So I told him to come along, and come along he did.
There was no need for his services on that occasion, but a little later
he put me in debt to him for my life. He and I rode together into a
border town, where there were a few gentlemen in the horse-stealing
business who had reason to wish me moved along to some other sphere. I
left White to look after the horses as we reached the town, and went
into a hotel to get a nip, for which I felt a very great need. White
noticed a couple of rough-looking chaps behind the barn as he put the
horses away and quietly slipped to a window where he could overhear
their conversation.
"We'll go in while he is taking a drink," one of them was saying, "and
shoot him from behind. He'll never have a chance."
Without a word to me, White hurried into the hotel and got behind the
door. Presently the two men entered, both with drawn revolvers. But
before they could raise them White covered them with his own weapon and
commanded them sternly to throw up their hands, an order with which
they instantly complied after one look at his face.
I wheeled at the order, and recognized his two captives as the men I
was looking for, a pair of horse-thieves and murderers whom I had been
sent to apprehend. My revolvers were put into instant requisition, and
I kept them covered while White removed the guns with which they had
expected to put me out of their way.
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