322 I!M. <..\MK (»!•■ .Xol.'lll AMi;i;i(A. 



coiii'citi, ;iii(l I l)elieve tlial AiiM'iicMiis sliould ])a1i()iiiz<' 

 Aiiifiiciin inaiiiifacHirers. And, to cap the climax, iln- 

 Wiiiclx'sici' is al)()iit the onh' sportiiiu-iill*' that has come 

 up to 111"' li\ pcrciiiical and fastidious sciiitiuy of the P^ng- 

 lish si)')rtsiii('ii. iliaii whom none are lit-tti-r jiiilii--. <i\\ing 

 to their early education and vast experience. These men 

 shoot wild and dangerous game all over the globe, and 

 know a good ritie when they see it. Moreover, as none but 

 the Avealthy among them can indulge in such spoil, the 

 price paid for their weapons is a matter of no concei u w hat- 

 ever, its absolute reliability and accuracy being ihe .sine 

 qua non of the arm. When, therefore, the \)\^m but thor- 

 oughly sound and serviceable AVinchester, costing say £4, 

 sux)plants the elaborate double rifle of twenty times its 

 value, something inherent to the Yankee rifle must be there 

 to back it ujd. 



Aside from all this, memory carries me back to many a 

 cabin, dotting a boundless plain, where upright in the 

 corner stands the king of all rifles — ever-ready death-dealer 

 — the Winchester ; or, perhaps, carelessly swung to the 

 antlers of some monarch of the forest, or resting on those of 

 the now extinct Bison, together with the buckskin belt 

 studded with cartridges, in which also hangs the best, hand- 

 somest, most accurate revolver the world has ever seen — ■ 

 the Smith & Wesson. These are quasi the whole, or, at 

 any rate, the most valuable furniture that adorns the 

 cheerless cabin; but, of their kind, they stand to-day para- 

 mount. On their merits the hermit occupant has been 

 wont, mayhap, to trust his life against savage and beast — 

 not a life the loss of which, x)erhaps, would be much 

 mourned, or over whose grave eloquent orators, wee^^ing 

 women, or frantic j^arents might, with untold grief, lov- 

 ingly and fondly linger, but his life, his all. His scalp, his 

 herd, and, if more fortunate than the great majority of these 

 dauntless pioneers, his wife, his little ones, his dogs — all 

 liave been taught, hj oft-repeated lessons and never-failing 

 deeds, that his selection of weai)ons has been wise, for they 

 never have failed him at the critical moment. AYith these 



