The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-05-30


at footing in the rain and play the
whole of wet day. That always struck
me as folly.
What club should you use here?" in
quired Miss Barrp. as the candle teed her
ball for the eighth hole.
The ground was broken up and hol-
lowed by small -quarries in the direct
line; if you failed TO clear them all at
the first stroke. it cost you a dozen or
twenty points to get out again.
Il should take the long driver and play
we'll over to the level ground on the left"
I said.
She followed my advice, and justified
ii by doing the hole in five strokes. Per-
haps il is worth mentioning that l did
it in six, and that Monkton. who took his
own line, did it in thirteen.
Golf is not merely hard hitting and
careful putting" Miss Barry Observed
1T wants judgment and discretion as
well" l thought it was a gentle back
handler at Monkton; he certainly de-
served it.
We were all rather tired when we
finished the round q won it, by the way),
and were quite ready for tea when we
went out Immediately afterward, and
played on the putting green till the
dressing bell rang.
Next day, at Miss Barry's express re-
quest, l drove the party out again. 1
have no very clear recollection Of the
to play. 1 did not want to- but 1 hold
ii duty to sacrifice ones self for the
pleasure Of the people you are staying
with. and they made point Of it,.
1T is very curious" Monkton re-
marked as we climbed the hill to the
second hole. 'how well a fellow always
begins The really trying stage comes
next, when you can't hit ball till you
have missed it a dozen times"
When should I reach that second
stage?" I asked humbly.
Monkton said: THAT all depends"-he
is a lawyer-and added. he thought he
saw indications of it already. This made
me nervous. Yesterday and until now
had played boldly. hitting the ball
clean every time as a matter of course.
Now / caught myself waggling for fully
minute before l dared strike; and only
too often when l did strike I either
topped the ball or dug up the turf behind
IL; very strange that 1 never missed the
ball when the possibility Of doing so had
not occurred to me. l wish Monkton
would mind his own business
After lunch, Monkton began telling
some of his old stories. and so seized
an opportunity of suggesting that we
should have another round. Miss Barry
proposed playing sides-she. Maria. and
! TO play the other two. Maria would
play better if she would take advice oc>
casionally. l could not induce her TO use
the right weapon at the right time; il
is so ridiculous to try and put with
lofting iron; and it is not fair to your
side. She resented my remonstrances.
saying that l didn't kr any more
about golf than she did; which is absurd,
seeing that l have played on links ad-
mittedly the most sporting in Scotland.
1 was little vexed, -, by her want Of
interest in the game today; she talked
local gossip to Miss Barry all the time
and once completely spoiled my stroke
by asking an irrelevant question at the
critical moment
II wish, my dear you would wait till
have made my stroke l said gently.
Now we shall be ten for this hole in
stead of nine"
why. Algy! you are always inter-
ested in strange birds" she exclaimed
with open eyes; land 1 believe it was a
kestrel."
1 had recovered form considerably dur
ing the afternoon round, and had no
real complaint to make against myself
until at the last hole, I managed to
put a good ten PAGES past it-a pure
blunder. which cost us the game.
I was vexed with myself and thought
over the stroke a good deal as we drove
home. After tea 1 slipped out of the
drawing-rOom and took an iron and a
ball to play 1T over again. 1 practiced
the shot until l was satisfied. and was
just going in to write some letters. when
Charley Barry came out and asked me
TO stay and have a round with him. /
thought l might as well; 1 always think,
you know, one should be out of doors
as much as possible during a holiday.
The next morning was cloudy and
threatening the Wagonette was wanted
to fetch somebody from the station in
the afternoon, too. and altogether 1t
seemed as il we shouldn't be able to go
up to the links.
I'VE should have to walk back" Miss
T1~lr-
Maria?''
l said that was for Maria to decide; she
vowed she could do it easily. 1 had some
qualms about it; but she appeared anx-
ious to go; so we went
There were two or three heavy showers
during he morning; the others sought
shelter but / played on alone. / had my
macintosh and it seemed as If 1 had
quite got over the second stage" already
for I never missed a shot. and made some
awfully good ones. l wanted to make
sure, and would not stop if | could help
tage, It began to drizzle hopelessly and
heavily.
II don't believe we could see ball
fifty yards away in this. grumbled
Monkton, as we gathered round the cot
tage door to watch the fine. driving clouds
of rain.
Miss Barry said sadly that there was
no hope Of its clearing up. and Maria and
she would not go round again. They
would wait a bit, and go straight home.
Miss Barry is right" said MonktOn,
knocking out his pipe 1T isn't good
enough l shall go home with the ladies.
But. Jones-if you want TO play another
round, you can use my clubs"
I don't think he expected I should ac-
cept them; his tone was not quite serious.
'Shall we have another game
Charley?" 1 asked. Eve may as well
get wet on the hill as on the road"
He agreed. | accepted MOnkton's Of
fer. and we went off together The cad
dies had not come back, so we had to
carry our own bags. I'm not quite sure
that carrying a heavy weight in the
hand improves ones play. but that is
merely an idea. We had a glorious
game that afternoon, in spite of the
rain; il was a little difficult to follow
a hard-driven ball through the misty
drizzle but the weather was not too
thick to make il impossible. We made
record-time round, and when we came
to the last hole. 1 was quite ready to
play another. But Charley thought we
ought to be making a start for home;
so we played a crOss-country game over
the hills till we nit the road. Then we
shouldered our bags and trudged home
ward through the mud.
4 say" 1 said as we reached the
porch. I'VE can't go into your moth
er's drawing-room like this
1--WE are in a considerable mess" he
admitted. running his eye over our legs
"And it's too early to change for din
ner'' l continued.