He did not draw his arrow
back to his ear, but he drew it back to the lower button of his
vest. Instead of standing upright, with his left side to the
target, he faced it full, and leaned forward over his arrow, in
an attitude which reminded me of a Roman soldier about to fall
upon his sword. When he had seized the nock of his arrow between
his finger and thumb, he languidly glanced at the target, raised
his bow a little, and let fly. The provoking thing about it was
that he nearly always hit. If he had only known how to stand,
and hold his bow, and draw back his arrow, he would have been a
very good archer. But, as it was, we could not help laughing at
him, although our president always discountenanced anything of
the kind.
Our champion was a tall man, very cool and steady, who went
to work at archery exactly as if he were paid a salary, and
intended to earn his money honestly. He did the best he could in
every way. He generally shot with one of the bows owned by the
club, but if any one on the ground had a better one, he would
borrow it. He used to shoot sometimes with Pepton's bow, which
he declared to be a most capital one. But as Pepton was always
very nervous when he saw his bow in the hands of another than
himself, the champion soon ceased to borrow it.
There were two badges, one of green silk and gold for the
ladies, and one of green and red for the gentlemen, and these
were shot for at each weekly meeting. With the exception of a
few times when the club was first formed, the champion had always
worn the gentlemen's badge.
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