Henry Burns was considered a good, steady shot because of his nerve, but I have seen him miss a whisky bottle two or three times at a distance of about ten paces. He could shoot to kill, however, as the following instance will show. He used to relate this to show the wonderful vitality and grit of the negro. Henry had put this man in jail for some offence, and the man had sworn revenge and promised to kill Henry on sight after he was let out. One day Henry was standing at the corner of the Court House, when he saw the man with a pistol in his hand crossing the street toward him. Henry pulled out his own gun and called to the man to halt. The man made no reply, and Henry fired and kept it up till his gun was empty, the man still advancing. When the man was within two or three paces of Henry he raised his pistol, pointed it at Henry, made two or three attempts to pull the trigger, and collapsed almost at Henry’s feet. When they picked him up he had five 41-calibre balls through his body, so Henry had only missed him once. With modern weapons, such as the Colt’s, Luger, or Mauser automatic pistols, shooting becomes much easier, but with the old-time Colt there were few men who could be sure of hitting their man at 25 or 30 yards. CHAPTER XVI A "Periodical"—Italian treachery—Bitumen extractors—The Mexican disregard for orders—In charge of the stills—A vote canvasser. Henry Burns had once to arrest a man who was a “periodical.” He would not touch a drink for weeks, even months, at a time, then he would go on an awful spree, paint the town red, and end by shooting up the saloon. After one of these strenuous sprees, Henry told him that he had reached the limit, and that he would be arrested the next time he caused any trouble. A month later the man went on another spree and started in to enliven the town. After a while he heard that Henry was after him, so he went over to his office in the Court House (he was county clerk) and locked himself in, sending word to Henry not to disturb him or he would shoot him. Henry picked up two or three deputies and went to make the arrest. When they reached the locked door Henry made his deputies stand on either side, while he broke it down. “Now,” he said, “boys, I will go in alone and try to arrest him quietly; but, if he shoots me, take no chances, but kill him.” As he broke in the door, the man, who sat behind his desk with a shot-gun resting on it and pointing at the door, called out, “Henry, I will have to kill you if you come in.” Henry did not even draw his pistol, but walked quietly up to the desk and took the gun away. The man’s nerve failed at the last minute, and, as Henry laid his hand on the gun, he turned and jumped out of the window, with Henry after him. The drop was slight, with grass below, and he was arrested and put in jail. A month or so later he was again arrested and locked up, got into a fight with another prisoner, and was killed by the latter.