muzzle is in range. Some men in the moment of
danger go about with the pistol on cock. This is
madness. At the critical instant you find yourself
fumbling and feeling for the hammer which is already
raised; besides, you are about as liable to shoot
yourself as your enemy. There is still a worse
practice than this, and that is in carrying the pistol
in the belt on half-cock, where it is neither one thing
nor the other. On half-cock, however, is the correct
way to carry a little Derringer loose in your pocket,
but never a Colt s.
Hirst raised his pistol, flourished it, let fall and fired, blowing Berry s hat to atoms, filling his face and eyes with powder, and carrying away a part of his scalp.
But he was too late. Berry cocked his revolver as he drew it, and fired the instant he got the muzzle in range.
Hirst was reaching across his breast with his left hand for his bowie knife, which hung at his right side, as Berry fired. The ball tore through the bones of the wrist that reached across his breast and entered the body squarely just below the breast bone.
Both men fell, but Berry was soon able to stand on his feet.
u Ah, boys, this is the last of old Hirst," the wounded man said, as they bore him to the surgeon s close at hand. He sent for his wife, gently and kindly bade his friends good-bye, and became
