CHAPTER X
WINNING HIS FIRST MEDAL
Overhead the sun shone mercilessly from a cloudless sky. Hardly abreath of air stirred the stubby grass and scrubby bushes which coveredabrupt little hillocks of piled-up coral lightly spread with clingingbits of sandy soil. From the floor-like level of the baked sand flats,covered with white streaks where the sun's rays had gathered up thewater and left small deposits of salt, the heat-waves rose, bubbling andboiling, a snare to the unwary or unknowing riflemen, who, from variousranges and positions, were sending little pellets of lead encased insteel jackets at rows of paper targets surmounting the earth andconcrete parapets, known as the "butts."
It was a busy and interesting scene of action. Marines in khaki andsailors in white were sprinkled over the vast plain, all intent onwatching the bobbing rectangles of brownish paper with black, round,bull's eyes whereon was marked each shot-hole caused by the bullets intheir flight.
For days the preliminary drill had been under way. To the men who neverbefore had fired there seemed to be much useless labor and time wasted.Position and aiming drills are monotonous at best, and to stand at longintervals raising the rifle from the hip-position of "load" to a certainheight, then bringing it to rest against the right shoulder, bending thehead and squinting over the sights at small round black pasters an inchin diameter stuck to a bulkhead or wall and finally snapping thetrigger, seemed the height of folly. When, however, the sighting drillsprogressed to their making tiny triangles by getting points on a pieceof white paper twenty feet distant from the rifle sights and connectingthese with straight lines, followed by explanations why certaintriangles were good and if a bullet had actually travelled along theindicated path, excellent or poor scores would have resulted, then thedrills held more interest for Richard and Henry.
Each day Sergeant Battiste, one of the famous shots of the Corps andattached to the _Denver_, gave lectures on rifle shooting. A celebratedcoach, member of many winning teams in the National Rifle meets, holderof the coveted Distinguished Marksman Medal, and Military Rifle Championof America for two consecutive years, he was well fitted for his task.
Marines are entitled to fire the regular record practise forqualification under the Small Arms Firing Manual of the United StatesArmy once during each target year; but those men who made the grade ofExpert Rifleman were not required to fire again during their currentenlistment and for that time received each month the extra pay which isa reward for their merit. Naturally all hands were anxious to make thescore necessary to acquire these benefits and Sergeant Battiste left nostone unturned to help them in their desires. Each step had beencarefully rehearsed, instruction practise completed and to-day therecord firing would decide their final merit.
"I've already told you," said Battiste, the men being gathered aroundhim on arrival at the 200-yard firing point, "not to get excited and totake your time. Get your rear sight in perfect alignment with the frontsight and the 'bull' sitting oh top; fill your lungs--then, the momentyou are ready to fire hold your breath for that instant and squeeze thetrigger--don't pull or jerk it, first take up the 'creep,' and by nowevery one of you should know just when that little additional pressurewill be sufficient to release the firing-pin. We've a perfect day forshooting, and if you don't make good scores it's your own fault. As wego back to the longer ranges the wind will come up, but it will blowsteadily from the left or nine o'clock,[#] if I know anything about thisrange and the action of the wind here, and I claim I do. We shall haveto watch out for mirage. Your targets have been assigned. Each manknows the number he will fire at and there is no excuse for shooting onthe wrong target. To do so would possibly spoil another fellow's score,and it means you will receive a 'goose egg'[#] for your own shot, andgoose eggs mean low qualifications."
[#] When facing the target the range is supposed to represent the faceof a clock. Twelve o'clock is at the target; six, at the firing point;three, to the right, and nine, to the left. The direction of the windis easily designated by reference to any hour of the clock dial. Aclock-face is also imagined on the target-face; twelve at the top andsix at the bottom, facing the firer.
[#] A Zero on the score.
"Are we permitted to blacken our sights on record practise, Sergeant?"inquired Dick, as Battiste paused for a moment.
"Yes, you may blacken both front and rear sights. I'd suggest the useof camphor, and I should also smoke the barrel well, as this sun makesthe blued metal glare badly. The red flag is up in the pits, so the'sand rats'[#] are ready for us to begin. Get on the line, men, andbegin firing when your target comes up. Each shot will be marked. Ifyou fail to hit the target a red flag will be waved across its face,indicating a miss; the white disk placed over the shot hole means abull's-eye, or five; the red disk, four; the black and white disk athree and the black a two. If any of you wish to challenge the marking,Mr. Gardiner, who is the Range Officer, will call up Mr. Thorp in thebutts and have the target gone over carefully. Remember to keep your ownscore in your book and see that it corresponds with the marking and withthe scorekeepers' records."
[#] Men who operate the targets and signal the hits from the butts.
