Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1901-06-06

never ran away from one." He al
ways avoided conflict with the officer
Of the law.
i A soldier who served with hin
during the Rebellion tells Of scout
ing expedition Of fifty men Of which
Hickok was guide. Their work com.
pleted, the guide suggested that they
return, that going farther would be
dangerous. The imprudent and
foolhardy officer insisted on farther
advance. They were attacked by 400
Indians and most Of the little band
were slain, Hickok fighting bravely
and escaping with the man who
narrated this incident and some
others. He knew himself to be a
marked man, and accordingly was
somewhat cautious and at times
watchiul, though when once engaged
in a row absolutely fearless and
desperate.
He has been variously criticised.
Because he talked like master to
truculent and turbulent bad men,
he has been called bully by men
who never show any spirit except
when they scold their wives. Be-
cause he allowed no gang Of man
killers to get the drop on him he has
been denominated a coward by men
who would not fight a cockle-burr.
He was brave enough to fight lion.
(he fought and killed a bear near
Santa Fey, though too sensible to do
so unless it was actually necessary.
Hickok's morals we're much the
same as those of Achilles, King David,
Lancelot, and Chevalier Bayard,
though his amours were hardly as
frequent as David's or as inexcusable
as Lancelot's. In a way he was
reincarnation Of Lancelot, the
renaissance of the knight.errant. He
was conceded to be honest, and the
fact that the law never attempted to
call him to account, explains why 1t
was generally agreed along the border
that Wild Bill never killed anybody
except those who needed 1t or we're
looking for it. From his earliest
childhood to his last day he was es.
pecially fond Of hunting and fishing.
At Abilene be was often found ang-
ling In the waters OF the little stream
that runs through the village, and
delighted in spending his idle hours
beneath the shade OF its cottonwoods.
His English was good, his disposition
pleasant, and his manners agreeable.
| know a delightful old lady who
settled on the border forty odd years
ago, and whose husband often hunted
with Wild Bill, whom she remembers
as the most courtly gentleman that
visited their cabin, not excepting the
poet, traveller, and scholar, Bayard
Taylor.
Homer sang the Ruiiian Achilles
into thirty centuries Of renown. The
deeds Of many irontiersmen excel the
Greeks. David did his own singing,
and came out with great reputation.
Yet | doubt not the McKandlas gang
would have made Goliath look like an
amateur. Ivanhoe, in his iron kettle
with his long lance killing the neigh
bors for love Of God and lady, never
surpassed in courage and sacrifice Wild
Bill and his comrades. But the dime
novelist has been their biographer,
and cheap notoriety their reward.
They deserve statelier history and
a sweeter requiem. With all their
faults they were brave and gallant
gentlemen, who made 1t possible for
quiet men to bring decent women
and establish American homes on the
plains and in the mountains. Wild Bill
Hickok's adventurous career should
have come to the knowledge OF that
fine old Scotchm who delighted in
the blare OF bugles, the clash Of arms,
the tale Of chivalry. Walter Scott
would have made this great scout
and peace officer q hero Of romance
and prince Of the border.
'lisn't safe to be q day without