Two other men now came rushing from an adjoining room, and Bill, seeing that the odds were three to one against him, jumped into a corner, and then firing, he killed another of the villains.

Before he could shoot again the remaining two men closed in upon him, one of whom had drawn a large bowie knife.

Bill wrenched the knife from his grasp and drove it through the heart of the outlaw.
[Illustration: WILD BILL AND THE OUTLAWS.] The fifth and last man now grabbed Bill by the throat, and held him at arm's length, but it was only for a moment, as Bill raised his own powerful right arm and struck his antagonist's left arm such a terrible blow that he broke it.

The disabled desperado, seeing that he was no longer a match for Bill, jumped through the door, and mounting a horse he succeeded in making his escape--being the sole survivor of the Jake McCandless gang.
Wild Bill remained at the station with the terrified woman until the stage came along, and he then consigned her to the care of the driver.
Mounting his horse he at once galloped off, and soon disappeared in the distance, making up for lost time.
This was the exploit that was on everybody's tongue and in every newspaper.

It was one of the most remarkable and desperate hand to hand encounters that has ever taken place on the border.
I happened to meet Wild Bill at Leavenworth as he was about to depart for Rolla; he wished me to take charge of the government trains as a sort of assistant under him, and I gladly accepted the offer.