The Long Rifle

Every evening before he began to tell stories, Pa made the bullets for his next day's hunting.

Laura and Mary helped him.

They brought the big,long-handled spoon,and the box full of bits of lead, and the bullet- mold.

Then while he squatted on the hearth and made the bullets, they sat one on each side of him,and watched.

First he melted the bits of lead in the big spoon held in the coals.

When the lead was melted, he poured it carefully from the spoon into the little hole in the bullet-mold.

He waited a minute,then he opened the mold, and out dropped a bright new bullet onto the hearth.

The bullet was too hot to touch, but it shone so temptingly that sometimes Laura or Mary could not help touching it.

Then they burned their fingers.