658 ftfngs of tbe 1Rot>, IRifle, ant> (Bun 



with excitement. At last he fired ; there was a moment 

 of breathless suspense ; then a bull's-eye was signalled, 

 and " Old Stonewall " had won the match for the 

 Stars and Stripes by a single point. 



A not less remarkable instance of nerve was that 

 which I witnessed in the match between the Volunteers 

 and the Regulars at Wimbledon in 1875. The Volunteers 

 had wound up with an aggregate of 927. Eleven out of 

 the twelve Regulars had finished shooting. Lieutenant 

 Godsal, of the 52nd Regiment, had yet to complete his 

 shoot He had fired one shot at 600 yards, and scored 

 a bull's-eye, bringing the total of the Regulars up to 

 903, when the striker of his rifle broke, and he had to 

 borrow another weapon of which he could not possibly 

 know the sighting. The situation was enough to try 

 the strongest nerves. The hopes of his comrades rested 

 solely on him. He must make 25 points in six shots 

 with a rifle he had never fired in his life in order to 

 win. Yet he seemed quite unconcerned. Coolly and 

 steadily he set about his task. His first three shots 

 were centres, then came a bull, then another centre. 

 He had one more shot to fire, and it must be a centre to 

 win. The excitement was intense every man held his 

 breath. The coolest man there was Godsal, who aimed 

 as methodically as ever, fired, and made the necessary 

 centre which gave victory to the Regulars. It was as 

 grand a display of nerve and self-possession as I ever 

 witnessed. 



Against this let me set a very different picture. It 

 was in the last stage of the contest for the Queen's 

 Prize in 1873. The issue lay between three men; 



