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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Henry Smith, by Frederick Upham Adams
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: John Henry Smith
+       A Humorous Romance of Outdoor Life
+
+Author: Frederick Upham Adams
+
+Release Date: March 3, 2005 [EBook #15247]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HENRY SMITH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Shimmin, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "... and I got it"]
+
+John Henry Smith
+
+A Humorous Romance of Outdoor Life
+
+By
+
+FREDERICK UPHAM ADAMS Author of "John Burt" and "The Kidnapped
+Millionaires"
+
+Illustrated for Mr. Smith by A.B. FROST
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NEW YORK Doubleday, Page & Company 1905
+
+Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company Published June, 1905
+
+_All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
+languages, including the Scandinavian._
+
+DEDICATED TO MY DAUGHTER Olive Marie Adams
+
+
+
+TO THE READER
+
+
+John Henry Smith has requested me to revise and edit his diary, and, to
+use his own expression, "See if I can make some kind of a book from it."
+It was his idea that I should eliminate certain marked passages, and
+disguise others, so as to conceal the identity of the originals. Since
+Mr. Smith is abroad I can do as I please. Aside from renaming his
+characters, I have left them exactly as he has drawn them. This may lead
+him to do his own editing in the future.
+
+I have also taken the liberty of reproducing some of the sketches made
+by Mr. Smith. In addition to literary, artistic, and athletic gifts Mr.
+Smith has had the rare good fortune to--but I must not anticipate his
+story.
+
+THE EDITOR
+
+Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+   ENTRY NO.                              PAGE
+
+   I. Miss Harding is Coming                 3
+
+   II. Mainly about Smith                   21
+
+   III. Mr. Harding Wins a Bet              29
+
+   IV. Bishop's Hired Man                   44
+
+   V. The Eagle's Nest                      54
+
+   VI. I Play with Miss Harding             65
+
+   VII. Two Boys from Buckfield             77
+
+   VIII. Downfall of Mr. Harding            91
+
+   IX. Mr. Smith Gets Busy                 102
+
+   X. The Two Gladiators                   115
+
+   XI. The Barn Dance                      136
+
+   XII. The St. Andrews Swing              154
+
+   XIII. Our New Professional              176
+
+   XIV. Myself and I                       188
+
+   XV. The Auto and the Bull               199
+
+   XVI. Miss Harding Owns Up               219
+
+   XVII. The Passing of Percy              235
+
+   XVIII. Mr. Harding's Struggle           253
+
+   XIX. The Tornado                        258
+
+   XX. Fat Ewes and Sharp Knives           281
+
+   XXI. I am Entirely Satisfied            300
+
+   XXII. I am Utterly Miserable            303
+
+   XXIII. A Few Closing Confessions        317
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARACTERS
+
+JOHN HENRY SMITH, who tells the story. Heir of his father, lives in
+Woodvale club house, devoted to golf, becomes interested in Wall Street,
+and falls in love with Grace Harding
+
+GRACE HARDING, only daughter of Robert L. Harding, visitor in Woodvale
+
+ROBERT L. HARDING, millionaire railway magnate, who first despises golf
+and then becomes infatuated with it
+
+MRS. HARDING, the matter-of-fact wife of the above
+
+JIM BISHOP, farmer near Woodvale, who knew Harding when the two were
+boys in Buckfield, Maine
+
+WILLIAM WALLACE, Bishop's hired man, later golf professional in
+Woodvale, and later something else
+
+OLIVE LAWRENCE, pupil to William Wallace
+
+PERCY LAHUME, in love with Miss Lawrence
+
+JAMES CARTER, wealthy member of Woodvale, who knows how to keep a secret
+
+MISS DANGERFIELD, who makes a collection of golf balls
+
+MISS ROSS, who is very pretty
+
+MR. and MRS. CHILVERS, and MR. and MRS. MARSHALL, estimable young
+people, who enter into this narrative
+
+BOYD, LAWSON, DUFF, BELL, MONAHAN, ETC., members in good standing in the
+Woodvale Golf and Country Club
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+   "... and I got it"                       _Frontispiece_
+
+   "How do I look?"                          _Title Page_
+
+                                                       PAGE.
+
+   "... and threw it in the pond"                        9
+
+   "Fore there! hay there!!"                            15
+
+   "It makes an ideal hazard"                           25
+
+   "... but there was blood in his eye"                 37
+
+   "Fore"                                               49
+
+   "There is no law to compel a man to play golf"       57
+
+   "We rested on top of the hill"                       73
+
+   "Did it hit you?"                                    87
+
+   "... and missed the ball by three inches"            95
+
+   "It is not necessary to caution me"                 105
+
+   The dream                                           113
+
+   "At the gate waiting for us"                        121
+
+   "We're not fighting, my dear!"                      131
+
+   "It must be tough to have to wear skirts all the time"
+                                                       135
+
+   "What do you think of me?"                          137
+
+   "Jack ... never stopped a second"                   145
+
+   "Mr. Harding ... executed a clog dance"             153
+
+   "We ran the auto into the sheep pasture"            159
+
+   "I have never seen a more perfect shot"             163
+
+   "It struck on the rear edge of the green"           181
+
+   "LaHume ... stalking toward the club house"         185
+
+   "Miss Harding ... smiled and looked innocent as
+   could be"                                           193
+
+   "It was not much of a drive"                        207
+
+   "Run! Run, boys!"                                   211
+
+   "Then I struck the bull"                            213
+
+    Diagram, "The auto and the bull"                   218
+
+   "What are you looking for?"                         221
+
+   "Had ignited the matches"                           225
+
+   "He was tall, angular, and whiskered"               237
+
+   "LaHume was shot back several yards"                245
+
+   "Grasping her by the arm I dragged her"             267
+
+   "She left for the South"                            282
+
+   "Business is business"                              291
+
+   "Ten up and eight to play"                          297
+
+   "She rose to her feet"                              307
+
+   "I cannot turn back if I would"                     315
+
+   "He looked doubtfully at me"                        318
+
+   "This takes the cake!"                              329
+
+   "And then I saw her!"                               335
+
+   "I believe I could carry it"                        345
+
+
+
+
+JOHN HENRY SMITH
+
+
+
+
+JOHN HENRY SMITH
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY No. I
+
+Miss HARDING Is COMING
+
+
+"Heard the news?" demanded Chilvers, approaching the table where
+Marshall, Boyd, and I were smoking on the broad veranda of the Woodvale
+Golf and Country Club. We shook our heads with contented indifference.
+It was after luncheon, and the cigars were excellent.
+
+"Where's LaHume?" grinned Chilvers. "Where's our Percy? He must hear
+this."
+
+"LaHume and Miss Lawrence are out playing," languidly answered Marshall.
+"What's happened? Don't prolong this suspense."
+
+Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield turned the corner and Chilvers saw them.
+Chilvers is married, but has lost none of his effervescence and
+consequently retains his popularity.
+
+"Come here," he called, motioning to these two charming young ladies.
+"I've got something for you! Great news; great news!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Miss Ross, her deep-brown eyes brightening with
+curiosity.
+
+"Another heiress coming!" announced Chilvers, with the bow of a jeweller
+displaying some rare gem "--another heiress on her way to Woodvale! This
+is going to be a hard season for such perennial bachelors as Smith,
+Boyd, Carter, and others I could name. You girls will have your work cut
+out when this new heiress unpacks her trunks and sets fluttering the
+hearts of these steel-plated golfers."
+
+"Who is it?" impatiently demanded the chorus. Chilvers has all the arts
+of an actor in working for a climax.
+
+"Miss Grace Harding; that's all!" said Chilvers.
+
+"The famous beauty?" cried Miss Ross.
+
+"Last season's society sensation in Paris and London?" exclaimed Miss
+Dangerfield.
+
+"Daughter of the great railway magnate?" asked Marshall.
+
+"The one to whom Baron Torpington was reported engaged?" I added.
+
+"You all have guessed it the first time," laughed Chilvers. "She's the
+only daughter of Robert L. Harding, magnate, financier, Wall Street
+general, the man who recently beat the pirate kings down there at their
+own game. How much is Harding supposed to be worth, Smith?"
+
+"Thirty millions or so," I replied.
+
+"Well, I wish I had the 'so.' That would keep me in golf balls for a
+while," Chilvers continued, turning his attention to the ladies. "What
+show have you unfortunate girls against a combination like that? And
+think of Percy LaHume! What will that poor boy do? Percy heads for the
+richest heiress of each season with that same mighty instinct which
+leads a boy to cast wistful glances at the largest cut of pie. He
+thought the heiresses had quit coming, and now this happens; but he has
+gone so far in his campaign for the hand and cheque-book of Miss
+Lawrence, that he cannot stop quick without dislocating his spine. I
+doubt if that poor little Lawrence girl will ever have more than five
+millions."
+
+"Never mind Percy and his prospects," said Marshall. "Who told you that
+Miss Grace Harding is coming to Woodvale?"
+
+"Carter told me," replied Chilvers. "Carter knows them. The whole
+Harding family is coming, which includes Croesus, his wife, and their
+fair daughter, aged nineteen or thereabouts. Ah! why did I marry so
+soon?"
+
+Mrs. Chilvers was standing back of him and soundly boxed his ears.
+
+"How does it happen that the Hardings are coming here?" asked Mrs.
+Chilvers, when told the cause of this excitement. "Are they Mr. Carter's
+guests?"
+
+"Mr. Harding is a charter member of Woodvale," I informed her. "For
+some unknown reason he joined the club when it started, but has never
+been here, and I doubt if he has ever played golf. He is the owner of
+the majority of the bonds issued against this clubhouse."
+
+"I wonder if Miss Harding plays golf?" said Boyd.
+
+"Golf is not among the list of accomplishments mentioned by those
+writers who pretend to know all about her," remarked Chilvers. "I have
+been forced to learn from a casual reading of society events that this
+remarkable heiress is without an equal as an equestrienne, that she
+paints, sings, drives a sixty-horse-power Mercedes with a skill and a
+courage which discourages the French chauffeurs, and does other athletic
+and artistic feats, but I have yet to learn that she golfs."
+
+"I presume," I said, "that she will take up the game, and also the turf.
+The three Hardings doubtless will form one of those delightful family
+parties which add so much to the merriment of a golf course. I can shut
+my eyes and see them hacking their way around the links; the daughter
+pretty and more anxious to show off the latest Parisian golfing costumes
+than to replace a divot; the father determined, perspiring, and red of
+face, and the mother stout and always in the way."
+
+"Isn't Mr. Smith the incorrigible woman-hater?" exclaimed Mrs. Chilvers.
+"You did not talk that way before you became so infatuated with golf,
+Mr. Smith."
+
+"I am not a woman-hater," I protested, "but I--I don't like to----"
+
+"Some day Smith will meet a fair creature on the golf links and lose his
+drive and his heart at the same time," declared Chilvers. "That was the
+way I was tripped up and carried into bondage," he added, his hand
+wandering to his wife's waist.
+
+"With the exception of Mrs. Chilvers," I said, and I came very near
+making no exceptions, Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield having left
+us--"with the exception of Mrs. Chilvers, I have yet to see the woman
+who shows to advantage with a golf regalia. If Miss Harding is beautiful
+enough to overcome the handicap which always attaches to the female golf
+duffer, she can give Venus odds and beat her handily."
+
+"You will meet a golfing Venus some day," smiled Mrs. Chilvers, willing
+that her sex should be attacked so long as she was exempt.
+
+"That's what he will," added Chilvers; "I'm agile, but I slipped."
+
+"The artists who depict the woman golfer as graceful and attractive," I
+continued, "must draw from imagination rather than from models. In my
+humble opinion a woman shows to better advantage climbing a steep flight
+of stairs than in any possible posture in striking a golf ball."
+
+"The ladies--God bless 'em--and keep them off the links!" muttered
+Marshall.
+
+"Why, Charlie Marshall!" exclaimed Mrs. Quivers. "I shall see that your
+wife hears that!"
+
+"Don't tell her; she'll beat him terribly," warned Chilvers. "Did you
+ever hear, Boyd, why our friend Smith is so sour when he sees a lady on
+these links?"
+
+Chilvers has told that story on me many times, but Boyd declared he had
+not heard it.
+
+"As you know," began Chilvers, "Smith was born on this farm. It's the
+ancestral Smith homestead, and Smith's relatives were very indignant
+when he leased it to the Woodvale Golf and Country Club. What was the
+name of that maiden aunt of yours, Smith?"
+
+"My Aunt Sarah Emeline Smith," I replied.
+
+"Yes, yes! Well, Aunt Sarah Emeline was especially incensed over this
+act of sacrilege on Smith's part," continued this historian, and he
+followed the facts closely, "and only once since has she stepped foot on
+the broad acres where her happy girlhood was spent. It was my
+good-fortune to meet her on that occasion, and I shall never forget it."
+
+"Neither shall I," I said.
+
+"On her visit here Aunt Sarah Emeline persisted in wandering over the
+links. She had on a wonderful bonnet, and through it she glared
+disdainfully at the members of the club who yelled 'Fore!' at her. She
+was headed for the old mill, which now is used as a caddy house. I was
+playing the last hole and thought she was well out of line of a brassey,
+so I fell on that ball for all I was worth. I sliced it; yes, I sliced
+it badly."
+
+[Illustration: "... and threw it in the pond"]
+
+Chilvers paused and seemed lost in thought.
+
+"Did it hit her?" asked Boyd.
+
+"Of course it hit her," resumed Chilvers. "Aunt Sarah Emeline is more
+than plump, and since it did not hit her in the head I can't see how it
+could have hurt her. She certainly was able to stoop down, pick up that
+ball and throw it in the pond--and it was a new ball. I ran toward her
+and apologised the best I could, and what she said to me made a lasting
+impression. I suppose, Smith, that it was the most expensive sliced ball
+ever driven on these links?"
+
+"Very likely," I sadly replied. "The following day I received a letter
+from Aunt Sarah Emeline informing me that she had cut me out of her
+will. And you still slice abominably, Chilvers."
+
+"Thus you see that Smith has solid reasons for his prejudice against the
+gentler sex as golfists," concluded Chilvers.
+
+I entered a general denial, and the conversation drifted into other
+channels. As a matter of fact, my dislike of the woman golfer is based
+on different grounds.
+
+A pretty woman is a most glorious creature, and I yield to no one in my
+admiration of the fair sex, but a woman is out of her proper environment
+when she persists in frequenting a golf course designed for men who are
+experts at the game.
+
+When I see women on the broad verandas of the Woodvale Club, or when I
+see them strolling along the shaded paths or indulging in tennis,
+croquet, and other games to which they are physically fitted, I know
+that they possess tact and discrimination, but when I see them ahead of
+me on the golf links--well, it is different.
+
+Women may gain in health by attempting to play golf, but they do so at
+the expense of shattered masculine nerves and morals. When our board of
+management decided to permit the ladies to have free use of the course
+at all times except when tournaments are in progress, I resigned as
+director, but what good did it do?
+
+A woman never is so tenacious of her rights as when she is in the wrong.
+I wonder if that is original?
+
+I know of no agony more acute than to be condemned to play golf with
+women when there is a chance to get in a foursome with good scratch men.
+The dyspeptic compelled to fast while watching the progress of a
+banquet, must suffer similar torture.
+
+"What's the use of sitting here and talking?" demanded Chilvers. "It has
+cooled off; let's have a foursome. Marshall and I will play you and
+Boyd, Smith. What do you say?"
+
+At this instant the head waiter appeared and said Mr. Thomas wished me
+to come to his table for a moment. Thomas was on the other side of the
+veranda, but I had a suspicion of what was in store for me and arose
+with a sinking heart.
+
+Thomas is the only good player in the club who is willing to make up a
+foursome with women, or, as it is most properly called, a "mixed
+foursome." I never saw one which was not mixed before many holes had
+been played.
+
+Just as I anticipated, I found Thomas at a table with Miss Ross and Miss
+Dangerfield. Both are so pretty it is a shame they attempt to play golf.
+
+"We are planning a foursome and Miss Dangerfield has chosen you for her
+partner," began Thomas, who knows exactly how I feel about such matters
+and who delights to lure me into trouble.
+
+"If you and Miss Dangerfield will give Miss Ross and me two strokes,"
+proposed Thomas, "we will play you for the dinners."
+
+I felt sure it was a put-up job, but what could I say?
+
+"I did not dare choose you for my partner, Mr. Smith," interposed Miss
+Dangerfield. "I know it is tiresome for a good player to go pottering
+around the links with women at his heels, and only suggested a game if
+you had no other engagements."
+
+"Mr. Smith dare not plead another engagement," asserted Miss Ross, her
+dark eyes flashing a challenge. She is a lovely girl, but digs up the
+turf terribly.
+
+"Smith has no game on. He has been over there talking for an hour,"
+added Thomas, before I could say a word. I could have murdered him.
+
+"I am delighted, and it is kind of you to ask me," I lied most
+effusively. "It is an easy game for us, Miss Dangerfield."
+
+"Do not be too sure," scornfully laughed Miss Rosa. "Mr. Thomas is a
+splendid player."
+
+"But he cannot equal Mr. Smith," declared my loyal partner. "Oh, Mr.
+Smith, I have heard so much of your long drives and wonderful approach
+shots! It is so good of you to play with us."
+
+"It is an unexpected pleasure," I replied, rather ashamed of myself.
+
+I have no patience to describe in detail the game which followed. I am
+usually sure on a drive, but I topped five out of the eighteen and
+popped half of the others into the air.
+
+Miss Dangerfield distinguished herself by missing her ball four
+successive times from the tee. This is not the female record for this
+feat, so I am informed, but it is a very creditable performance for a
+young lady who selects a scratch player for her partner.
+
+Miss Ross played my ball by mistake on two occasions, and on one of them
+succeeded in almost cutting it in half. It is a mystery to me why a
+woman cannot keep track of her own ball, when as a rule she does not
+knock it more than twenty yards.
+
+The ball she hits is usually a dirty, hacked-up object, but when she
+goes to look for it she imagines that by some miracle it has been
+transformed into a clean, white, and unmarked sphere, which has been
+driven for the first time.
+
+Carter arrived at the club shortly after our "mixed foursome" had
+started out. He took my place, he and Boyd playing Marshall and
+Chilvers. Our orbits crossed several times.
+
+Miss Dangerfield found three balls. One of them belonged to Chilvers,
+and he saw her find it, but he is a perfect gentleman and did not say a
+word. It was the one redeeming incident in the game.
+
+Miss Dangerfield confided to me that she is making a collection of
+balls.
+
+"I am awfully lucky," she said, looking critically at Chilvers' ball.
+"Whenever I find one I keep it as a memento of the game; that is, of
+course, if it is nice and clean like this one."
+
+"As a memento?" I inquired.
+
+"Certainly," she declared. "I have a cute little brush and some water
+colours. I paint the date of discovery on the ball and add it to my
+collection. Sometimes I paint flowers on the ball, and sometimes birds
+and other things. You should see my collection! Don't you think it's a
+real cute idea?"
+
+"It is startlingly original," I said, and her bright and innocent smile
+showed her appreciation of the compliment. "How many have you in your
+collection?"
+
+[Illustration: "Fore there! hay there!!"]
+
+"Oh, lots and lots of them," she said. "I am to have a portrait of
+myself done in oil, showing me in a golfing costume just about to knock
+the ball as far as I can, and the frame will be composed of golf balls I
+have found. Oh, here's another lost ball!" and she started for one which
+was lying on the fair green not many yards away. I knew to whom it
+belonged.
+
+"Fore! Fore! Hi, hay there; drop it; that's my ball!" yelled a club
+member named Pepper, coming on a run from behind a bunker. Pepper is a
+married man, near the fifty-year mark, and he is extremely nervous and
+even irritable when any one approaches his ball.
+
+"Don't touch it!" shouted Pepper, now on a dead run. "You'll make me
+lose the hole! Don't you know the make of the ball you're playing? Mine
+is a Kempshall remade."
+
+"Oh, this is not my ball," frankly declared Miss Dangerfield. "My ball
+is over there, but I thought this was one which had been lost."
+
+"I pitched it out of that trap a moment ago," insisted Pepper, "and did
+not take my eyes off it."
+
+"I am sure I do not want it if it is yours!" haughtily declared Miss
+Dangerfield, turning indignantly away.
+
+"Thank you," said Pepper, politely as he knows how, and we went on our
+way leaving him to recover his composure as best he could. I looked back
+and noted that he fumbled his next shot.
+
+"If I thought as much as that of a mere golf ball I would never play
+the game," pouted Miss Dangerfield. "I think he is horrid, and I shall
+never speak to him again!"
+
+"If he had lost the ball he would have lost the hole," I explained,
+anxious to extenuate Pepper's offense as much as possible.
+
+"Suppose he did lose the old hole!" exclaimed the wronged young lady.
+"What does it amount to if you lose one insignificant hole when there
+are eighteen in all?"
+
+I could think of nothing else to say, and had the tact to change the
+conversation to the unique frame for her portrait with its "lost ball"
+border.
+
+"You will save material and secure a more artistic effect," I suggested,
+"by having an artisan cut the balls in halves. They will then lie flat
+to the frame, and one ball will do the service of two."
+
+Miss Dangerfield was so taken with this idea that she speedily forgot
+that brute Pepper.
+
+Coming in we were passed by Marshall, Chilvers, Carter, and Boyd. How I
+envied them! We stood and silently watched while each made ripping long
+drives. There is nothing which contributes more to a man's good opinion
+of himself than to line a ball straight out two hundred yards when a
+bevy of pretty girls is watching him.
+
+The tendency of the woman golfer to frankly express her admiration for
+the strength and skill of a man who can drive a clean and long ball is
+her great redeeming trait when on the links.
+
+The man who is careless of the praise of his male peers is prone to be
+raised to the seventh heaven of golf bliss when listening to the
+long-drawn chorus of "Oh!" "Wasn't that splendid!" "I could just die if
+I could drive like that!" and similar expressions from dainty maidens
+who do not know the difference between a follow through and a jigger.
+
+An ideal golf course would be one where the members of the fair sex are
+content to group themselves about the driving tees and award an honest
+meed of praise and applause to their fathers, husbands, or sweethearts.
+
+"You're up, Thomas," I said when the crack foursome was out of range.
