mv room there was a window which lay diagonal between the bed and 
the door and T could see the form of a man between me and the win¬ 
dow. I aimed so as not to hit the fellow and fired—the bullet struck 
the center frame of the window and shattered every glass in it. The 
fellow started for the steps and believe me this time you could hear 
his footsteps and he went down these steps—had he thrown a wheel¬ 
barrow down them it would have made no more noise. Then T went to 
bed but did not sleep well. I spent a restless night and arose early 
next morning. I asked the hotel clerk if I could speak with the night 
clerk. lie told me no. that he would not be back until the next 
night. I told the clerk of the incident of the night before and expressed 
the opinion that it was the night clerk, but he assured me, or tried to, 
that it could not be as the night clerk was a very good man. 
After that I strode on up the street—I was not sure but that some¬ 
thing might arise from my shooting and I decided I would go over to 
Bill Readings, my friend in the territory. After lunch I started for the 
bank of the Arkansas River and got a fellow to take me across in a 
row boat. On the other side of the river I started up the road toward 
Readings. A man overtook me in a two horse wagon and gave me a 
ride. The public road led to within about a half mile of my friends 
and there I left my benefactor. I met the family just as I had left them. 
They all appeared pleased to see me again and gave me a hearty wel¬ 
come. We swapped stories and adventures during the whole evening. 
T told Bill Parrish that I wanted him for my guide as 1 intended to 
explore the territory and he had been all over it. My proposition to 
Bill was that I furnish two saddle horses and all equipment as well as 
pay all expenses until fall. 1 guess this sounded good to Bill because 
he didn’t hesitate in agreeing to go with me. 
We began to keep our eyes open for a couple of good ponies, 
saddles and bridles and in about a week or ten days we made the 
desired purchase of two buckskin ponies. The horses were a matched 
team. 
Reading did not like to give Bill up, but Bill did not care much 
for farm work anyway and was glad to go. 1 purchased a couple of 
blankets, a frying pan, small bake oven, coffee pot, two tin cups and 
plates and our lariat ropes, and two 44-calibre Winchester rifles. The 
day was set for our trip—the first of April. 
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