Johnny Greenleaf Mistakes Scouts for Kid.
As illustrating the trying experiences that one might be subject to during these troublous times when the fear of the Kid was in the very air, I may relate one of a friend of mine, Johnny Greenleaf. Johnny was sinking a well on his ranch, some distance from the house, and had just ridden to where his two men were at work, one in the well and the other on top. Suddenly a number of Indians came in sight, approaching the well. Recognizing them as Apaches, he naturally assumed them to be the Kid and some of his followers, and obeying the instinct of human nature, that of self-preservation, cried out, “Here comes the Kid!” quickly mounted his horse and started to escape. He had gone but a short distance, however, till that chivalrous spirit which makes one sacrifice his own life rather than cowardly desert his comrade, asserted itself, and he immediately turned and rode back to his men, both of whom were now on top, realizing at the same time that there was absolutely nothing that he could do, neither he nor his men having a shooting-iron of any kind, all of their weapons having been left at the house. The Indians now approaching the well, Johnny asked them in English what they were hunting and where they were going. One of them, speaking English very poorly, in trying to make himself understood mentioned the Kid in such a way that Johnny understood him to say that he was the Apache Kid. This simply confirmed what Johnny had thought, but it so startled him that for a while he could barely speak; for if this were the Kid, there was little chance for the lives of either Johnny or his men. Finally, recovering his nerve and asking something else, the Indian succeeded in making it understood that they were scouts from San Carlos and were seeking the Kid. You can well imagine the relief of the three men when they realized that they were in no danger.