THE PISTOL FROM A WESTERN STANDPOINT. 351 



Do not carry it on the safety notch. Put 

 the hammer between the cartridges or else 

 on an empty chamber.. 



Do not let your pistol go 24 hours with- 

 out cleaning, after using. 



Do not practice the motions with it 

 loaded. 



Do not use factory ammunition. Buy 

 the best shells and powder you can and 

 load them yourself, starting with a 5-grain 

 powder charge. The Ideal tools are satis- 

 factory. 



Do not shoot at a fixed target. Get 

 something moving. A tin can supported 

 by a string is good; or shoot at something 

 from a buggy or horseback and mark in 

 your mind's eye where the ball strikes. 



Do not be discouraged. Keep prac- 

 tising. 



Do not get a pistol that carries a bottle- 

 neck shell. They are not good to reload 

 with small charges. 



Do not buy a gun with a longer barrel 

 than $ l / 2 inches. They can not be quickly 

 drawn. 



Do not buy a cheap weapon ; get the best 

 money can buy. Any is an expensive lux- 

 ury. 



Do not get a nickel plated abomination. 



Do not drink intoxicants and pack a 

 gun. They make a bad combination. 



THE HUNTER'S REGRET. 



KENSETT ROSSITER. 



The woods were drear, 'twas a dismal day 

 'Neath a lowering sky of leaden gray. 

 Like the sea's wild sound, the pine trees' 



moan 

 Filled my ears, as I trod the woods alone. 



I had traced their tracks with eager stride 

 O'er bog and mead and mountain side, 

 Till at last, outlined 'gainst the virgin 



snow, 

 On the streamlet's brink stood the buck 



and doe. 



I aimed, I fired, and the buck lay dead, 

 Pierced deep by the hunter's cruel lead ! 

 The doe fled off in the woods alone, 

 To bleat all night 'mid the pine trees' moan. 



Yes, I had won; I had won the chase; 

 Yet I turned aside with a saddened face. 

 When I saw the look in those mild, brown 



eyes, 

 My heart grew dull as the lurid skies. 



I trod along down the old tote-road, 

 On my way to camp, with my heavy load ; 

 But the load on my heart will longer live; 

 I had quenched the life I could never give. 



