Chapter 2

Auburn, Alabama, May, 1892

Chad Bennett was having a wonderful time. So far, he was on a great winning streak. He was holding a full-house and knew that he could not be beaten—he just had that feeling. He raised the pot by $2, and stared at his fellow players. The next two folded and just looked glum, but Jason Tolliferro had a gleeful look. Jason saw the $2 and raised $10. Chad was taken aback by this foolishness, but called after the remaining player folded. There was nearly $100 in the pot, now, way too much for a bunch of college kids, even if they were all seniors. Jasen lay down his three kings with a sneer of triumph and reached for the pot. Chad stopped him and dropped his jacks over sevens full-house.

Jason jerked upright and shouted, "You damned cheat! You can't have come by those cards honestly! Nobody cheats a Tolliferro!" Much to everyone's surprise, he jerked out a Derringer and pointed it at Chad. Jason's face turned white and then red and his finger started to tighten on the trigger.

Chad did not wait any longer; he grasped the edge of the poker table and threw it up toward Jason's face. Chad was the strongest one in his fraternity, possibly the strongest on the campus, and The Alabama Polytechnic Institute had a reputation of prowess in sports. The table came flying up and the edge caught Jason in the throat just under the chin. Jason went flying back to the wall and struck his head with a resounding crack.

The other poker players, including Chad, rushed over to check on Jason. From the very awkward twist in his neck, it was obvious that he was dead! Nothing for it now but to contact the police.

It was half an hour before any authorities arrived. The Chief of Police led the contingent. He walked in with a very belligerent attitude and barked, "Whats this I hear about Jason Tolliferro being murdered?"

A chorus of shouts from around the room rang out: "It was an accident!" "It was self defense!" "Jason pulled a gun!" "He wasn't murdered!"

The chief quieted the uproar and announced, "The Tolliferros are a prominent family in Auburn. It looks like murder to me. I'm arresting you, Chad Bennett, for the murder of Jason Tolliferro. Somebody cuff him and take him down to the station to be locked up."

More chaos! It was obvious to Chad and his friends that he had no chance with the local authorities. Chad pushed the chief into one of the other policemen, grabbed up the loose money on the floor, and ran out the door. Surprise was so complete that the other policemen had no time to react.

Chad moved from one hiding pace to another, mostly the crawl-space under houses, for two days. He was able to sneak enough food from various smokehouses, etc. that he was able to survive. The hue-and-cry never died down, but the search did get sloppy enough that Chad was able to slip into his own fraternity room and recover some of his clothes and money. He also took his razor and the small .32 he kept there.

Chad easily escaped into the woods surrounding Auburn and set up light camping while he decided what to do. He quickly realized that he needed to get home to Clio as soon as possible, but that was nearly 100 miles away. He figured that he needed to jump freight trains to get home, since there was no way he could get away with buying a ticket. He had about $400 and his .32, so he figured to be safe enough if he just stayed away from cops. On second thought, if he could get to Phenix City, he could buy a ticket to Dothan. From there he could buy another ticked to Clio. It was a long way around, but safer if he started right now.

He was able to hop an eastbound freight train from Auburn with no trouble at all. He jumped off at the Phenix City station and slunk into the men's room of the station where he washed up a bit, shaved, and changed into clean clothes. He then brazenly strolled up to the ticket window and bought a coach ticked to Dothan. When the proper train arrived, he got aboard, found a seat, stuck his ticket in his hat brim where the conductor could find it easily, and promptly went to sleep.

He was undisturbed all night, and the conductor woke him the next morning when they got to Dothan. Chad went into the restaurant for breakfast. He ate slowly while he checked around to see if there was any interest in him. Since there wasn't, he leisurely paid his bill and went to buy his ticket for Clio. There was only one train a day to Clio, so he had to hurry. Again, he relaxed on the train and reached Clio with no problem. Upon exiting the train, he hired a cab and was taken to his home.

His father had died of the flu about a year before, so his mother was the only relative to greet him when he arrived. Other than a few servants, there was no one else in the house. Chad explained what had happened to send him home so unexpectedly. They discussed his options and were sure that he could not return to his previous life.

The Tolliferros were mean and vindictive, so Chad could expect trouble from them. They were also powerful enough in Alabama politics that Chad was very unlikely to get any sympathy in the court system (all judges were elected and reelected to the bench). It looked like Chad's best hope was to change his name and head West. At first, his mother had a hard time with this, but she finally agreed that this was his best choice. She was independently wealthy, but Chad would have to earn his way. She could give him about $2500, which would comfortably cover his needs for a couple of years; hopefully he could find a means of support within that time. He was a trained engineer; all he lacked was the formal degree which he would now never receive.

Chad had always been a "gun-nut." His parents were both wealthy enough that he could indulge his passion without strain. He had always been partial to the .44-40 caliber bullet; probably because, at an early age, he had loved the extra loud noise and cloud of smoke it made. He had both a rifle and a saddle-carbine (a rifle with a shorter barrel) in this caliber. He had indulged himself with a pair of Smith and Wesson break-action six-shooters rechambered for the .44-40, so that he would only have to supply himself with one kind of ammunition. He liked the Smith and Wesson break-action because it was so much faster to reload than the Colt. He kept his Smith and Wesson break-action .32 as his "hide-out" gun. When in his teens, he had practiced with these weapons to the point that he was a crack shot with all five, and he could draw and fire the pistols with either hand faster than most people could believe, though he preferred to use his right hand.

He did not have a new name picked out, yet. In any case, he did not want his mother to know it, as she might let it slip. He did promise to contact her when it was safe, and she had to be satisfied with that.

The next morning, he packed his few clothes and his weapons on a horse, put his money in a money belt, and took his leave. He planned to take a few days to ride to Mobile where he would sell the horse and take the train to somewhere in Texas. After that, he would make more plans.

He was hardly on the road before he realized that he had committed a serious blunder! He was carrying too much money to be less than obviously armed. At the next town, he purchased a right-hand holster he could wear hanging from his belt and tied to his right thigh. He also bought a cross-draw holster to be worn on his belly where it would also be convenient for a right hand draw. He moved his hide-out gun to his left boot top. He guessed that this obvious attention to his right hand would lull an opponent into forgetting about his left hand.

It was well that he took this precaution. The next day he was riding through a dense copse when he was approached by two men who looked sinister enough to intimidate almost anybody. Chad moved off to the side of the road to allow them to pass. When they drew close enough they spied his two pistols and the two rifles; they rode on by with a tip of the hat and a cheery good day. Chad hurried to clear the trees and never saw those two again.