Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-10-30
THE CRACK SHOT.
ADAPTED PROM THE RUSSIAN OF POUCH
kline.
IN COUNTRY QUARTERS.

IN COUNTRY QUARTERS.
The mir of Piodorskow, in the government Of
Suwalkt Is a dull hole. We lay there. A mon
otonOu5 life OF IL we led-aoout a5 full of emo
ton as that Of tortoise In state OF hyoerna 1.
and the riding school; midday, dinner az the
commandments or the Jewish restaurant; even
Ing, punch and card playing. There was not a
house In the place worth visiting, nor girl
worth falling In love with. We passed our
abundant leisure in going from Peter TO Paul,
aud from Paul to Peter and back again-the
same perpetual round-and In criucklng the
buttons OF each others uniforms.
Nevertheless there was just one in our little
society who was not military man. He might
we ''young fellows looked upon him with
something akin to veneration. His experience
gave him an ascendency over US; and his taci
tuInity, his naughty bearing, and the sarcastic
manner in which he spoke, added TO the in
preston and strengthened the superiority of
age. IL was often puzzle to me what mystic
rlOus destiny oVershadowed hun. He appeared
to be Russian but he had foreign name He
had formerly served in a HusSar regiment, and
had even built himself up some reputation In it;
but he handed In his papers abruptly one MORN
ing-nObOdy could tell why-and he establish ID
himself In this miserable village, where he
lived very roughly, but managed all the
He took his airings on foot. wrapped In a
seedy black paletot; and, for all that. he
Kept open house for every. oftcer in our reyl-
ment. To tell the truth, his dinners Wer, NOT
luxurious, nor was the cook GORDON ben, We
usually had two or three plain dishes served no
py discharged soldier. But his champagne
in bucketfuls. have no pity for the man VINO
cannot wash down bad meal with good wine.
Noooay knew what was his fortune, or whether
ne was . married or single, and nobody cared to
ask MIN. He looked too stern to stand 1nterro =
atory of that type. He had tolerably large
library, particularly strong In military books
ana ID romances, which he freely lent and
never asked back. On the other hand, he never
thought of returning book once lent to him
Ills ABSORBING occupatlon-it was more than
paStime-was pistol practice. The walls OF his
0lblDg room, r1ddled with bullet denJS looked
IKE a money COMB. A splendid collection OF
pistols, OF every age and make, was the one
VANITY OF the Wretched gazebo he called his
maoslon. the dexterity he had acquired By his
practlce was something Incredible: Ii he laid
pet tnat ne would knock the tuft off forag-
Ing cap with shot, do not think there was a
t t IN the regiment who would have hest
lated to put that foraging-cap on his he ad.
Sometimes, amongst US, the conversation
turned upon dueling. Siiv1o with your ner.
mission, that Is how mean to call him) never
been out, he dryly answered Yes but entered
INTO no details, and it was easy to perceive that
Ihe question did not crafty him. We came to
s sne conclusion that some victra OF his terrible
skill hao LETT burden on his conscience None
OF us Ior moment had the slightest suSnlciOn
mat there was any element Of feebleness In his
composition. There are men whose exterior Is
enough 10 scout suggestions OF the kind. He
was one OF them. Notwithstanding an event
when unexpectedly turned up singulariy as
tonished all OF US.
VloS We drank as it was the custom that Is
10 say, too much. AS soon as dinner was over.
We asked the master OF the house to make
ts1 at faro. After refusing for long time,
Iof ne seldom played, he called for the cards,
placed fifty ducats before him on the table, and
sat down to cut We made a ring around him.
ana ana the play began. When he played, it was
SlSlOS naDlt 10 preserve an absolute silence; he
never made any objections and never gave any
explanations Ii ounter won or lost, he paid
MN exactly what was coming to him, or marked
We all knew his popularity, and We let
him arrange the matter after his own
fashion; but there was with US On that
In moment of distraction, made a false dod
p-e. SllV1o took up the chalk and made his
marx ID his usual manner. The officer, per-
suaded that there was mistake. expostulated.
Sllvio never breaking silence. continued to cut.
me onicer, losing patience, took the brush aud
rubbed out what he thought to be the wrong
mark. Silyio quietly took the chalk and made
lhe marx again. Upon this the Officer-heated
oy the wine, the play and the laughter OF his
comradeS-took serious offence, and Selling a
copper chandelier in his fury. hurled it at The
head OF Silvto who, by a rapid duck, just con-
trived to avoid being struck. There was fear
full row! Silyio started up pale with anger and
with fire In his eyes, he said:
My good sir, have the kindness to leave the
room, and thank your God that this has passed
under nay root"
Not one of US had the slightest doubt as to
what would be the sequel OF the affair. We
alrea0y looked upon our new cOmrade as dea1
man. The officer left, saying he was ready to
give satisfaction to the banker as soon as it
suited bis convenience. The gambling continued
Tor rev minutes more; but as we saw that the
master OF the house paid no further interest 60
the play. we left one by one, and IS we
stroled back to our quarters we chatte1 on
the vacancy We were about to have IN the regt-
mant.
The following day, In the rdlng.schoo we
were asking II the poor lieutenant We're dead
but himself. We piled him with questions He
simply answered that ne had not heard from
SllVio. We were astonished. We went to visit
sending bullet after bullet into an ace OF hearts
mated 10 door. He received us In his usual
way, and never said word about the trans
action OF the night before. Three days passed,
come. We began to ask one another in am aze-
ment: rs 1t possible that Sllvio won't flght2"
Sllvlo dld not fight. He was satisfied with
very lame explanation; and all was over
This magnalimity did him a lot Of harm
amongst US young fellows. Want of hardi-
mood Is the fault tnat youth pardors the least.
courage is the greatest OF all merits, the ex-
and little all was forgotten, and SIlYio re-
assumed bis former influence Ia our circle.
l alone found 1t hard to reconcile myself to
MIN. Thanks to romantic imagination had
eioWn more attached than any OF my friends 20 |
his man, whose life was such an enigma 7 |
Gdu uduo VI nlIn the nero OF q mysterious
drama He had preference for meat least. 7
Was the only one with whom he Abandoned his
barshness OF tone and cynicism of languaoa
ana conVersed on different subjects with eaSe'
ana sometimes With very happy grace Since
mat unfortunate evening the thought that his
honor was soiled-that there was blot on his
esculcheon-and that OF his own free will he
mad declined to wipe it out torInentei, me with
out caasing, and drove away my sslf.possessIon
When was In his society. / was no longer on
the same terms with him. 1 made it a matter
OF conscience to watch his every movement
Silvio had too much penetration not to perceive
what was doing, and TO guess the motive of
my conduct He appeared more hurt than
veXed at It. Twice thought l could detect a
desire On his part TO come to an explanation
with me; but / avoided him, and Stlvio did NOT
press the matter. From that time only saw
him In company with my comrades Our cosey
Intimate chats we're dropped
The lucky dweIerS In the capital tossed abort
by distracung pleasures. are ignorant OF m any
sensations familiar to those who live In remote
villages or small towns; for example the wait
ing for the mail day. On Tuesdays and FRIDAYS
the post Office or our regiment was full of OH
GERS. One expected money, another letters. q
third newspapers. Ordinarily, the packets were
uLsealed upon the spot; news was passed from
mouth to mouth, and the scene In the Office was
OF the most animated description. Si!vo'5 let
tiers were addressed 10 him at our quarters and
he came to look for them with the rest OF u.s.
one day that he was handed q letter, he broke
the seal with great eagerne5S. AS he ran over
It's contents his eyes positively burned with
strange fire. Our officers, occupied over their