"How many shots do we fire?" called out Private Jones, the mostinattentive man of the guard, but also the one always spotlessly clean,which reputation had gained for him the position of one of CommanderBentley's cabin orderlies.
"This is slow fire at 200 yards," answered the coach, who seldom losthis temper and had the patience of Job. "Each man will fire two stringsof five shots each from the standing position, then we shall move backto 300 yards, and fire the same number of shots from either the sittingor kneeling position. No sighting shots allowed at either of theseranges. The targets are up, men! Commence firing!"
Immediately following the command came the crack of rifles all along theline--the record practise was under way.
Neither Richard nor Henry, before this week on the range at GuantanamoBay, knew anything of rifle shooting, though both, one in the NewEngland woods, the other along the bayous of the Mississippi, had spentmany happy hours with dog and shotgun. Practise with the high-poweredmilitary rifle was a decidedly different proposition, but they took toit as a duck does to water, and during instruction practise theyagreeably surprised Sergeant Battiste with work that was excellent forbeginners.
Dick, having more patience and being more cool-headed, strong andnerveless, was without doubt the better of the two. Henry's one failingwas his impatience to "get the shot off." In case he failed to bringhis sights in perfect alignment on the bull's eye with a steady hand, hewould fall back on the quick "fly shot" so necessary to the hunter armedwith a fowling piece, but disastrous to one who aspires to perfectionwith the military weapon.
"Five o'clock three for you, Cabell," sang out the coach; "must havepulled down on your gun at the last moment. Remember my caution--takeyour time and squeeze the trigger. Good work, Drummer Comstock; you'vefound the bull first shot. It's nipping in at twelve o'clock.[#] Itpays to be calm and deliberate."
"I'm way off to the right, Sergeant," called out Jones irritably; "allthree of my shots have gone in the same place--twos at three o'clock,and you said there wasn't any wind blowing."
[#] "Nipping in at twelve o'clock"--A rifleman's term for a bull's-eyejust barely cutting the black at the top.
"Not a bit of wind, Jones, and if you would only remember to set yourwind gauge properly those twos would have been bulls, every one. Youhave almost three points of right wind on, and you shouldn't have any.Apply your quarter-point rule. Each quarter-point on your wind gauge at200 yards moves your shot how many inches on the target?"
"It moves it two inches, and three times two is six inches," said Jonessmugly. "My shots are about two feet from the center of the bull, sothere must be wind blowing from the left."
"Your arithmetic needs a little oiling, Jones. There are four quartersin every full point and that makes twelve quarte
rs altogether for yourthree points. Each quarter point moves you two inches, makingtwenty-four inches in all. You see, that is the two feet that yourshots are out, which is what I said in the beginning."
Jones sheepishly corrected his sight, and the next shot on his targetwas marked a "pinwheel."
Thus it was the coach went up and down the firing line, offering theadvice of long and successful experience.
At the completion of the firing at 200 yards the line of riflemen movedback to the 300-yard point, and taking the sitting or kneeling position,began the next stage of the course. A "possible" or perfect score often shots would mean fifty points towards the three hundred pointsnecessary to qualify the men as marksmen, and this they would have toget in order to be permitted to shoot the sharpshooter's course. Thefiring at 200 yards was the hardest in Dick's estimation, and though hehad started off with a bull's-eye, or five, as already stated, he didnot continue to see the little white marker or spotter in the blackspace as he hoped would be the case. His first and last shots werefives and the rest fours, making his total score forty-two. Henry wassix points below centers, or thirty-four.
Three hundred yards was an easy range for Dick and he surprised himselfwith the high score at that stage--forty-seven points, all bulls butthree, which fell close outside in the four-ring. Henry had made oneover centers, or a score of forty-one.
"Now we will go back to five and six hundred yards," said Battiste."Each man must fire two sighting shots at both those ranges before hecan count his shots for record. The firing will be the same as it wasin instruction--from the prone position. I expect every man to averageup his score at the 500-yard range, for the bull looks as big as abarn-door, and you can't miss it. You know we change the size of thetargets now and use the mid-range or B-target, and the bull's-eye istwenty inches in diameter. In the short-range or A-target it is buteight inches, and in the long-range or C-target it is thirty-six inches.For this reason B-target at 500 yards and C-target at 800 yards are whatwe call 'easy marks.'"
"Supposing we fire the twelve shots and the first ten are bulls but thelast two goose eggs, would the latter count against you?" asked Henry,as he rearranged the leather sling on his rifle around his left armbefore lying down.
"It's your last ten shots which count," replied the coach. "Firingregulations require you to take the two sighting shots, and you can'tjuggle them around to suit yourself; they've got to be the first twofired. The mirage is no longer boiling straight up,[#] but it's movingoff to the right a bit, so I'd advise you all to take your sightingshots, make your own deductions and then wait for me to see how nearlycorrect you are."