+
+Thomas basted out a screecher, and Miss Ross followed with the best shot
+she ever made. Miss Dangerfield missed as usual.
+
+"I'm awfully sorry," she said, "but I'm sure you will do better than Mr.
+Thomas."
+
+In my anxiety to verify her prediction I pressed, topped my ball, and it
+rolled into the bunker. Chilvers looked back and grinned and then said
+something to Marshall at which both of them laughed.
+
+Of course we were beaten, and beaten disgracefully. Miss Dangerfield did
+not take it the least to heart, but the dinner did not cost her
+thirty-two dollars. Not that I care for the money, but it is the first
+time this year that my score has been more than ninety.
+
+I can take Thomas out alone and beat him so badly he will not dare turn
+in his score, but in a mixed foursome he can put it all over me.
+
+It does not take much to throw a man off his golf game. For instance: My
+private secretary came up from the city early this morning. Among other
+matters he called my attention to the fact that my N.O. & G. railway
+stock has dropped three points during the week. I seldom indulge in
+stock speculation, but was induced to buy two thousand shares of this
+security on what I believed to be inside information. The stock is now
+selling at five points below my purchase price, a paper loss of $10,000.
+
+"Your brokers inform me that unless you desire to take your losses it
+will be necessary to put up a ten-point margin," said my secretary.
+
+"That means a cheque for $20,000, I presume," I observed, making a
+hurried calculation. He said it did, and I gave it to him.
+
+As soon as he had gone I went out with Kirkaldy, our club professional,
+and played a few holes before luncheon, hoping to get that confounded
+N.O. & G. stock affair out of my mind so that I could play a good game
+in the afternoon. I made the fifth hole in five, which reminded me that
+the cursed stock had dropped five points. As a consequence I drove wide
+on the next hole, and Kirkaldy won half a dozen balls from me.
+
+In order to play a perfect game of golf one's mind must reflect no
+outside matter, and I shall sell that miserable stock the moment I can
+get out without serious loss. This should be a lesson to me.
+
+I saw Carter a few minutes ago and he tells me he understands that the
+famous Grace Harding does play golf. My worst fears are confirmed.
+
+I shall now clean my clubs and go to bed.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. II
+
+MAINLY ABOUT SMITH
+
+
+It has rained all day and nothing of interest has happened. The ladies
+are clustered on the sheltered side of the veranda. Some are reading,
+others are engaged in fancy work. The leading topic of discussion is the
+coming of the Hardings--or rather a fruitless inquiry as to what gowns
+and how many Miss Grace Harding will wear.
+
+They are due to-morrow. I wonder if old Harding knows anything about
+N.O. & G. stock? He probably does--and will keep it to himself.
+
+There being nothing else to write about I shall write of myself.
+
+As Chilvers said yesterday, I was born on the farm which now constitutes
+the Woodvale golf links. When my father died he willed this land and
+other property to me. I take it that a man has a right to do as he
+pleases with his own.
+
+The old farm makes a sporty golf course, and I cannot say that I have
+ever regretted my action in signing the lease which transfers its use to
+the Woodvale Golf and Country Club for a long term of years.
+
+I doubt if the two hundred odd acres ever yielded so large an income as
+I now receive semi-annually from the treasurer of the club, but this
+does not appeal to my Uncle Henry.
+
+"It is an outrage," he once said to me, with unnecessary adjectives, "to
+use the fine old farmhouse, sacred to long generations of Smiths, as an
+ell to a club house."
+
+He said other things which I will not repeat. He is a banker, and I
+sincerely hope Chilvers does not hit him with a golf ball. That infernal
+slice of Chilvers' has already cost me one legacy.
+
+I have traced my ancestry as far back as I dare, and have a certain
+amount of reverence for hallowed traditions and all that sort of thing.
+I must admit there have been times when I have almost imagined that the
+shades of three generations of more or less distinguished Smiths were
+holding an indignation meeting to protest against this golf invasion of
+their mundane haunts.
+
+Where my great-grandmother once sang over her spinning wheel there has
+been installed a modern shower bath. The huge old-fashioned dining-room,
+with its cavernous fireplace, is now lined on three sides with lockers.
+The place above it which was once filled with the blackened oil portrait
+of our original Smith is now adorned with an engraving of Harry Varden
+at the finish of his drive.
+
+This picture of Varden's is said to be the best likeness yet produced
+of this truly remarkable man. I have studied it for hours, but cannot
+understand how he can grip a club as he does without hooking his ball.
+
+All the bed-chambers on the second floor have been thrown into one large
+room, which is used as a gymnasium. As near as I can make out, the place
+where I once knelt to say my prayers is now occupied by a punching bag.
+
+The ceiling has been removed, which, of course, does away with the
+attic, and trapeze ropes now hang from rafters where successive
+grandmothers suspended peppermint, pennyroyal and other weeds and herbs
+possessing medicinal or culinary virtues.
+
+I confess it does look a bit odd, but it makes a ripping good gym.
+
+Certain it is that the old farm never looked as beautiful as it does
+now. The cow pasture once flanked with boggy marshes has been drained
+and rolled until the turf is smooth as velvet. The cornfields have
+disappeared. The straggling stone walls have been converted into
+bunkers, and the whole area has been converted into a park.
+
+Old Bishop owns the adjoining farm, and whenever he sees our employees
+at work with rollers or grass-mowers he is overcome with rage.
+
+"The best tract of land for corn, oats or hay in the county!" he
+exclaims, "and you have made it the playground of a lot of rich dudes!
+Jack, I should think your father would turn over in his grave. I'd like
+to run a plow an' harrer over them puttin' greens of yours, as ye call
+them. You've wasted enough manure on that grass to make me rich."
+
+Bishop does not understand or appreciate the beauties and niceties of
+golf.
+
+The first tee is under an elm which was planted by the Smith who was
+born in 1754, and who served under Washington. Facing it is the quaint
+old country church where the Father of our Country has attended many
+services, and in which my parents were married.
+
+A straight drive of one hundred and thirty yards will carry the lane and
+insure a good lie, but a sliced ball is likely to go through a window of
+the church. However, the church is no longer used, and besides there is
+no excuse for slicing a ball. Some of the members assert that the old
+belfry is a "mental hazard."
+
+On the second hole it is necessary to carry the old graveyard. A topped
+ball or even a low one is likely to strike one of the blackened slate
+slabs. The grass is so thick and rank that it is almost impossible to
+find a ball driven into this last resting place of my ancestors.
+
+It makes an ideal hazard.
+
+The second time I ever played this hole I lined out a low ball which
+struck the tombstone of Deacon Lemuel Smith. It bounded back at least
+seventy-five yards, but I had a good lie and my second shot was a
+screaming brassie. It carried the graveyard and landed on the edge of
+the green.
+
+[Illustration: "It makes an ideal hazard"]
+
+After carefully studying my putt I holed out from twenty yards, making
+the hole in three after practically throwing my first shot away.
+
+This ability to recover from an indifferent or unfortunate shot is one
+of the strong points of my game.
+
+The third hole requires a hundred-and-thirty-yard drive over the brook
+where I used to fish when a boy, and on the fourth hole you must carry
+the pond. I came very near being drowned in that pond when a youngster,
+and I firmly believe that this is the reason I so often flub my drive on
+this hole.
+
+But it is unnecessary to describe all of the eighteen holes. The links
+are 3,327 yards out and 3,002 yards in, a long and sporty course, the
+delight of the true golfer and the terror of the duffer.
+
+Woodvale is very exclusive. The membership is limited, and hundreds of
+the best people in the city are on the waiting list. Our club house is
+one of the finest in the country. In addition to the links we have
+tennis courts, croquet grounds, bowling alleys and other games, but why
+one should care to indulge in any game other than golf is a mystery to
+me.
+
+We also have bicycle and riding paths, flower gardens and all the
+luxuries and artificial scenic charms possible from the judicious
+expenditure of nearly four hundred thousand dollars. Nothing can surpass
+it.
+
+I live here during the golfing season, and one is unfortunate if he
+cannot play nine months in the year in Woodvale. In the winter it is
+safer to go to Florida or California, and I propose to do so in the
+future rather than risk a repetition of last season's heavy snows which
+made golf impossible for days at a time.
+
+My suite of rooms in the club house is as finely furnished as any in the
+city, and the service and cuisine are excellent.
+
+One saves a vast amount of time by living in such a club house as that
+of Woodvale. The hours expended by golfers in travelling between their
+places of business and the links will foot up to an enormous total each
+year. I remain here and thus save all that time.
+
+Not that I neglect my business; far from it. Once a week my private
+secretary comes to the club house from my office in the city. He brings
+with him letters and other matters which imperatively demand my personal
+attention, and I sternly abandon all else for the time being.
+
+On the days when he is here I play twenty-four holes instead of the
+usual thirty-six or more, but I find the change diverting rather than
+otherwise. Without claiming special merit for an original discovery, I
+believe I have struck what may be termed the happy medium between work
+and relaxation.
+
+I do not class the keeping of this diary as work for the reason that I
+shall not permit it to interfere with my golf. When I feel disposed to
+make a note of an event, an idea or a score I shall do so, but I do not
+propose to be a slave to this diary.
+
+I have just returned from a walk on the veranda. Miss Ross came to me,
+greatly excited.
+
+"They are here!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Who; the Hardings?" I asked.
+
+"No, their trunks are here. And what do you think?"
+
+"I would not make a guess," I declared.
+
+"Miss Harding has only six trunks, and I had seven myself."
+
+The sweet creature was happy and immensely relieved. I forgot to ask her
+if any golf clubs were included in the Harding luggage.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. III
+
+MR. HARDING WINS A BET
+
+
+I have met Harding, the western railroad magnate, and he is a character.
+His wife is in the city, but will be out here in a few days.
+
+Harding--I call him Mister when addressing him, since he is worth thirty
+millions or more, and he is old enough to be my father--Harding strolled
+out to the first tee early this morning and stood with his hands in his
+pockets watching some of the fellows drive off.
+
+I should judge him to be a man of about fifty-five, or perhaps a year of
+two older. He stands more than six feet, is broad of shoulder and
+equally broad of waist, ruddy of complexion, clear of eye and quick of
+motion. He is of the breezy, independent type peculiar to those who have
+risen to fortune with the wonderful development of our western country,
+and it is difficult to realise that he is a real live magnate.
+
+His close-cropped beard shows few gray hairs, and does not entirely hide
+the lines of a resolute chin. He looks like a prosperous farmer who has
+been forced to become familiar with metropolitan conventionalities, but
+whose rough edges have withstood the friction. His voice is heavy but
+not unpleasant, and his laugh jovial but defiant. He reminds me of no
+one I have seen, and I shall study him with much interest.
+
+He was with Carter, who seemed well acquainted with him, and he greeted
+each drive whether it was good or bad with a sneering smile. This told
+me that he had never played the game, and that he had all of the
+outsider's contempt for it. I knew exactly what he thought, for I was
+once as ignorant and unappreciative as he is now.
+
+A mutual contempt exists between those who play golf and those who do
+not. Those who have not played are sure they could become expert in a
+week, if they had so little sense as to waste time on so simple and
+objectless a game. Those who are familiar with the game know that no man
+living can ever hope to approach its possibilities, and they also know
+that it is the grandest sport designed since man has inhabited this
+globe.
+
+I have sometimes thought that this old globe of ours is nothing more nor
+less than a golf ball, brambled with mountains and valleys, and scarred
+with ravines where the gods in their play have topped their drives. The
+spin around its axis causes it to slice about the sun. This strikes me
+as rather poetic, and when I write a golf epic I shall elaborate on this
+fancy.
+
+Harding has no such conception of this whirling earth of ours. He is
+fully convinced that it was created for the purpose of being
+cross-hatched with railroads, and that it never had any real utility
+until he gridironed the western prairies with ten thousand miles of rust
+and grease. I thought of that as I watched him standing by the side of
+Carter, his huge hands thrust deep in his pockets, his bushy head thrown
+back, and a tolerant grin on his bearded lips.
+
+I was practising putting on a green set aside for that purpose, and
+Carter saw me and motioned me to come to him. He introduced Harding, who
+shook hands and then glanced curiously at my putter.
+
+"What do you call that?" he asked, taking it from my hand. It was an
+aluminum putter of my own design, and I have won many a game with it. I
+told him what it was.
+
+"Looks like a brake shoe on the new-model hand-cars," he said, swinging
+it viciously with one hand. "How far can you knock one of those little
+pills with it?"
+
+"I see that you do not play golf," I said, rather offended at his
+manner.
+
+"No, there are a lot of things I do not do, and this is one of them," he
+replied, and then he laughed. "But let me tell you," he added, "I used
+to be a wonder at shinny."
+
+I would have wagered he would make some such remark.
+
+"Do you see that scar on the bridge of my nose?" he asked. "That came
+from a crack with a shinny club when I was not more than ten years old.
+Shinny is a great game; a great game! It requires quickness of eye and
+limb, and more than that it demands a high degree of courage. It teaches
+a boy to stand a hard knock without whimpering. Yes, sir, shinny is a
+great game, and all boys should play it," and he rubbed the scar on his
+nose tenderly.
+
+A man who would compare golf with shinny is capable of contrasting
+Venice with a drainage canal, and I came near telling him so. Golf and
+shinny! Whist and old maid! Pink lemonade and champagne!
+
+"No, sir, I never could see much in this golf game," said Harding,
+handing back my putter. "It certainly isn't much of a trick to hit one
+of those balls with a mallet like that. When I was your age," turning to
+Carter, "I could swing a maul and send a railroad spike into five inches
+of seasoned oak, and never miss once a week, and I'll bet that if I had
+to I could do it again. That was what your father used to do for a
+living, and if he hadn't worked up from a section boss to the presidency
+of a railroad you would have something else to do besides batting balls
+around a farm and then hunting for 'em. But I suppose you must like it
+or you wouldn't do it."
+
+"I think you would find the game interesting if you took it up,"
+suggested Carter, whose father is nearly as rich as Harding. "Smith and
+I will initiate you into the mysteries of the game."
+
+"Oh, I suppose I'll have to play now that I'm here," he said, with the
+most exasperating complacency. "My daughter plays some, and she is as
+crazy about it as the rest of them. I don't see where the fascination
+comes in. I called the other day on a man who was once in the Cabinet.
+He is rich and famous, and can have anything or do anything he likes,
+but he spends most of his time playing golf. I went to him and attempted
+to induce him to represent us in a big railway lawsuit, but he said it
+would prevent his playing in some tournament where he expected to win
+five dollars' worth of plated pewter. What do you think of that?
+Wouldn't take the case, and there was fifty thousand in it for him! I
+roasted the life out of him."
+
+"'If you would drop this fool game and pay the same amount of attention
+to your political fortunes,' I said to him, 'you would have a right to
+aspire to the Presidency of the United States.' And what do you suppose
+he said to me?"
+
+I assured him that I had not the slightest idea.
+
+"'Mr. Harding,' he said to me in perfect seriousness, when I attempted
+to put this presidential bee in his bonnet, 'Mr. Harding, I would rather
+be able to drive a golf ball two hundred and fifty feet than be
+President of the United States for life.' That's what he said, and I
+told him he was crazy, and he is so mad at me that I don't dare go near
+him."
+
+"Didn't he say two hundred and fifty yards?" asked Carter, who had been
+listening intently. "Two hundred and fifty feet is no drive."
+
+"Mebbe it was yards," admitted Harding, disgusted that Carter ignored
+the point of his story, "but let me tell you that I'd rather be
+President of the United States for one minute than to be able to drive
+one of those little pellets two hundred and fifty miles! I'll tell you
+what I'll do!" he exclaimed, turning fiercely on both of us. "I never
+tried to play this idiotic game in my life, but I'll bet the Scotch and
+soda for the three of us that I can drive a ball further than either of
+you."
+
+"That would hardly be fair," I protested, though I was delighted at the
+chance to take some of the conceit out of him. I have seen many of his
+type before, and it is a pleasure to witness their downfall.
+
+"Why wouldn't it be fair?" he demanded.
+
+"Because you know nothing of the swing of a club or of the follow
+through," I attempted to explain.
+
+"The follow what?" he asked.
+
+"The follow through," I repeated.
+
+"What the devil is the follow through?" he asked, reaching for Carter's
+bag. "Let me take yours and I'll try it anyhow."
+
+"The 'follow through' is not a club," I explained when we had ceased
+laughing, "but it is the trick of sending the face of the club after the
+ball when you have hit it. It is the end of the stroke, and by it you
+get both distance and direction. Without a good follow through it is
+impossible to drive a ball any considerable distance, no matter how
+great the strength with which you hit it. This knack can only be
+acquired after much practise."
+
+"You don't say?" he laughed. "Let me tell you that when I used to play
+baseball I had a 'follow through' which made the fielders get out so far
+when I came to bat that the spectators had to use fieldglasses to see
+where they were. If I hit that golf ball good and fair it will 'follow
+through' into the next county, and don't you forget that I told you so!
+Come on, boys!"
+
+Carter looked at me and winked. There was no one waiting on the first
+tee, and a clear field ahead. It was agreed that Carter should have the
+honour, I to follow, and that Harding should drive last.
+
+Harding stripped off his coat and waistcoat, removed his collar and
+rolled up his sleeves. I was impressed with his magnificent physique,
+and do not recall when I have seen so massive and well-formed a forearm.
+From my bag he selected a driver which I seldom use on account of its
+excessive weight, and looked at it critically.
+
+"Pretty fair sort of a stick," he observed, swinging it clumsily and
+viciously, "but I'd rather have one of those hickory roots we used to
+cut for shinny when I was a boy. Go ahead and soak it, Carter, so that I
+may know what I've got to beat."
+
+I mentally resolved to press even at the chance of flubbing. Carter hit
+the ball too low, and it sailed into the air barely clearing the lane,
+stopping not more than one hundred and fifty yards away.
+
+"That's not so much," said Harding, grimly. "Bat her out, Smith, and
+then watch your Uncle Dudley!"
+
+I carefully teed a new ball and took a practise swing or two. I felt
+morally certain that Harding could not beat Carter's drive, poor as it
+was, but I was anxious to show him how a golf ball will fly when
+properly struck.
+
+I fell on that ball for one of the longest and cleanest drives I ever
+made, and it did not stop rolling until it was twenty yards past the
+two-hundred-yard post. I was properly proud of that shot, and despite
+his loud talk I felt a sort of pity for Harding.
+
+"Is that considered a fairly good shot?" he asked.
+
+"It was a good one for Smith, or for that matter for anyone," replied
+Carter, who was a bit sore that he had fallen down.
+
+"It looks easy for me," calmly declared Harding stepping up to the tee.
+"Can you make as high a pile of sand as you want to?"
+
+"Yes, but it is better to tee it close to the ground," advised Carter.
+"If you tee it high you are apt to go under it."
+
+Ignoring Carter's advice he reached into the box, scooped out a
+double-handful of sand and piled it in a pyramid at least four inches
+high. On the apex of this he placed a new ball I had taken from my bag,
+and which I felt reasonably certain would be cut in two in the
+improbable event that he hit it. He stood back and surveyed his
+preparations with evident satisfaction.
+
+[Illustration: "... but there was blood in his eye"]
+
+It was impossible for Carter and me to keep our faces straight, but
+Harding paid no attention to us.
+
+"I ought to be able to hit that, all right," he said, walking around the
+sand pile and viewing it from all sides. Then he stood back and took a
+practise swing.
+
+He stood square on both feet, his legs spread as far apart as he could
+extend them. He grasped the shaft of the club with both hands, holding
+the left one underneath. His practise swing was the typical baseball
+stroke used by all novices, and I saw at a glance that in all
+probability he would go under his ball.
+
+"The blamed club is too light, but I suppose it's the best you've got,"
+he said. "It feels like a willow switch. Well, stand back and give me
+lots of room. Here goes!"
+
+As he grasped the club I saw the muscles of his right forearm stand out
+like whipcords. His face was wrinkled in a frown, but there was, blood
+in his eye.
+
+Carter and I stood well away so as to escape a flying club-head. I
+cannot describe how Harding made that swing; it was done so quickly that
+I only noted what followed.
+
+When the club came down there was a crack that sounded like a pistol
+shot, and at that instant I noted that the pyramid of sand was intact.
+Then I saw the ball! It was headed straight out the course, curving
+with that slight hook which contributes so much to distance.
+
+When I first caught sight of it I should say it was fifty feet in the
+air and slowly rising. I never saw a ball travel so in my life. We had
+sent a caddy out ahead, and he marked the spot where it landed. It was
+more than twenty-five yards beyond the two-hundred-yard mark, and the
+ball rolled forty-five yards farther, making a total of two hundred and
+seventy yards.
+
+It was within ten yards of the longest drive ever made by Kirkaldy, our
+club professional.
+
+The exertion carried Harding fairly off his feet, and he landed squarely
+on the tee. He half raised himself, and followed the flight of the ball.
+His shirt was ripped open at the shoulder and torn at the neck.
+
+"If I hadn't slipped," he declared, rising to a sitting posture, "I
+could have belted it twice as far as that, but I guess that's enough to
+win."
+
+I heard the rustle of a woman's garment.
+
+"Why, Papa Harding!" exclaimed a voice, musical as a silver bell. "You
+said you never would play golf! You should see how you look!"
+
+I turned and saw Grace Harding. She is the most beautiful creature I
+ever met in my life.
+
+Before any of us could reach him, Harding scrambled to his feet. He was
+streaked with sand, but there was a merry twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Did you see me soak it, Kid?" he asked, brushing the sand from his
+trousers, and fumbling at a broken suspender.
+
+"You are nothing but a great big boy," she declared. "Are you sure you
+are not hurt, papa?"
+
+"Hurt, nothing!" exclaimed Harding, "but I'll bet I hurt that ball. I've
+lost my collar button," he said, pawing about the tee with his feet.
+"Your eyes are sharper than mine, Kid, see if you can find it. It must
+be around here somewhere."
+
+"My friend, Mr. Smith," said Carter, presenting me to Miss Harding. She
+did not bow coldly, as do most young ladies in our set, neither was
+there anything bold in accepting this most informal introduction. She
+acted like a good fellow should act, and frankly offered her hand, her
+eyes dancing with amusement.
