Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/84

 MARK TWAIN

The color of the paint is not stated an impor tant omission, but Cooper deals freely in impor tant omissions. No, after all, it was not an important omission ; for this nail-head is a hundred yards from the marksmen, and could not be seen by them at that distance, no matter what its color might be. How far can the best eyes see a common house-fly? A hundred yards? It is quite impossible. Very well ; eyes that cannot see a house-fly that is a hun dred yards away cannot see an ordinary nail-head at that distance, for the size of the two objects is the same. It takes a keen eye to see a fly or a nail- head at fifty yards one hundred and fifty feet. Can the reader do it?

The nail was lightly driven, its head painted, and game called. Then the Cooper miracles began. The bullet of the first marksman chipped an edge of the nail-head; the next man s bullet drove the nail a little way into the target and removed all the paint. Haven t the miracles gone far enough now? Not to suit Cooper; for the purpose of this whole scheme is to show off his prodigy, Deerslayer- Hawkeye - Long - Rifle - Leatherstocking - Pathfmder- Bumppo before the ladies.

&quot;Be all ready to clench it, boys!&quot; cried out Pathfinder, step ping into his friend s tracks the instant they were vacant. &quot; Never mind a new nail; I can see that, though the paint is gone, and what I can see I can hit at a hundred yards, though it were only a mosquito s eye. Be ready to clench!&quot;

The rifle cracked, the bullet sped its way, and the head of the nail was buried in the wood, covered by the piece of flattened lead.

There, you see, is a man who could hunt flies

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