a shot?" asked Lawrence; "they will be
gone before you can get across the ravine, and there is little or no
cover."

"You shall see," said Pedro, cocking his rifle.

"But--but no weapon short of a cannon will carry so far--at least with
accuracy," exclaimed Lawrence in surprise, for at the time of which we
write breech-loaders and the long-range weapons of precision had not
been introduced in those regions. Indeed, the armies of South America,
and of Europe also, still slew each other with the familiar Brown Bess
and the clumsy flint-lock at that time.

Pedro paid no attention to the remark, but, dismounting, slowly raised
the rifle to his shoulder. The guide was one of those men who seem to
live in advance of their age. He had thought out, and carried out in a
rough-and-ready manner, ideas which have since been scientifically
reduced to practice. Being well aware that any projectile is drawn
downward in its flight by the law of gravitation, and that if you want
to hit a distant point you must aim considerably above it, he had, by
careful experiment, found out how high above an object at a given
distance one must aim in order to hit, and, by constant practice in
judging distance, as well as in taking aim above his mark, he had
attained to such skill as a long-range marksman that his friends almost
believed it impossible for game to get beyond the range of his deadly
weapon, and foes never felt easy till they were entirely out of his
sight. The comparative slowness, too, of the flint-lock in discharging
a rifle, had necessitated in him a degree of steadiness, not only while
taking aim, but even after pulling the trigger, which rendered him what
we might term statuesque in his action as he levelled his piece.

For a few seconds the rock beside him was not more steady. Then the
cliffs burst into a fusillade of echoes, and the guanacos leaped wildly
up the mountain-side, leaving one of their number on the rocks behind
them.

It was some time before the young Englishman could get over his
astonishment at this feat, for Pedro had pointed his weapon so high that
he did not appear to be aiming at the animal at all, and he maintained
an animated discussion with the mountaineer until they reached a part of
the pass which proved to be somewhat dangerous.

And here they met with a party of muleteers crossing the mountains in
the opposite direction. They were still far above them when first
observed descending the sam