community where they still speak of Ben Thompson as a hero? Ben Thompson was a noted character of San Antonio some years ago—a man utterly without fear, a good shot and quick on the draw. He was a bad-man of a peculiar type, insomuch as he never bothered any but bad-men, and therein lay his immunity from the law, as the men he killed were all practically outlaws, and he could always plead self-defence. When he heard of any really tough man in his neighbourhood who was wild and woolly, he would hunt him up, pick a quarrel with him, and generally shoot him. He finally fell out with the men who kept a gambling and dance hall in San Antonio, and in a row one night shot up the furniture and the lights. Subsequently, on two or three occasions when the thought of how he had been robbed there rankled in his breast, or perhaps just for excitement, he used to go in and kick up a row. Finally, this got monotonous, and they summoned up courage to call his bluff. They sent him word that he was not to come to their place again, as every man in the house would take a hand and kill him. When the message was brought to Ben Thompson, he said, "I wonder if they really have the nerve? Anyway, I’ll just go and see about it," and over he went. The signal was passed from the door-keeper, and, as Ben opened the swinging doors, eight or ten pistols cracked at the same time, and Ben’s days were over. They had the nerve all right when there were enough of them. I knew one of the men implicated in this killing some years later, and I never knew him to turn his back to anybody or to a door or window. He was not at that time scared of any one, but it had become a habit from years of watching for some of Ben’s friends to avenge him.