Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-23
LACKED PRESENCE OF MIND.
ought to Have Shot the Near Nun
With His Left.
From the San Fransico Examiner.

|
Its great thing, presence of mind, and
always regret that somehow / don't
think Of the right thing until the wrong
| time"
The speaker was n man whose mus
tache and hair showed the winter Of life
was near. His eye was piercing, not
shfty, and his clothing and adornments
| betokened comfortable circumstances
Il was guard on the Big Bend stage.
had been a gambler for twenty years.
knew all the tricks, and had played every
game IN all sorts of ways ard with every
klnd OF device. 1t was just such a night
| as thls, the very gentlest of breezes, the
moon SO bright one could read by IL, ard
the ROAD through the woods was as white
as white ribbon. We were bowling along
quietly enough up grade, when at a little
turn we met two horsemen coming at a
slashing gallop. They threw their horses
| pack on their launches and We We're he Id
| up.
| Passengers, driver and all were stood up
| In row. and one of the bandits guarded
| us While his partner, Pete he called him
the driver of connivance, for when we
heard the horses he said II was a courier
coming; he knew of the trip, and SC threw
me OIL my guard. / was put UP in a line
alongside the rCinsman, and while | had
| octh eyes on the guarl and his partner not
| move OF that rascally driver escaped me.
a1r-and right here let me explain n little
point Did you ever see a poker hold. out /?
IL ; an ingenious contriVahCe which fits be-
meath your clothing, with arm extend
| ing down the sleeve OF your coat on the
INSIDE, SO regulated that by a pressure of
the elbow the clip at the end is at the
wrist to grip card or out of sight up in
the arms. 1t is u hardy affair not to be
caught with, too, for IL is prima facie evil
dence, and hanging's too little for a man
who's known to be ready to play with the
contrivance about him. When l quit the
game l had a set Of 'em; | took 'em from
a fellow from the bay who came up to earn
an honest dollar. / wouldn't sell 'em or
give EN- away; some one might think
used such things myself. SO / just quietly
worked a patent. i got q pair of single
shot derrlnSers, which would lie in the
crook or my arm, and not rest hard, and /
fastened EN- to either clip OF them hold
outs. or course, when my hands was up the
derrlnSerS lay snug against my forearm
had practiced with EN- lots and knew just
no" to cramp my elbows, drop my arms a
little and have the little bankers In my
hands
Il was gradually letting nv hands down
once; that is 1 testing the thing when
the guard called me up sharp fearing some
thlng, and made me move away a mite
from the line, where he could watch me
particular and keep the passengers covered
as well. He ordered everybody to keep
sun, too, for there was a little bit of sob
hlhB by woman IN the party, and SWIVEL
H-B drummer was bernOdnlng his tate. Pete
was not doing good business with the box,
though, for he was clubbing away with a
hammer, but not making any Roadway at
opening the little safe
Suddenly the opening came. The guard
was getting impatient and cursing Pete
when with smash the hinges broke Pete
gave an exclamation, and the guard turned
his head-only for a second. though but
that was enough, for l had been watching
him, and II was no great thing to take adj
vantage of the chance
Like a flash my arms had dropred and
those little 3S-caiiber pops were in my
hands With my right dropped the guard
the bullet going through his head. | shot
the fellow at the box with my left hand
L never was as good shot with my left as
with my right, and, in addition he was
three times as far away. So, instead Of
hitting him in the head, as | tried. L only
got him in the body. AS he turned and
drew his gun L cried to the people to drop.
for l knew there would be some lively
shooting. l didn't take time to reach for
my own gun. but threw myself on the dea d
robber catching his bullet as | went down
= had the gun of the dead one up In a
moment, and was able to kill Pete before
kicked myself hundred times when / re-
member my absolute lack of self-posses-
sion. 1t would have been just as easy for
a man with presence of mind to have turn
cd the trick with two Shots using the left
on the close party, and saved the wound
but L couldn't think fast enough