Page:Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains.djvu/428

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DRILLING THE SCOUTS.

All cried out: "Use your left hand!" I said: All right, I will shoot across my bridle reins." I had one of the

I put two bullets through the board while passing.

boys get on his horse and whip mine down to a dead run, and with my pistol in my left hand I put two bullet holes through the board while passing it.

This was a surprise to all of them as they had never seen shooting done that way before, but they were all eager to learn.

After practicing this feat awhile I started in to teach them to mount quick. This was the hardest thing for them to learn, and all of their horses were trained to stand perfectly still until they straightened up in the saddle.

And here I will say that in scouting it is very essential to have a horse that is quick to start.