Something went wrong as I taped the second part of Sharpe's Challenge and I miss the very few first seconds of it! What happens exactly that Sharpe does not have to shoot Harper, who says what???
Thanks!
I'm not very good with the technical details of guns etc, but I'll give it a go...
After loading the gun, Sharpe tasted the powder on his hand, and could tell from the taste that it was a weak mix (not enough saltpeter?) that wouldn't carry the bullet any real distance, so the chances of Harper being hit if Sharpe fired were greatly reduced.
Sharpe fired, Harper wasn't hit, and Sharpe's show of loyalty by taking the shot at his friend was proved to Dodd.
Thank you! I understand how it went now. I couldn't really picture just Dodd saying "it's OK, don't shoot, you've proven your loyalty enough", it would have been excessively lame I think. Relieved they did something smarter!
shareit wasn't a weak mix it was not gunpowder at all.
you see after years in the service sharp had picked up a sense for real gunpowder but what dodd put in the rifle was just black powder nothing else.
so it wasnt the fact that the bullet wouldn't travel any distance and more the fact that it wouldn't travel at all.
Sorry, I'm going to be nitpicky on this one because the TV people have made a subtle tweak from the original story. :\
Sharpe's Tiger:
"And did you bother to taste the powder? I did, and it weren't salty at all. That weren't gunpowder, Lieutenant, that were either ink powder or black pigment, but whatever it was it was never going to spark."
"That powder Dodd gave me were blended wrong. There weren't nowhere near enough saltpeter in it."
thank you all.
I'm a Sidekick and proud of it.
Also Sharpe figured out that Dodd wasn't so stupid as to trust a suspicious new face with a loaded weapon with him and the Rajah of Ferraghur within 10 yards, though the weak powder was the main factor.
Cheers,
Tom516
"It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons."
- Pierre Rissient
its a similar plot device to the one used in Mission. When the French are slaughtered by Colonel Brands Boys. I think its Hagman who mentions the powder is weak more like dust. But I havent seen Mission for a while so I cant remember exactly how it went.
share