ous Indians
you may often see this on the left wrist, and will remember that it
was there as a protection from the blow of the bow cord. Some archers
can shoot with the wrist bent so as to need no guard. The three middle
fingers of the right hand also need protection. An old leather glove,
with thumb and little finger cut away, will do very well for this,
though the ready-made tips at the archery stores are more convenient.
Some archers who practise all their lives can shoot without protecting
the fingers.

The bow case and quiver are important. Any kind of a cover that will
keep them from the rain, and hang on your back, will do, but there are
many little things that help to make them handy. When the cover is off
the arrows should project three or four inches so that they may be
more easily drawn out. The Indians often carried very beautiful
quivers of buckskin ornamented with quills and beads.

One day out West I saw an Omaha brave with a bow case and quiver
covered with very odd material--a piece of common red and white cotton
print. When allowed to examine it, I felt some other material
underneath the print. After a little dickering he sold me bow, arrows,
quiver, and all for a couple of dollars. I then ripped open the print
and found my first suspicions confirmed; for, underneath, the quiver
was of buckskin, beautifully embroidered with red feathers and
porcupine {80} quills of deep red and turquoise blue. The Indian was as
much puzzled by my preference for the quill work as I was by his for
the cotton print.

The standard target for men is four feet across with a nine-inch
bull's-eye, and around that four rings, each four and three quarter
inches wide. The bull's-eye counts nine, the other rings seven, five,
three, one. The bought targets are made of straw, but a good target
may be made of a box filled with sods, or a bank covered with sacking
on which are painted the usual rings.

Now comes the most important point of all--how to shoot. There are
several ways of holding an arrow, but only one good one. Most boys
know the ordinary finger and thumb pinch, or grip. This is all very
well for a toy bow, but a hunter's bow cannot be drawn that way. No
one has strength enough in his fingers for it. The true archer's grip
of the arrow is shown in the cut. The thumb and little finger have
nothing to do with it.

[Illustration: The archer's grip.]

As in golf and all such things, there is a right "form." You at