The record-union., 1897-03-29
A CADDIE'S TRAGEDY.

W
tive soul beyond the Styx, and to no
purpose, but for himself, he was "a most
familiar figure on the links-tall, bent,
somewhat one-Sided--an infirmity that
increased with years and rheumatism
with an angular face, clean shaven
0wice a week., with Scotch bonnet
stuck awry above it, and short clay
pipe insecurely held in the corner of his
mouth, for lack of teeth. Presumably
he had not been always thus. Doubt
less there had been a time when he was
a barelegged gossoon scampering
blithely with naked feet, and again a
time when he was a spruce young man,
a favorite with the lassieS may be, but
if such times had ever been, it was ex
tremely hard to picture them to ones
mental vision, and SLOW back" him
self never referred to them
1t was impossible to picture him other
than he was when first we knew him
shambling in gait, crooked of aspect,
clad in long trousers and inadequately
short coat, with a Woolen scarf about
his neck, and booted at such length
that it seemed absurd to suppose his
toes could reach the end of their COW
dings. He was a reserved man, and APP
pe2red to be without relatives. We
did not trouble to inquire about his
lodging, but every morning he was to
be seen sitting on the bench that the
other caddies occupied, smoking his
pipe and waiting for his master to
come, with the clubs, from the club
house. Then he would carry the two
statutory rounds of the links, and dis
! t1a
ing. How he spent his Sundays we
never thought of asking, but no one
has ever appeared to have seen him on
the day of rest.
All this was in the years before the
boom in golf which led to the game
becoming the possession of all and sun
dry. Books had not been written about
the game, and all the available maXims
We're carried in the heads of those who,
like Slow back made profession
either of playing or of carrying clubs.
The maXimS We're, substantially, three:
SLOW back" Keep your eye on the
ball. and Don't press To these
might have been added a fourth, BE
up" but this applied more particularly
to the short game, and it was the first
of the maXims, concerned with the more
glorious business of the drive, that was
destined to exercise an important influ-
ence on Slow-back's' life. There is no
doubt, of course, that he had another
name than his Sobriquet, but it hap
pened to none of US ever to learn it,
and the manner in which he obtained
his appellation was as follows: His
master was never more than an indif
ferent player at the best. He was con-
scious Of his deficiencies, but rather
than attribute them to what We're, per-
haps, their true causes, Of faulty eye
sight or inadequate muscle, preferred to
refer them to neglect of some of the i'm
portant maxims of the golfing art, and
especially to that first-quoted one of
SLOW back!' He conceived that he had
contracted a fatal habit of hurrying
1.-The club away, in the back stroke, from
the ball. and that this initial error was
responsible for all the subsequent miss
hits and tOppingS with which the club
visited the ball on it's descent. May be
he was right, but in any case the means
by which he Strove to cure himself of
this fatal tendency was to make his
caddie calculate the magic words of
1nonition ''Slow-back," each time that
he prepared to raise his club for the
driving stroke. The result, it has to be
admitted, was not wholly satisfactory;
one can say no more than that his exc
cution might conceivably have been
worse in the absence of the warnings
Thus it went on for several years.
AT the end of that time it happened
that Slow backs" master-for al
ready the caddie had earned the nick
name by which alone we knew him
was called away for three weeks or
50 by the death of a near relative.
Then SLOW back carried clubs for
another master. But the habit that
he had formed during these years of
calculating his monitory Slow back"
as his master raised the club, was not
to be denied. STILL at the conclusion
of each address to the ball, he ut
tered the solemn words, then found
himself covered with the most pitifuI
confusion at the rebuke which his un-
called-for interference had merited
For stroke or two, putting great re-
straint upon himself. he succeeded in
keeping his soul in silence; but at the
next the inevitable exclamation broke
from him again. to the distraction and
addressed. During the three weeks of
his masters absence several golfers
made trial of SLOW backs" services,
for he was an excellent caddie, saving
his single idiosyncrasy, and regarded
with certain affection, as being some
what of a Character" besides. But
none could suffer him long. One after
another had to give him up, after be-
ing reduced to impotence and despair
by his raven-like croak. AT length
his legitimate master returned, and
Slow back was a man again
few more years dragged their
length to close, and then the hand
of death fell, this time on no near rela-
tive of his master but on the master
himself. SLOW back" in a new suit
of mourning, followed him to the
grave, and came back still wearing his
apparel of grief, to sit during the af-
ternoon on his accustomed bench, with
the other caddies- In the morning he
beset himself to find q new engage
ment He was in receipt of a small
pension from his late master IN recog-
milton of so many years of faithful SER
vice, but the sum did not suffice to
give him independence. He was soon
engaged, for the links. were throneed
with players. This time his employer
was a newcomer, who knew nothing
of Slow backs" peculiarity. He was
nearly stunned with surprise at what
he deemed the caddie's insolence on his
first utterance of the inevitable words.