The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1923-06-30

batty, Jest plain crazy over this lleah
game Of gol-lof."
A merry peal Of mirth greeted Still
wells solemn assertion. %
"Oh, Stillwell. you are In fun" re-
Piled Madeline.
II hope to die If I'm not in daid
earnest" declared the cattleman. Its
an amazin' strange fact. Ask Flo.
She'll tell you. She knows cowboys,
| an how If they ever start on somethin'
they ride it as they ride a boss"
Florence being appealed to, and evil
IDENTIFY feeling all eyes upon her, mod
estly replied that Stillwen had scarce
ly misstated the situation.
Cowboys play like they work or
fight" she added. "They give their
whole souls to it. They. are great big
simple boys"
Indeed they are" said Madeline.
"Oh, I'm glad If they like the game Of
golf. They have so little play"
oval, somethin's got to be did If
we're to go on raisin' cattle at Her
Majesty's Rancho" replied Stillwell
He appeared both deliberate and re-
signed.
| Madeline remembered that despite
Stillwell's simplicity he was as deep
as any Of his cowboys, and there was
absolutely no gaging him where posi-
bilities Of fun were concerned. Made
line fancied that his exaggerated talk
about the cowboys sudden craze for
golf was in line with certain other re-
markable tales that had lately emanat-
ed from him. Some very strange things
had occurred Of late, and it was i'm
possible to tell whether or not they
were accidents, mere .coincidents, or
deep-laid, skillfully worked-out designs
Of the fun-loving cowboys. Certainly
there had been great fun, and at the
expense of her guests, particularly
Castleton. So Madeline was at loss
to know what to think about Stillwelrs
latest elaboration. Prom mere force
Of habit she sympathized with him and
found difficulty in doubling his appar-
ept sincerity.
ITO 60 back ways" went on Still
we'll, as Madeline looked on expect
antly, "you recollect what pride the
boys took in fxin' up that gol-lof
course out on the mesa? Wal, they
worked on the job, an though never
seen any other course, I'll gamble
yours can't be beat. The boys was
|
recollect also how they all wanted to
see you an your brother play, an be
caddies for you? Wal, whenever you'd
quit they'd 60 to work tryin' to play
the game. Monty Price, he was the
leadin' spirit. Old as am, Miss Maj
esty, an used as I am to cowboy ex-
centrikities, I nearly dropped daid
when heerd that little hobble-footed,
burned-up Montana cow-puncher say
there wasn't any game too swell for
him, an gol-lof was just his speed
Serious as a preacher, mind you, he
was. An he was always practicin'
When Stewart gave him charge of the
course an the clubhouse an all them
funny sticks, why, Monty was tickled
to death. You see, Monty is sensitive
that he amt much good any more for
cowboy work. He was glad to have a
job that he didn't feel he was hangin'
to by kindness. Wal, he practiced the
game, an he read the books in the
clubhouse, an he got the boys to doin'
the same. That wasn't very hard, I
reckon. They played early an late an
in the moonlight. For a while Monty
was coach, an the boys stood it. But
pretty soon frankie Slade got pulled
on his game, an he had to have it out
with Monty. Wal, Monty beat him
bad. Then one after another the other
boys tackled Monty. He beat them ALL
After that they split up an began to
play matches, two on a SIDE For a
spell this worked fine. But cowboys
can't never be satisfied long onless
they win all the time. Monty an Link
Stevens, both cripples, you might say,
Joined forces an elected to beat all
corners. Wal, they did, an that's the
trouble. Down at the hunks in the
evenin's it's some mortifyin' the way
Monty an Link crow over the rest of
the outfit. They've taken on superior
airs. You couldn't reach up to Monty
with trimmed spruce pole. An Link
wal, he's just amazin' scornful. I
want to say, for the good Of ranchin',
not to mention a possible fight, that
Monty an Link hev got to be beat.
There'll be no peace round this ranch
till that's DONE"
Madeline could hardly control her
mirth.
"What in the world can I do?'
"Wal, I reckon I couldn't say I
only come to you for advice. All I'm
sure Of is that the conceit has got to
be taken out Of Monty an Link"
"Stillwell, listen," said Madeline,
brightly. "We1l arrange a match
game, a foursome, between Monty and
Link and your best picked team. Cas-
Teton, who Is an expert golfer, will
umpire. My sister, and friends, and I
will take turns as caddies for your
team. That will be fair, considering
yours is the weaker. Caddies may
coach, and perhaps expert advice is all
that is necessary for your team to de-
feat Monty's."
"a grand idee," declared Stillwell,
with instant decision. when can we
have this match gamer
"Why, today-this afternoon. Well
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