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There was much to be done and no time to lose. With quick decision, Garrett organized his plans to hunt down the escaped outlaw. He gathered a posse of a dozen picked men in Lincoln. He rushed off orders for other posses to take the field from Roswell, Tularosa, and Seven Rivers. He had only a vague idea of the direction the Kid had taken. He could only guess at what place of refuge the fugitive would aim. Every avenue of escape out of the country must be guarded. The dragnet was to be far-flung. The sheriff proposed in his search to comb New Mexico.

The hour for the start was set. The posse assembled in the sheriff's office in Lincoln courthouse for a final council of war.

"I figure," said Garrett, "the Kid's headin' for old Mexico. Once across the border, he'll be safe. Our only chance is to head him off before he gets there. With good luck, we can do it."

"I got an idea the Kid might hole up at Fort Sumner," interposed Former Sheriff "Dad" Peppin.

"No chance," retorted Garrett. "Fort Sumner's only ninety miles. The Kid's no fool. He won't hang around so close, with posses rakin' the whole country for him and knowin' he's got to swing if he's caught."

"That's just it," Peppin answered. "He might calculate you'd think just that way."

"The Kid's too smart to take a chance like that."

"If you don't aim to look for him in Fort Sumner, I'd call it mighty smart in him to go there. He'd be among his friends."

"That's true enough. He's got plenty of friends there. But I don't know as he'd trust 'em. There's that big