e
depended upon at over two hundred yards, even by good shots," Roger
said. "Of course, the longer ranges are useful for firing at a body
of men. I should say that large tree would be about the extreme
range. If you will send two men down to it, I will see whether I
can shoot as far. We should not see the arrow from here. Will you
tell them to stand one on each side of the tree, but well away from
it? There is no saying where the arrow may go, at this distance."

When two of the attendants had taken their places, twenty or thirty
yards from the tree, Roger drew the bow to the fullest and, giving
to the arrow the elevation he had been taught, as most suitable for
an extreme range, unloosed the string. The arrow, which was of dark
wood, glanced through the air. The eye could follow it only a short
distance. No sound was heard this time, but in a few seconds the
Mexicans were seen running towards the tree.

"Do not touch the arrow," Cacama shouted; and then, followed by the
crowd, for the numbers had greatly increased, as the news of what
was going on had spread through the palace, he walked forward to
the tree.

The massive stem was more than four feet in diameter, and within a
few inches of the center, and at a height of three feet from the
ground, the arrow was sticking. The Mexicans were silent with
astonishment, mingled with a certain amount of awe, for shooting
like this seemed to them to be supernatural.

"And you said you were not a good shot!" the king said.

"It was a pure accident," Roger asserted. "I might shoot twenty
arrows, and not hit the tree again. I had not the least idea that I
should do so. I only wished to show you how far a well-made bow
would send an arrow, when drawn by an Englishman."

Cacama ordered the arrow to be left in the tree, and a large stone
to be placed at the spot from which Roger had fired.

"They shall remain," he said, "as a memento of this shot. I will
introduce, among my people, the custom which you say prevails in
your country; and every child shall be bound to practice, daily,
with bows and arrows. I do not think that any of our race will ever
come to use such a weapon as that, but they may at least learn to
bend bows greatly stronger than those we are accustomed to use."

"They will doubtless do so," Roger said. "It is a matter of
practice, and of strengthening certain muscles of the right arm;
for a man far stronger than I am would be unable to bend that bow,
had he