Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-03-02
Myself When Young


son at the tenth tee, and saw the pros
eyebrows shoot up as he watched Tom
yms swing. You couldn't fool Alec
about a golfer. 1 knew / was in for ques-
ions later.
We finished about five, and I suggest
ed tea. And his face was really boyish
as ne smiled back at me. Naturally he
was hungry all the time at that age and
with his sore of growth. So we settled
dow and had sandwiches and cake and
ginger ale. And when Elizabeth came in
all alone, from tennis-the rest of her
crowd had gone Off called her over to
JOIN us, and she came. frankly curious
and interested. l introduced them-and
! saw 1t happen.
The boy fell In love with her that min
ute. You can laugh as much as you
please; he did. Those things do happen,
and It's not a bad thing to remember
that they do. Absurd? or counsel A
boy OF sixteen-a girl two years younger
But there 1t was. He couldn't take his
eyes of her; he couldn't say a word. He
just sat there and watched her, and lis
tened to her, chattering IN to me, as she
always did.
She acted as If he wasn't there, but
she was aware Of him. OF course-she was
old enough for that: plenty old enough
Elizabeth was born a firt, predestined
to make trouble for men. She was still
a lovely child hat day; 1T was just be-
fore girls of her age succeeded in wiping
out the differences that a few years used
to make in their appearance. She was
dark. with great brown eyes, and hel
hair was pretty long: her mother. SO far
had been able to keep her from having
1t bobbed.
l don't suppose they exchanged a doz-
en- words that afternoon, and / haven't
the slightest idea that he made any such
impression on Elizabeth as she did or
him. But there couldn't be any doubt
about him; no one who saw him would
have argued with me. / didn't quite
know what to think. l was inclined to
be amused, but l was sorry for the boy
too. Plainly he hadn't had any contacts
with girls at all; he had never zone to
public school. And this, it seemed to
me, was likely to hit him pretty hard
Because | didn't see what he was going
to be able to do about it.
There, though, l moderated Tommy
and his inheritance from that great and
ruthless business man, his father, about
whom | had. in my awakening interest
in Tommy, taken the trouble of late to
inform myself a little. John Martin had
scaled the heights by knowing always
exactly what he wanted, and by being
absolutely sure that there was a way for
him to get it. And Tommy. in this In
stance, proved himself his fathers son.
l didn't hear from Tommy again, but
at the next meeting of the governors
Jim Hazlitt, our secretary, brought up
an application they had, l suppose. been
duly posted on the board, but that /
being away, hadn't happened to see. II
was that OF John Martin of New York
and Champion.
"Hello-what's he want with us2" said
Bill Graham.
Making a collection Of country clubs
l suppose" said Jim. H belongs tc
about twenty. Any one know him?"
| II do-formally," said George Wharton
Graves asked me to lunch last week te
meet him. That's enough, isn't it2"
II should think so. ANY ob1ections2'
There were none, naturally. He wasn't
so far as any of us knew, the sort of mar
we'd like particularly, but there wa!
nothing against him, n he was gooe
for dues and charges. So his name wen
through-and his membership carried
with it, of course, the privileges Of thu
club for him family. 1t seemed to mt
Tommy Martin was going to bear watch
ing. II Tommy could be persuaded to dt
his playing as from Renclair we wer,
likely to be able to boast of an amateur
champion one Of these days.
He began coming over every day or 81
within q week of his fathers election Il
the club, AND Alec took him to hi
Scotch bosom Immediately. He took jus
the right note with Alec, who could still
teach him something, good as he was
and the two of them played together
lot.
l saw a good deal of him, too. He wa
inclined to seek me out, at first, natural
ly. not knowing any one, and / saw to 1
that he met all the youngsters. 1t sur
prlsed me to see how well ge got alonl
with them: how quickly he outgrew hi
older manner and slipped bach into
normal goyhood. 1t did him no end O
good. He was, / suppose, having a good
ihealthy time for the first time in hi
life. And he put on no airs.
But 1t was that first summer at Rem
clair that his temper famed up In pub
lie for the first time. His temper ant
that queer quirk In his temperament tina
was to come so near to smashing him.
was out. one day. and as I drove from
the fourteenth tee / got a twinge in m,
right arm that warned me that my oil
enemy, neuritis, was threatening m
again. / quit, at once, and sent my cad
dy in with my bag, and then wakes
along. following a match between Tomm,
and young Armstrong. a lad Of nineteel
who had been. until Tommy turned uI
about the best we had.
/ saw at once how tight they boil
were; they might have been fighting on
the n ROUND of a big tournament
But Steve Armstrong was calm enough
determined, you understand, but still
reasonable and aware OF the fact tina
they were playing a game, after all
Tommy was different. He was lost t
everything blJt the shot he WAS MAKING
or the one he must make next. He wa
utterly unlike the boy who had playe,
with me 1t was the first time I had eve
seen him playing with any n VIII
could extend him; he was. Steve ha,
mentioned to me, casually, n up. An
he was playing with a silent ferocity.
They both got good drives from tn
fifteenth, but when they came up t