While a prisoner Holcomb swore vengeance against myself and Prosecutor Neal. Mr. Neal heard of this threat, met Holcomb on the streets of El Paso afterward and, jerking a small Derringer pistol from his pocket, shot Holcomb in the belly. Holcomb fell and begged for his life. He was not badly hurt, and as soon as he was well he quit El Paso, went to Deming, New Mexico, where he stole a bunch of cattle. He drove the stolen herd to the mining camp of Lake Valley and there sold them. While he was in a saloon drinking and playing his fiddle the owner of the cattle appeared with a shotgun and filled the thief full of buckshot. As he fell Holcomb was heard to exclaim, "Oh, boys, they have got me at last." Jim Stallings was sent to Fort Davis and placed in the jail there, from which he and half a dozen other criminals made their escape. A man named John Scott came to Captain Baylor, told a hard luck story, and asked to be taken into the service. Captain Baylor enlisted the applicant and fitted him out with horse, saddle, bridle and armed him with gun and pistol, himself standing good for the entire equipment. Scott had not been in the service two months before he deserted. I was ordered to take two men, follow him and bring him back. I overtook Scott up in the Canutillo, near the line of New Mexico, and before I even ordered him to halt, he jumped down, sought refuge behind his horse and opened fire on us with his Winchester. We returned the fire and killed his horse. He then threw down his gun and surrendered. We found the deserter had stopped in El Paso and gotten a bottle of whisky. He was rather drunk when overtaken, otherwise he probably would not have made fight against three rangers. Captain Baylor took Scott's saddle, gun and six-shooter away from him and kicked him out of camp, but was compelled to pay $75 for the horse that was killed. Another man, Chipman, deserted our company and stole a bunch of horses from some Mexicans down at Socorro. The Mexicans followed the trail out in the direction of Hueco Tanks, where it turned west and crossed the high range of mountains west of El Paso. The pursuers overtook Chipman with the stolen horses just on the line of New Mexico. The thief put up a fierce fight and killed two Mexicans, but was himself killed. Captain Baylor had a scout following the deserter but the Mexicans got to him first and had the fight before our men arrived. However, the ranger boys buried the body of Chipman where it fell. This chap had made a very good ranger and we all felt shocked when we learned he had stolen seven ponies and tried to get away with them single-handed.