Page:Saga of Billy the Kid.djvu/169

This page has been validated.
HAIR-TRIGGER PEACE
155

The Kid nodded.

"I have issued a proclamation of amnesty to all who have taken part in the feud, and I want you to share in it. President Hayes has sent me to New Mexico to establish peace. He has faith that I will do it. I am going to try to justify his confidence. Now, Billy, I have come all the way to Lincoln for the special purpose of persuading you to stop all this fighting and settle down."

"Settle down? I couldn;t if I tried."

"Why not?"

"My enemies wouldn't let me."

"I think they would. If you proved to your enemies that you wanted to become a useful citizen, I believe they would leave you alone."

"Not in this country."

"Go to some other country, then, and start over again."

"No. This is my country and I'm staying here."

The Kid said it as Rob Roy might have said, "My foot is on my native heath and my name's McGregor."

"Stay, then. But turn over a new leaf."

"You don't know this country, Governor. Look up the street. Do you see that bunch of men standing at Murphy's store?"

"Yes."

"Know who they are?"

"No."

"They're Murphy men. There's Jimmy Dolan, 'Dad' Peppin, Andy Boyle, Old Man Pearce. Well, if I walked up the street without my guns, they'd kill me so quick I wouldn't know what happened."

"You just rode past them," replied the governor. "They made no move to kill you."

"The reason," said the Kid, "is right here in my lap."

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.