260 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



hail into the hall - way, rendering it im- 

 possible for those inside the house to ex- 

 tinguish the blaze. 



Although adobe bricks are practically fire- 

 proof, the woodwork of the dwelling offered 

 no resistance to the flames, and the wretched 

 inhabitants, driven from room to room by 

 the smoke, finally made a dash for their 

 lives, and were all, with one exception, help- 

 less women and children included, brutally 

 murdered. And all this happened less than 

 twenty years ago, and apparently with the 

 sanction of the authorities ; though, as has 

 already been told, this sanction was only 

 apparent. 



The one exception was the now famous 

 Billy the Kid. He contrived to escape un- 

 harmed, and, infuriated still further by this 

 new tragedy, entered upon a career even 

 more lawless and desperate than before. 

 No means were left untried to procure his 

 arrest, but for long all efforts were in vain. 

 Banned now as an outlaw, the Sheriffs 

 sought him untiringly, and at last ran him 

 to earth in a lonely house, where, without 



