A REMINISCENCE OF THE ROCKIES 



ished, the buck, or myself, I could not say. 

 He stood perfectly motionless, like an image 

 in bronze. I had evidently missed him. A 

 second shot fared the same; then the whole 

 bunch of deer began to scamper off unharmed 

 by any of the shots I had fired at the buck. 

 I could not account for the bad marksman- 

 ship, for I knew that I did not have the buck 

 fever. The guide said that I had killed one 

 of the deer, which I disputed, until he pointed 

 to a dying animal lying in a dense thicket just 

 to the rear of the deer that had served as my 

 target. I had not even seen it, until it was 

 pointed out to me after I had shot it. After 

 making several experiments with the rifle with- 

 out satisfactory results, I found that the sight 

 had been knocked out of place. I then handed 

 the rifle over to the guide without correcting 

 the error and requested him to let me see how 

 a cowboy could shoot. With evident pride 

 in his skill he brought the gun to his shoulder, 

 but he shot as badly as any tenderfoot. 

 9 



