wled behind the gun. The
permission to shoot from the rest was a concession to poorer
marksmanship. Shooting offhand required nerve, and steadiness of nerve,
to "put it there, and hold it."

The science of marksmanship they learned through experience. The
rifle-ball, forced down through the muzzle, was firmly packed and the
cap carefully primed to prevent a "long fire." In taking aim in the
offhand shots the gun's barrel was brought upward so the target was
always in full view, and as the bead was drawn the body was tilted
backward until an easy balance for the long barrel was found. The elbow
of the arm against which the butt of the rifle rested was lifted high,
awkwardly high, but this position prevented any nervous backward jerk or
muscular movement of the arm that might sway the barrel. Only the weight
of the forefinger was needed to spring the hair-trigger. When the
gun-sights were nearing the tip of the black triangle, the marksman
ceased breathing until the shot was fired.

So accurate were they, that when the bullet tore out the point where the
two knife-blade marks crossed, it was simply considered a good shot. It
was called "cutting center." But to decide the winning shot from among
those who cut center it was necessary to ascertain how much of the ball
lay across center.

Each contestant who claimed a chance to win brought his board to the
judges for award. For each one of them a bullet was cut in half, and the
half, with the flat side up, was forced into the bullet hole in the
target until level with the board's surface. With a compass the exact
center of the face of the half bullet was marked--a dent, as if made by
a pin-point. Then across the surface of the bright, newly-cut lead, the
knife-blade marks of the original bull's-eye, partly torn away by the
shot, were retraced. The distance between the pin-dent center and the
point where the knife-marks crossed could then be exactly measured.

When the cross passed directly over the dented center, the shot was
perfect and the mountaineers called it "laying the seam of the ball on
center."

In the beef-shoots it was a dollar a shot. Each man could purchase any
number of shots. When the pot contained the number of dollars asked for
the beef the contest began. The prize was divided into five parts. The
two best shots got, each, a hindquarter of the beef. The third and
fourth, the forequarters; the fifth of the winners, the hide and tallow.
The beef was slai