@A Pifle-|Mateh.

   

|HE soldiers at the fort where Hal lived had a rifle-
| match. They had their targets set up on a long, level
piece of ground near the fort. Each soldier tried to see
how many times he could hit the center of the target.
The one who could hit it the greatest number of times
was to get a gold medal.

Hal went with his mother to see them shoot. All
the ladies who lived at the fort went. There were
some visitors there, and they went also.

It was a very gay sight. The ladies all wore their.
finest dresses and the officers their uniforms. The
targets were bright-colored and flags were flying.

The rifles would go crack, crack, crack! At first Hal kept close by his
mamma’s side. He was just a little afraid, But pretty soon he got so inter-
ested that he forgot all about being timid.

Sometimes one of the men would hit the target right in the center. Then