The Holly chieftain., 1924-02-07


I'D never have written that letter If
I'd seen you first with your coat or"
Il might have kept my shirt on.
though" COrbett replied, and blinked
as if in surprise at the unforeseen wit
ticism. He added. seriously and lit
tie stiffy, his appreciation of Joe's
second letter, and said he didn't be-
lieve there'd be anything more to COM
plain of in Corbett & Cos execution
of the order. Business wasn't men
toned again all the morning.
AT the traps he watched derisively
while Williamson scored twenty-five
hits out of twenty-five chances and
Corbett twenty-four. 1t was almost too
absurd, he thought. to be credible. You
stood at a known range. eighteen
yards. You held your gun at your
shoulder. You said "Pull!" to the
keeper. or whatever they called him.
He pulled. and the skimming target
few of at one of three predetermined
angles. In rotation! And you blazed
away at 1t with shell containing two
ounces Of bird-shot! His own failure
to score more than six out OF possi-
BILE twenty-five didn't raise his opinion
of the sport SO very much. either.
When he had finished his frame he
laid his gun in the rack and told the
servant that he'd manage the lever
while the man went to his motor and
fetched an automatic pistol and
box of cartridges which he'd find In
| the left front-door pocket.
His impression wac that both the
other men regarded this proposal. to
pot at clay pigeons with a revolver, as
indecorous, but nevertheless amusing,
and 1t was with boyIsh ak of guilt
that they drew up when his turn came
to see what sort OF luck he had. He
moved up to five-yard range and told
the man at the lever to pull whenever
he liked and to mix up his angles.
Fool me II you can." he added. Get
the idea" This was. of course, m
idea that no well-trained servant could
possibly execute, SO. after trial or
two, Williamson relieved him. Joe,
following up his birds. managed to
smash eight out of the frame, which
both the others agreed was extraordi-
nary shooting. Williamson, taking his
turn. with Joe at the lever, got only
three. AS he turned away he offered
the pistol to Corbett "This mans
supposed to be the best revolver-shot
in Lake county" he explained. Hell
give you better run for your money"
But Corbett thought he wouldn't try
1t that morning. '"Throw me off my
draw" he explained. Looks no end
of fun. though"
Joe. blazing away again in his turn.
was startled by new voice-a wom-
ans, speaking from close by.
"Is this Chateau-Thierry, or what?"
He spun round and locked and his
first thought was that this was the girl
whose portrait, in chalk, he'd seen in
Williamson's office. The next moment
she cut cleanIy through the jumbled
situation by holding out decisive
hand to Joe and saying:
Il know you're Mr.. Greer. I'm Mrs.
Williamson"
She wasn't excessively small, but his
first impression of her. nevertheless.
was as something jewel-llke, finished
out to an incredible perfection in de-
tail, and. despite the rough texture and
non-fitting cut of the sport-suit she af-
fected. he felt a sensuous sickness
about her which these contrasts per-
haps heightened. And she was VIII
liamson's wife. Man alive! She
couldn't be the mother of that girl
In the picture, could she? The resem-
blance seemed to prove 1t. 1t needed
her laugh and the withdrawal, not
brusque, though, Of her hand to remind
him that he had been staring.
Il suppose you'd like to shoot me
for interrupting," she said; "but you've
no idea how-weird 1t was to hear
noise like this coming from the traps.
Golf and billiards and bridge are SOL
emn enough, but they're nothing COM
pared to these Sunday morning clay
pigeons. This looks like fun. Dyou
suppose I could hit one?"
So she stayed, and took her turn;
actually managed to smash target
or two. 1t wasn't long before they'd
shot away all the cartridges. BY that
time Joe had become aware that the
other two men were getting remote;
not hostile, he thought. but he couldn't
be sure. Did, they resent a certain
lack Of ceremony between him and the
woman? Wasn't she supposed to have
appeared at all? And shouldn't he, ac-
cordlng to their ideas. have met her
half-way7 But she, sensing the new
atmosphere herself, spoke out about It,
'These two men," she said to Joe,
"are feeling ashamed of themselves,
| now that I've caught them playing
hooky, and they're getting ready to be
very severe to make up for 1t. Do
you want to stay with them and shoot,
properly, or do you want to have
walk with me? You haven't seen the
place. have you?"
Violet Williamson during the two