my rifle rang out. This time I did nob eee tbe puff of dußt, betokening a mips, but I had no tira-a to speculate about results, bub hugging the ground closely, I jerked the empty cartridge out and gob another into its place. Zip came a bullet not three inches from my cheek, and again, as I brought my gun up, another struck the road almost straight in front of me, and tore ita way through the cloth of my conb'cn the arm. Thin ahot nearly, blinded me and rendered ib impossible for me to return the fire effectively for the ' dust, and so I might say for the nest two, asi both being in front and fortunately a little to one side, I absolutely could not aee even tbe ond of mj own rifle. In a few seconds the duab was cleared sufficiently to allow me dimly to' sight my opponent. My finger had almost pressed the trigger when somehow or another I seemed to feel that I need not shoot. There waa no motion about my adversary, aor was hia face visible, and even ab that distance I could Bee that his rifle waa not in position, but waa grasped iu hia right hand wide out from hia body. I kept my rifle on him, hesitating what to do. He ■till bad two shots in his magazine, and I had a right to fire on him and make certain, bufc still, as I say, I hesitated. As I did io Mottram waved mo to hold my fire, and leaving their position on the hill the two seconds ran hastily to tho silent figure in Front of me. A wave of tho hand released toe from suspense, and informed me that she , duel was over. On reaching Crockford I found him insensible from pain and 'oaa of blood. My second ahot had struok limfair on the left ahoulder, ahatfcering (he bono at tbe joint in a terrible manner tnd 'flooding the road with blood. Even hen the man had, before insensibility set

in, miUF-ed, goodness knowa how, to send thoae four bullotn in rapid auce-*9Bion, any one of which, had *ifc been throe inches truer, would have killed or badly wounded me. We gob him to the etore, and Dalziel, who possessed somo surgical skill, managed to ataunnh tile flowinp, blood, and in a day oi* two be waa pronounced out of auy absolute dauger of hia life. Ilscover ho did, although it was three months before he could leave hiß berth. Aa the ranch had paoaed into my handa during that time, I saw that he waa properly attended to, bufc when he was able to travel, I directed that ha be paid up all wages aud au extra SOdol given him, bnt that hs be discharged from the employ. You aso.my life felt very unsafe whilo he was within forty milea. I heard tbat he ultimately recovered the use of his aim, but it waa a long time .before it waa anything like sound.

"Little more remains to be told, except that I gave Dalziel shundred dollars for that Winchester as a eou~en?r of the affair."

"But, Mr Compton," aaid I, "how on earth did ycu manage to make such a good ahot at your man on the second attempt, when, as you pointed out, ycu shot ao badly at the box lid, Waa it simply a fluke?"

Compton looked at mo rather curiously and aaid .-

"I notice that you sometimes play at whist, but I don't perceive that you let the adversaries aee your hand. It ib true tbn.t I was never within five feat of the box lid, bufc then you see I never shot at that lid at all. I aimed ab a dozon different parts of the shanty, knoto, blotches on tha wood, &c, but never at the lid. Knowing what I wrb shooting at, I waa -satisfied, because all my shots wore within six to ten inches of where I aimed tbem, aud, of course, the others thought I wag blazing awr.y aft tho lid all the time, though, mind, I never said so, and Crockford naturally got the impression that I was a vory bad ehot from what the othera told him. I rather expected the result would bo that way, and it was unlucky for Crockford.

"Suppose wo have a drink now. lean never think of those infernal bullets -whizzing past me without feeling a certain dryneßain the throat and mouth. Upon my 'soul, the remembrance makea my fleah creep more now than it did at the time, but you know I wsa fighting mad then, and waa * shooting to kill/ "