Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1905-03-01
LOVE ON THE LINKS.


The young man snuddered.
Perhaps we had better practice now
instead of going on round" he said when
he could trust his voice sufficiently.
ooh, very well,' she said, little dis
appointed. It's more fun playing, l
think. But Just as you like. Shall hit
my ball frst?'
IF you will be SO good as to drive"
ne said 'Allow me-" He substituted
a grain or two for the small castle OF
sand ON which she had teed the ball
You will find that easier [ think" he
added Hadn't you better take a-''
He was going to say practice shot, -
but she swung at the ball before he could
utter the words 1t rolled few inches
to the left.
"How silly of it," she cried, "What
did [ do wrong?'
He could not nerve himself to say she
had done everything wrong. He only ex-
planned IN simple words, like one speak
ing to a child, that she had not slowed
back, or kept her eye on the ball, or
taken the proper stance, or attempted to
follow through.
However, Rome was not built in a
day." he concluded with a sicl1ly smile.
perhaps you will do better this time"
This time she stood with an affecta-
ton of precision, fixed her blue eyes (vio-
let, he had called them once) on the ball,
as though it were a serpent, moved her
club slowly back. swung-and missed.
Nasty thing!" she said. and I was
looking at it the whole time hard!"
Eyes, but-try again." he said. CRY
not to give that hop"
He tluLeG his head away as she drove.
1t was too painful sight to watch A
week ago he had loved her-thought her
divine. He could have sworn that there
was grace in every limb, and that her
small wrists were as supple as a mans.
And now, after a weeks coaching she
could no more lift ball than she could
lift mountain. He had made mistake
and fallen in love with doll
The noise of her slice recalled him to
himself, and he turned to see the ball
had bounded about twenty five yards.
That's better, isn't it ?" she said, tri-
umphantly, as they followed it up He
assented in a spiritless way and handed
her q driving mashie to get out of the en-
tanglement into which the ball had
rolled.
TRY to get underneath it," he said;
and at the fifth attempt she succeeded.
The lie was a good lie, though not at all
in the direction she ought to have gone
Look where you want to AIM" he
implored, as she took up her stand again.
And don't get so much over the ball.
Think of those photographs [ showed
you. and model yourself on them"
He referred to some pictures of our
leading lady golfer, taken in the exact
position that players should aspire to-
Up to the time of his engagement-a
week a9o-he had thought no woman
could match those perfect attitudes
Then Kitty had come into his life, and he
had forgotten to ask himself how she
would look on the links. Some men
even some golfers-would have thought
her attitude piquant enough as she stood
there calling back to him:
But how can | model myself on her
when L haven't got on a Tam O. Shan
ter?'
DO your BEST" he replied CURLY. Her
evity was out of place. He recollected
with a growing indignation that when
he had shown Kitty the photographs in
the first place she had criticised the lady
golfers skirts-had said that they did
not hang nicely or were not we'll cut or
something. As if it mattered!"
For goodness sake" he said, as Kitty
circled at the ball, "try and get little
more snap in your wrist"
Kitty pouted at him, and the ball flew
into some heather at right angles to the
green supposed to be waiting for it-as
he reminded her.
"And it's probably lost again. he said.
hurrying after it.
''Was it an india rubber one?, she
asked, alphabetically.
1t was not the price of the ball he
minded, though as matter of fact it
was the eleventh two-shilling ball she
had lost in the course of week. 1t was
the artlessness, the unintelligence, the
absolute Obtuseness she displayed toward
the whole spirit Of the game that drove
him to madness. Kitty obtuse- that ne
could think it even to himself-it was
too terrible. He groaned in spirit and
found the ball.
For the next half hour he suffered
more than can be told in words. Kitty
sliced and dug, and topped and sliced
agaln-sOmetlmes through sheer careless
trying. The certainty that he
had made mistake, that he could not
live his life with this girl, that it would
be manlier to confess as much than to
sacrifice her future and particularly
hls-to such a CHASTITY error, increased
every minute. He had given up implor-
ing her and instructing her. Kitty, too
had become strangely silent; as he
StOQnpd n ha1
he was aware somehow that she. too.
had realized that they were at a crisis
in their lives
one addressed herself to the ball,
slowed back and drove. The ball flew
straight and fair-a good hundred and
thirty Yards 1t fell close to the green.
and-"Viola!' said Kitty, throwing down
her club. Il said to myself, [ will hit
one ball properly, and after that I will
be killed before I try to hit another. So
now, sir, you know, and you must make