The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

94 LIFE IN THE WEST
ish hue of the body. The neck and throat were garnished with
a mane of long hair; the symmetry of the great horns set off
the fine, delicate lines of the noble head."
EASY TO SHOOT STRAIGHT IF YOU ARE CLOSE
Speaking of shooting tlangerous game, Mr. Roosevelt
believes that steadiness is more needed than good shooting;
that no game is dangerous unless a man is close up, and if a
man is close it is easy enough for him to shoot straight, if he
does not lose his head. In recounting several exciting epi-
sodes in connection with the hunting of grizzlies, he utters this
characteristic maxim: "A bear's brain is about the size of a
pint bottle, and any one can hit a pint bottle offhand at thirty
or forty feet. I have had two shots at bears at close quarters,
and each time I fired into the brain, the bullet going in
between the eye and ear. A novice at this kind of sport will
find it best and safest to keep in mind the old Norse viking's
advice in reference to a long sword: 'If you go in close enough
your sword will be long enough.' If a poor shot goes in close
enough you will find that he shoots straight enough." Once
he came into contact v/ith far more dangerous game than grizzlies—
Indians—and it was his steadiness that brought him out
of the encounter unscathed—but we will let him tell the story
himself.
"One morning I had been traveling along the edge of the
prairie, and about noon I rode Manitou up a slight rise and
came out on a plateau that was perhaps half a mile broad.
When near the middle, four or five Indians suddenly came up
over the edge, directly in front of me.
AN INDIAN CHARGE
"The second they saw me they whipped their guns out of
their slings, started their horses into a run, and came on at full