JACK TAKES A PRISONER 



**I was just comin' out of the timber, after 

 crossin' the creek this side of the store, on my way 

 back to camp, when I spied him a-comin' down 

 the hill toward me at a walk, an' I squatted down 

 so's to get him 'tween me an' the sky, to get a 

 better view of him, to make sure it was him; an' 

 then I made up my mind to take him in right 

 there. 



*'So I got back behind a tree right beside the 

 road, an' when he got nearly to me I stepped out 

 with both barrels cocked an' called out to him to 

 halt. He pulled up, sudden like, with a jerk, an' 

 asked: 'What's up? What's up?' 



"'Don't you make a motion toward your pis- 

 tols,' says I, 'or I'll put two big loads of buckshot 

 into you.' I wasn't more'n six feet from him, an' 

 he must have seen that he had no show to get 

 away or draw a gun. 'Now,' says I, 'do just as I 

 order you, an' don't you try any foolishness, or 

 I'll fill you full of lead. First thing,' says I, 'un- 

 buckle that belt an' drop belt an' pistols in the 

 road.' He did so, at the same time saying: 

 'Pardner, I reckon you've mistook me for some- 

 body else. Who do you take me fur and who 

 are you, anyway ? ' 



"'I've made no mistake,' I answered. 'You're 

 Tucker, the jayhawker, an' I'm Jack, the giant- 

 killer' — an' wasn't that a big blufF? 'Now,' says I, 

 'back out a step till I pick up your guns.' 



"He did so, an' I kept a close watch of him 



67 