+
+"Smith owns this land," volunteered Harding, still hunting for the
+button, "but he was too lazy to work it, so he turned it into a golf
+course. He and Carter are great players, so I have heard, but I have
+been putting it all over them driving a ball, and I didn't half try at
+that."
+
+"Did you hit it, papa?" she asked.
+
+"Did I hit it?" he repeated, "Did I hit it? Ask them if I hit it. Where
+in thunder is that collar-button?"
+
+And then the four of us hunted for that elusive but useful article.
+Miss Harding found it in a tuft of grass, and I stood and stupidly
+watched her while she put it in place, adjusted the collar and tied the
+cravat.
+
+"Papa is very lucky in whatever he undertakes," she said, addressing me
+rather than Carter, so I believe. "I could have warned you that he would
+have beaten you, though I cannot understand how he happened to drive a
+ball as far as that."
+
+She smiled and looked proudly at the huge figure of her father, who
+patted her on the cheek and laughed disdainfully.
+
+Carter made some commonplace remark, but for the life of me I did not
+know what to say. The proud little head, the arched eyebrows, the cheeks
+faintly touched with a healthy tan, the little waist, the slender but
+perfect figure, and the toe of a dainty shoe held me in an aphasic
+spell. But the laughing eyes brought me out of it, and I made one of the
+most brilliant conversational efforts of my career.
+
+"Do you play golf, Miss Harding?" I asked. Having thus broken the ice I
+experienced a vast sense of relief.
+
+"I won a gold cup in a competition in Paris, didn't I, papa?"
+
+"Sure thing," responded her father, "I ought to know; it cost me fifteen
+dollars to pay duty on that ornament."
+
+"And I once made the course in ninety-one," continued Miss Harding.
+
+"I don't know anything about that," said Harding. "Is ninety-one
+supposed to be any good?"
+
+"It is a splendid record for a lady for eighteen holes!" I exclaimed,
+"and it is not a bad score for a man."
+
+"But this was only a nine-hole course," explained Miss Harding, "and
+there were many of the ladies who did not do anywhere near as well as
+that. I have played considerably since then, and am confident that I can
+do much better."
+
+"You'll have to excuse us, Kid," interrupted her father, patting her on
+the arm with his huge hand. "I have important business in the club house
+with these gentlemen, and it is a matter which takes precedence over
+everything else. You can tell Smith about your golf triumphs some other
+time."
+
+He talked to her as if she were a child who was in the way. I suppose it
+does not occur to him that she is a woman grown. I would rather have
+remained where I was and attempted to talk to her, or even look at her,
+than to sip the finest Scotch whiskey ever bottled.
+
+Now that I read this last line it does not convey much of a compliment,
+but I mean all that it implies. She certainly is very pretty. We made
+our excuses to her, and went to the club café, and I have not seen her
+since. She has gone to the city with her mother on a shopping tour and
+will not be back for several days.
+
+I wonder how Carter became acquainted with her. He seems to know her
+very well, and must have met her many times. I should like to ask him,
+but of course that would not be the proper thing to do.
+
+I had no idea that I would write so much as this when I started.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. IV
+
+BISHOP'S HIRED MAN
+
+
+Miss Harding is still in the city, and I have added nothing to this
+diary for several days. She is expected back to-morrow.
+
+I do not know how to account for it, but since the coming of the
+Hardings my game has fallen off several strokes. It seems impossible for
+me to concentrate my mind on my shots.
+
+Ninety-one is very poor golf for nine holes, and I am sure that with
+practice under a capable golfer Miss Harding could do much better. She
+has just the figure for a long, true and swinging stroke. I shall make
+it a point to ask her to play before Carter gets a chance to forestall
+me.
+
+Unless I am entirely in error Carter is badly smitten with Miss Harding.
+It also occurs to me that I have written enough about that young lady.
+
+Mr. Harding is also in the city. I wish I had his opinion about the
+future of N.O. & G. railroad stock. It has gone down another point,
+which means the loss of two thousand dollars to me.
+
+An odd sort of an incident happened yesterday morning. None of the
+scratch players was about, so I accepted an invitation to play a round
+with LaHume and Miss Lawrence. She is a very pretty girl, though in my
+opinion she is not to be compared with Miss Harding. LaHume is devoted
+to her, as much as he can be devoted to any one or anything, and there
+have been rumours now and then that they were engaged or about to be
+engaged, but since it has always been possible to trace these reports
+back to LaHume I have had my doubts of their accuracy. Miss Olive
+Lawrence has inherited a large fortune, and is the master of it and of
+herself.
+
+LaHume has been a persistent fortune hunter, and if patience be a virtue
+he deserves to win. He had a tiff yesterday with Miss Lawrence, and it
+came about curiously enough.
+
+The Bishop farm adjoins the club grounds on the east, and everyone for
+miles about knows Bishop. He has little use for anything but work and
+money, and he always has difficulty in keeping farm labourers, or "hired
+men," as he terms them.
+
+About a month ago he employed a fellow named Wallace, who admitted that
+he did not know much about farming, but who said he was strong and
+healthy and was willing to do the best he could. It was in the haying
+season and Bishop was short of men, so he gave this chap a chance.
+
+I met Bishop one day shortly after he put Wallace to work, and he told
+me something about him.
+
+"He's strong an' willin' enough," said Bishop, as we stood talking over
+the fence, "but he surely is the blamedest, funniest hired man I ever
+had, an' I've had some that'd make a man quit the church. What do you
+think he wants?"
+
+I assured him that I could not imagine.
+
+"Soap in his room, and cake soap at that!" he exclaimed. "If I hadn't
+given it to him he'd a quit, so I had to give it to him. He takes a bath
+every morning, an' shaves. That's what he does! Gets up about four
+o'clock and goes down to the old swimming hole in the crick, paddles
+around a while, an' then comes back to the house an' shaves, an' then
+goes out an' milks an' cleans out the stables. Never saw a man wash his
+hands so much in my life, but accordin' to his lights he's a mighty good
+worker. He eats a lot, but then all hired men eats a lot. An' he reads!
+Brought a big trunk with him, an' in it was a lot of books in French,
+Dutch or some other language that no white man can understand. And
+fight! You know Big Dave Cole, that's been with me for years?"
+
+I assured him that I should never forget "Big Dave" Cole. I have known
+him ever since he went to work for Bishop, and that was when I was a
+boy. From that day he has been the terror of the neighbourhood, and I
+have sometimes thought that even Bishop stood in fear of him.
+
+"Wal," he said slowly and impressively, biting the end from a plug of
+tobacco, "this here Wallace licked the life plumb out of Big Dave no
+more than yesterday, an' Big Dave is that disgusted he has packed up and
+quit me."
+
+"What caused the trouble?" I asked.
+
+"Big Dave called him an English dude, an' it seems that Wallace took
+offense because he's Scotch," explained Bishop, "at least that's what
+the other men who was there when it started said. I couldn't get a word
+outer Wallace, who said he'd quit if I wanted him to, but I told him
+that a man who could lick Big Dave and come out without a scratch had
+the makings of a rattlin' good hired man, an' I raised his wages two
+dollars a month an' gave him Big Dave's room, which is bigger than the
+one he had. If he could milk, an' run a seeder, or a thresher, or stack
+oats an' corn as well as he can fight, I would give him forty dollars a
+month."
+
+This incident was related to me several weeks ago, and I have made it a
+point to study this chap when I have met him. I should say he is about
+my age, twenty-five or so, and I must say that he is a good-looking
+fellow. He is tall, dark of complexion, broad of shoulder and narrow of
+loin, and certainly looks as if he was able to take care of himself. I
+presume that he is some college chap who cannot make his way in the
+profession he has chosen, and who is trying to get a financial start by
+working on a farm.
+
+I am going to have a talk with him at the first opportunity, and if my
+suspicion is verified I shall try to find some way to give him a quicker
+start. I doubt if Bishop is paying him more than twenty dollars a month.
+
+As I started to describe, LaHume, Miss Olive Lawrence and I were playing
+a threesome. It was along about noon when we came to the tenth tee,
+which is located so that a sliced ball may go into or over the country
+road which separates the Bishop farm from the golf course. Miss Lawrence
+is not an accurate player, but she drives as long a ball as any woman
+golfer in Woodvale.
+
+She hit the ball hard, but sliced it, and a strong westerly wind helped
+deflect it to the right. It sailed over the fence, and struck in a
+ploughed field only a few feet from a man whom I recognised as Wallace.
+
+He had evidently been looking in our direction, and he followed the
+flight of the ball. He walked up to it.
+
+"Are you playing bounds?" he shouted, lifting his cap.
+
+"Yes!" answered LaHume, "throw it back!"
+
+Wallace carried a stout stick of some kind in his hand. He looked at the
+end of it critically, placed the ball on a clod of soil, glanced at us
+and called "Fore!" and then lofted that ball with as clean a shot as ever
+I saw, dropping it almost at LaHume's feet. He bowed again, twirled the
+stick about his fingers, and then turned and went toward the farmhouse.
+
+[Illustration: "Fore"]
+
+"Well, what do you think of the cold nerve of that clodhopper?"
+exclaimed LaHume, staring at the retreating figure of Wallace. "I
+presume he has ruined that new ball."
+
+"Not with that stroke," I said. "I wish I could make as good an approach
+with any club in my bag as he did with that improvised cane."
+
+I picked up the ball and found that there was not a blemish on it.
+
+"Wasn't he a handsome young gentleman?" murmured Miss Lawrence, whose
+eyes had been fixed on Wallace until he vanished behind a clump of
+trees. "Who is he?"
+
+"Gentleman?" laughed LaHume, teeing the ball. "He's a farm labourer; old
+Bishop's hired man. One of his duties is to deliver milk every morning
+at the club house."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed Miss Lawrence. "I presume it is impossible for him
+to attend to such duties and remain a gentleman."
+
+"Not impossible, but highly improbable," laughed young LaHume, unaware
+that he was treading on thin ice.
+
+"My father made his start in that way, and before he died there were
+many who called themselves gentlemen who were glad to associate with
+him," declared Miss Lawrence with a warmth uncommon to her. "What did
+your father do?"
+
+"Really now, I did not mean anything," stammered LaHume, the red
+flushing through the tan of his face. It suddenly dawned on me that
+there was a period in the life of my father when he worked as a hired
+man in order to earn the money with which to marry my mother, and that
+from this humble start he was able finally to acquire the ancestral
+Smith farm, then in the possession of a more wealthy branch of the
+family. I made common cause with Miss Lawrence, and I did it with better
+grace from the fact that I resent the airs assumed by LaHume.
+
+"LaHume's father founded the roadhouse down yonder," I said, pointing
+towards a resort which yet goes by the LaHume name, and one which does
+not enjoy a reputation any too savory. Of course this is not the fault
+of the elder LaHume, who has since made a fortune in the hotel business.
+I could see that the shot went home.
+
+"I say, Smith, let's play golf and cut out this family history
+business," protested LaHume, who was fighting angry. "It is your shot,
+Miss Lawrence."
+
+"Don't you think he is handsome, Mr. Smith?" she asked.
+
+"Who; Mr. LaHume?" I returned, not averse to rubbing it into the
+descendant of the roadhouse keeper.
+
+"Of course not," she replied, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I mean
+that lovely hired man."
+
+"He's a rustic Apollo," I said, "and it may interest our friend to know
+that he also combines the qualities of Hercules and Mars."
+
+And while LaHume fumed and Miss Lawrence clapped her hands I told the
+story of the downfall of "Big Dave" at the hands of the quiet and
+cleanly Wallace, making sure that the defeat of the village bully lost
+nothing in its telling.
+
+All the way back to the club house--we did not play out the remaining
+holes--Miss Lawrence plied me with questions concerning Wallace. Of
+course I know that her object was to punish LaHume, and she did it most
+effectively.
+
+She pretended to believe that there is some great romance back of
+Wallace's present status. She pictured him as a Scotch nobleman, or the
+son of one, I have forgotten which, forced by most interesting
+circumstances to remain for a while in foreign lands. She conjured from
+her fancy the castle in which he was born, and over which he will some
+time rule, and I helped her as best I could.
+
+I can see that it will be a long time before LaHume will ask me to make
+up a threesome with Miss Lawrence. I wonder what "the hired man" would
+think if he knew that his lucky stroke with a hickory club had created
+so great a furor? I have a suspicion that this was not a lucky day in
+LaHume's campaign for the Lawrence hand and fortune.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. V
+
+THE EAGLE'S NEST
+
+
+Miss Grace Harding is here again, and I am to play a game of golf with
+her to-morrow. Carter does not know it yet, but that is because I have
+not had a chance to tell him.
+
+Carter is a rattling good fellow and a fine golfer--he has made Woodvale
+in seventy-seven; two strokes better than my low score--but he is a bit
+conceited; he imagines he is a lady's man, and I propose to take him
+down a peg.
+
+I am certain he schemed to play with Miss Harding before I did, and he
+went about it in what he doubtless thought was a diplomatic way. He
+opened his campaign this morning by playing a round with her father.
+Carter furnished clubs and balls for Mr. Harding, who broke two of the
+clubs and lost six new balls, to say nothing of those he mutilated.
+
+Diplomacy is not my long suit. I prefer to carry things by assault. When
+I saw what Carter was up to I formed a plan and put it into operation
+without delay. It was very simple. I walked right up to Miss Harding and
+asked her if she would like to play a round with me. That was this
+morning.
+
+"When?" she asked, with a charming smile which told me victory was in
+sight.
+
+"Right now!" I said, bold as could be.
+
+"You are brave to ask me to play with you, after what I have told you of
+my game," she said, pressing down a worm cast with the toe of her dainty
+shoe. We were standing on the edge of the practise putting green. I am
+no hand to describe a woman's gowns, and in fact know nothing of them,
+but I recall distinctly that she was dressed in blue, with some white
+stuff here and there, and it was very becoming.
+
+"Why?" I inquired.
+
+"If I could play in eighty-five, as you and Mr. Carter do, I would not
+recognise one who requires from one hundred and thirty to one hundred
+and sixty," laughed Miss Harding.
+
+For the life of me I cannot recall what I said in answer to this
+assertion, but it was something stupid, no doubt. She finally promised
+to play with me to-morrow, explaining that she and her father were about
+to go automobiling.
+
+We strolled over to one of the practise tees, and I was delighted when
+she asked me to observe her swing, and advise her how to correct it. I
+spent half an hour doing this, and she made wonderful improvement. I
+hoped Carter would come along and see us, but I saw nothing of him.
+
+While we were there, Marshall, Chilvers and Lawson passed and asked me
+to make up a foursome. For the first time in my life I refused, and the
+way those idiots looked back at me and grinned tempted me to break a
+club over their heads. There is no law to compel a man to play golf if
+he does not wish to. I figured that a rest for half a day would improve
+my game. The fact is, and the best golfers are coming to realise it,
+that a man can play so much that he goes stale.
+
+I have just been looking back over the notes of my second entry in this
+diary of a golfer, and I wish to modify the statement to the effect that
+a woman under no circumstances appears graceful or attractive in golf
+attitudes.
+
+In fact I absolutely repudiate that ungallant and prejudiced assertion.
+In one place I said: "If Miss Harding is beautiful enough to overcome
+the handicap which always attaches to the golf duffer, she can give
+Venus all sorts of odds and beat her handily. I have yet to see the
+woman who shows to advantage with a golf regalia."
+
+I take that back, also.
+
+To see a woman raise a golf club with a jerky, uneven stroke, and come
+down on the helpless turf with the head of it, as if beating a carpet,
+has always given me a chill and a sensation of wild rage, but there is
+something about the way Miss Harding does this which is actually
+artistic. There are combinations of discords which make for perfect
+harmony, and it is the same with the little eccentricities of Miss
+Harding's swing.
+
+[Illustration: "There is no law to compel a man to play golf"]
+
+The poise of the head and shoulders, the sweep of the arms, and the
+undulations of the figure seem to take on an added charm from what might
+be called the "graceful crudity" of her stroke. I do not know why this
+is so, but it is a fact.
+
+I shall never forget the attempt I once made to instruct my sister in
+the rudimentary principles of the swing of a golf club. She was a pretty
+girl; bright, lively and graceful, but after I had given her two lessons
+we were so mad at one another that we did not speak for weeks. It
+seemingly was impossible to make her distinguish between the back sweep
+and the follow through. She would persist in coming down on the tee with
+the face of her club, but at that she made a splendid marriage, and is a
+happy wife and mother.
+
+Miss Harding will make a first-class golf player, and I told her so.
+
+"Do you really think so?" she asked, after several swings, most of which
+would have hit the ball.
+
+"I certainly do," I declared. "All that you need is the constant advice
+of someone who is thoroughly familiar with the technique of the game."
+
+She utterly ignored this hint.
+
+"My one ambition," she said, with a bewitching little laugh, rather
+plaintive, I thought, "is to drive a ball far enough so that there will
+be some difficulty in finding it. It must be jolly to hit a ball
+straight out so far that you cannot tell within yards just where it is.
+Do you know," and she looked really sad, "I have never lost a ball in my
+life?"
+
+"How remarkable!" I exclaimed. "I have known Carter to lose a dozen at
+one game."
+
+"Indeed! I think Mr. Carter is a perfectly splendid player," she
+declared. "I was watching him one day last week. He is so strong,
+confident and easy in his execution of shots. If I could drive like he
+does I would be willing to lose a dozen balls every time I played."
+
+I changed the subject, and was showing her a new way to grip the club
+when I heard a step behind us.
+
+"Hello, Smith! If you are going out in that buzz-wagon with me, Kid, you
+had better drop that stick and get a move on."
+
+Of course it was her father. No one else would dare talk to Miss Harding
+like that. To hear him one would think that she was twelve years old,
+but I suppose fathers can do as they like.
+
+"Fix up a ball, Kid, and let's see how far you can soak it," he said.
+
+"I am just practising the follow through," explained Miss Harding. "Mr.
+Smith has told me many things about the correct way to follow through."
+
+"When your mother was your age she was practising the 'follow through,'
+as you call it, on a scrubbing board over a wash tub," declared Mr.
+Harding, and he said it as if he were proud of it.
+
+"I could do that if I had to," laughed Miss Harding, handing me the
+club. "Thank you, Mr. Smith. To-morrow I expect to show decided
+improvement. Come on, papa!"
+
+"So long, Smith," said Harding. "I'm going to trim you youngsters at
+your own game before I get through with you."
+
+I took a rest all the afternoon so as to be in shape for to-morrow. I
+propose to show Miss Harding that I am the peer of Carter or anyone else
+who plays here.
+
+It never occurred to me that it was possible to get enjoyment out of a
+golf course by any method other than by playing over it, but I had keen
+pleasure all the afternoon in studying the men who frequent the Woodvale
+links. My refusal to play created a sensation, and I enjoyed that.
+
+It is amusing to study the way in which different players go about this
+game. The railway station is only a few hundred yards away, and as I
+watched those men who came on the 1:42 train from the city the thought
+occurred to me that I could have picked out the good players even had I
+been a stranger to those who approached the club house. You can class
+the various types of golfers by their mannerisms, even if you have never
+seen them with a club in their hands. For instance there were two
+members who left the station platform at the same time--Duff and
+Monahan. Both are men of standing in the community, and both are charter
+members. They started to learn the game at the same period, and both
+play at least five afternoons during the season, yet Monahan plays
+consistently in eighty-two, while Duff is fortunate to score in
+ninety-five. Why this woeful inferiority of Duff?
+
+They are great friends and always play together, and they go through the
+same performance every time they reach the grounds.
+
+The moment Monahan left the train he headed for the club house as if it
+were on fire and all of his money in its lockers. Duff says Monahan is
+perfectly quiet and sane until he catches the first glimpse of the
+links, but that his blood then begins to boil, and that he burns in a
+fever of haste to get a club in his hands.
+
+Monahan barely nodded to me as he passed and rushed up stairs. In less
+than two minutes he was back and ready to play. As he tore out he met
+Duff, who had strolled complacently up the walk, stopping now and then
+to speak to a friend or to watch a shot.
+
+Duff's clothes were the model of fashion and good taste. In his hand was
+twirled a cane, and in his lapel was the inevitable boutonniere. He had
+paused to chat with Miss Ross--Duff is married and has a daughter older
+than Miss Ross--and was engaged in a discussion concerning a new play
+when Monahan approached. Monahan had on a golf suit which would cause
+his arrest as a tramp if he wandered from the links.
+
+"Did you come up here to play golf or to pose on the veranda?" demanded
+the indignant Monahan, grasping Duff by the shoulder and swinging him
+half way around. "Please go away from him, Miss Ross; he will talk you
+to death."
+
+Twenty minutes later Duff wandered leisurely out to the first tee, where
+Monahan had been waiting, glaring every few seconds at the club house,
+and swearing under his breath. Duff looked even neater than in his
+street clothes. His shirts, scarfs, trousers, shoes and caps form
+combinations which are sartorial poems.
+
+Duff smiled complacently during the tongue lashing administered by the
+irate Monahan. This happens regularly every time they play. One would
+think that the calm, unruffled Duff would defeat the nervous and
+impatient Monahan, but nothing of the kind happens. The latter exacts
+revenge by beating Duff to a frazzle.
+
+I do not mean to infer that the slow or deliberate person will not make
+a good player, but with deliberation he must have that keen interest
+which dominates all of his faculties.
+
+Marshall, for instance, is the slowest player I ever saw, and one of the
+best. It is tiresome to watch him prepare to make a shot. He averages
+four practise strokes. He has become so addicted to the practise-stroke
+habit that he makes a series of preliminary manoeuvres before carving a
+steak, and he raises his glass and sets it down several times before
+taking a drink. His game is the sublimation of caution. It is the
+brilliancy of care.
+
+Later in the afternoon I wandered down the old lane which bisects the
+links and climbed "The Eagle's Nest," a jagged pile of rocks which rise
+on the southeastern part of the course. When a boy I discovered a way to
+reach the crest of the higher ledge, fully two hundred feet above the
+brook which takes its rambling course to the west. At this altitude
+there is a natural seat, so formed by the rocks that those below cannot
+see the one who uses this as a sentinel box.
