OF A RANCHMAN 257 



within fifty yards. I clambered on to the 

 horse without looking at my companion, 

 but too conscious of his smothered dis- 

 favor; after riding a few hundred yards, 

 he said with forced politeness and a vague 

 desire to offer some cheap consolation, that 

 he supposed I had done my best; to \v 

 I responded with asperity that I'd be 

 damned if I had; and we finished our jour- 

 ney homeward in silence. A man is likely 

 to overshoot at any distance; but at from 

 twenty-five to seventy-five yards he is cer- 

 tain to do so if he is at all careless. 



Moreover, besides not missing, a man 

 must learn to hit his deer in the right place ; 

 the first two or three times he shoots he will 

 probably see the whole deer in the rifle 

 sights, instead of just the particular spot 

 ishcs to strike; that is, he will aim in 

 a general way at the deer's whole body 

 which will probably result in a wound not 

 disabling the animal in the least for the 

 time, although ensuring its finally dying a 

 lingering and painful death. The most in- 



