hes, their muzzles levelled
at so many targets. Beside each rifle stand two men, one to sight and
correct, and one to fire and watch the effect of the shot by means of
a telescope fixed to hand.

With the nearest of these men I incontinent fell into talk--a chatty
fellow this, who, busied with pliers adjusting the back-sight of a
rifle, talked to me of lines of sight and angles of deflection, his
remarks sharply punctuated by rifle-shots, that came now slowly, now
in twos and threes and now in rapid volleys.

"Yes, sir," said he, busy pliers never still, "guns and rifles is
very like us--you and me, say. Some is just naturally good and some
is worse than bad--load up, George! A new rifle's like a kid--pretty
sure to fire a bit wide at first--not being used to it--we was all
kids once, sir, remember! But a bit of correction here an' there'll
put that right as a rule. On the other hand there's rifles as Old
Nick himself nor nobody else could make shoot straight--ready,
George? And it's just the same with kids! Now, if you'll stick your
eyes to that glass, and watch the target, you'll see how near she'll
come this time--all right, George!" As he speaks the rifle speaks
also, and observing the hit on the target, I sing out:

"Three o'clock!"

Ensues more work with the pliers; George loads and fires and with one
eye still at the telescope I give him:

"Five o'clock!"

Another moment of adjusting, again the rifle cracks and this time I
announce:

"A bull!"

Hereupon my companion squints through the glass and nods: "Right-oh,
George!" says he, then, while George the silent stacks the tested
rifle with many others, he turns to me and nods, "Got 'im that time,
sir--pity it weren't a bloomin' Hun!"

Here the patient Captain suggests we had better go, and unwillingly
I follow him out into the open and the sounds of battle die away
behind us.

And now, as we walked, I learned some particulars of that terrible
device the Lewis gun; how that it could spout bullets at the rate of
six hundred per minute; how, by varying pressures of the trigger, it
could be fired by single rounds or pour forth its entire magazine in
a continuous, shattering volley and how it weighed no more than
twenty-six pounds.

"And here," said the Captain, opening a door and speaking in his
pleasant voice, much as though he were showing me some rare flowers,
"here is where they grow by the hundred, every week."

And truly in hundreds they were, l