Tilghman went back to the park, sat down and began thinking. He had left
a shotgun at his hotel and his first thought was to get the gun, hide
behind a tree and get his man as he came down the steps. But he wanted
to take him alive. Then he devised what he thought was a better plan. He
went to a nearby carpenter shop and ordered a box made long enough to
hold his shotgun. It was to be hinged and easy to open. With this
contraption he could sit in the park without attracting attention and
get Doolin as he approached. The carpenter promised to have the box
ready by late evening. He would polish it and make it look like a
musical instrument case. That would mean another day in Eureka Springs.
He would lay for Doolin early in the morning as he came from his hotel.
Tilghman ate lunch at a cafe and then having time to kill, decided to
take one of the famous Eureka Springs baths. He noticed the Basin Spring
Bath House across the bridge from the Basin Circle. He walked into the
hallway and opened a door at the left to enter the lobby. His eye took
in everything in the room at a glance. There was a desk in the corner
with a man sitting behind it. Several men were in the room, playing
checkers or reading. One of them sat behind a pot-bellied stove at the
east end of the lobby, his face behind a newspaper.
When Bill entered the room this man lowered his paper for an instant.
The marshal saw that it was Doolin.
“I want a bath,” said Tilghman and stepped quickly into the hall,
walking in the direction of the room marked “Baths.” Half way down the
hall he stopped in front of a door that opened directly into the east
end of the lobby; Doolin was sitting within a few feet of that door.
What if he had recognized him and was awaiting his entrance? He must
take a chance. He pulled his .45 from its holster and opened the door.
There sat Doolin still reading.
“Put up your hands, I’ve got you covered,” said the marshal as he
stepped around the stove.
The outlaw’s eyes opened wide in surprise as he recognized Tilghman. He
reached for his gun but Tilghman grabbed for his wrist, missed and
caught his coat sleeve. The sleeve ripped, but he held on.
“Doolin, I don’t want to kill you, but I will if you don’t get your
hands up.”
Doolin saw that he was trapped and obeyed. Tilghman asked the clerk to
get the outlaw’s gun, but the man was so nervous that he made several
attempts before he succeeded in getting it out of the holster. The other
men in the lobby had run like quail when the trouble started.
Tilghman put handcuffs on Doolin and took him to his hotel to get his
belongings. Among the items on the dresser was a silver cup the outlaw
had bought for his baby boy. Tilghman put it in the suitcase along with
other things and they were on their way to the depot to catch the 4
o’clock train. A boy was sent to the carpenter to tell him the box would
not be needed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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