+
+It suited my mood to climb there this afternoon. Lazily smoking a cigar
+I drank in the pastoral panorama spread out before me. The old Sumner
+road wound as a dusty-gray ribbon amid fields of grain and corn. Below
+were the pigmy figures of golfers, grotesque in their insignificance,
+striding along like abbreviated compasses.
+
+What dwarfs they were compared with their huge playground; what insects
+they were contrasted to the splendid area within the sweep of the
+horizon; what microbes they were when the eye wandered from them to the
+superb vault of the skies!
+
+I heard the lowing of cattle, and saw the Bishop herd coming over a hill
+from the meadows. The notes of a Scotch air, sung in a clear, mellow
+baritone came to my ears, and a moment later I saw Bishop's "hired
+man," Wallace, driving the kine before him. His cap was in his hand, and
+his jet-black hair fell back from his forehead.
+
+I have no idea what impelled me to do so, but I leaned over the cliff
+and looked below.
+
+Half-way up the gentler slope of "The Eagle's Nest" I saw the figure of
+a girl, or a woman. I keep my eyes on her, and as near as I can
+determine she never once took hers from Bishop's hired man. Not until he
+vanished in the woods which surrounds the farmhouse, did she move. Then
+she turned and slowly picked her way down the rather dangerous path.
+
+It was Miss Olive Lawrence.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. VI
+
+I PLAY WITH MISS HARDING
+
+
+I regret that lack of intimacy with the muses prevents me from recording
+this entry in verse. I have been playing golf with Miss Harding!
+
+Not until this afternoon did I realise that constant association with
+Marshall, Carter, Chilvers, and other hardened golfers has dulled my
+finer sensibilities and deadened my appreciation of the wonderful scenic
+beauties of the Woodvale golf course.
+
+Like the fool bicycle scorcher who tears past beautiful bits of
+landscape, his eyes fixed on the dusty path spurned by his whirring
+wheel, or like the goggled maniac who steers an automobile, I now find
+that I have played hundreds of times over this course without once
+having seen it.
+
+When I was a boy my foolish parents took me on a tour of the continent,
+for the reason, I presume, that they did not dare leave me at home. My
+impression of the colossal splendour beneath the vaulted heights of
+Saint Peter's was that a certain smooth space on the tiled floor offered
+unequalled facilities for playing marbles. I marvelled that baseball
+grounds were not laid out in the noble open spaces surrounding the
+palaces of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. The Swiss Alps had a fascination
+for me by reason of their unsurpassed opportunities for coasting.
+
+It never occurred to me until to-day that nature had any motive in
+planning Woodvale other than to provide a sporty golf course. Miss
+Harding has opened my eyes to the fact that it is one of the most
+beautiful spots on the face of the earth.
+
+When I told Carter I was to play with Miss Harding, he looked sort of
+queer for a moment, and then bet me a box of balls I would not make
+eighty-five. This was the only thing he could think to say. He tried
+hard to conceal his surprise, but I could see that he was hard hit.
+
+He wins the box of balls, all right. As a matter of fact we did not
+finish the round, but I did not tell Carter that. I simply grinned
+happily and told him that he had won.
+
+There is no reason why I should attempt to write an account of this game
+in this diary. I shall never forget the slightest detail of it as long
+as I live.
+
+The night is black as a raven's wing, but I am certain that I can start
+from the first tee and retrace every step made by Miss Harding over the
+fourteen holes played, and I will admit that it was far from a straight
+line. I will wager that I can place my hand on every place where her
+club tore up the turf, and can locate the exact spots where she drove
+out of bounds.
+
+The day was beautiful, the weather perfect. A few fleecy clouds drifted
+across a deep sky. The rich green of the slopes blended into the darker
+shades of the encompassing forests. As a rule, the only thing I can
+recall after a golf game, so far as weather is concerned, is whether it
+rained or if a high wind were blowing. It was different to-day.
+
+I noted that the breeze was just strong enough to ruffle the lace at her
+throat, and that the blue of her gown matched perfectly with cloud, sky,
+and the dominating tones of the undulating carpet on which she tread.
+
+I might play with Marshall or Chilvers a thousand times and not know or
+care if the links were garbed in green or yellow, or if the clouds were
+pink or Van Dyke brown, but as I said before, the only sentiment aroused
+by association with these vindictive golf fiends is a wild and
+unreasoning desire to beat the life out of them at their own game. I
+dislike to say it, but they have never inspired in me one sentiment of
+which I am proud.
+
+At my suggestion we decided to start at the third tee. The first one
+requires a long drive to carry the lane, and on the second it is
+necessary to negotiate the old graveyard, and I disliked to put Miss
+Harding to so severe a test on the start.
+
+As I made a tee for her and carefully placed a new white ball on it, I
+could not help think of the many times I have sneered and laughed at
+Thomas, who is the only good player in the club who has really seemed to
+enjoy a game of golf with one of the opposite sex.
+
+I can see now that I have been very unfair to Thomas.
+
+The man who refuses to play golf with a woman, or who even hesitates,
+and who justifies such conduct on the plea that she cannot play well
+enough to make the contest an equal one--well, he has none of the finer
+instincts of a gentleman.
+
+I told Marshall and Chilvers so this evening, and they laughed at me.
+
+Both of these men are married, and both used to play golf with their
+sweethearts when they were engaged. Once in a great while they now play
+a round with the alleged partners of their joys and sorrows, but they do
+it as if it were a penance, and seem immensely relieved when the ordeal
+is over. It is pitiful to watch these two ladies forced to play
+together, while their lords and masters indulge in fierce foursomes,
+waged for the brute love of victory--and incidentally, perhaps for a
+ball a hole.
+
+If I ever marry I shall play with the habitual golfer only when Mrs.
+Smith is disinclined to favour me with her society on the links.
+Chilvers and Marshall say that they made the same resolution--and kept
+it nearly six months. Let them watch me.
+
+Miss Harding missed the ball entirely the first time she swung at it,
+and both of us laughed heartily.
+
+Now that I come to think of it, nothing used to infuriate me more than
+to have to wait on a tee for a woman who was wildly striking at a ball.
+But one must learn, and it is no disgrace for a lady to miss so small
+an object as a golf ball.
+
+She hit the ball on the second attempt. It did not go far, it is true,
+but it went gracefully, describing a parabolic curve considerably to the
+right of the line of the green.
+
+Then I drove a long, straight ball, and felt just a little bit ashamed
+of myself. It seemed like taking an unfair advantage of my fair
+opponent. In fact it seemed a brutal thing to do, but she expressed
+delight.
+
+"That was splendid, Mr. Smith!" she declared, as my ball stopped
+rolling, more than two hundred yards away. "I know that my poor little
+game will bore you to death, but you invited this calamity."
+
+"I only wish that--that I----" and then I stopped in time to keep from
+saying something foolish.
+
+"Well?" she said, a smile hovering on her lips.
+
+"I only wish that I could drive as far as that every time," I continued,
+"and--and that you could drive twice as far."
+
+"What an absurd wish!" declared Miss Harding.
+
+It was worse than absurd; it was stupid! Imagine a woman driving a ball
+four hundred yards! I would never dare marry such a woman, and I came
+near making some idiotic remark to that effect, but luckily at that
+moment we came to her ball. I selected the proper club for her, jabbered
+something about how to play the shot, and thus got safely out of an
+awkward situation.
+
+At my suggestion we were playing without caddies. There are times when
+these little terrors take all of the romance out of a situation, and I
+did not wish to be bothered with them.
+
+On her fourth shot Miss Harding landed her ball in the brook, and it
+took quite a time to find it. While we were looking for it Boyd and
+LaHume arrived on the tee, and I motioned them to drive ahead.
+
+I have seen this brook a thousand times. It was my greatest source of
+amusement and mischief when a boy, but never until this afternoon did I
+observe its perfect beauty. Heretofore it has been no more nor less than
+a ribbon of water with weed-lined banks and tall rushes, into which a
+poor player is likely to drive a ball and lose one or more strokes. It
+is one of our "natural hazards," and I have thought no more of it than I
+would of the cushion on a billiard table.
+
+I shall never cross that brook again without thinking of her face as I
+saw it mirrored in the shadows of the old stone bridge. The reflection
+was framed with delicate interfacings of water cress, while in the bed
+of the stream the smooth pebbles gleamed like pearls. The pointed reeds
+nodded and waved in the gentle breeze.
+
+Now that I think of it, I have cursed those reeds many, many times while
+hunting for a lost ball.
+
+"Is it not beautiful?" I exclaimed to Miss Harding.
+
+"That drive of Mr. Boyd's?" she asked in reply. Boyd had made a ripper,
+which went sailing over our heads. "It was a lovely drive! He has beaten
+you by several yards."
+
+"I meant the brook," I said.
+
+"The brook?" she exclaimed. "I am surprised, Mr. Smith! I had no idea
+that a confirmed golfer could find beauty in anything outside of a
+drive, brassie, approach or putt."
+
+"You malign us, Miss Harding," I declared, looking first in her eyes and
+then in her mirrored image in the water. "From where I stand that brook
+is the most lovely thing in the world, except--except----"
+
+"Mr. LaHume has put his ball square on the green on his second shot!"
+interrupted Miss Harding, clapping her hands in excitement.
+
+I do not know whether she knew what I was going to say or not. I wish I
+had the nerve to finish some of the fine speeches and compliments I plan
+and begin, but as a rule I end them without a climax.
+
+We found the ball and I dropped it a few yards back of the brook. She
+promptly drove it into the brook a second time, and what became of it
+will always remain a mystery to me. It did not go more than fifteen
+feet, and we looked and looked but could not find it, so I smiled and
+dropped another one, and this time she made a really good shot.
+
+Counting all of the strokes and penalties it took Miss Harding fifteen
+to make that hole, the bogy for which is four, but I assured her that I
+have known men to do worse, and I believe the statement a fact, though I
+cannot recall at this moment who did it in such woeful figures.
+
+Miss Harding insisted in trying to drive over the pond on the fourth
+hole, and said she would gladly pay for all the balls that went into it,
+but of course I would not listen to that. The pond is very shallow at
+this season of the year, and in fact is a mud hole in most places, and
+it is therefore impossible to recover a ball which fails to carry less
+than eighty yards.
+
+She barely touched the ball on her first attempt, and I got it after
+wading in the mud to my shoe tops. Then she hit it nicely, but it failed
+to carry the pond by a few yards, and disappeared in the ooze.
+
+"I thought I could do it, but I give it up," she said, and I could see
+that she was disappointed.
+
+"Try it again," I insisted, teeing up a new one. "Keep your eye on the
+ball when your club comes down, and don't press."
+
+She made a brave effort, but hit the ball a trifle on top. It struck the
+water, ricochetted and eventually poised itself on a mud bank. I recall
+how white it looked against the black slime with lily pads in the
+background, but I saw at a glance that it would remain there, so far as
+we were concerned.
+
+[Illustration: "We rested on top of the hill"]
+
+Against her protest I teed another ball, but she went under it and it
+met the fate of its predecessors. It took all my eloquence to induce her
+to make the five attempts which followed, and then I made the discovery
+that I had brought only eight new balls with me. So I excused myself and
+went back to the club house and bought a box of a dozen, but nothing
+would change her determination not to try it again.
+
+I am firmly convinced that with a little luck she could have done it,
+but it was the first time Miss Harding had played this course, and that
+makes lots of difference.
+
+Of the various incidents in this most delightful game nothing gave me
+more keen enjoyment than when Miss Harding played Carter's ball. It was
+by mistake, of course. Nature has implanted in woman an instinct which
+leads her to play any ball rather than her own. The ball thus selected
+is generally without a blemish, and it has been ordained that a weak
+little creature can with one stroke cut that sphere in halves.
+
+That is what happened to Carter's ball when Miss Harding played it by
+mistake, and I never laughed more heartily. Carter smiled and bowed and
+pretended to be amused, but I knew he was not.
+
+We rested on top of the hill after this exploit and talked of the rare
+view and of other topics which had nothing whatever to do with golf.
+Never before have I rested during a game, and I did not think it
+possible. I have been on that hill innumerable times, but it never
+occurred to me to take more than a passing glance at the inspiring
+vista which spreads away to the north and west.
+
+We talked of poetry and of art. Think of sitting with a golf club in
+your hand, resting a few rods from a tee where a clean shot will carry
+the railway tracks a hundred feet below and land your ball on a green
+two hundred and eighty yards from the tee--it is one of the finest holes
+in the country--think of idling an hour away on the most perfect golf
+afternoon you ever saw, and repeating line after line of verse
+descriptive of "meadows green and sylvan shades," and all that sort of
+thing!
+
+We did that! I would not believe it, but I actually felt sorry for the
+chaps who went past us, their minds absorbed in the mere struggle to see
+which would take the fewer numbers of strokes in putting golf balls in
+certain round holes. Honestly I pitied them.
+
+And they envied me. I could see that. The arrival of Miss Harding has
+created a sensation, and it was no small honour to play the first game
+with her. Of course Marshall, Chilvers, Pepper and other married men
+hardly noticed me, but Thomas, Boyd, Roberts and such young gallants
+smiled, bowed and looked longingly in my direction.
+
+It took us more than five hours to play twelve holes, and I have played
+twice around in less than that. I have not the slightest idea what my
+score is, and that is something which never before happened to me.
+Carter wins a dozen balls, and he can have them, or a dozen dozen for
+all I care.
+
+Miss Harding has promised to play with me again.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. VII
+
+TWO BOYS FROM BUCKFIELD
+
+
+When Harding was in the city he purchased a huge golf bag, the most
+wonderful assortment of clubs imaginable, also two golf suits and a
+bewildering array of shirts, caps, scarfs, shoes and other articles that
+some dealers assured him were necessary for the proper playing of the
+game.
+
+"If I have got to play this fool game, and I suppose there is no way I
+can get out of it," he said to me, looking down disdainfully at his
+knickerbockered legs and taking an extra hitch on his new leather belt,
+"I may as well have the regulation uniform. How do I look?"
+
+I told him the suit was very becoming. He was a sight! On his huge,
+bushy head was a Scotch cap, and it is certain that no clan stands
+sponsor for that bewildering plaid. The silk shirt was a beauty, but it
+did not harmonise with the burning red of his coat, with its cuffs and
+collar of vivid green.
+
+His trousers were of another plaid, but I should say that his stockings
+were the dominating feature of his make-up. They were of green and gray,
+the stripes running around instead of up and down, the effect being, of
+course, to emphasise the appearance of stoutness. When you pull a thick
+stocking or legging over an eighteen-inch calf you have done something
+which compels even those who are near-sighted and blasé to sit up and
+give attention.
+
+Harding's feet are of generous proportions, and his tan shoes with their
+thick, broad soles armed with big spikes to keep him from slipping
+looked most impressive.
+
+He was the personification of newness. The leather of his bag was
+flawless, and the grips of his clubs were new and glossy. The steel and
+nickel of his iron clubs shone without one flaw to dim their lustre. In
+the pocket of his bag were a dozen new balls, so white and gleaming that
+it seemed a shame to use them. I could see that the art collection of
+balls being made by Miss Dangerfield would take on a boom from the
+advent of Harding.
+
+"Tell you what I want to do, Smith," said Harding, as we stood on the
+veranda of the club house, early this forenoon. "I want to find some
+place where I can soak a ball as far as I can and not have it stopped by
+a hill or a brook, or something like that. I haven't been over this
+place yet, but isn't there some smooth, level place where a ball would
+naturally roll a quarter of a mile or so if you hit it good and hard?"
+
+"The eighteenth hole is six hundred and thirty-two yards--one of the
+longest in the country," I said, "and it is smooth as a barn floor after
+you carry the railroad tracks. That is a long carry, and most players go
+short and take the tracks on their second shot."
+
+"Six hundred odd yards," he mused. "Let's see; over a third of a mile,
+eh?"
+
+I said that it was, and a par hole in six.
+
+"Anybody ever drive it yet?" he asked.
+
+"Drive it?" I repeated, laughing. "Well, I should say not! I have
+reached the green in three only twice in all the times I have played it,
+and am well satisfied to be there in four."
+
+"That proves nothing to me," he said, looking me over, "but you're a
+pretty husky-appearing chap at that. You're nearly six feet, aren't you,
+Smith?"
+
+"A quarter of an inch more than six feet in my stockings," I said.
+
+"And how much do you weigh?"
+
+"One hundred and eighty-five."
+
+"You'd ought to be able to drive a ball farther than you do," he said,
+with the air of one who had mastered the game in all its details. There
+is not a man in the club who can consistently out-drive me, and I'll
+wager that Kirkaldy himself cannot average ten yards more than I do, but
+what was the use of arguing with Harding?
+
+It was easy to see that this magnate actually believed that his first
+stroke at a golf ball was no accident, and was confident that with a
+little practice he could far surpass that terrific drive of two hundred
+and seventy yards. But though I well knew what was coming to him I held
+my peace.
+
+I asked Kirkaldy if he had ever known of a happening similar to
+Harding's now famous drive. He said he could not recall when a duffer
+had reached so great a distance, but it was not unusual for a husky
+novice to drive a few good balls before he began to attempt an
+improvement of a natural, but of course crude, stroke.
+
+"But," I asked Kirkaldy, "how did Harding manage to drive it so far?"
+
+"Strength and luck, mon," said our Scotch professional, "the more luck.
+It war th' same as when ye won a match with me by makin' th' last three
+holes in less than bogy. Luck, mon, is yer truest friend."
+
+I think Kirkaldy is right.
+
+"I never like to take up a thing unless it is difficult," said Harding,
+as we started for the eighteenth tee. "I like to do the things other men
+say cannot be done, and without blowing my own horn I have done a few of
+them. I am fond of work, but when I play I play with all my might. The
+boy who is not a good player will never make a good worker. You take a
+boy who is playing baseball, for instance. I can watch a game among
+youngsters and pick out those who are likely to win out later on in
+life."
+
+"How?" I interrupted.
+
+"By the way they go at it. The one who covers the most ground on a ball
+field will cover the most ground later on in whatever he undertakes. The
+one who plays to win, who takes chances even at the risk of making
+errors is the coming man. The boy who sits down in the out-field, on the
+theory that a ball is not likely to come in his direction, will be poor
+all his life. The boy who plays an unimportant position as if his very
+existence depended upon it will get along all right, and don't you
+forget it. But this golf game is so simple that it does not call on a
+man to let himself out. Billiards is my game. Billiards is a game of
+endless possibilities, and no matter how well a man plays there is
+always room for improvement."
+
+That made me mad, and I resented this assertion the more for the reason
+that I once held the same views as he then expressed. I went right at
+him.
+
+"When you have played as many games of golf as you have of billiards," I
+said, and I play a fair billiard game myself, "you will not mention them
+in the same breath. Let me assure you, Mr. Harding, that golf is the
+most difficult game in the world, and you have only the slightest
+conception of what you must master before you can play more than an
+indifferent sort of a game."
+
+He smiled indulgently.
+
+"What is there hard about it?" he demanded. "In billiards, for instance,
+you--"
+
+"You play billiards on a table which is not more than five feet by ten,"
+I broke in, "and you play golf on a table which may cover two hundred
+acres of hills, woods, marshes, ponds, brooks, and meadows. You play
+billiards in a room which is always at about the same temperature, and
+where there is not a breath of air stirring. You play golf out-of-doors,
+where it may be one hundred in the shade or far below freezing; under
+conditions of perfect calm, or with winds ranging all the way from a
+zephyr to gales from every point of the compass."
+
+"There is something in that," he admitted, "but you need not get mad
+about it, Smith."
+
+"Your billiard table is always the same," I continued. "It consists of
+the cloth and four cushions, and they are smooth as art can make them.
+Your golf course is never the same on any two days, and would not be if
+you played through all eternity. Sometimes the grass in a certain place
+is long, and sometimes it is short; sometimes it is thick, and again it
+is thin; sometimes the ground is hard from lack of rain, and again it is
+soft and spongy from an excess of rain. There are millions of variations
+in these conditions, and every one of them must be considered in making
+a perfect shot."
+
+"Yes, I suppose that is so," he admitted, and I could see I had started
+him thinking.
+
+"There are days when the air is light," I went on, "and when a certain
+stroke will send the ball where you wish it to go. There are other days
+when the air is heavy, and when a hit ball seems to have no life in it.
+You must allow for the force and direction of every slant of wind. There
+are conditions of atmosphere when objects seem near, and others when
+they seem far away, and you must take this into account."
+
+He was silent, and I went on.
+
+"On a billiard table your ball is always within easy reach. You stand on
+a level floor and play on a level table. In golf your ball never lands
+in the same place twice. It may be above you, or below you. It may lie
+in any one of ten million separate conformations of ground, and for each
+you must exercise judgment. Your clubs change in weight as you clean
+them; no two golf balls have the same degree of elasticity when new, and
+as you use them it decreases. But more than all else, you are not the
+same man physically or mentally on any two days. A slight increase in
+weight, the wearing of an extra garment, the congestion of a muscle or
+the stiffening of a chord may be sufficient to throw you off your stroke
+and seriously impair your game."
+
+"Nonsense; I don't believe it," he declared. "When I once find out how
+to make a certain shot I will keep right on improving until I have it
+perfect."
+
+"If that were possible golf would lose its charm," I said. "A man will
+go on making a certain shot with almost perfect accuracy for months, and
+all at once lose the knack of it, and not be able to recover it for
+months, and perhaps never. In order to hit a golf ball accurately there
+are scores of muscles which must act in perfect accord, and the several
+parts of the body must maintain certain positions during the various
+parts of the stroke. If the shoulder drops the quarter of an inch, if
+the heel rises too soon by the minutest fraction of a second, if either
+hand grasping the club turns in any degree the stroke is ruined. You
+will hit the ball, but it will not go the distance or the direction
+required."
+
+"Must be a mighty hard game, from all that you say," he laughed, grimly.
+"Guess I'd better go back and not try it, but I notice that there was
+nothing the matter with the position of my muscles, cords, hands and the
+rest of my anatomy the other day when I whacked that ball out of sight.
+And I can do it again, Smith, and don't you forget it."
+
+I preferred to await the arbitrament of events so far as that boast was
+concerned.
