Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morni...

As legend has it, Billy the Kid was a cold-blooded outlaw and cattle rustler who lived hard and died young.

Less legendary, it turns out, is the fact that the kid — a.k.a. William Bonney — was a player of the popular 19th century British pastime known as croquet.

That’s according to only the second photo ever to be confirmed of the infamous outlaw, whose short life and mysterious death continue to fascinate historians and bewitch investigators.

The photo, discovered by a collector inside a Fresno, Calif., junk shop in 2010, was purchased for $2 at the time. Since it was recently authenticated byKagin’s — a San Francisco-based company specializing in Western Americana and Rare Coins — the image’s value has skyrocketed.

“It has been independently appraised at $5 million and it wouldn’t surprise me if we have an offer in that neighborhood in the next couple of days,” David McCarthy, a senior numismatist at Kagin’s, told The Washington Post.