[#] Mirage--Heat waves near the earth, visible on some days to the nakedeye, but more clearly seen through a telescope. It is really the airtravelling on the range, and the best guide for windage, as it is theactual air through which the bullet travels. When there is no movementto left or right the wind is either still for a moment or carrying themirage directly towards or from the target. It appears to rise and issaid to be "boiling."
The moment Dick's target appeared he lay flat on his stomach with hisbody at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the firing line, feetspread apart with the heels turned inwards. His leather sling wasfastened tightly about the upper part of his left arm, and the left handwas well under the rifle, bearing against the lower swivel, which heldone end of the sling. The butt of the rifle was placed, with the aid ofhis right hand, against the right shoulder, both elbows on the ground,the right hand grasping the small of the stock with the forefingercurling around the trigger. His cheek was against the left side of thestock and his right eye so near the rear of the cocking-piece that toone uninitiated it would appear dangerous. But it was the safestposition he could assume, and the rifle in his grasp was steady as arock.
Crack! Crack! The first shots sped on their way to the butts, as Dickand the man on his right fired almost simultaneously.
Nothing followed! Dick's target screen did not move. He was certainhis position, his aim, his pull, were all perfect. The shot must havegone through the black paper in the center or one of the black annularrings and was not seen by the "sand rat" in charge.
"Mark number three target," shouted the sailor who was keeping Dick'sscore, and the man at the field-telephone relayed the message to thebutts. A second or two later "number three" was "sashed," or pulleddown; then up it popped with the fatal red flag waving back and forthacross it as if in derision.
Dick was surprised at this, for he was positive his first shot must havebeen a bull's-eye. He looked at his sight critically. What was wrong?Perhaps the wind was blowing enough to throw him off the "bull," butnever could that light breeze throw him off the target altogether. Hehad one more sighting shot, and unless he found the target with that onehe would have no "dope" for his ten record shots that were to follow.Already he had a quarter-point of left wind on his gauge, which meant,at this range, if he took one-half a point windage that would move theshot one-half the width of the "bull"--enough to put him in thefour-ring if his aim deviated the slightest and his "dope" happened tobe wrong.
He was about to make the change, even though against his betterjudgment, when the man at the end of the telephone called out:
"Two shot holes in the bull on Number Four target!"
Dick drew a long breath of relief. He had fired his first shot not athis own but at his right-hand neighbor's target.
"Thank your lucky star, young man, for the sighting spots, or else yourscore would have been spoiled in the making," quietly remarked SergeantBattiste, who was standing back, enjoying the lad's perplexity. "Let itbe a lesson to you--always take a squint through your peep sight at thenumber below your target before you fire. One of those fives in FourTarget was right in the center--a pin wheel! How much windage did youhave?"
"A quarter-point of left wind," answered Dick.
"Just right--now, go ahead and make a possible."
And that is exactly what Drummer Comstock did--every one of hisfollowing shots hitting the bull's-eye for a perfect score, and to thepresent day he shows that page from his score book with great pride.
Dick's luck continued with him at 600 yards, which to many old and triedriflemen is one of the most interesting ranges. With forty-three pointshere and the fifty at 500 yards, Dick now had a total score of onehundred and eighty-two points.
"What's your total, Hank?" asked Dick while they rested during the noonhour.
"One hundred and sixty-three, so far; but do you know who has thehighest total for the day?"
"No, I didn't get through at six hundred in time to look over thescore-boards; why, who is it?"
"Oh, a fellow named Richard Comstock! Great Scott! If you keep this upthey will be hailing you as the Military Champeen of the World, Dick.That was great shooting you did at 500 yards, old man."
* * * * * * * * *
A Leaf From Dick's Score Book]
A LEAF FROM DICK'S SCORE BOOK
1. This leaf is from Dick's Score Book, which he inked in after he leftthe range.
2. It will be noticed the mirage was bad and Dick's 2nd sighting shotand first four record shots were low, therefore he raised his sight 25yards. The bull's eye of this target (B) is 20 inches in diameter. 25yards up on sight gauge would be about 6-1/4 inches.
3. "The square rule" is, changing the elevation 100 yards at any rangegives change on the target equal to the number of inches in the squareof the range. Example: at 500 yards equals 25 inches.
4. On the 9th and 10th shots, Dick raised his sight again and kept inthe bull. The mirage had increased, tending to "throw" his shots low.
* * * * * * * * *
"I am proud of it, of course, but when you read how some of these crackshots make a string of bulls as long as your arm at that range then itloses some of its lustre as a star score."
