The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-09-01
THE LOVE OF UNIFORM.

As the day of the Volunteer Review
approached Mr.. Twigget could not con-
ceal from himself that he was being
meanly cut out of his place in the atiec-
tions of Miss Lucy Light by Mr.. or Cap
tan Strapper. OF the Bunborouyh r. V.
{. This S rapper was not Younger
handsomer or richer than Twigget, but
he wore a uniform and looked "nuts''
in it. lie had helmet, a scarlet tunic
and sword much like an officer of the
line, and he had passed an examination
of some sort which quite justified him
in sporting the title of Captain. He
also decorated his breast with medal
won at Wimbledon. There was no end
to the airs which the creature gave him.
self; and. when he drilled his company
on Bun S Piece OF an evening, it was a
pity to see so sensible girl as Lucy
Light shower admiring chances on him
while she turned cold shoulder upon
poor Twigget.
Twigget was frenzied. There are
are men who ould have borne the hui
M alton resignedly, trusting to such
solid advantages as Twigget possessed
"a good name. a comely presence and
nice little income of f1,OO) a year;
but Iwigget was too much in love to
tie the Just complacently before a rival
like st apper. Ii he had been eclipsed
by Captain of Hussars, covered with
the glory of campaigns in India and
Africa. he might have sighed in SUBJ
mission to his lot: but to be account ed
small in comparison with a Captain of
Bunborough Rifles was maddening.
Despair makes some men heroes, of
others criminals; it made of Twigret a
something between these two cate
gOries. for it caused him one evening.
in an excruciating paroxysm of wound
ed vanity, to tell the biggest fib he had
ever uttered. Twigget boosted that he
was himself a Colonel in the Roumanj-
an army. that he had served in the war
against the TurAs and that the fame of
his exploits had rung all down the banks
of the Danube.
II shall probably attend the review
at Windsor" he coollv said, in conclu-
sion; but l shall ride in the Com
mander-n-Chief's STAFF
Twigget said this in his calmest tone,
and Strapper collapsed. Lucy Light
looked at first as if she could not be-
lieve her ears; but Twigget was not adj
dicted TO drawing the long bow; be.
sides, it was we'll known in Bunbor-
ough that he had spent several years
touring in the East, and there was
moth ng imposs BILE in the account
which he gave of his adventures. The
only marvel was that he should never
have alluded to them before; but he
explained this plausibly enough by say
ing that he saw nothing to hray about
in the fact of having faced hre in the
company of hundreds of thousands of
other men there a meaning look at
Strapper) and that, moreover, as the
sympathies of Burborough in the late
war had been of the lingo color, he
CTwiggeU had thought it would be in
better taste not to boast that he had
borne arms in the Russian cause. As a
w.nd-up to this little speech, Twigget
produced three photographs.
"Would YOU like to see how l looked
in livery:" he sa d, laughing, to Miss
Lucy. "Here am in full dress; here
on horseback; and here in undress."
Oh, Twigyet, Twigget! Then this
egregious falsehood was not uttered on
the spur of moment; but had been
craftily premeditated. That visit of
yours to London the other day was for
the purpose of being photographed in q
spick-span new set of uniforms, pur-
chased from costumier, and with lot
of medals and decorations, ordered
from the Palsis Royal, in Paris. And
you interviewed printer, too. who
struck off for you q number of little
slips of paper, labeled, "Bolski-P Pho
tographie, Bucharest" which YOU
to conceal the name of the English pho
tographer. And then You purchased
some old newspapers, in which the
brave doings of namesake of yours,
who died in the Roumanian army, were
recorded. and after this you went to q
curiosity shop, where YOU collected old
swords, fragments Of shells and dat