Page:Saga of Billy the Kid.djvu/95

Mexicans sometimes changed the epithet into the Spanish equivalent, "El Chivato." But they usually took no more liberties with the name than with the Kid himself; it remained with them and their descendants "Billee the Keed." Thousands of youngsters have been called "Billy" since then in that part of the country, and thousands have been referred to as "the Kid." But in combination, the words have a single connotation. For the Southwest there has never been but one Billy the Kid.

When his four companions set off eastward for the Pecos, Billy remained in Mesilla; there was a little matter which required his personal attention. It was as well for Morton and Baker, as they shook his hand in parting, that they could not read the future. Within less than a year, Billy the Kid was to snuff out both their lives.

Word had reached Billy that his former comrade, Segura, was in jail in San Elizario in Texas, eighty miles away, and he determined on a daring coup to save him. With plans carefully laid, he set out on his pony late in the afternoon for a Paul Revere dash to the Rio Grande. It was fifty-five miles from Mesilla to El Paso; Billy had covered the distance before midnight. By three o'clock in the morning, he was in San Elizario. The little town on the river bank was asleep. Hiding his pony in an alley, Billy slipped through the dark streets to the jail. He thumped boldly on the door. A fat Mexican jailer, startled from slumber on an office cot, shuffled across the floor.

"Quién es?" he called gruffly.

"Texas Rangers," answered Billy in Spanish. "Open up. We have two American prisoners."

There was a rattling of keys on the inside; the door swung cautiously open. Billy pushed in; at the same time