Black Bess was
feeding close by and on the opposite side of them from where I
lay. Now I made up my mind that I would make a desperate effort to
extricate myself from this trap, for to stay there I knew meant
death and I would rather take my chances with those three than
with the entire gang. They were all sitting flat on the ground,
each had a pistol on him and their guns all lay within a few feet
of them. My only show for escape was to kill two of them at the
first shot and then I would have an equal show with the other one,
but now was the particular part of the work. Just one false move
and the jig was up with me, but it was getting time that I should
be at work for the other seven were likely to be there at any
moment. I carefully reached around under my coat tail and got hold
of both of my pistols, and just as I did so, as good luck would
have it, Black Bess shook herself very hard and caused them to
turn their eyes toward her, and it could not have happened in a
better time. I was on my knees in an instant, and leveling a
pistol at each of the two with their backs towards me, I fired,
and being almost near enough to have touched either of them with
the point of the pistol, it was a sure thing that I would not miss
them. After firing the first two shots I was on my feet in an
instant, by which time the third man had taken a tumble to himself
and was on his knees and had his pistol about half out when I
fired both pistols at him and he fell back dead.
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