THE RIFLE ON MOVING GAME. 283 



able to hit even so large an object as a deer or ante- 

 lope when running; and all who talked of shooting 

 on the wing with the rifle being classed as braggarts 

 who knew nothing at all of shooting. 



The world turned out to be wrong in its opinion of 

 what could not be done with the shot-gun. Is it 

 wrong in the opinion it has so long held about the 

 capabilities of the rifle? Some advanced people think 

 that it is. 



In the winter of 1877-78 there appeared a gentle- 

 man whose sudden bound from obscurity to world- 

 wide fame, from comparative poverty to comparative 

 wealth, merits attention. Probably no man ever be- 

 fore won such applause, such notoriety, and so much 

 money in so short a time from any exhibition of skill. 

 It is safe to say that with either rifle or shot-gun no 

 man ever again will do it. 



This gentleman sprang upon the stage with a chal- 

 lenge that was at first received with a universal laugh 

 of sneering contempt. Those who knew him knew, 

 however, what he could do, and he lacked no backers 

 in San Francisco. He at once began giving exhibitions 

 in California, and demolished glass balls and even ten- 

 cent pieces and bits of lead-pencil tossed in the air, and 

 did it with an approach to certainty that silenced the 

 laugher and turned the scoffer into an admirer. 



He made his way East and from thence to England, 

 France, and Germany, amid a storm of applause and 

 " gate-money," winning the hearts even of princes and 

 dignified old emperors by the rapidity and accuracy 

 of his shooting. 



It is not impossible that his success was partly due 

 to the romantic story of his life as an Indian captive 

 from childhood. This there seems no reason to doubt; 



