Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-14

putting green. I gripped my mashis and
hit the bah a sdewise swat Il struck the
tree and carromed of accurately onto the
green.
The boys looked crestfallen. and II I do
say 50. Il was a nifty shoot. Ny antagonist
approached well and on the clipped grass
I Law back.
That putting green was the tail end Of
the limit It was 20 humpy that every
shove vriggied along like a snake having
a at. Il took me four puts to hole out l
figured on the stripiings using up about
eight.
Then I began to think that my hearing
was double crossing me. slicer and Topper
were advising each other to use a hook
putt
That was a new kink In golf, and when
slicer started to waggie 1 held my breath.
He gave the ball a careless whack and
It was a bad steer. The sphere started
to roll 20 the right Of the hole. But just as
l thought it was going past it curved
around and tumbIed into the inverted
pimple. Topper did likewise.
Il confess thai my n0nchalance got a jar
in the solar plexus. I was thinking rag
time, but I determined to hang on.
New Thing In Tees.
A the next tee Topper and slicer both
topped their drives. but 1 swatted the
giobule 210 yards. The ball rolled out Of
sight, and 1 foresaw that 1 was in for a
bad lie. Bad was no name for it. That
hard hit pill had gone down a woodchuck
hole.
Two strokes is the penalty for a lost
ball. said Slicer promptly.
Il s~quinted down the gap. but it looked
q mile long. and 1 took a reef in my get
mad and started to drop another ball
And at once 1 heard a scuffling sound
in the hole. and in a jiffy an indignant
woodchuck appeared pushing my ball in
his paws. He made a great tee. and as
soon as he had the pellet above ground 1
walloped it from his paws and landed on
the green.
My opponents were wabbllng with sur
prise and used two extra strokes getting to
the putting green. That green was worse
than the first. and il cost me another four
to land in, the dent. At that thought /
had the hole. for I didn't believe that the
striplings could keep VI their crooked
putting.
Topper gripped his goose peck and
biffed. The ball wabbled ike a tyro on
roller skates and started to amble out Of
bounds. But It switched around with a
serpentine twist and rolled into the hole.
Slieer, too. Embossed a weird shove, but
his ball rounded into the crevice with a
dizzy loop.
MY sangfroid was rapidly getting
feverish. / was five minutes getting a
fresh grip on my calm, and the others had
driven when 1 climbed upon the tee.
The next was a long hole with a 5
DOGGY. Our first two drives brought us all
within approaching distance.
what He Discovered.
Il gathered myself together and executed
a giltedged whaek. The ball landed
] squarrly in the hole. but bounded out and
rolled off the green.
II claimed the hole. but slicer, Topper
and the small gallery following us told me
1 was crazy. / wouldn't approach again
and argued the matter. while my antagon-
lists hoied out, with shots that curved into
the cup as II they had a Wizard schaefer
cue twist.
we stood around the hole Ginning. and
my temper began to slip. 1 flung my putter
on the greer. Then 1 thought my mind had
made a wild pitch. for the club slid along
the ground like a rocket and stood up in
the hole.
when Silver and Topper saw II they
turned and ran like Indians and the crowd
went with them
II searched the balls slicer and Topper
had left behind and / found them studded
with little soft iron points. 1t didn't take
me a minute to see that l had been passed
an electric lemon.
B the time / got to the clubhouse they
had all escaped. l didn't try to find them.
/ was afraid their money might be soaked
In nitroglycerin.
but you chaps who lose 20 T nerve every
time anything goes wrong don't know what
strenuous golf is"