His ardour, however, soon turned into vituperations of the stupid
sport. How could mortal man endure it? If it had been pistol or
rifle-shooting now, it would have been tolerable, and he should have
been sure to excel; but a great long, senseless, useless thing like
an arrow was only fit for women or black fellows; the string hurt
one's fingers too--always slipping off the tabs.
"No wonder, as you hold it," said Harold, who had just turned aside
to watch on his way down to the potteries, and came in time to see an
arrow fly into the bank a yard from the target. "Don't you see how
Lucy takes it?"
I had already tried to show him, but he had pronounced mine to be the
ladies' way, and preferred to act by the light of nature. Harry
looked, asked a question or two, took the bow in his own hands, and
with "This way, Eustace; don't you see?" had an arrow in the outer
white.
"Yes," said Eustace, "of course, stupid thing, anybody can do it
without any trouble."
"It is pretty work," said Harry, taking up the third arrow, and
sending it into the inner white.
"Much too easy for men," was Eustace's opinion, and he continued to
despise it until, being capable of perseverance of a certain kind,
and being tutored by Harold, he began to succeed in occasionally
piercing the target, upon which his mind changed, and he was
continually singing the praises of archery in the tone (whispered
Viola) of the sparrow who killed Cock Robin with his bow and arrow!
We used to practise for an hour every afternoon, and the fascination
of the sport gained upon Harold so much that he sent for a bow and
arrows, and shot with us whenever he was not too busy, as, between
the agency and the potteries, he often was.
Pages:
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235