The Dolores star., 1924-02-01
Joe said as he shook hands with him,

I'd seen you first with your coat on. :"
Il might have kept my shirt on,
though" Corbett replied. and blinked
as II In surprise at the unforeseen wit
ticlsm. He added. seriously and lit
| tie stifily. his appreciation OF Joe's
second letter. and said lie didn't he
! ilcve there'd he anything more TO com
plain of in Corbett x Cos execution
OF the order. Business wasn't men
toned again all the morning.
At the traps he watched herisively
hits out OF twenty-five chances. and
| Corbett twenty-four. II was almost too
absurd. he thought. To he credible, You
stood at Il 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 skimminE target
few OF at one Of three predetermined
angles. in rotation, And yon hlazed
away al II with a shell containing Two
ounces of bird-shot, His own failure
to score more than six out Of a pnssi
bile twenty-five didn't raise his opinion
Of the sport 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 n
box Of cartridges which he'd find in
the left front-door pocket
| His Impression wa that both the
other men regarded this proposal. to
pot AT clay pigeons with n revolver, as
indeCorOus bur nevertheless amusing,
and ii was with boyish air of guilt
that they drew up when his turn came
TO see what sort OF luck he had. He
moved up to ive-yard range and told
the man nj the lever TO pull whenever
he liked and to mix up his angles
Fool me II You can" he added. Get
| the ideaF" This was, of course, an
idea that no well-tralned servant could
! possibly execute, So, after y trial or
two. Williamson relieN ed 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 Corbctt. This mans
| supposed 10 lie the best revolversh
in Lake county" he explained. Hell
give you better run for your money"
But Corbett thought he wouldn't try
| it that morning. Throw me or my
draw" he explained. Looks no end
Of fun, though"
Joe, blazing away again in his turn.
was startled by new voicc--a won.
ans, speaking from close by.
rs this Chateau-Thierry. or what?"
He spun round and looked, and his
! tirst thought was that this was the girl
whose portrait, in chalk, he'd seen In
Williamson's office. The next moment
she cut cieanly through the jumbled
situation by holding out a decisive
hand 10 Joe and saving:
Il know you're Mr.. Greer. Tn Mrs.
Williamson"
She wasn't excessively small. but his
first impression of her, nevertheless,
was as something iewel-like, finished
out 10 an Incredible perfection in de-
tail, and, despite the rough texture and
non-titting cut OF the sport-sut she af-
fected, lie felt a sensuous sickness
about her which these contrasts per.
hapS heightened. And she was vii.
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 Il. II needed
h..r lam Oh
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 il was to hear IL
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 D'you
suppose could hit onef'
So she stayed. ard took her turn;
actually managed Ia smash target
or rw" Ii 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 certain
lack of ceremony between him and the
woman? Wasn't she supposed to have
appeared at all: And shouldn't he. ac-
cording to their ideas, have met her
halfway? Eut 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
h0oky, and they're getting ready - be
very severe to make up for it. DO
you want to stay with them and shoot
properly, or do you want To have
walk witiT me: You haven't seen the
place. have you?"
Violet Williamson, during the two
hours or so that were left of that Sun
day morning, not so much stirred Joe,
though she did that. too. as stirred
him up; agitated a lot of thoroughly