Some years back when I was a oil lease pumper, I got a call about 2 am from the answering service telling me I had some engines down on a location between Andrews and Odessa. I loaded up grabbing my Smith 357 on the way out the door. Very cold February morning. When I got to the location, I determined the magneto had failed so started changing using the headlights for light. As I was timing the magneto, I started getting the Heebee Geebees. I eased back to the truck and got my pistol and stuck it in my waist band under my coat, and went back to work. When the cab light came on, I turned around to find a wetback getting in on the passenger side and two more hiding behind the tailgate. I showed them my pistol and they didn't offer any arguement. They had no coats and were very cold. I walked them over to my heated office/storage building, turned the heat on for them. I then radioed the answering service and had them send some deputies. The deputies showed up in less than 10 minutes, cause they were in the area hunting these guys. The wets had been in a knife fight and stole a car in Odessa. They had wrecked the car not far from my location. Orginally there had been four of them, but one was injured in the wreck and died of exposure before they found him.
I've often wondered what would have happened if I hadn't grabbed my pistol that night in violation of company policy.