"They didn't get those wo
nderful records, though, on the first realpractise, as you have done, Dick; and Battiste says you have a naturalgift for shooting which further practise will surely develop."
"Yes, I got along pretty well with the slow fire, Henry, but I'm rottenin rapid fire, especially at 200 yards. Somehow I can't get the knackof it."
"That is funny, for I am perfectly at home in rapid fire," said Henry.
"If I can get on my tummy and shoot 'em I am safe, therefore I don'tfear the skirmish runs. How many more points can be made from now on?Let's figure it out!"
"We could make three hundred more. Each of the two skirmish runs countsone hundred, and the scores at rapid fire at 200 and 300 yards are fiftyeach, but I don't reckon we will get anything like that. Besides, youshouldn't worry, and I need but one-thirty-seven to qualify as marksman,and you a hundred and eighteen."
"You are wrong, Hank. It's true you require but three hundred points tomake you a marksman, but you need as many points as you can get. I'mnot satisfied just to scrape through in a matter of this kind, andbecause the thing appears easy is all the more reason we should try forthe highest score we possibly can get. Then there is another reason;your marksman's score is added to what you make in the sharpshooter'scourse, and you've got to make a total of four hundred and fifteenpoints to get the qualification, which then gives you the right to shootthe expert test."
"You are right again, Dick, and thank you for the tip, or I might havemissed my badge and the extra pay."
Marksman badge. This is the badge of the lowestqualification. Below this men are rated as "1st class," but receive nobadge.]
That night when the different divisions of the _Denver's_ complementreturned, tired and hungry, to their ship, Sergeant Battiste worked tilllate arranging the scores of those who had fired, and out of twentyaspirants for the honor all had qualified as marksmen and would shootthe following day. Of the twenty, the top notch shot was none other thanDick, and fighting for last place were Trumpeter Cabell and PrivateJones, both with 323 points to their credit. Dick had made theexcellent score of 449 out of a possible 500 points.
The Badge Awarded to Henry Cabell]
The following evening when the shooting cohorts returned on board havingfinished the Sharpshooter's[#] Course, he was still leading thedetachment with a total score of 586 points.
[#] This course consisted of ten shots slow fire at 800 yards, same at1,000 yards, and ten shots rapid fire at 500 yards; a possible scorebeing 150 points.
"The 1,000-yard range was my Waterloo to-day," he explained to FirstSergeant Douglass, who did not have to fire, being already an expertrifleman; "a fellow needs a lot more practise than I've had to be ableto find and hold the bull at that distance, especially if there is a'fish tail'[#] wind blowing, as happened to-day. Anyway, I'm sure of myMaltese Cross; but I want to pull down that expert's badge to-morrow,for it's the finest of the lot."
[#] A wind coming from a direction nearly parallel with the flight ofthe bullet:--the course the bullet travels through the air is called itstrajectory.
The expert rifleman's test consisted in first firing ten shots slow firefrom 600 yards over an embankment at the silhouette of a kneeling figureof a man with his arm raised as in shooting. Then came five shots at500 yards and five at 400 yards at the same figure, only in thisshooting it bobbed up above the butts for five seconds and might show upat any point, with five-second intervals between appearances. Next, twostrings of five shots each at the "ducks," or Target F, the silhouetteof a man lying, are fired at 500 yards. These "ducks" are supposed tofall over when hit, and at 300 and 200 yards the target first fired at,Target E, is pulled across the range on a track fifty yards long, inthirty seconds, while ten shots are being fired. Every hit counts onepoint, and the firer must make twenty-five hits out of fifty shots toqualify.
Expert Rifleman badge.
1. This badge is of silver metal. For every three years of re-qualification a bar is awarded with years engraved thereon and suspended between the crossed rifles and the top bar. This is the badge won by Dick at Guantanamo Bay Rifle Range.
It is a true test of the individual's ability, where steady hand, quickeye and excellent judgment are prime qualities for its successfulaccomplishment, yet, in spite of his fine showing on the two previousdays, Dick barely scraped through with the exact number of hits to winout. But he had won, and two months later when the little silveremblems were received from Headquarters, it was with mingled pride andthankfulness he saw his own name neatly engraved on the reverse of thepin which Sergeant Douglass handed over to his keeping.
Five new experts, eleven sharpshooters and four marksmen was the finalresult of Sergeant Battiste's course of training.
"Well, I don't believe," Dick remarked as he strained his eyes to seethe bright new badge he had pinned to his khaki coat preparatory toSaturday morning inspection, "that I'll ever have as much pleasure inwinning anything as I had in winning this, my first real medal."
"You may be right, Dick," said Henry, looking a little regretfully atthe new sharpshooter's badge he held in his hand, "but what appeals moreto me is that extra pay these little silver gadgets bring in eachmonth."