SELF-RELIANCE 175 



until he meets a better shot than himself. I 

 never met a man with more than twenty- 

 seven notches on his gun-stock, but have 

 known plenty who took an honest pleasure in 

 blotting out unnecessary gun-fools. 



If a fellow takes to the range, who is not in 

 search of trouble, but merely intends to earn 

 an honest living and make a decent home, he is 

 better without a weapon. When I was a 

 younger fool than I am now, and took a delight 

 in revolvers, and bluffed with a gun, it nearly 

 always got me into trouble. I found that it was 

 a poor thing to shirk the first obligation of 

 manhood, which is self-reliance, and sink to 

 mere dependence on a weapon. 



Nobody who can possibly run away is fool 

 enough to encounter single-handed a homicidal 

 maniac on the war path, a gang of vigilantes or 

 desperadoes in a nasty temper, or a hostile 

 tribe of savages. Against such odds the use of 

 a weapon in the open is merely suicide. The 

 first thing needed is an inward prayer which 

 makes one's nerve quite steady. A serene 

 manner fills the enemy with misgivings that 

 one has unseen support. To throw one's 

 weapon to the enemy as a gift is to surprise him 

 into talking. Once he begins, the more 

 vociferous he is, the sooner he talks himself out. 



