There are two ways of making this hitch that are
used ordinarily. The one I prefer is simply to take two turns around
the horn, taking care that the second turn comes lower and overlaps the
other. No pull in the world could make that rope slip, while I can,
simply by throwing off one turn, let it all slide off. This other
fashion, which is really taking a 'half-inch' around the horn, holds
just as fast, but you have to push the rope through to loosen it. You
see, in making this sudden twist, a finger is very likely to get
caught, and I have known many fingers being taken off before such a
hitch could be unfastened.
"It is often advisable to take an extra twist around anything you have
lassoed, and this is done by simply throwing a coil. Practice again is
the only thing that can teach this.
"Now you have the whole theory of throwing a rope.
"There are four sorts of throws, but they are all made alike, only the
position of the arm being different. They are the overthrow, the
underthrow, the sidethrow, and the backthrow."
"Backthrow?"
"Yes, backthrow--catching an object behind you--something that you need
not even see. That sounds difficult, does it? Well, you stand behind
me and you can see it done."
The reporter took his station twenty feet behind Mr. Ohnimus, quite out
of sight, of course. He swung the loop around his head, and, without
turning, let it fly backward.
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