"Gentlemen, you will oblige me by retiring at once. Go out, if you please, as you came in; and the first one who attempts to turn about or to draw a weapon will drop!" This unexpected greeting knocked the plans of the conspirators into a cocked hat. There was nothing to do but to obey, and so they backed out of the room, looking very much crestfallen. The next night Ben heard a loud knocking at the door, and as he went down to answer the summons, he heard low voices outside. "Who's to shoot first?" said one. "You kill him," said a second. This sort of conversation was not very cheerful to listen to, as the midnight visitors had evidently called with the intention of committing murder. Ben, however, quietly opened the door and discharged a couple of shots, which put the fellows to flight. These incidents are given to show that Hogan was constantly hounded by desperadoes while in Babylon. They will explain, in part, the circumstances which led up to a serious matter, in which Ben figured very conspicuously. I shall proceed to narrate the facts in the case precisely as they occurred. A gang of twenty-five men entered into a compact to kill Ben Hogan at all hazards. Under the direction of this gang, a man named Dwyer called at Ben's place at midnight and wanted to engage in a fight. Hogan told him that he did not want to fight, and tried to persuade him to leave the house. Suddenly Dwyer seized hold of a tumbler and struck Ben upon the head. In self-defense, Hogan then grappled with the man and threw him down. He did not want to hurt him, but simply to prevent him from doing any more injury. At this point, the crowd outside rushed in. One man was knocked down with a pitcher, and while a number of his assailants held Ben, Dwyer kicked him repeatedly. Frightened at the noise, French Kate rushed into the bar-room. She took in the situation at a glance. Ben, her lover, was being assaulted--one man against a score. Kate dashed into the crowd, and with the butt-end of a revolver, knocked two or three of the ruffians down. Meantime, Ben reached around and succeeded in drawing his own revolver, with which he began to shoot. He aimed wholly at random, having no other idea than that of preserving his own life. Who fell he did not know. The shots soon drove the crowd from the room. That same night, at a later hour, an attempt was made to set fire to the house; but a single shot was enough to end this game. A drunken officer was sent to arrest Ben on the charge of murder. One of the shots fired in the encounter had proved fatal. Hogan refused to surrender himself to this fellow, who stood outside the house threatening to shoot; but later, he gave himself up to other officers who came in search of him. The justice, after a hearing, was about to commit Ben for trial, but the prisoner declared that he would not be locked up.