+
+We had arrived at the eighteenth tee, and he looked over the field with
+much satisfaction. The railroad embankment is about one hundred and
+fifty yards from the tee, and few try to carry it. The old post road
+runs parallel to the line of this hole, and forms the western boundary
+of the Woodvale links. There is no bunker save the railroad bank for the
+entire distance, and it is an ideal hole for the golf "slugger."
+
+"Where is the green?" asked Harding, standing on the elevated tee. I
+pointed in the line of the old church belfry, and after a long look he
+declared that he could see the white flag floating from the standard.
+
+"Nobody ever drove it, you say?" he observed, throwing his shoulders
+back.
+
+"Of course not," I laughed, and added, "and never will."
+
+"Don't be too sure about that," he said, piling a mound of sand. "It's
+nothing more than a 'putt,' as you call it, to bat a ball over that
+railroad."
+
+"You talk about driving six hundred yards to that green," I said,
+annoyed at his ignorant nerve, "I will bet you a box of cigars that you
+do not carry that railroad track in a month."
+
+"Don't be foolish, Smith."
+
+"Do you wish to bet?"
+
+"Of course I do," he replied, teeing a ball, "and we'll get action on it
+in about ten seconds. Just keep your eye on this ball!"
+
+Disdaining to take a practice stroke, he swung viciously at it. He must
+have caught it on the toe of his club, for it sliced to the right in a
+low and sweeping curve.
+
+As I followed its flight I saw a farm wagon in the road. The driver had
+stopped his team, and was standing up watching Harding. I recognised
+Farmer Bishop, and noted that his sallow face was distorted in a
+disdainful grin, which froze on his lips when he saw the ball curving
+toward him.
+
+It is difficult for an experienced golfer to dodge a sliced drive, even
+when he has a chance to run to one side or the other, but all that
+Bishop could do was to duck, which he did, with the result that the
+ball hit his left temple. He half fell and half jumped to the ground,
+and was not so badly hurt as to prevent his being the maddest
+agriculturist I have seen in many years.
+
+He danced up and down at the edge of the road, his hand to his head,
+warm, loud words flowing in a torrent from his mouth.
+
+Harding dropped his club and we both ran toward the injured man. Harding
+was the first to reach the fence, but he did not climb over.
+
+"Did it hit you?" he asked Bishop.
+
+The farmer took one more hop and then turned and faced the railroad
+magnate. There was a lump over his eye bigger than a hen's egg, and on
+it I could see the bramble marks of the ball. It was a moment before his
+rage permitted utterance. He spit out a mouthful of tobacco so as not to
+be handicapped.
+
+"Did you hit me; you dod-gasted old poppinjay of a fat dude!" he
+exclaimed, shaking a brawny, freckled fist at Harding. "Did you hit me;
+you flabby old chromo! Do you suppose I fall out of my wagon and dance
+up and down this road for exercise; you old boiled lobster?"
+
+"I am very sorry, sir," said Harding, amusement and growing anger
+struggling for mastery. "I wasn't shooting in this direction. Something
+happened to my ball; what do you call it, Smith?"
+
+[Illustration: "Did it hit you?"]
+
+"You sliced it," I said.
+
+"That's it; I sliced it," declared Harding, as if that were more or less
+of a valid excuse.
+
+"You come over that fence an' I'll slice you!" roared Bishop, taking a
+step forward. "Things have come to a fine pass in this country if an
+honest farmer can't take his milk to town without riskin' bein' murdered
+by plutocrats with 'sliced balls' and all that blankety-blank tommyrot.
+Climb over on this side of the fence an' I'll lick seven kinds of
+stuffin' out of you in erbout a minute."
+
+"Keep your shirt on!" retorted Harding, "you won't lick nobody."
+
+He looked curiously at the maddened farmer.
+
+"Your name is Bishop, isn't it?" he asked, and I wondered how he
+happened to know.
+
+"Yes, my name's Bishop," was the sullen and defiant answer.
+
+"Jim Bishop?"
+
+"Yes; Jim Bishop."
+
+Harding grinned good-naturedly.
+
+"Don't you know who I am?" he asked.
+
+"No, I don't, and I don't give a damn!" replied Bishop, looking at him
+more closely, I thought.
+
+"Did you know a young fellow named Harding when you were a boy?" asked
+Harding.
+
+"Bob Harding?"
+
+"Yes, Bob Harding!"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that you're the Bob Harding who uster live on a
+farm near Buckfield, Maine?" asked Bishop, the anger dying from his
+voice.
+
+"That's what I am!" declared the millionaire, as Bishop came toward him,
+a curious smile on his tanned face. "How are you, Jim?"
+
+"Well; I'll be jiggered! How are you, Bob?" and they shook hands across
+the fence. For a moment neither spoke.
+
+"It's thirty years or more since I've seen you," said Harding. "When did
+you move to this country?"
+
+"Over twenty-five years ago," said Bishop. "And what have you been doing
+with yourself all these years? I surely hope you've found something
+better to do than play this here fool game an' knock people's heads
+off."
+
+He tenderly rubbed the lump on his forehead.
+
+"I just took this game up," said Harding rather sheepishly. "I've been
+building railroads."
+
+"Are you Robert L. Harding, the railroad king that the papers talks so
+much erbout?" demanded Bishop.
+
+"I guess I'm the fellow," admitted Harding.
+
+"Well; I never would er believed it!" gasped Bishop, and then they shook
+hands again.
+
+They sat on a rock and talked about Buckfield and their boyhood days for
+an hour. It seems that they were born and raised on adjoining farms, and
+were chums until Harding's father died, at which time Harding went West
+and found his fortune.
+
+Not until the horses became restless and started to go home did Bishop
+note the passing of time. He cordially invited Harding and his daughter
+to come and call on him, and Harding did not hesitate in accepting the
+invitation.
+
+Now that I think of it, none of us gave a thought to that ball, and I
+suppose it is out in the road yet. Harding said that was all the golf he
+wished that day, and so we went back to the club house.
+
+"Talk about driving a ball six hundred yards, Smith," he said, as we
+came to the eighteenth tee. "I knocked that ball so far that I hit a boy
+in Maine, and that's hundreds of miles from here."
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. VIII
+
+DOWNFALL OF MR. HARDING
+
+
+I do not know whether to be annoyed or amused over the result of my
+second golf game with Miss Harding. It was not in the least like my
+anticipations.
+
+Our first game was so romantic. It was as if the kindly skies had raised
+a dome over earth's most favoured spot and reserved it for our use. It
+was different to-day.
+
+I presume it is necessary that beautiful maidens shall have fathers. I
+raise no doubt that Mr. Harding is a wonderful financier and railroad
+genius, and it is likely he is entitled to a vacation and to that
+relaxation which comes from taking exercise, but this does not justify
+him in--well, in "butting in" on our game. I don't use slang as a rule,
+but no other term so accurately describes the conduct of that gentleman
+this afternoon.
+
+As for Carter--I have no words to express what I think of Carter.
+
+If I had a daughter nineteen years old it would occur to me that she
+might prefer to play golf with a young gentleman somewhere near her own
+age rather than with me, especially if that young gentleman were a good
+golfer, and possessed of wealth, prospects, and honourable ambitions.
+But Mr. Harding treats her as if she were a school miss in short
+dresses. He persists in calling her "Kid," and only rarely does he
+address her by the beautiful name of Grace.
+
+When Miss Harding started from the club house her father was on the lawn
+not many yards away engaged in the interesting but expensive experiment
+of trying to drive balls across the lake. He was buying new balls by the
+box--they cost $5.50 a box--with the joyous abandon of a pampered boy
+purchasing fire-crackers on the Fourth of July.
+
+All he asks of a ball is "one crack at it," and the caddies were reaping
+a harvest. He had not made one decent drive, and was surprised and
+angry.
+
+As luck would have it he turned and saw us as we were starting for the
+first tee. He had laid aside that flaming red-and-green coat, and was in
+his shirt sleeves. His face was crimson from exertion, and his hair wet
+with perspiration.
+
+"Where are you going?" he called.
+
+"We're going to play a round," I answered, with a sinking heart.
+
+"Good; I'll go with you," he returned. "Chuck the rest of those balls
+into that sack," he said to one of his caddies, "and follow me."
+
+What could I do but say we would be delighted to have him join us? We
+were waiting for him, when who should come from the club house but
+Carter.
+
+"Hello there, Carter!" shouted Harding. "Come on and play with us! This
+is my first real game, and we'll make it a foursome, or whatever you
+call it. What d'ye say?"
+
+"That's fine!" declared Carter.
+
+I happen to know that he had already made up a game with Marshall, Boyd,
+and Chilvers, but he did not hesitate to abandon them for his
+long-coveted chance to play with Miss Harding.
+
+"We'll have a great game," asserted Mr. Harding mopping his brow. "How
+shall we divide up? I suppose you're the best player, Carter, and Smith
+comes next, but I can beat the Kid, here," patting Miss Harding on the
+shoulder.
+
+"I'll bet you cannot," I declared, angry that he should class Carter
+above me.
+
+"Bet I cannot beat my Grace?" he exclaimed. I told him that such was my
+opinion.
+
+"Of course I can beat you, papa," laughed Miss Harding. "You have never
+played, and know nothing of the game. I can beat you easily."
+
+"Talk of the insolence and ingratitude of children!" he gasped. "Kid,
+I'm astonished at you! I'll teach both of you a lesson. What do you want
+to bet, Smith?"
+
+I suggested that a box of balls would suit me as a bet.
+
+"Box of monkeys!" exclaimed Harding. "I thought you were a sport, Smith!
+A box of balls don't last me as long as a box of cigarettes does Carter.
+Tell you what I'll do. We'll all keep track of our shots, and for every
+one I beat her you pay me a box of balls, and for every one she beats me
+I pay you a box of balls. How does that strike you?"
+
+"Take him up, Mr. Smith," said Miss Harding, a smile on her lips and a
+meaning glance in her eyes. I would not have hesitated had I known it
+would have cost me every dollar in the world.
+
+"You are on, Mr. Harding," I said.
+
+"We'll teach you a good lesson, Papa Harding," she declared, with a
+confidence which surprised me. "You have never seen me play."
+
+He roared with laughter.
+
+"Talk about David and Goliath!" he exclaimed. "Tell you what I'll do,
+Kid. I'll make you a small bet on the side. You remember that sixty
+horse-power buzz wagon we were looking at in the city the other day?"
+
+"The one in red that I admired so much?" asked Miss Harding.
+
+"Yes, the one you tried to soft soap me into buying. Tell you what I'll
+do. If you beat me I'll buy that machine for you, and if I beat you I
+get a new hat which you pay for out of your pin money."
+
+"It's a shame to take advantage of you, papa, dear," she hesitated, "but
+I want that machine awfully, and I'll make the wager."
+
+[Illustration: "... and missed the ball by three inches"]
+
+"If you never get it until you beat me at this shinny game you will
+wait a long time," he declared. "Who shoots first?"
+
+"Miss Harding and I will be partners," suggested Carter, before I could
+get the words out of my mouth.
+
+"Since I am interested in Miss Harding's play to the extent of a box of
+balls a stroke, I claim the right to act as her partner and adviser," I
+said, looking hard at Carter.
+
+"Mr. Smith and I will be partners," said Miss Harding, and it was the
+happiest moment of my life.
+
+"I don't care who are partners," said Harding, stepping up to the tee.
+"I'll shoot first, and you keep your eye on your Uncle Dudley!"
+
+He piled up a hill of sand, gripped his club like grim death, drew back,
+swung with all his might--and missed the ball by three inches.
+
+"One stroke!" laughed Miss Harding.
+
+"That don't count!" he declared. "I didn't hit the blamed thing at all!
+Look at it! It's just where I fixed it a minute ago. Don't cheat, Kid!"
+
+"A missed ball counts a stroke," laughed Carter.
+
+"Are you sure that's the rule?"
+
+We all assured him there was not the slightest doubt of it.
+
+"All that I can say is that it's a fool rule," he protested, "but at
+that, one missed swipe cuts little figure with me. Here goes for number
+two!"
+
+"Don't press!" cautioned Carter.
+
+"I'll press all I darned please. Keep your eyes on this one!"
+
+He grazed the ball enough to make it roll not more than twenty feet into
+a clump of tall grass. He looked blankly at it, but did not say a word.
+Then he took a jack-knife from his pocket and cut two notches in the
+shaft of his club.
+
+Carter drove out a good one, and I teed a ball for Miss Harding. The
+lane is about a hundred yards away, and I thought of advising her to
+play short, but on reflection determined not to embarrass her by
+suggestions so early in the game.
+
+The moment she took her stance and grasped her club I noted a difference
+in her style of play as compared with that of the preceding day. Her
+club head came back with a free, even curve, and on the return she
+caught the ball with a good though not perfect follow through. The ball
+carried straight and true over the lane, and did not stop rolling until
+it had passed the 130-yard mark. It was a nice clean drive, and I smiled
+my approval.
+
+"Good work, Kid," grinned Harding, but he did not seem the least
+dismayed. I should not care to play poker with him. I lined out a
+beauty, and then Harding returned to the attack.
+
+It took two strokes to get his ball out of the grass. On his fifth shot
+the ball had a good lie about ten yards from the lane fence. He smashed
+at it with a brassie, but drove too low. The ball hit a fence post and
+bounded back fully seventy-five yards. In five strokes he had not
+gained a foot. After a combination of weird and wonderful shots he
+reached the green in twelve.
+
+Harding's putting was a revelation in how not to drop a ball in a cup.
+He went back and forth over the hole like a shuttle. This performance
+added six to his score, and he holed out in nineteen. He was fighting
+mad, but did not say a word. While the rest of us were holing out he
+sullenly added seventeen notches to his club.
+
+I was astonished and pleased at the reversal in form shown by Miss
+Harding. Two iron shots laid her ball on the green, her approach was a
+little weak, and she missed an easy two-foot putt, but she made the hole
+in seven, which is not at all bad for a woman. Carter and I both got
+fours.
+
+When Harding finally got his ball out of the old graveyard in playing
+the second hole there was a dispute as to how many strokes he had taken.
+I counted twelve, but he claimed only nine, and we let him have his own
+way about it. I did not dare to dispute with him, fearing that he might
+have a stroke of apoplexy. He marked eleven new notches on his club
+shaft for this hole.
+
+He made a fair drive over the marsh on his third hole, flubbed his
+second and third shots, but his fourth was a screaming brassie which
+landed him on the green within two inches of the cup. It was one of
+those freak shots which a man makes once a season, but Harding took
+vast credit for it and was the happiest person on the links over his
+bogy five for this long hole.
+
+Miss Harding was playing like a veteran. This hole is 355 yards from the
+tee, but she was well on the green on her third, and holed out in six.
+Carter did the same, but I got a five and saved the hole for our side.
+
+I do not know how to account for Miss Harding's improved playing. It was
+not in the least like that of the day when we were alone. For the entire
+eighteen holes she played steady, consistent golf. It was not brilliant,
+but it was a creditable exhibition for a woman. She kept on the course,
+missed only two drives, and rarely failed to get distance and direction.
+
+Not until we had played half-way around and Harding was hopelessly
+behind did he give voice to his amazement.
+
+"This is the time you have got the old man down and out, Kid," he said,
+after she had made the ninth hole in four to his fourteen. "I'll admit
+that there is a trick about this game that I'm not on to, but you just
+wait; you just wait. I seem to hit 'em all right, but confound 'em, they
+don't go right. I don't understand it. I'd have bet a million dollars
+against a perfecto cigar that I could drive a ball farther than a
+125-pound girl, even if she is my daughter."
+
+"We will call our bet off, Mr. Harding," I suggested, satisfied that we
+had tumbled him from the pedestal reared by his conceit.
+
+"We'll call nothing off," he promptly declared. "Soak it to me as hard
+as you can; I'll get even with all of you before the season's over."
+
+No language can describe the game played by the railway magnate. His
+miserable playing was supplemented by worse luck. A predatory cow
+swallowed his ball. He drove another one into the crotch of a tree, hit
+Carter in the shin, broke a window in the club house, tore his trousers,
+sprained his thumb, and poisoned his hands with ivy while searching for
+a lost ball. He conversed much with himself when Miss Harding was not
+near.
+
+The nicks in his club by which he kept score became so numerous, and
+they so weakened the shaft, that he finally broke it; also one of the
+commandments.
+
+The story of his calamities and of his undoing is feebly indicated by
+his score, which was as follows:
+
+          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
+   Out-- 19 11  5  7 12  9  8 16 14--101
+   In---  8  6 10  5  7  7 11  5 12-- 71
+                                     ---
+         Total                     --172
+
+Miss Harding made it in 116, and with a reasonable amount of luck I am
+sure she would have done much better. I played a rattling good game,
+completing the round in 80, which is the best score I have made this
+season.
+
+I put it all over Carter, who had made me a side bet of the dinners for
+the four of us that his individual score would be better than mine.
+
+Miss Harding won an automobile which will cost not less than $15,000; I
+won fifty-six dozen golf balls, enough to last me two years; Carter lost
+a dinner which I thoroughly enjoyed, and Mr. Harding lost his temper,
+but I will give him credit for finding it the moment the game was over.
+
+He laughed as if it were the greatest joke in the world.
+
+"You threw me down, Kid," he said to Miss Harding, "but I'll forgive
+you. You get the buzz wagon and Smith gets a cartload of balls, but I'll
+tell you one thing, and that is this: I'm going to learn how to hit one
+of those blamed balls in the nose every time I swipe at it, even if I
+have to resign the presidency of the R.G. & K. railroad."
+
+I can see that the golf microbe has marked him for a shining victim.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. IX
+
+MR. SMITH GETS BUSY
+
+
+I have had to neglect my golf and attend to business. For nearly a week
+I have not seen Miss Harding. And all on account of that miserable N.O.
+& G. stock.
+
+Early in the week it dropped to more than ten points below the figure at
+which I purchased it. This meant a loss of $20,000.
+
+Tuesday morning I called on my broker and he informed me that if N.O. &
+G. dropped two more points he would have to call on me for margins.
+There were rumours, he said, that it would pass its next dividend, or at
+least reduce it. Then I got busy.
+
+I called on Jones, the kind friend who steered me against this
+investment. Jones informed me that certain powerful banking interests
+were raiding the stock. He could not identify them, and I saw that he
+knew nothing about it.
+
+"We are the lambs, Smith," he sadly said. "I'm in for a thousand shares
+myself."
+
+"They have not an ounce of my fleece yet," I declared, and turned and
+left him.
+
+I served two years on Wall Street under my father, and there was no
+streak of mutton in him. It made me furious to think that I should be
+made to "hold the bag" for a lot of unscrupulous tricksters.
+
+I set about ascertaining the exact status of the business of the N.O. &
+G. In my search for information I was thwarted again and again, but I do
+not think it was entirely luck which led me to solve the mystery to my
+personal satisfaction. I employed detectives to assist me, and in four
+days had the information on which to act.
+
+It is as neat a conspiracy as ever was hatched by financial brigands,
+but I think I know every tree behind which they are hid. It is probable
+that they are within the pale of the written law, but one would have the
+same right to operate in gold bricks or green goods.
+
+It may be that the action I have taken will spell my financial ruin, but
+I propose to ascertain if a gentleman cannot take a modest flyer in Wall
+Street without being marked as "a come-on," which is the term used by
+those who rig the market.
+
+If they get me it will be not for $20,000 but for $2,000,000. I propose
+to make the fight of my life. I wonder what Miss Harding would think if
+she knew I were engaged in a deal of this magnitude?
+
+On Thursday I instructed my business agents to convert certain
+negotiable assets into cash, and to arrange for an extension of my
+credit with the banks. I now propose to follow N.O. & G. to the
+bottom--if there be one--and if not I shall drop with my money into the
+fathomless void of bankruptcy.
+
+I called on my broker.
+
+"I wish to get out," I said to him. "I will take my losses. This has
+been an expensive experience to me."
+
+"I do not imagine, Mr. Smith," he said, "that the loss of $23,000 will
+seriously cripple you or disturb your serenity."
+
+I made a gesture of despair.
+
+"If that were all I would not give it a thought," I said. He looked at
+me curiously.
+
+"I hope that you are not long on this stock to any great extent," he
+said.
+
+"I should have said nothing about it," I returned, looking as distressed
+as possible. "Please make no inference from my remark, and keep this
+transaction entirely an office secret."
+
+"It is not necessary to caution me," he quickly said.
+
+The financial papers that evening recorded a rumour to the effect that
+"The son of a late well-known banker and operator is said to be heavily
+long on N.O. & G., and the slump in that stock during the closing hours
+was probably due to his frantic efforts to close out an account
+estimated at 20,000 shares."
+
+I wonder where that rumour originated. This is the way secrets are kept
+in Wall Street.
+
+Prior to this I had commissioned Morse & Davis, brokers in whom I have
+implicit confidence, to purchase 5,000 shares of the stock at or below
+75. I obtained 79 for my original investment, and its sale combined with
+the circulation of the rumour before mentioned precipitated a flurry in
+N.O. & G. which sent it as low as 74 and a fraction.
+
+[Illustration: "It is not necessary to caution me"]
+
+Before the market closed I had my five thousand shares.
+
+Friday morning selling orders poured in from frightened small holders,
+and when their demands had been satisfied the "syndicated conspirators"
+put the screws on just as I expected. They also circulated an alleged
+authorised interview with an official of the N.O. & G. forecasting the
+passing of the regular semi-annual dividend.
+
+Had I not been acquainted with the plans of these quotation wreckers I
+should have been seriously alarmed.
+
+When the tape recorded a sale at 70 I placed an order with Morse & Davis
+for 10,000 shares, and they picked it up in small lots at an average of
+69. It rose slightly on Saturday, and I did nothing with it.
+
+I have put up in margins $375,000, sufficient to protect me against a
+drop of twenty-five points. I stand to lose $1,975,000, and know where I
+can place my hands on the money. I anticipate that the stock will go
+much lower, and have planned accordingly. My share of my lamented
+father's estate is worth fully two and a half millions, and it is in
+such shape that I can speedily convert it into cash. If these thieves
+can get it they are welcome to it, but they will know that they have
+been in a fight.
+
+The transition from the healthy quiet of Woodvale to the feverish furore
+of Wall Street was startling. At times as I stood by the ticker I could
+hardly persuade myself that it was not a dream, from which I should
+awake to stroll with Miss Harding across the brooks and green meadows we
+both love so well.
