The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-11-15
On the Trigger S Pull.



with those things which do not con-
Germ her sex.
Obviously. carbines were none oi
Miss MiYarts concern. II she felt
that she had to play with firearms
sHe should have kept 70 Flohert ~
hes. Nothing would do. however, but
that she must learn 70 shoot a car
bine. and the result was that the
whole post rose up and cut Burton 70
8 man. 50 that there was no peace for
hun any longer in that regiment and
Ter had TO seek transfer 70 another
There we're other results, also, but
they come further on.
Some thought that what Miss MI
vart did was done on purpose, and
some thought that It was a piece Of
idiotic Stiffness. The latter based
their argument upon the general friy-
aolousness OF her ways and upon the
Innocency Of her round. blue eyes.
The former held 10 the belief that
Miss Miyart was one Of those women
favorites Of Fortune who look greater
fools than they ara They said, with
a certain show Of reason, that Geor-
gia Mivart was a child Of the service
land not an importation from civil life.
She had been born in a garrison and
|had played with rows Of empty, green
fimmed cartridge shells at an age
when most little girls play with paper
dolls. She had hummed snatebes 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 Minrts tow-head-
ed striker A few years Of boarding
school back East could not have OBJ
liberated all that
Besides, the yeriest civilian, who
has never come nearer 70 a carbine
than to watch a Fourth Of July mi
litia parade, might reasonably be ex-
pected to know BY intuition that In a
target practice competition every trig-
ger has got TO pull just SO hard, what
ever the regulation number or fraction
OF pounds may be. Otherwise 1t is
plain that the nearer you come TO a
hair-trigger the better your aim will
be. ~
However whether Miss i was
fully aware Of what she Hsas joing,
nobody ever knew. unless perhaps Il
was Greville-and h., like zuleika,
never told. But Burton had a bad
ff.., - u ,,a oIl HE hoouflfs1 qoora
went for worse than nothing at all.
That, though, was the end. And
the beginning ought to come first.
The beginning was when Miss Mivart
undertook to learn to shoot carblne.
There was a target practice COM
petition going on at the post; no one
which was Of any interest TO the ser
vice, or even 10 the department at
large; just a little local affair devised
to keep up the spirits Of the troops
and to tighten the monotony OF life.
There were three contests, one for
troops and companies, as such; one
for individual privates and one for the
officers. This last was to finish on,
and then there was to be big hop.
Every one knew from the first. when
Burton and Greyille shot with their
troops. that the officers competition
would lie between them. This made
it interesting In mole ways than one,
because the rivalry was not confined
to the target range. but extended to
the winning of Miss Mivarts hand
and heart, and every one believed that
this would settle a matter she did not
appear to be able to settle for herself
Not that she was to blame for that
Anyone, even a person much more
certain OF her own mind than Miss
Mivart was, would have been put to
& to choose.
They were both irst-lieutenants,
and both cavalrymen, and both good
to look upon. Burton was fair and
Grevllle was dark, but she had no
fixed prejudices regarding that. She
had often said SO. Also, both we're 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 a right
minded 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 rife pits. Only
scores and records and bets were
thought and talked about.
Miss Mivart herself had bet, with
ali the daring wickedness Of a kitten
teasing a beetle. She even went so
far as to bet on both Burton and Gre
vile at once. The adjutant undertook
10 explain to her that that was called
hedging" and was not looked upon
as altogether sporiy Miss Mivart
was hurt Was It really dishonest,
she wanted to know. The adjutant
felt that be had been unkind. He
hastened 10 assure her that II was not
not dishonest IN the least; only that
It took away from the excitement Of
the thing to a certain extent Miss
Mivart smiled and shook her head.
No. she didn't think that It did. be-
cause. Of course. she knew herself
A..