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and in many crises he refrained from bloodshed when a less merciful man in his position would have killed without hesitation.

Garrett was virtually unknown when he killed Billy the Kid, and the Kid's death made him famous overnight. The report of the six shooter that ended the outlaw's career was heard throughout the nation. Newspaper readers everywhere knew of New Mexico's desperado who had killed twenty-one men when he was twenty one years old, and to whatever far corner the Kid's name had been borne, there also travelled the name of the man who had killed him. It was as if Garrett had become heir to the Kid's fame.

Fame, in fact, came to Garrett in a sort of deluge. He became suddenly a heroic and outstanding figure. Distinguished people sought his acquaintance. Everybody was eager to know him. His advent in any town caused a stir of excited interest and people pointed him out and whispered, "There goes Pat Garrett, the man who killed Billy the Kid." Visitors to New Mexico who had never heard of Glorietta Pass or Truches Peak or Taos or the Zuni villages had heard of Pat Garrett and wanted to see him, to meet him, to shake his hand. He was honoured everywhere. He walked in an aura of glory.

But Garrett had a level head on his shoulders that was not to be turned by flattery and applause. He took glory as coolly as he took danger. He remained the same calm, poised, homespun personality, the same Pat Garrett who had been a professional buffalo hunter in the Panhandle and a saloon keeper in old Fort Sumner. Though he had moods of taciturnity, he was, on the whole, an easy going, good-natured man, who loved the society of boon companions, a drink, a joke, a good story. He had a