+
+My prolonged absence from the links created some comment, so I am told,
+but no questions were asked and I volunteered no information. I have
+arranged matters so that it will not be necessary to spend much of my
+time in the city, unless something unexpected develops.
+
+I have lost no sleep, but my golf this afternoon was disappointing.
+
+I required eighty-nine for the round and lost seven golf balls to
+Chilvers and Boyd. This will never do![1]
+
+[Footnote 1: NOTE BY THE EDITOR.--From the foregoing it appears that Mr.
+Smith's stock transactions up to this date have involved a net loss of
+about $51,000, with a probability of a continuance of the decline during
+the coming week. Under these circumstances it would seem that he
+attaches undue importance to the loss of seven golf balls, which I am
+informed, may be purchased at the standard price of fifty cents apiece.
+
+Possibly this criticism may be impeached by those familiar with the
+ethics and peculiarities of golf, a game of which my knowledge is purely
+academic.]
+
+On the table in front of me stands the finest golf trophy which ever
+delighted the eye of a devotee of the game. It is the bronze figure of a
+player whose mashie is in the position of that valuable iron club at the
+end of a short approach. It is the work of a French sculptor, and in
+design and execution it is nothing short of an inspiration. The position
+of the feet, body, arms, and shoulders, the expression of the face and
+eyes; all these details are perfect.
+
+The figure is twenty-four inches in height and is mounted on an ebony
+pedestal.
+
+Mr. Harding has given this magnificent bronze to the club, and it is in
+my keeping, as chairman of the Greens Committee. It will be presented to
+the winner of this year's championship of Woodvale by Miss Grace
+Harding, and I have posted an announcement of the conditions of the
+competition. It is open to all members, sixteen best scores to qualify,
+and then match play of eighteen holes, with thirty-six for the finals.
+The tournament starts a week from Tuesday.
+
+Between watching Wall Street and getting in shape for this competition I
+am likely to have a busy week.
+
+Mr. Harding called me into his apartments yesterday evening, displayed
+this gem of a bronze, and told me how he came to acquire it.
+
+"It was the Kid's suggestion, but I endorsed it in a minute," he said,
+passing a box of cigars. "We were prowling around the jewelry haunts,
+Grace and I, seeing what she could flim-flam me into buying for her,
+when we ran across this thing. She thought it was great. I looked it
+over and saw that this bronze gentleman does not hold his club the way I
+do, and was in favour of letting him wait for another owner. Then she
+suggested that it would be a great scheme to buy it and give it to the
+club. I thought it over a minute and decided that it might be a good
+idea, and so I bought it, and here it is. Now you boys will have to
+scrap it out among yourselves, and may the best one win."
+
+"This is the finest trophy ever offered to the club," I said, "and on
+behalf of the members I wish to thank you as donor and Miss Harding as
+the instigator."
+
+"I'll create enough trouble around here to work out any indebtedness you
+fellows owe me for that gee-gaw," he laughed. "I've had an awful time
+since you have been down town, Smith. I reckon I've ploughed up as much
+turf as Jim Bishop did all last spring. Speaking of Bishop, did you know
+we're invited over to his place Monday evening?"
+
+"I had not heard of it," I said.
+
+"Well, we are," he said. "There's going to be great doings day after
+to-morrow night. Bishop's new red barn is finished, and a bunch of us
+are going over to dinner and then participate in the dance. Let's go
+down stairs and hunt up Grace and Carter and constitute the four of us a
+committee on arrangements and invitation. Grace talked to Bishop more
+than I did and she knows all about it."
+
+We found Miss Harding, Miss Lawrence, LaHume, and Carter on the veranda,
+and decided to enlarge the committee to six. Miss Harding said Mr.
+Bishop intimated he should expect about a dozen of us.
+
+"Well, let's see," figured Mr. Harding, and I felt in my bones he would
+make a mess of it. "Get out your pencil, Smith, and take us down as I
+give the names. There's Ma Harding and me, that's two; there's Carter
+and Grace makes four; LaHume and his sweetheart makes six; then
+there's----"
+
+"Mr. LaHume and whom?" interrupted Miss Lawrence, her cheeks red and her
+eyes snapping fire. The grin on LaHume's face died out.
+
+"Why, LaHume and----"
+
+"You've gone far enough," laughed Miss Harding. "Let me help you out,
+papa. We will select the gentlemen first. Please take down this list,
+Mr. Smith. Suppose we name Mr. LaHume, Mr. Carter, Mr. Marshall, Mr.
+Chilvers, Mr. Smith, and Papa Harding. Then there's Miss Lawrence, Miss
+Ross, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Chilvers, Mamma, and myself. That makes
+twelve."
+
+"Those were the ones I was going to name when you stopped me," declared
+Mr. Harding, who pretended to be much puzzled, but who knew full well
+what was the matter. He gave me a quiet nudge with his elbow, and then
+went on to say that the twelve of us would dine with the Bishops at six
+o'clock, and stay to the dance which would start as soon as it was dark.
+It ought to be great fun.
+
+I wish I knew if Miss Harding resented the coupling of her name with
+Carter. I watched both of them closely, but neither gave a sign.
+
+Chilvers tells me that Carter and Miss Harding have played several games
+together during the past week, and I assured him that the fact possessed
+not the slightest interest to me. Chilvers pretends to think it does,
+and seems to take much delight in harping on that subject.
+
+As a matter of curiosity I should like to know when and where Carter
+first met the Hardings. Once or twice I have thrown out a hint to
+Carter, but he has not said a word.
+
+Carter is a good-looking chap, and I think he knows it. The fond mammas
+here in the club consider him a catch. I am not exactly a pauper myself,
+but I may be if this N. O. & G. deal goes against me.
+
+I wonder how it would seem to be poor? I wonder if Miss Harding would
+care to play golf with me if she knew I had to work for a living? I
+wonder what I would work at?
+
+I dreamed last night that N.O. & G. stock went down and down until it was
+worth less than nothing, and that I had lost every dollar in the world
+and owed several millions.
+
+It was an awful dream. I was in jail for a time, and when they let me
+out I did not have the car fare to get back to Woodvale. I walked all
+the way, and was chased by dogs. When I got here, the steward presented
+my bill, which amounted to several hundred dollars. I told him I could
+not pay it, and he marked my name off the membership list. I met Carter
+and several others and they would not speak to me. I was dying from
+hunger, and looked longingly at the remnants of a steak left by
+Chilvers, but one of the servants told me to move on.
+
+Then the scene changed, as things move in dreams, and I was at work on
+Bishop's farm. I was cutting and shocking corn, and the boss of the
+hired help swore because I was so slow. My hands were bleeding from
+scratches where the sharp edges of the bayonet-like blades had cut them,
+and I was so hungry and tired that I was ready to lie down and die. My
+wages were fifteen dollars a month, and every cent of it had been levied
+against by my Wall Street creditors. Not until I was seventy years old
+would any of the money I earned be coming to me. The other hired men
+looked on me as a weakling, and laughed at the torn golf suit in which I
+was clothed.
+
+I was happy when I awoke and realised it was only a nightmare.
+
+I raised the curtain so as to let in the cool air. The links were bathed
+in a flood of moonlight. Half a mile away were Bishop's cornfields in
+which the dreamland fiends had tortured me. It was not yet midnight, and
+down the lane I made out the forms of Chilvers, Marshall, Lawson, and
+other nighthawks. Chilvers was singing, the others coming in the chorus
+of the last line, drawing it out to the full length and strength of a
+parody of the old negro song:
+
+      "Where, oh where are the long, long drivers?
+      Where, oh where are the long, long drivers?;
+      Where, oh where are the long, long drivers?
+      'Way down yander in the corn field."
+
+[Illustration: The dream]
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. X
+
+THE TWO GLADIATORS
+
+
+There was little doing in N.O. & G. stock on Monday or Tuesday. It
+dropped off a point and then recovered. I told my brokers to pick up
+10,000 shares at or below 65. I am confident it will strike that figure
+before the end of the week.
+
+It was nearly five o'clock before we started up the lane toward
+Bishop's. We were delayed half an hour waiting for Marshall, but,
+knowing his weakness, we fixed the time of departure half an hour sooner
+than necessary.
+
+If Marshall's hope for eternal salvation depended on applying at the
+pearly gates at a specified time, he would spend eternity in the other
+place on account of being thirty minutes late. Knowing this to be his
+habit, we always provide against it. If the club house ever catches on
+fire, we shall lose Marshall, and he is a splendid good fellow.
+
+Marshall's wife informs me it took him thirty weeks to propose after he
+had made up his mind to do so, and that after the wedding day was set it
+was necessary to postpone the ceremony thirty days in order to permit
+him to attend to some trifling business affairs. We call him "Thirty"
+Marshall, and it takes him thirty seconds to smile in appreciation of
+the jest. But he plays a good game of golf, with at least four
+deliberate practise swings before each stroke at the ball.
+
+Chilvers wanted to have a team hitched up and ride over in the club bus.
+He said it tired him to walk. We vetoed that proposition, and Chilvers
+stopped twice to rest on the half-mile jaunt to Bishop's.
+
+Chilvers thinks nothing of playing twice around Woodvale, a distance of
+not less than ten miles, but when in the city he takes a cab or a street
+car when compelled to go a few blocks. When there is no ball ahead of
+him he is the most fatigued man of my acquaintance, but he can stride
+over golf links from daybreak until it is so dark you cannot see the
+ball, and quit as fresh as when he started. There are others like
+Chilvers.
+
+I walked with Mrs. Harding. I had a good chance to walk with Miss
+Harding, but wished to show Carter that it was a matter of indifference
+to me. More than that, it occurred to me it was not a bad plan to become
+better acquainted with Mrs. Harding.
+
+The man who gets Mrs. Harding for a mother-in-law will be fortunate.
+None of the thrusts and jibes of the alleged funny men will apply to her
+as a mother-in-law.
+
+One would not readily identify Mrs. Harding as the wife of a famous
+railway magnate. Wealth certainly has not turned her motherly head. Of
+course, she is a little woman. Huge men such as Harding invariably
+select dolls of women for helpmates. She is round, smiling, pretty, and
+thoughtful, and I like her immensely.
+
+We were approaching the Bishop place. The orchard trees were covered
+with fruit. Some of the tomatoes showed the red of their fat cheeks
+through the green of their foliage. Miss Lawrence had started with
+LaHume, but under some pretext left him and was with Carter and Miss
+Harding, and I doubt if Carter was pleased with that evidence of his
+popularity. LaHume walked with Miss Ross and talked and laughed, but I
+could see he was angry.
+
+It suddenly occurred to me that Miss Lawrence would probably meet
+Bishop's hired man, Wallace, and I presume LaHume was thinking of the
+same thing. It was apparent they had quarrelled over something.
+
+Marshall and Chilvers were together, their wives trailing on behind, as
+usual. The way these two married men neglect these lovely women makes me
+angry every time I am out with them, but the ladies do not seem to care,
+and I presume it is none of my business.
+
+Harding walked with everybody, and was happy as a lark. He threw stones
+at a telegraph pole, and was in ecstasy when a lucky shot shivered one
+of the glass insulators.
+
+"How was that for a shot, mother?" he shouted, as the glass came flying
+down. "Hav'n't hit one of those since I was fourteen years old. Say, I
+wish I was fourteen years old now, barefooted, and sitting on the bank
+of that creek catching shiners."
+
+"I wouldn't throw any more stones, Robert," Mrs. Harding said, laying
+her hand on his arm and looking up to his happy face. "The last time you
+threw stones you were lame for a week, and I had to rub you with
+arnica."
+
+"But think of the fun I had," he said, and then he went back and told
+Marshall and Chilvers some yarn which must have been very amusing from
+the way they laughed.
+
+I had been praising the beauties of the country around Woodmere, and
+asked Mrs. Harding how she liked the club house, and if she were
+enjoying her summer there.
+
+"I would enjoy it much better," she said, "if I did not know that I
+should be home."
+
+"I presume you feel that you are neglecting your social duties," I
+ventured.
+
+"Social fiddlesticks," she laughed. "I should be home canning tomatoes
+and putting up fruit. We won't have a thing in the house fit to eat all
+next winter."
+
+"But the servants," I began. "The servants----"
+
+"If you knew as much about housekeeping as you do about golf," she said,
+"you would know that servants do not know how to preserve fruit. Last
+year I put up more than two hundred cans, and unless I can drag Mr.
+Harding away from here, it will be too late for everything except pears
+and quinces, and he does not care much for either."
+
+Think of the wife of a multi-millionaire standing over a hot kitchen
+fire and preserving tomatoes, cherries, grapes, jams, jells, and all
+that kind of thing! I did not exactly know how to sympathise with her.
+
+"It is nice down here," she said, after a pause, "but there's nothing to
+do."
+
+"The drives are splendid," I said, "and I'm sure you would become
+interested in golf or tennis if you took them up."
+
+"I mean that there's no work to do," she said. "I nearly had a row with
+my husband before he would let me darn his socks. He does not know it,
+but I keep the maid out of our rooms so that I can do the work myself.
+It's awful to sit around all day with nothing to do but read and do
+fancy work. I hate fancy work. If you have any socks which need darning,
+Mr. Smith, I wish you would let me have them."
+
+We both laughed, but she was in earnest and made me promise I would turn
+over to her any socks which show signs of wear. I shall keep them as a
+memento.
+
+That is the kind of a woman I should like for a mother-in-law.
+
+And the more I see of Mr. Harding the better I like him. But I must
+record the many things which happened that afternoon and evening at
+Bishop's.
+
+The fine old farmhouse is ideally located on a rising slope of ground.
+It is surrounded with the most beautiful grove of horse-chestnut trees
+in this section of the country.
+
+The house is more than a hundred years old, and Bishop has the sense
+not to attempt an improvement in its exterior architecture. When a boy I
+spent most of my spare time in and around the Bishop house. Joe Bishop
+and I were chums, but when I went away to college, Joe wandered out
+West, and it is years since I have seen him. I have often thought that I
+must have been an awful source of bother to the Bishops, but they never
+seemed to mind it much. All of their children are grown up and married,
+but here the old folks are, working away as hard as when I was a child.
+
+I suppose James Bishop is about Mr. Harding's age, somewhere between
+fifty and fifty-five. He in no way resembles the farmer of the cartoons.
+He wears a stubby moustache, and looks more the prosperous horseman than
+the typical farmer. He is a big man, a trifle taller than Mr. Harding,
+but not so broad of shoulder. Either of them would tip the beam at 230
+pounds.
+
+Bishop was at the gate waiting for us, and back of him two good-natured
+dogs bayed a noisy welcome.
+
+"Come right in," he said, shaking hands with Harding. "If I'd known that
+you had to walk I'd hitched up a rig and come after ye. This is Mrs.
+Harding, I reckon," he said, grasping that lady's hand. "Glad to meet
+ye, Mrs. Harding! I knowed that thar husband of your'n when he wasn't
+bigger nor a pint of cider."
+
+[Illustration: "At the gate waiting for us"]
+
+"Robert has often spoken of you, Mr. Bishop," said that lady. "How is
+Mrs. Bishop?"
+
+"She's well; first-rate, thank ye. Come right in and we'll hunt her
+up," he said, leading the way. "I suppose she's puttering around in the
+kitchen."
+
+I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Bishop through the window. She was hurriedly
+shedding a large calico apron, and met us as we were on the steps of the
+veranda. A woman trained in the conventionalities of society could not
+have conducted herself better than did this American wife of an American
+farmer, and I was proud of her as if she had been my own mother. She had
+the rare tact of making her guests feel perfectly at home.
+
+Bishop had disappeared, but soon returned with an enormous glass pitcher
+and a tray of glasses.
+
+"Here's some new sweet cider for the ladies," he said, pouring out a
+glass and handing it to Mrs. Harding. "Pressed it out this afternoon,
+and picked out the apples myself. Try some, Miss Harding. Here's a glass
+for you, Miss----, blamed if I hav'n't forgot your name already,"
+proffering a glass to Miss Lawrence, "but we don't mind a little thing
+like that, do we."
+
+"Indeed we do not," laughed Miss Lawrence.
+
+"How about this?" demanded Chilvers. "What was that you said about cider
+for the ladies? My friend Marshall is dying for a drink, and my throat
+is as dusty as his boots. Do we walk two miles and then choke to death?
+We don't want to lose Marshall like this."
+
+"You hold your horses a minute," grinned Bishop. "The ladies like sweet
+cider, God bless 'em, and I made this for them. If any of you fellows
+would like to try some real cider, the best that ever was raised in this
+State, come on and follow me. I reckon the ladies have seen all they
+want to of you for a while. Come on; I'll show you some cider that is
+cider."
+
+He led us around the house until he came to a cellar door, which he
+threw back and we followed him. When our eyes became accustomed to the
+dim light we saw long rows of huge casks, mounted on frames so that the
+spigots were eighteen inches from the floor. The air was deliciously
+cool. It was permeated with the subtle odour of apple juice long
+confined in wood. Films of cobwebs softened the sharp lines of the cask
+heads and faintly gleamed between the rafters where the light struck
+them.
+
+"Here's cider that is cider!" declared Bishop, proudly tapping on the
+heads of the great casks as he led the way into the darker recesses of
+the cellar. "I reckon, Bob," he said to Harding, "that it's a long time
+since you've had a chance to try a swig of real old Down East hard
+cider."
+
+"It's been a long time, Jim," admitted Harding. "How old is this?"
+
+"I've put in a cask every year since I took the place," he replied, "and
+that's more'n thirty years ago, and not a cask here but has cider in
+it."
+
+"Cider thirty years old!" exclaimed Chilvers. "You mean vinegar, don't
+you?"
+
+"I said cider, young man; an' when I say cider I mean cider," retorted
+Bishop, rather indignantly. "It is no more vinegar than brandy's
+vinegar, nor champagne's vinegar. Now, I don't reckon none of you,
+barring my old friend John Harding, here, ever tasted a drop of real
+hard cider. Oh, yes, Smith has, of course; but how about the rest of
+ye?"
+
+Carter, LaHume, Marshall, and Chilvers admitted that their idea of hard
+cider was a beverage which had started to ferment.
+
+Bishop placed his hand reverently on a blackened, time-charred cask. It
+was evident he was as proud of that possession as others might be of an
+authenticated Raphael.
+
+"I don't tap this here very often," he said, "but in honour of this
+occasion I'll let it run a bit. This here cider is fifty years old!"
+
+He drew off a pint or so in a stone jug, and we went out into the light
+to examine it. It was almost colourless, slightly amber in shade, if any
+tint can describe it. I had seen that sacred cask when a boy, and I
+recall now that Joe Bishop did not dare touch it, and there were few
+things of which he was afraid.
+
+We all solemnly sampled it from small glasses, which Bishop produced
+from some mysterious hiding place.
+
+"There is no taste to it," declared Chilvers. "It's smooth as oil, but
+it has no flavour."
+
+"Hasn't, eh?" smiled Bishop. "You just wait a minute and you'll get the
+bouquet--as you wine experts call it. It's one of these coming tastes,
+but when it hits you you cry for more."
+
+It was as the farmer said. There came to our palates the subtle
+gustatory perfume of apple blossoms. Within the old cask there had been
+stored the fragrance and the spell of the orchard of half a century
+agone. It was the wine of the apple; the favoured fruit of the gods.
+
+"Is it supposed to be intoxicating?" asked Marshall. Bishop laughed
+uproariously, and Harding joined in his merriment.
+
+"My boy," Bishop said, "it's as intoxicating as the feel of your
+sweetheart's cheek against your own, only it affects you in a different
+way. I've known a man to fill up on that smooth-tastin' and innocent
+lookin' stuff an' not come tew until he was on shipboard, an' half way
+to Cape Horn. Under its influence the secretary of a peace society would
+tackle the Japanese navy in a rowboat. From what I know about mythology
+I'm sure Mars drank it regular."
+
+Our host drew a generous allowance from a cask containing a more recent
+vintage, and led the way from out the old cellar to seats beneath the
+trees facing the smooth turf of an unused croquet ground.
+
+LaHume wandered away in search of the ladies, whose laughter and chatter
+from the near-by veranda proved they were cheerfully enduring his
+absence. I caught a glimpse of Wallace as he drove the cows into the old
+barn, and wondered if LaHume seriously considered the "hired man" as a
+rival.
+
+We filled our pipes and lay back in the comfortable seats, content to
+listen to the music of the birds overhead, and follow aimlessly the
+conversation between Bishop and Harding. The cider from the sacred cask
+had bridged the years which separated them from boyhood days back in
+Buckfield, Maine.
+
+The old grindstone reminded Harding of an incident, to the telling of
+which both contributed details. They told of swimming exploits; of how
+they helped lock the school teacher out of the little red building which
+seemed to them a prison; they told of blood-curdling feats of coasting
+and of skating on thin ice, and of other things more or less distorted,
+perhaps, when seen through the haze of forty years.
+
+Then they told of the boys they had "licked," and of the boys who had
+whipped them, also of the feud between the lads of Buckfield and Sumner
+and the desperate encounters which resulted from it.
+
+"Do you remember, Bob," asked Bishop, after a moment's pause, "of that
+'rasslin' match we had on the floor of your dad's barn?"
+
+"The time I got a black eye, and you lost part of your ear?" asked
+Harding, his eyes brightening at thought of it.
+
+"That's the time," declared Bishop. "I tore your clothes most to
+pieces."
+
+"I don't remember about that," responded the railroad magnate, "but I
+do remember that I flopped you three times out of five."
+
+"Three times outer nothin'!" exclaimed the farmer. "I put you down fair
+and square three times running, Bob, and if you'll stop and think a
+minute you'll recollect it."
+
+"Recollect nothing!" defiantly laughed Harding. "You never saw the day
+in your life, when you or any boy in Buckfield could put my shoulders to
+the ground three times running. You're losing your memory, Jim."
+
+"I did it all right."
+
+"I say you didn't!"
+
+"And I can do it again!"
+
+"You can, eh?" shouted Harding, springing to his feet and pulling off
+his coat. "We'll mighty quick see if you can! I'll tackle you right here
+on this croquet ground!"
+
+"Side holt, square holt, or catch-as-catch-can?" asked Bishop, casting
+one anxious look towards the house.
