The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-08-03

things which do not concern
her sex.
obviously, carblnes were none OF
Miss Mlvart's concern. III she felt
that she had to play with firearms
she should have kept to Flobert rifles.
Nothing would do, however, but that
she must learn to shoot n carbine.
and the result was that the whole
post rose up and cut Burton. TO a
man; so that there was no peace for
him any longer In that regiment and
he had to seek transfer TO another
There were other insults. also, but
they come further on.
Some thought that what Miss Mivart
did was done on purpose, and some
thought that II was piece OF idl-
otlc Stiffness. The latter based their
argument upon the general frivolous
ness Of her ways, and upon the limo
cency oe her round, blue eyes. The
former held to the belief that Miss
Mivart was one OF those women IA
vorites OF fortune who look greater
fools than they are. They said. with
n certain show OF reason. that Georgia
Mivart was a child Of the service and
not an importation from civil life.
She had been born In garrison and
had played with rows Of empty, green
trimmed cartridge shells at an age
when most little girls play with paper
dolls. She had hummed snatchcs OF
the bugle-calls before she could talk,
and the person she had admired the
most and obeyed the best for the first
dozen years OF her life had been
KreutZer. Captain MivZart's tow
headed striker. a few years OF board
ing-school back East could not have
obllterated all TINT.
Besides, the verlest civilian, who
has never come nearer to carbne
than TO watch n Fourth OF July mill
tia parade, might reasonably be OK.
pected to know by intuition that In
target practice competition every trig-
ger has got to pull just so hard, what
ever the regulation number or frac-
ton Of pounds may be. Otherwise,
II Is plain that the nearer you come
to hair-trlgger the better your aim
Will be.
However, whether Miss Mivart was
fully aware of what she was doing,
nobody ever knew, unless, perhaps,
It was Grevlle-and he, like Zulelkn.
never told. Burton had bad time
Of II, and his beautiful score went for
worse than nothing Mt all.
That, though, was the end. And the
han
beginning was when Miss Mlvart un-
dertook to learn to shoot carblnc.
There was n target practice compe-
tition going on Mt the post; not one
which was Of any interest to the serv-
Ice, or even to the department ut large;
just local affair, devised to keep up
che esprit de corps OF the troops and
to tighten the monotony Of life. There
Were three contests. one for troops
and companies, as such; one for in
dividual prvatcs. and one for the Off
GERS. This last was TO finish of, and
then there was to be big hop.
Every one knew from the first, when
Burton and Grevlllc shot with their
troops. that the officers competition
would lie between them. This made
II interesting in more ways than one,
because the rivalry wns not confined
TO the target range. but extended 10
the winning Of Miss Mivart's hand and
heart, and every one believed that this
would settle n matter she did not ap-
pear to be able 10 settle for herself.
Not that she was to blame for that.
Any one, even person much more
certain of her own mind than Miss
Mivart was, would have been put to
II 10 choose.
They were both first lleutenants and
both cavalrymen. and both good to
look upon. Burton was fair and Gre
vile was dark, but she had no fixed
prejudices regarding that She had
often said SO. Also, both were as
much in love with her as even she
could have wished, and were more
than willing that all the world should
see it-than which nothing is more
pleasant and soothing TO n rlght-mlnd.
ed woman.
The rifle contest lasted ten days,
during which time the air hummed
with the ping and sing of bullets over
on the range, and with the calls OF
the markers in the rlflc-pits. Only
scores and records and bets were
thought and talked about.
Miss Mivart herself had bet, with
all the daring wickedness of kitten
teasing n beetle. She even went so
far as to bet on both Burton and Gre
vile at once. The adjutant undertook
to explain to her what was called
hedging" and was not looked upon
as altogether sporty. Miss Mlvart
was hurt. Was IL really dishonest,
she wanted TO know. The adJutant
felt that he had been unkind. He
fastened to assure her that IL was
not-not dishonest in the least; only
that IL took away from the excitement
of the thing TO certain extent. Miss
Mivart smiled and shook her head.
No. she didn't think that IL did. be.
cause, OF course. she knew herself
which one she wanted TO have win.
The adjutant admitted that that might
possibly be Just as interesting for her.
self and the fortunate man. And
which was he. IL he might ask. Miss
Mivart shook her head and smiled
again. No. she didn't think he might
ask. AS the man himself didn't know
she could bsrdly tell anyone else, just
yet. could she? She had her own
ideas about fair play.
II can shoot a carblne. myself" she
told the adjutant. with her cleft chir
proudly raised; "and my shoulder Il