illy I had to demonstrate my greenness; so in all good nature I
drew, and stood, and cocked, and aimed. The Colt's exploded with
prodigious blast and wrench--jerking, in fact, almost above head; and
where the bullet went I did not see, nor, I judged, did anybody else.

"He missed the 'arth!" they clamored.

"No; I reckon he hit Montany 'bout the middle. That's whar he scored
center!"

"Shoot! Shoot!" they begged. "Go ahead. Mebbe you'll kill an Injun
unbeknownst. They's a pack o' Sioux jest out o' sight behind them hills."

And I did shoot, vexed; and I struck the ground, this time, some fifty
yards beyond the can. Jenks stepped from amidst the riotous laughter.

"Hold down on it, hold down, lad," he urged. "To hit him in the heart aim
at his feet. Here! Like this----" and taking my revolver he threw it
forward, fired, the can plinked and somersaulted, lashed into action too
late.

"By Gawd," he proclaimed, "when I move like it had a gun in its fist I can
snap it. But when I think on it as a can I lack guts."

The remark was pat. I had seen several of the men snip the head from a
rattlesnake with a single offhand shot--yes, they all carried their
weapons easily and wontedly. But the target of an immobile can lacked in
stimulation to concord of nerve and eye.

Now I shot again, holding lower and more firmly, out of mere guesswork,
and landed appreciably closer although still within the zone of ridicule.
And somebody else shot, and somebody else, and another, until we all were
whooping and laughing and jesting, and the jets flew as if from the balls
of a mitrailleuse, and the can rocked and gyrated, spurring us to haste as
it constantly changed the range. Presently it was merely a twist of ragged
tin. Then in the little silence, as we paused, a voice spoke
irritatingly.

"I 'laow yu fellers ain't no great shucks at throwin' lead."

Daniel stood by, with arms akimbo, his booted legs braggartly straddled
and his freckled face primed with an intolerant grin at our recent
efforts. My Lady had come over with him. Raw-boned, angular, cloddish but
as strong as a mule, he towered over her in a maddening atmosphere of
proprietorship.

She smiled at me--at all of us: at me, swiftly; at them, frankly. And I
knew that she was still afraid.

"Reckon we don't ask no advice, friend," they answered. Again a constraint
enfolded, fastened upon us by an unbidden guest. "Like as not you can do
better."

Daniel laughed boister