+
+"We always rassled catch-as-catch-can, and you know it," declared
+Harding. "I suppose you think just because I do nothing but build
+railroads and things that I've grown effeminate since you tackled me the
+last time. Come on; I'll show you!"
+
+"I'm afraid I'll hurt you, Bob," said Bishop, and I could see that he
+honestly meant it. "I've been outer doors all my life, an' you've
+been----"
+
+"I suppose you think I've been in an incubator, don't ye?" snorted
+Harding. "Don't weaken! Don't be a coward, Jim! There's the line; toe
+it!" and he marked a crease in the soft turf.
+
+"You bet I'll toe it!" growled the now irate farmer. "And don't whimper
+if I break a bone or two when I flop ye!"
+
+As Bishop threw his cap to the ground and rushed toward the defiant
+millionaire Carter saw fit to interfere.
+
+"Don't do this," he protested, jumping between them. "One of you will
+get hurt! It's dangerous for men of your age to wrestle!"
+
+Both of them reached out and brushed Carter away, and the next instant
+they were at it.
+
+Bishop ducked and got an underhold, and I was sure Harding would go
+down, but he braced himself with his huge legs, and with the strength of
+a giant broke the clasp of his opponent's arms. It takes skill as well
+as muscle to do this, and I saw at a glance that Harding had not
+forgotten the tricks of his boyhood. As Bishop spun half-way around the
+other caught him at a disadvantage, raised him clear from the turf and
+dashed him down, falling with all his weight upon him.
+
+It was as clean and quick a fall as I have seen, but for a second my
+heart stood still, fearing Bishop's neck had been broken. He gasped once
+or twice, and then I heard a muffled laugh.
+
+"Let me up, Bob; that's one for you!" he said, and both struggled to
+their feet. There was a rent in the right knee of Harding's trousers,
+and his shirt was a sight, but he neither knew of this nor would have
+cared for it.
+
+"Not quite so soft and easy as you thought I was eh, Jim?" he panted,
+extending his hand. "You got the holt all right, but you wasn't quick
+enough."
+
+"I held you too cheap that time," admitted Bishop, rather sheepishly,
+throwing away a pair of ruined suspenders, "but I'll get you this time.
+Come on, Bob!"
+
+"You referee this match, Smith!" said Harding, standing on guard. "You
+know the rules. No fall unless both shoulders and one hip is down."
+
+Misfortune had taught Bishop caution. I could see he feared Harding's
+enormous strength and that he aimed to wind him if possible. He managed
+to elude the grasp of his antagonist for probably a minute, and more by
+luck than skill fell on top when the end of the clinch came. But Harding
+was not down by any means, and there then ensued a struggle which made
+me oblivious to all surroundings.
+
+Though I was the referee I was "rooting" for Harding, and so was Carter,
+while Marshall and Chilvers were giving mental and vocal encouragement
+to Bishop. I do not suppose any of us realised we were saying a word.
+
+First Harding would have a slight advantage, and then the tide would
+turn in favour of Bishop. The latter was more agile, but the former
+outclassed him in power. They writhed along that croquet ground like two
+gigantic tumble-bugs locked in a life and death struggle. Neither said a
+word, and both were absolutely fair in attack and defense. As the
+struggle continued it seemed to me that Harding was weakening, but he
+told me later he was merely resting for the effort which would insure
+him victory.
+
+I heard the swish of skirts, the frightened cry of female voices, and
+the next instant two most estimable ladies invaded the improvised ring
+and laid hands on the principals.
+
+I doubt if the combined physical exertion of Mrs. Bishop and Mrs.
+Harding could have made the slightest impress on the embrace which held
+their lords and masters, but what they said had a magical and
+peacemaking effect.
+
+"James Bishop, you should be ashamed of yourself!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Bishop, tugging at the remnant of a shirt, which promptly detached
+itself from the general wreck.
+
+[Illustration: "We're not fighting, my dear!"]
+
+"Robert Harding, what do you mean by fighting?" gasped Mrs. Harding,
+tugging at his undershirt, the outer garment long since having lost its
+entity.
+
+Instantly they relaxed their holds, rolled over and came to a sitting
+posture, facing each other and their respective wives. It was as if the
+act had carefully been rehearsed, and was ludicrous beyond any
+description at my command.
+
+Their glances rested for an instant on one another, and then on their
+frightened and indignant helpmates. Their attitude was that of two
+schoolboys detected by their teachers in some forbidden act. I am sure
+Harding would have spoken sooner if he could have recovered his breath.
+
+"We're not fighting, my dear!" he managed to say. "Are we, Jim?" he
+added with a mighty effort.
+
+"Of course not," declared Bishop, gouging a piece of turf from his eye.
+"We're only rasslin'; that's all, isn't it, Bob?"
+
+"And you in your best suit of clothes, James Bishop!" exclaimed his good
+wife.
+
+"You should see how you look, Mr. Harding," added his better half with
+justifiable emphasis. "Are you hurt?" anger changing to solicitude.
+
+"Of course I'm not hurt," he asserted. "We were only fooling. Where in
+thunder is my shirt?"
+
+And then Chilvers and Carter and Marshall and I exploded. It was not a
+dignified thing to do, and I apologised to both of the ladies afterward,
+but we fell down on that mutilated croquet-ground and laughed until
+exhausted. I am glad Miss Harding and the others were not there.
+
+Assisted by their wives the two gladiators had struggled to their feet,
+but the most cursory inspection disclosed that they were more
+presentable when on the ground. And then the ladies joined in the laugh.
+
+
+"Jack," said Mr. Bishop, who has called me by that nickname since I was
+seven years old, "Jack, go out to the old barn and get a pair of horse
+blankets. You know where I keep them."
+
+"You've got a great head on you, Jim," roared Harding. "I was thinking
+of a pair of barrels."
+
+When I returned with the red and yellow blankets the ladies had
+disappeared.
+
+"Never mind sending down to the club for your other clothes," Bishop was
+saying. "I've got several suits, such as they are, and I reckon one of
+them will fit ye."
+
+"This blanket is pretty good," declared the magnate. "Say, Jim, what was
+it you said about that fifty-year-old cider?"
+
+"I'm glad I didn't give you any more of it; I'd lost my life as well as
+my clothes," declared the farmer. "If they'd stayed away 'nother minute
+or so I'd won that second fall, sure as sin, Bob," he said, rather
+ruefully, as we wrapped the blanket around him.
+
+"You just think you would," grinned Harding, lifting up the blanket so
+as to keep from stumbling over it. "Say, it must be tough to have to
+wear skirts all the time. Be a good fellow, Smith, and hold up my
+train."
+
+They tried to sneak in at the back entrance, but Miss Harding and the
+others saw them and headed them off. I shall never forget their looks of
+amazement, and then the screams of laughter which followed the hurried
+explanation.
+
+I must postpone an account of the dinner and the dance until the next
+entry.
+
+[Illustration: "It must be tough to have to wear skirts all the time"]
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XI
+
+THE BARN DANCE
+
+
+We gave Mr. Harding a great reception when he appeared on the veranda,
+arrayed in garments furnished by our host. I have an idea Mr. Bishop's
+wardrobe was about exhausted when the two of them had completed their
+toilet.
+
+"What do you think of me?" demanded Harding, striking a pose.
+
+He obtained a variety of opinions. They were unable to find a "boiled
+shirt" with an eighteen inch neck band or collar, so a blue gingham one
+was made to do service. The only coat broad enough across the shoulders
+was a "Prince Albert," in which Bishop had been married, and Harding
+admitted the combination was not exactly _de rigeur_. The trousers
+were woefully tight at the waist, and were inches too long.
+
+"You are lucky to get anything," declared Mrs. Harding, retying the
+wonderful red and yellow scarf and vainly attempting to smooth out some
+of the wrinkles in the coat. "You should be made to go home and to bed
+without your supper."
+
+"You surely are the real goods, Governor," said Chilvers, walking about
+him and inspecting his costume from all angles. "What show have Marshall
+and the rest of us at to-night's dance against you?"
+
+[Illustration: "What do you think of me?"]
+
+Miss Lawrence pinned a bunch of nasturtiums on his coat, and we all
+stood and hilariously admired him. Bishop called him aside and motioned
+me to join them.
+
+"Mother and I don't know what to do about Wallace," our host said, after
+hesitating a moment. "He's our hired man, you know," he added.
+
+"What about him?" asked Harding.
+
+"He's always eaten with us," Bishop said. "He's a quiet, well-behaved
+sorter chap, and he's company for us, but mother is afraid it wouldn't
+be just the thing to have him at the table when company's here, and so I
+thought I'd ask you and Jack. We don't have folks here very often, and I
+wanter do what's right."
+
+"You have him sit right down with us," promptly advised Harding. "If
+there's anybody in this country who has a right to eat good and plenty
+it's a hired man. If any of our folks don't like it, let them wait until
+the second table."
+
+That settled it, and I could see that Bishop was pleased over the
+outcome.
+
+"I sorter hated to tell Wallace to wait," he said to me after Harding
+had turned away. "It might offend him. He's a queer fish, but has the
+makings of the best hired man in the county."
+
+When we entered the big dining-room Wallace was sitting in one corner
+reading. He laid aside the book, arose and bowed slightly. Harding went
+right up to him.
+
+"Mr. Wallace, I believe," he said, shaking hands. "My name's Harding,
+and I'll introduce you to the rest of us." And he did.
+
+This young Scotchman is a handsome chap. His features are those of Byron
+in his early manhood. His hair is dark and wavy as it falls back from a
+smooth high forehead. He is tall, broad of shoulder and singularly easy
+and graceful in his movements. He certainly looks like a man who has
+seen better days.
+
+I am still inclined to my original opinion that he is some college chap
+who is trying to get a financial start so as to enter on his chosen
+profession.
+
+He sat opposite me, and not until the first course was served did I
+notice that he was to the right of Miss Lawrence, with LaHume to her
+left. When I first observed this trio Miss Lawrence and Wallace already
+were engaged in a spirited conversation--or, more properly speaking,
+Miss Lawrence was.
+
+There was a babble of voices and of laughter, and I could make out
+little they were saying during the early part of the dinner, though I
+was so impolite as to attempt to do so. Miss Lawrence was praising the
+scenic beauties of Woodvale and its environs, he adding a word or a
+sentence now and then with the tact of one pleased to listen to the
+chatter of a charming companion. The trace of Scotch in his enunciation
+was so slight as to defy reproduction, but it was sufficient to stamp
+the place of his nativity.
+
+LaHume made several attempts to join in their conversation, and though
+Wallace lent him all possible aid Miss Lawrence effectually discouraged
+LaHume's participation. He reminded me of a boy making ineffectual
+attempts to "catch on behind" a swift-moving sleigh, and who is finally
+tumbled on his head for his pains.
+
+Mrs. Bishop is famous the country round as a cook, and she excelled
+herself that afternoon. Bishop is a crank on truck gardening, and the
+vegetables served would have taken prizes in any exhibit. A delicious
+soup was followed by a baked sea trout--I must not forget to ask Mrs.
+Bishop how she made that sauce.
+
+I wonder why it is that the most skilled hotel chefs cannot fry spring
+chicken so as to faintly imitate the culinary wonders attained by a
+capable housewife?
+
+"I want to ask you a question, Mrs. Bishop," said Mr. Harding, after he
+had made a pretense of refusing a third helping of fried chicken. "Did
+you really raise these chickens on this farm?"
+
+Mrs. Bishop smiled and said they did.
+
+"I don't believe it," he returned. "If the truth were known they lit
+down here from heaven, and Jim Bishop nailed them and you cooked them."
+
+I was ashamed of Chilvers. He ate seven ears of green corn and boasted
+of it, but I will admit I did not know it was possible to produce corn
+such as was served at that farmhouse dinner. The crisp sliced cucumbers,
+the ice-cold tomatoes, the succulent hearts of lettuce, the steaming
+dishes of string beans, summer squash, and green peas--it makes me
+hungry as I write of that simple but excellent feast.
+
+I thought as we sat there of the democracy of that little gathering.
+There was Harding, the multi-millionaire railway magnate, in his hickory
+shirt; the fastidious and monocled Carter with his wealth and boasted
+New England ancestry; Miss Lawrence, an heiress in whose veins flowed
+the purest blood of the southern aristocracy; Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, plain
+honest folk from 'way down east in Maine; and the unknown Wallace,
+driven no doubt by stress of poverty from the hills of his beloved
+country--there we all were meeting one another as equals, enjoying the
+bounties Nature has so lavishly bestowed on her children.
+
+I caught Miss Harding's eye, and she smiled as if in sympathy with my
+wandering thoughts. It takes a remarkably pretty young woman to lose
+none of her charm while eating green corn off the cob, but Miss Harding
+triumphantly stands that test. She was talking to Marshall, who is so
+constitutionally slow that he is invariably half a course behind
+everyone else at a table.
+
+Marshall was attempting to explain to Miss Harding how it is possible to
+hook a ball and play off the right foot. He laid out a diagram on the
+table cloth, using "lady-fingers" to show the positions of the feet, a
+round radish to indicate the ball, and a fruit knife to illustrate the
+face and direction of the club.
+
+Chilvers watched this most unconventional dinner performance with a grin
+on his face, and just as Marshall was showing just how the club should
+follow through, Chilvers called "Fore!" in a sharp tone. Miss Harding
+and Marshall were so absorbed in the elucidation of this most difficult
+golf problem that they instinctively dodged, and when Miss Harding
+recovered, her cheeks were delightfully crimson.
+
+I never noticed until that moment that there are traces of dimples in
+her cheeks. Unless Venus had dimples she had no just claim to be crowned
+the goddess of love and beauty.
+
+"Jim," said Mr. Harding, addressing our host, when coffee was served,
+"did you know our friend Smith when he was a kid?"
+
+"Knew him when he couldn't look over this table," replied Mr. Bishop.
+
+"What kind of a boy was he?"
+
+"Full of the Old Nick, like most healthy boys," he answered. "He and my
+boy Joe went to school together, got into trouble together and got out
+of it again. What was it the boys used to call you, Jack?" he said to
+me, a twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Never mind," I said, and attempted to turn the conversation, but it was
+no use.
+
+"They used to call him 'Socks Smith,'" said Bishop. "That was it, 'Socks
+Smith.' I hadn't thought of it in years."
+
+"What an alliterative nickname," laughed Mrs. Chilvers. "How did you
+ever acquire it, Mr. Smith?"
+
+"He won't tell ye," declared my tormentor, without waiting for me to say
+a word, "but it's nothin' to his discredit. You know that mill pond
+where--"
+
+"Don't tell that incident," I protested.
+
+"Tell it! Tell it, Mr. Bishop!" pleaded Miss Lawrence, Miss Harding, and
+others in chorus.
+
+"Sure I'll tell it," continued Bishop. "As I was saying, you all know
+the mill pond where you folks try to drive golf balls over. Well, it
+uster be bigger an' deeper than it is now, and in the winter it was the
+skating place for all the lads in the neighbourhood. Up at the far end
+there is a spring, and even in the coldest weather it don't freeze over
+above that spring."
+
+"One bitter cold day--and it never gets cold enough to keep boys off
+smooth ice--young Smith, here--he was about twelve or fourteen years old
+at that time--was out on the ice with his skates on, wrapped up in an
+overcoat, a comforter over his ears and thick mittens on his hands,
+skatin' around that pond with my boy Joe and other lads, all of them
+thinkin' they was havin' the time of their lives. Mother, what was the
+name of that poor family that lived over in the old Bobbins' house at
+the time?"
+
+"Andersons," said Mrs. Bishop.
+
+"That's right; Andersons," continued the Boswell of my infantile
+exploits. "Well, these Andersons were so poor they didn't have any
+skates, but some of the boys had let them take a sled, and two of these
+little Anderson kids were slidin' around on the ice and havin' all the
+fun they could, even if they didn't have skates. I suppose their toes
+was as cold and their noses as blue, and that's half of skatin' or
+sleighin'."
+
+"Smith, Joe, and the other skaters were on the southwest end of the pond
+playin' 'pigeon goal,' and these poor Anderson kids were slidin' around
+up at the other end where they would be out of the way. The wind was
+blowin' pretty hard, and I suppose they were careless; anyhow a gust
+struck them and swept them along into that air hole."
+
+"They yelled as best they could, and some boys who were near them
+hollered, and the boys who were skating heard them and came tearing
+along to see what was the matter. Jack Smith, here, was fixing a strap
+or somethin', and was the last one to get started. The whole bunch of
+them were standin' 'round watching those poor Anderson kids drown, so
+scared they didn't know what to do. The poor little tots were hanging
+onto the sled right out in the middle of an open space about thirty
+yards wide."
+
+[Illustration: "Jack ... never stopped a second"]
+
+"Jack, here, never stopped a second. He saw what was up as he came
+skatin' along, and he legged it all the harder, and in he went--skates,
+overcoat, comforter, mittens and all. It's no easy job swimmin' with
+such an outfit, to say nothin' of rescuin' two half-drowned youngsters,
+and I don't know how he did it, and I don't reckon you do either, Jack.
+But anyhow, he got to them, paddled along to the edge of the ice, and
+held on to them until the other boys pushed out boards and finally got
+the whole caboodle of 'em up on solid ice."
+
+"Bully for you, Smith!" exclaimed Chilvers, "didn't know it was in
+you."
+
+"Mr. Chilvers is jealous of you," declared Miss Lawrence. "I think it
+was real heroic."
+
+"So do I," asserted Miss Harding, "but I cannot imagine how you acquired
+so absurd a nickname as 'Socks Smith' from that incident."
+
+"Was the water cold?" asked Marshall.
+
+"I hav'n't finished my story," said Mr. Bishop, after these and other
+comments had-been made. "I reckon the water was some cold, and the air
+colder; at any rate I happened along in my wagon just as they were
+draggin' them out, and before I could get them up to Smith's father's
+house the whole bunch of them was frozen so stiff that I had to pack 'em
+into the kitchen like so much cordwood."
+
+"But boys of that age are tough, and when they had been thawed out,
+boiled in hot baths, and blistered with mustard poultices they was as
+good as new, and I reckon the Anderson kids was a mighty sight cleaner
+than they had been since the last time they went in swimmin'."
+
+"Now, as I said before, these Andersons were desperate poor, but they
+were good folks, and what you might call appreciative. Jack had saved
+the lives of two of the family, and they wanted to show what they
+thought of him in some way or other. There was twelve children in the
+Anderson family, six boys and six girls, and the older girls and the old
+lady went to work, and blamed if they didn't knit a dozen pair of
+woollen socks and sent them to Jack as a Christmas present."
+
+"And that is how Jack got the name of 'Socks Smith,'" concluded Mr.
+Bishop, when the laughter had subsided. "For riskin' his life he got all
+those nice warm socks and a nickname that uster make him so darned mad
+that I suppose he's had a hundred fights on account of it, and I'm not
+certain he won't poke me in the jaw when he gets me alone for tellin'
+this yarn on him."
+
+"This darned woollen yarn," observed Marshall.
+
+"You're all right, Socks," declared Chilvers. "I only wish I could get
+as good a press agent as our friend Bishop. When I was a kid I used to
+push 'em into the pond and run, and let someone else fish them out."
+
+"If a man were to do an act as brave as that," asserted Miss Harding,
+"the world would acclaim him a hero, and not pile ridicule on him."
+
+"All of which proves that no boy is a hero to another boy," commented
+Mr. Harding, "and that is as it should be. Boys get their heroes out of
+books, and as a rule they are fighters and pirates rather than of the
+self-sacrificing type."
+
+I was glad when Miss Lawrence changed the topic of conversation.
+
+"What do you think?" she exclaimed, addressing no one in particular, "I
+have discovered that Mr. Wallace knows how to play golf, and that he
+learned the game on some of the famous old courses of Scotland. He has
+promised to teach me the St. Andrews swing."
+
+LaHume's face was a study as Miss Lawrence made this rather startling
+announcement. Surprise, disgust, and anger were reflected in his eyes
+and in the lines of his mouth.
+
+"You have played St. Andrews?" asked Carter of Wallace.
+
+"Yes, many a time," said this remarkable "hired man." "I was born
+hard-by the old town," he added.
+
+"Indeed?" sneered LaHume. "What were you while there; caddy or
+professional?"
+
+I thought I detected a flash of anger in the eyes of the young
+Scotchman, but if offended he controlled himself admirably. Not so with
+Miss Lawrence, who glared indignantly at LaHume.
+
+"I doubt if I knew enough of the game," said Wallace, quietly, "to be
+either. I merely played there and at other places when I had the
+opportunity."
+
+"Mr. Wallace says that St. Andrews does not compare with some of the
+newer links in Scotland," declared Miss Lawrence, ignoring LaHume.
+
+"Which ones, for instance?" asked Carter, who has played over most of
+the fine courses in Great Britain.
+
+"Muirfield and Prestwick offer better golf than St. Andrews, and are
+not so crowded," replied Wallace. "The farther you get from St. Andrews
+the greater its reputation, but it is too rough for perfect golf. A
+long, straight drive is often penalised by a bad lie, and an indifferent
+shot favoured by a good one, which is more luck than golf."
+
+Carter smiled, and he afterwards told me it struck him as odd that a
+farmhand should converse in such words and on so peculiar a topic.
+Wallace good-naturedly and modestly answered a number of questions, but
+evaded telling the class of his game.
+
+I wonder where Miss Lawrence will receive those lessons which will
+enable her to acquire the "St. Andrews swing"? I doubt if our rules will
+permit this remarkable farm labourer to play over Woodvale, even as the
+guest or at the request of Miss Lawrence. I shall watch developments
+with much interest.
+
+Wallace asked to be excused, observing with a laugh that it was milking
+time, and a few minutes later we saw him pass the window, clad in blue
+overalls and a "jumper."
+
+"Tell you what I'll do with you, LaHume," said Chilvers, who never
+misses an opportunity to stir up trouble. "I'll bet you a box of
+Haskells that our Scotch friend, who is now out there milking, can
+outdrive you twenty yards, and I never saw him with a club in his
+hands."
+
+"I am not his rival in that or in any other capacity," warmly declared
+LaHume.
