CHAPTER XXIII
The north-west trade carried us almost into the south-east trade, and then left us for several days to roll and swelter in the doldrums.
During this time I have discovered that I have a genius for rifle-shooting. Mr. Pike swore I must have had long practice; and I confess I was myself startled by the ease of the thing. Of course, it’s the knack; but one must be so made, I suppose, in order to be able to acquire the knack.
By the end of half an hour, standing on the heaving deck and shooting at bottles floating on the rolling swell, I found that I broke each bottle at the first shot. The supply of empty bottles giving out, Mr. Pike was so interested that he had the carpenter saw me a lot of small square blocks of hard wood. These were more satisfactory. A well-aimed sho
