Rossiter W. Raymond 



near a willow thicket, which sur- 

 rounded a spring, and in the middle 

 of which the man himself was pre- 

 paring his breakfast. King left his 

 horse in the sergeant's charge and 

 entered the thicket alone, with his 

 " hair-trigger " Colt revolver. He 

 afterward confessed that the situa- 

 tion required all his " nerve." The 

 man, who was known as a desperate 

 character, might have heard him com- 

 ing and made preparation to shoot 

 him at sight. But, after a minute 

 of suspense, the climax was tame 

 enough. The deserter, taken by sur- 

 prise, was marched at the muzzle of 

 King's pistol back to camp, and 

 thence sent under guard to the mili- 

 tary prison at Alcatraz — and there 

 were no more desertions from that 

 party. As for King's " nerve," it must 

 have been little, if at all, disturbed ; 

 for a man cannot long keep his finger 

 still on a hair-trigger, if he is agitated ! 



339 



