Cousins Story 9

Rudy was interested in guns and hunting from an early age.  He had BB guns, a CO2 pistol and other types of munitions at quite an early age.  One time when we were visiting he offered to teach us how to shoot.  He tacked some quarters to the side of a granary and told us we could have them if we could hit them.  He paced off a number of steps from the granary and drew a line in the dirt.  We had to stand behind the line.  Then he showed us how to load the CO2 pistol with darts, aim it and shoot.  Each of us, in turn, got a chance to shoot, but not one of us could hit anything.  Then Rudy took the pistol, loaded it, stepped forward and fired.  He hit a quarter, dead on!  "See?" he said, "It's easy!"  Then he stepped back and let each of us try again and again but we did no better than before.  None of us came away with a quarter.  It wasn't until I was an adult that I finally figured it out!  Rudy had been practising.  He know exactly how far his pistol would shoot accurately and he had drawn the line well beyond that distance.  When he showed us how easy it was, he always stepped well ahead of the line to the gun's accuracy distance.  He knew in advance that he would lose none of his quarters!  The rascal!  (A quarter back then would buy you 5 chocolate bars, 75 jawbreakers or a hot dog and a pop!)

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