Ghosts of the Wild West: Enlarged Edition Including Five Never-Before-Published Stories

Wild Bill Hickok in Abilene

WILD BILL HICKOK IN ABILENE bilene was the wildest cattle town in the West, the town where the saloon keepers wore diamonds as big as hickory nuts and kept sixshooters behind the bar, where at any time a drunken cowboy might ride his horse into a saloon, pull his pistol , and shoot in the air. The Broadway of Abilene was Texas Street, which led right off the dreary prairie straight down a glittering path to hell itself. Drinking and gambling houses dotted both sides of the street-the Alamo, Lone Star, Long Horn, and Bull's Head. When the cowboys rode into Abilene after three months of driving a herd of cattle across the prairie, they found themselves in glamorous surroundings where it was easy to raise Cain and blow their pay. For WILD BILL HICKOK IN ABILENE the gamblers there was a rich harvest in this Sin City, and it was not too unusual to see a hathl of gold or silver spread out on one of the gambling tables. The town fathers hired Tom Smith, a former New York City policeman, as their first marshal, but he was murdered before he could tame the town. It was natural that they should hire a fast draw expert named Wild Bill Hickok to be the new marshal. Strangely enough, a ghost was responsible for Wild Bill's leaving Abilene. In the late 1860s Abilene was running wild; city ordinances were posted and just as quickly torn down. The blinds were ripped off the mayor's office, and cowboys rode through town shooting at the "no shooting" posters on the doors. When the town tried to build a jail, the cowboys demolished it. The first marshal had made a good start, but he was dead. Abilene was without a chief of police, and the town's reputation was so bad that no one wanted the job. When Wild Bill Hickok presented himself, the mayor was glad to hire him. He was reputed to be the best gunman in all the West and was a crack shot with both hands at the same time. The town was not entirely happy with the choice of a man they considered a desperado. Tall and striking in appearance, always well dressed, he attracted much attention and more than a little jealousy from most of the men. But Smith had run things pretty well, and Wild Bill continued Smith's custom of having the cowboys park their weapons when they went in the saloons and gambling houses, and the fear of his two pistols kept many GHOSTS OF THE WILD WEST a roughneck in line. His office was in the Alamo saloon, and he employed an assistant or nvo to patrol the streets and watch for trouble. Unfortunately Hickok had made some enemies as he enforced the law, and at the same time his growing reputation had made various gunmen eager to shoot him. At least eight thugs had come to Abilene to try it. Wild Bill disarmed seven of them who lost their courage. The eighth did not, and that is when Wild Bill met a ghost. It happened this way. One night Wild Bill left his headquarters at the Alamo saloon and walked down the street toward the Merchant's Hotel when he saw a gunman come out of the shadows and start to draw on him. Wild Bill had an advantage over almost any gunman, and he drew and fired his pistol. The thug dropped to the ground. Before he died, he lifted his head and swore, "Wild Bill, I'm going to get even with you!" Nobody knew the gunman's name, and he was buried at Boot Hill in an unmarked grave. The next night Hickok lvas ~valking down the street, and just as he approached the Merchant's Hotel, he saw a gunman in the shadows and then, as if time had begun to turn in slow motion, he had the feeling that this had already happened. The man even looked like the same man he had shot the night before, drawing in the same fashion. In a fast draw the gunman pulled his .44.At the last moment Wild Bill managed to break his trance, draw his guns, and blast away, expecting for the first time in his life that he was going to be shot. But all he heard were the reports of his onm gun...