Page:Saga of Billy the Kid.djvu/203

"'Don't let this man kill my friend,' my mother begged of him.

"The Kid touched his sombrero to my mother. 'Don't be afraid, señora,' he said, 'I'll straighten this out.'

"He said something in Spanish to Chavez, who at once put his six-shooter back in its holster, and the Kid took him by the arm and they walked away.

"Telesfor in the meantime was weaving about unsteadily, and we took him into the house. He had had a very narrow escape, which he didn't seem to realize, being very drunk. But mother and I always thought that he never would have lived to be my brother-in-law if it had not been for Billy the Kid that day."

Don Manuel Abreu, who lives on a ranch within view of the site of old Fort Sumner, tells a piquant little tale about Mrs. Jaramillo.

"Not long after Billy the Kid's death," says Don Manuel, "Pete Maxwell, Paulita, and myself were sitting one night in the living room at the Maxwell home in old Fort Sumner. It was growing late. The town and house were silent. Suddenly we heard a strange noise like softly padding footsteps. It gave us all a thrill. The Kid had been killed in an adjoining bedroom. The sound was ghostly. It ceased. It began again. Just like someone walking softly in stockinged feet.

"'What is that?' Paulita's voice was touched with suppressed excitement.

"'Can it be,' I asked, 'that the Kid has come back from the dead?'

"'Every night since his death,' observed Pete, 'I've heard queer noises about the old house.'

"'Pooh!' Paulita shrugged her shoulders.

"'But, Paulita,' I urged, 'they say the spirits of mur-