The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-01-04
BY Gwendoien Overton.

he'll compromise and take to drink
instead. No." he nodded his head
decislvcly, 'he shall not marry Mamie
Pearle, not"-he looked at the picture
long time mot IL 1 have TO marry
her myself. Which heaven forefendr'
Tho next afternoon he found Stratb-
more In the stt,ng-rOom and preferred
most unprecedented request. ~
should like. SIR" he said, "to be given
furlough for a week" Strathmorc
considered and frowned. "What'll be-
come Of me. Chester" he asked. plain.
lively; "what viii dor"
"O'Toole has promised to take ray
place, sir. lie vas Captain Lacy's
striker for several years. and he
knows his duties. SIR"
Strathmore sighed. every good" he
agreed. with sufficiently poor grace,
II expect I'll make out somehow. Put
In your application with the morning
report"
Chester went away. feeling contenp-
tlble and small. and Strathmore sat
and reflected dIsmally that II was
emergencies OF this sort that drove n
man to matrimony. He ought To have
realized that when man marries
because he thinks the woman can be
OF use to him. rather than he 10 her,
he Is making grave mistake. But
he fancied the vague dissatisfaction
with his present lot was the yearning
nf hnI
ever that he cared for Miss HaTloran
quite a creditable deal. Before Chcs-
ter left the aext day he stood In front
OF the photograph again. shell wear
curlpapcrs and his forage-cap and
cape" he reflected aloud. That was
his notion of the point beyond which
vulgarity could not go. ITS devil
tsh contemplate business. | know Il
Il. But then-my futures all behind
me; and hc Is all ahead. He's only
boy lie has all sorts OF pull''-what
n striker does not know about his mas
ter is not worth considering at all-"he
Will be able 10 get anything he asks
for In Washington. Not" he mused,
that the American army offers much
Tor young man just now. But he
can get all IL can give. If he behaves
himself and marrlcs the right kind
or better yet, doesn't marry at all
he may rise 10 the soaring height Cf
an attacheship. All things are posi-.
bic with pull"
He stopped and bent down to knock
The ashes from his brier.plpe into tie
fireplace. Then he took the photo
graph in his hand and started to put
1t In the grip that lay on his bunk. But
he changed his mind and tucked 1t In
to the tray of his trunk instead And
he gave Il last look as he closed
down the I'd. "In which case" ne
| finished, as he turned the key. "he
would bc very likely to meet you"
4 hunting leave is olly n week long.
But n great deal can happen In n
week to soldier who has cut loose
and Is accountable to no one, or 10 n
lieutenant madly determined to be-
come just the other way. What hap
pened 10 Strathmorc was. In sum, this
The day after O'Toole took charge
he rode over TO the Halloran ranch,
and when he came back he was en-
gagged TO marry Mamie Pearle. When
| IL was done and he sat down TO think.
he found that he was not so radiantly
happy as he had expected 10 he. But
| the way the sitting.roOm had been
| busted that morning had disgusted
| him, once and for all. with single life.
The next day he was officer Of the dny
and couldn't leave the spot The day
after that ne had cold which he had
caught making his rounds, and II con
! fined him To the house.
AS for Chester. the way he put In
his time never did become quite clear.
But for n period of six days there was
strange Englshmau in town some
| fifteen miles the other side of Halo
ran ranch; some twenty five miles that
| Is. or more, from the post. IL was Il
mud town, and It's hotel was rs bad
rs its reputation. but the Englishman
stayed there He wore conspicuous
suit OF clothes, and spent money os.
tentatiously. lie let II be understood
that his name was Lovatt, and that
he was a lord: also. that he was trav'
cling through the West, and might, II
he fancied the country. buy ranch.
II was probably with that end In view
that he rode almost At once TO the
Halloran place and explained to the
haciendado that he would like TO bo
shown how n ranch was run. He met
Miss Halloran. and her father told him
that che vas engaged To a lieutenant
at the neighboring post, but that
severe cold was confning the officer
to his house. lie expressed n wis9
that I.ovett might meet the licutcnar'
some day. and Lovett hoped that h'
would. IL was possibly IN this hope
that he called at the ranch for si'
successive days. but always-had M
known tat an hour when II wa
quite unlikely that anyone would ID
coming over from the post. After tina
they saw him no more.
On the evening Of the seventh da.
Chester was I'm charge of Strathmor''
: quarters again. Strathmore was n
covering from the cold. and he toll
Chester that he had missed him prr
fanely much. Everything had gon
wrong. He asked what the strike
, had been doing with his time.
, Chester threw an armful of WOO
, upon the fire. and stood up. brushin
: the cbips from his sleeve. well. sir.