+
+At this instant our hostess arose, giving the signal that the dinner was
+ended, and we adjourned to the lawn. LaHume said something to Miss
+Lawrence; she laughed scornfully, and left him and joined Miss Harding.
+
+After cigars and pipes we inspected the new red barn. It is a huge
+structure, modern in every particular, and Bishop was properly proud of
+it. The lofts were partially filled with sweet clover hay, and the odour
+combined with that of the new pine lumber was delicious. The floor had
+been planed smooth, and oiled and waxed so as to make an excellent space
+for dancing. The uprights were twined with ivy and decorated with wild
+flowers, and the effect was pleasing.
+
+The guests were already arriving in all sorts of vehicles, from farm
+wagons to automobiles.
+
+An "orchestra" of five pieces was on hand, and the musicians took their
+places beneath a cluster of Chinese lanterns. There were fully a hundred
+on the floor at nine o'clock, when Mr. Harding and Mrs. Bishop led off
+in the grand march. I had secured Miss Harding as my partner, and LaHume
+and Miss Lawrence were behind us. Carter was with some village beauty,
+but I saw nothing of Wallace in the grand march.
+
+Later he appeared and danced a waltz with Miss Ross, and they made a
+handsome couple. The "hired man" was as well dressed as any gentleman in
+the room, and I have never seen a more graceful dancer than that tall,
+young Scotchman. LaHume watched him like a hawk. When Wallace claimed
+Miss Lawrence for a schottische the glum LaHume stood by the door and
+looked as if he would rather fight than dance. Chilvers told him he was
+making an ass of himself.
+
+It was a glorious night beneath the radiance of a full moon which
+silvered the lace-work of a mackerel sky. I never fully realised what
+dancing was until Miss Harding favoured me with a polka. And then we
+wandered out into the moonlight, talked about the moon, and hunted for
+the Great Dipper.
+
+Even a plain woman looks pretty when with eyes and chin lifted she gazes
+at the star-studded heavens, her face profiled against the gleaming orb
+of a full moon, but no words of mine can describe the splendid beauty of
+Miss Harding in that attitude. I tried to think of something to say, but
+was under a spell and could think of nothing, and it was perhaps just as
+well. I composed some ripping good sentences before I went to sleep that
+night, but it was too late to use them, and I shall not record them
+here.
+
+And then we met Wallace and Miss Lawrence, her arm drawn through his,
+her face lifted toward his, and her tongue going when she was not
+laughing. They were "walking out" a dance, and evidently enjoying it.
+
+Mr. Harding had the time of his life. He danced with stout farm wives,
+slender village maidens, and executed a clog dance which made the barn
+shudder on its foundations. He led the singing, told stories to groups
+of farmers who shouted with laughter, and refused to go home until Mrs.
+Harding took him by the arm and fairly dragged him away.
+
+I walked home with Miss Harding.
+
+[Illustration: "Mr. Harding ... executed a clog dance"]
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XII
+
+THE ST. ANDREWS SWING
+
+
+A week has passed since I made the last entry in this diary, and a
+number of peculiar things have happened.
+
+My brokers have brought an additional 10,000 shares of N.O. & G., which
+brings my speculative holdings to a total of 25,000 shares. They
+acquired the last block at an average price of 65, and the market closed
+to-night at 63. If I were to settle at this figure I would be loser to
+the amount of $150,000, not including the $23,000 lost on the first two
+thousand shares purchased, on which I have taken my losses. Counting
+commissions and interest I am about $175,000 to the bad, but am not in
+the least worried.
+
+My brokers are now placing their orders through houses in other cities,
+and I am certain the extent of my operations is a secret beyond the
+slightest question.
+
+The qualifying round for the "Harding Trophy" brought out the largest
+field of players in the history of our club competitions. Of course most
+of those who started declared that they had no expectation of winning,
+or even of qualifying in the first sixteen. For instance, there was
+Peabody, whose best medal score is 112.
+
+"Are you going to play for that bronze gent?" demanded Chilvers, as
+Peabody came to the first tee.
+
+"Thought I might just as well enter," said Peabody. "Of course I know I
+haven't a chance in the world to win."
+
+"You never can tell," said Chilvers, his face solemn as an owl. Chilvers
+is a merciless "kidder."
+
+"That's right," admitted Peabody.
+
+"If you play the way I saw you doing the other day, there's not a man in
+the club has anything on you," asserted Chilvers, winking at me.
+
+"Stranger things have happened," declared Peabody, his face illuminated
+by a hopeful grin. "I made the last hole yesterday in five, and that is
+as good as Carter or Smith have done it in this year."
+
+Now, as a matter of fact, there was not one chance in five hundred that
+Peabody would qualify, and he didn't, but that did not prevent his
+starting out with a hope and a sort of a faith that by some bewildering
+combination of circumstances he would qualify, and later on bowl over
+all of his competitors and carry off the prize with the sweeter honours
+of victory.
+
+If there be any soil where hope absolutely runs riot it is in the breast
+of a golfer. The fond mother who cozens herself into the faith that her
+boy will some day be President of the United States builds on the same
+foundation as the duffer who enters a competition in which he is
+outclassed.
+
+Personally I can see no reason why I shall not some day win the
+international golf championship, and I have strong expectations of doing
+so, but know perfectly well that I will not. It is a peculiar but
+delightful complication of mind.
+
+Carter had the best qualifying score, making the round in a consistent
+eighty. Marshall was second with an eighty-two, Boyd and LaHume were
+tied with eighty-four each, and I came in fifth with one more.
+Chilvers, Pepper, and Thomas also qualified, but the cup should lie
+among the first five.
+
+Candour compels me to admit that on form it should come to a struggle
+between Carter and Marshall; but if I get into the finals with either of
+these gentlemen I shall play with confidence of winning.
+
+A most astounding thing has happened! If I were incorporating these
+events in a narrative or a novel I presume I would reserve the statement
+I am about to make until the finish, so as to form an effective
+climax--and on reflection I have decided to do so in these notes. So I
+will begin at the beginning.
+
+The second day after our visit to Bishop's, Miss Lawrence called me
+aside on the veranda, and I could see that some great secret had
+possession of her.
+
+"I wish to ask a favour of you, Mr. Smith," she said, after beating
+about the brush for a minute.
+
+"Anything at my command is yours," I said.
+
+"I have come to you," she said, "because I know that you are one of the
+members of the club who can keep a secret. Not that this is any
+tremendous affair," she added, a blush faintly touching her cheek, "but
+I don't care to have everybody know it."
+
+I assured her that wild horses could not drag from me any confidence
+reposed.
+
+"I want to borrow some of your clubs," she faltered.
+
+"My clubs?"
+
+"Yes; some old ones which you do not use regularly."
+
+"You may have any or all the clubs I have," I assured her. "When do you
+wish them?"
+
+"Right now."
+
+She was silent a moment, and I was too mystified to frame any comment.
+
+"I am going to tell you all about it," she impulsively declared, laying
+her little hand on my arm. "I want them for Mr. Wallace!"
+
+"Mr. Wallace?" I repeated. At that instant I could not think whom she
+meant.
+
+"Mr. Bishop's assistant."
+
+"Oh, yes!" I exclaimed. By a mighty effort I kept from smiling. It was
+the first time I had heard a "hired man" called an "assistant," and I
+have heard them called many names.
+
+"Do you remember that at the dinner I said Mr. Wallace had promised to
+teach me the St. Andrews swing?" she asked, her eyes bright with
+excitement.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I took my first lesson yesterday afternoon. Miss Ross and I went over
+to Mr. Bishop's after dinner, as we arranged we should during the dance.
+We put our clubs in my auto when no one was looking, and went by a
+roundabout way to the big sheep pasture to the east of the farmhouse. Do
+you know where it is?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"It was still half an hour from sunset, and Mr. Wallace was there
+waiting for us. Mr. Smith," clasping her hands, "you should see that
+gentleman play golf!"
+
+"I had an idea he could play from the moment he lofted your sliced ball
+over the fence that afternoon," I said.
+
+"Can you go with us?" she asked suddenly. "Miss Ross and I promised Mr.
+Wallace we would come over this afternoon an I bring a set of men's
+clubs with us, and it would be just splendid for you to go with us. Will
+you go, Mr. Smith?"
+
+I assured her it would be a pleasure. At that moment Miss Harding
+appeared, and we quickly decided to let her into the secret.
+
+"Mr. Wallace said he would arrange with Mr. Bishop to get away from his
+work an hour or so any time we came over this afternoon," explained Miss
+Lawrence, "so there will be no deception on his part."
+
+"Oh, you should see him drive!" exclaimed Miss Ross, raising her eyes as
+if following a ball which was travelling an enormous distance. "And he
+did not dare hit them hard for fear of breaking my club. It was
+perfectly lovely!"
+
+[Illustration: "We ran the auto into the sheep pasture"]
+
+"And approach!" added Miss Lawrence.
+
+"And putt!" declared Miss Ross. "It was grand!"
+
+"Let us see this paragon of all the golfing virtues without delay,"
+laughed Miss Harding, and half an hour later our automobile stopped in
+front of the Bishop house.
+
+Wallace must have been on the outlook for us, since he appeared
+directly. He seemed a bit surprised to see me, but greeted us
+pleasantly.
+
+"Miss Lawrence and Miss Ross were so kind as to praise shots I made
+yesterday," he explained, "but, as Mr. Smith will understand, the good
+ones were more or less lucky, for it is long since I have had a club in
+my hand. However, I will do the best I can to illustrate the typical
+Scottish swings, as I execute them, but please do not expect too much."
+
+We ran the auto into the sheep pasture, and I presume it was the first
+invasion of those haunts by this modern vehicle. At least the sheep
+seemed to so regard it, and ran bleating in every direction. It is an
+ideal spot for an exhibition of the long game, and Bishop has had many
+offers from golf clubs seeking a location for links. That farmer
+gentleman appeared shortly after we arrived at the crest of a gentle
+hill.
+
+"No trespassin' on these here premises!" he grinned.
+
+"How are ye, everybody? Miss Lawrence tells me that my man Wallace,
+here, is a crackerjack drivin' one of them golf balls. You'd ought to
+see him drive a team when he first come here. Took him two weeks to
+learn the difference between 'gee' and 'haw,' and to tell the 'nigh'
+from the 'off' boss, but I suppose drivin' a golf ball is a sight
+easier. But I won't bother ye. I'll just stand here and watch. Perhaps I
+might learn somethin'."
+
+It was a warm afternoon and Wallace laid aside his thin jacket. He was
+dressed in a tennis suit which fitted him perfectly. Bishop called me
+aside.
+
+"That chap has two or three trunks full of all kinds of clothes," he
+said in a whisper, "but this is the first time I ever saw this one. What
+do you call it?"
+
+"That's a tennis suit," I said.
+
+"Tennis!" he grunted. "That's worse than golf, isn't it, Jack?"
+
+I laughed, and then we turned our attention to the young Scotchman.
+
+The moment he grasped my driver and swung it with an easy but powerful
+wrist movement I knew he was an expert. You can almost pick the good
+golfer by the way he takes a club from a bag. His skill is shown in his
+manner of teeing a ball, and no duffer ever "addressed" the sphere or
+"waggled" his club so as to deceive those who know the game.
+
+Wallace did not tee the ball on any raised inequality of the turf, but
+simply placed it on a smooth spot, such as one would select as the
+average brassie lie. If I had any lingering doubt as to his ability,
+this one preliminary act dispelled it.
+
+Now that I calmly recall this scene in that sheep pasture, its dramatic
+grotesqueness rather appeals to me. Here were three young ladies, all of
+them pretty, all wealthy and holding high social positions, watching
+with bated breath a farmhand of unknown birth in the act of striking a
+golf ball. Surely golf is the great leveller! Perhaps it is the hope of
+the ultimate democracy; the germ of the ideal brotherhood of man.
+
+I presume Bishop was thinking that Wallace would better be employed in
+running a mowing machine.
+
+"The Scotch method of making a full drive," said Wallace, facing his
+interested little audience, and speaking with more enthusiasm than was
+his wont, "or, if you prefer it, the St. Andrews style, is distinguished
+from most types by what might be termed its exaggerated freedom. It is a
+full, free swing with an abandoned follow through. It probably comes
+from the confidence which has been handed down from generations of
+golf-playing people. The Scotch are a conservative and deliberate people
+in most things, but the way they seem to hit a golf ball gives to most
+observers the impression of carelessness and lack of considered effort.
+That, I should say," he concluded, with a droll smile, "is enough for
+the preacher."
+
+[Illustration: "I have never seen a more perfect shot"]
+
+I felt mortally certain Wallace would make a failure of that first shot,
+and he told me later he was rather nervous, but he took no unnecessary
+chances.
+
+He used a three-quarter swing--at least so it appeared to me--such a one
+I should employ to drive a low ball about one hundred and fifty yards.
+He seemed to put no effort into it, but the result proved there was not
+an ounce of misapplied energy. It all seemed unstudied, but I knew that
+every muscle and sinew of his lithe and well-proportioned body was
+working to the end that the face of his club should not swerve by one
+hair's breadth from the course he had planned for it.
+
+It was the ball which we less-favoured golfers dream shall some day be
+ours to command; the ball which starts low, rises in a concave curve,
+and ends its trajectory in a slight slant to the left--the low, hooked
+ball. It was not a phenomenally long drive; about two hundred yards, I
+should say, but for the apparent effort expended I have never seen a
+more perfect shot.
+
+"Why in thunder don't you hit it hard, Wallace?" demanded Bishop. "Soak
+it, man, soak it! That was only a love tap."
+
+I would rather have stood in the shoes of that "hired man," and listened
+to the comments of those three girls, than to rival the eloquence of
+Demosthenes, and withstand the surges of the applause of admiring
+thousands.
+
+"Let me drive two or three easy ones, Mr. Bishop," Wallace said, placing
+another ball on the turf, "and then I will press a bit, and see if I
+have lost the feel of a full swing."
+
+It was a wonderful exhibition of clean, long driving. He teed a dozen
+balls, and I doubt if one of them fell fifteen yards outside the line of
+the lone walnut tree which had been selected as the target. The ground
+was fairly level, and Mr. Bishop and I paced the distance to the outer
+ball. We agreed that it was about two hundred and forty yards from the
+point driven, and seven of the twelve balls were found within a radius
+of fifteen yards. In fact all of them would have been on or near the
+edge of a large putting green.
+
+I have seen longer driving, but nothing equalling it in accuracy or
+consistency.
+
+"It is very much better than I had expectation of doing," said Wallace.
+"That is a well-balanced club of yours, Mr. Smith, but a bit too short
+and whippy for me."
+
+He good-naturedly consented to try lofting and approaching shots. On the
+start he was a little unsteady, due probably to lack of familiarity with
+my clubs, which are made to conform with some of my pet hobbies. After a
+few minutes' practise he got the hang of them and did really brilliant
+work.
+
+With a mashie at one hundred and twenty yards he dropped ball after ball
+within a short distance of a stake which served to indicate a cup. He
+picked them clean from the turf, lofting them with that back-spin which
+causes them to drop almost dead. It was the golf I have always claimed
+to be within the range of possibility, but I never hoped to see it
+executed. Even Bishop was impressed with the skill displayed by his
+employee, and as the balls soared true from his club, like quoits from
+the hand of a sturdy expert, the farmer grinned his appreciation.
+
+"I don't know much about this here game, Jack," he said, as Wallace
+rejoined us, "but it looks to me as if this man of mine has you Woodvale
+fellows skinned a mile. Tell you what I'll do! I'll back him for ten
+dollars against any man you've got."
+
+"I am not eligible to play in Woodvale," observed Wallace, a peculiar
+smile hovering on his lips, "so it is useless to discuss that."
+
+"You shall play as my guest," declared Miss Lawrence. "I have a perfect
+right to--"
+
+"I should be glad to extend that courtesy to Mr. Wallace at any time," I
+interrupted, fearing that she might say something which would be
+misconstrued.
+
+"I thank both of you, but it is out of the question," said Wallace with
+quiet dignity, and Miss Harding with her usual tact changed the topic by
+asking Wallace to illustrate a certain point relating to the short
+approach shot.
+
+On our way back to the auto I walked with Mr. Bishop, and of a sudden a
+thought occurred to me.
+
+"I am in an important competition for a trophy presented to the club by
+Mr. Harding," I explained, "and I wish you to do me a favour."
+
+"What kind of a favour?"
+
+"If I can arrange with Wallace to give me a few lessons in driving and
+approaching, will you have any objections? It would put some extra money
+in his pocket."
+
+"Not after he is through with his work," Bishop said, hesitating a
+moment. "But I can't have you folks takin' up his time as a regular
+thing when he should be out in the field. This thing to-day is all right
+enough, and I'm glad to accommodate Miss Lawrence and the rest of ye,
+but of course, as you know, Jack, it breaks up his day's work, and this
+is a busy season on a farm like this. But as a rule he is through his
+chores at half-past six, and there's lots of sunlight after that."
+
+I managed to get Wallace aside before we left the farmhouse. I told him
+of the club competition and of my desire to win the Harding trophy.
+
+"Mr. Bishop tells me your time is your own after half-past six in the
+evening," I said. "Would you be willing to give me a few lessons after
+that hour? I will bring clubs and balls and meet you where we were this
+afternoon."
+
+"I will tell you anything I know, Mr. Smith," he said, "but I fear I
+shall prove a poor instructor."
+
+"I shall expect to pay for your time, Mr. Wallace, and if you can
+improve my drive you will find it worth your while," I said, glad of a
+chance to do something in an honourable way for a chap who certainly has
+not been favoured with his share of good fortune.
+
+"If I accept pay I will become a professional golfer, will I not, Mr.
+Smith?" he asked, and for the life of me I did not know what to say.
+
+"I would be willing to pay you five dollars a lesson," I said, ignoring
+his question, trusting that the figure named would outweigh scruples, if
+he really had any.
+
+"It is more than I would take, though I thank you for the offer," he
+said. "I do not doubt that golf is an honourable profession--in fact I
+know it is--but for reasons which will not interest you I prefer to
+maintain my amateur standing. It will be a pleasure to play with you,
+sir, and to help your game if I can, but I would rather not accept
+money."
+
+"Very well," I said, "I'll find some other way to repay you. Suppose I
+take the first lesson to-morrow evening?"
+
+"To-morrow evening at half after six o'clock," he said, and we shook
+hands in parting to bind the agreement.
+
+I had already formed a plan by which I could even matters without the
+direct passing of money. It strikes me as odd that this farmhand should
+object to becoming a professional golfer, but it tends to prove the
+accuracy of my original opinion that he is some college chap, probably
+of good family, who is at the end of his resources.
+
+We had no sooner started from Bishop's than Miss Lawrence turned her
+batteries on me.
+
+"You think you are very sly, do you not, Mr. Smith?" she began.
+
+"In what way, Miss Lawrence?"
+
+"You think to steal my golf instructor from me," she declared. "That is
+just like a man; they are the meanest, most selfish things ever
+created."
+
+"Listen to me--"
+
+"I did listen to you," declared that young lady with a triumphant laugh.
+"I did listen to you, and I have sharp ears. You are to have your first
+exclusive lesson to-morrow evening. I make the discovery that Mr.
+Wallace knows more of golf than all of you Woodvale boys together, and
+then you seek to monopolise his skill. That's what he did, girls, and he
+dare not deny it! What do you think of him?"
+
+"Monster!" laughed Miss Harding, our fair chauffeuse on this return
+trip, raising her eyes for an instant to mine.
+
+"Ingrate!" hissed Miss Ross, leaning forward from the tonneau.
+
+"What shall we do with him?" demanded Miss Lawrence.
+
+"Make him take us with him!" they chorused, and I assured them that
+nothing would give me more pleasure.
+
+And thus it happened that Wallace acquired four pupils instead of one,
+and for three successive evenings we had a jolly time in the old sheep
+pasture taking our lessons from this most remarkable "hired man." We had
+to let Mr. Harding into the secret the second evening, but he promised
+not to "butt in" to our class, so he and Bishop sat on a side hill and
+smoked and laughed and seemed to enjoy the exhibition hugely.
+
+These little excursions to the old sheep pasture excited increasing
+curiosity in the club. I enjoyed them immensely, since it gave me a
+chance to walk slowly home with Miss Harding.
+
+After the first visit we discarded the auto, since its use threatened
+too much publicity. There was no real reason for keeping the affair a
+secret, except that it is a pleasure to hold an interest in a mystery,
+and I think most of us will confess to this harmless weakness. In
+addition I was steadily improving my short game, which has been my great
+handicap when pitted against Carter.
+
+And besides, as I have noted, I enjoyed the companionship of Miss
+Harding--and, of course, that of the others of our little group.
+
+I am of the opinion that LaHume followed and spied upon us on the
+occasion of our second trip, and very likely on the succeeding one. I am
+sure I saw someone raise his head above a scrubby knoll to the south,
+and am reasonably certain I recognised LaHume's gray cap. He was not
+about the club that evening until after our return, and the same thing
+happened on the following evening. His manner led me to believe he knew
+more than he cared to tell. He was sullen almost to the point of
+insolence.
+
+After having been ignored once or twice by Miss Lawrence, LaHume left
+our little group on the veranda and pulled a chair to the side of
+Carter, who was reading his evening paper. It is not safe to interrupt
+Carter while thus engaged, but after LaHume said a few words the other
+laid aside the paper and listened intently. They talked for some time,
+and in view of what happened later I have an idea of the subject of
+their conversation.
+
+Carter called me aside the next evening.
+
+"I understand," he said, "that you have retained the services of a
+private golf tutor."
+
+"Who told you that?" I was thunderstruck.
+
+"Never mind who told me," laughed Carter. "Trying to steal a march on
+the rest of us, eh? Foxy old Smith; foxy old Smith!"
+
+There was nothing I cared to say, and I said it.
+
+"Is he any good?" Carter asked.
+
+"Is who any good?" I parried.
+
+"Wallace, of course. Oh, I know all about it. You, Miss Lawrence, Miss
+Ross, and Miss Harding have been taking lessons from Wallace for several
+evenings over in Bishop's sheep pasture. What I wish to know is this:
+does this Scotch chap of Bishop's really know anything about the game,
+or are the girls carried away with him because he is a handsome dog who
+has seen better days and is now playing in bad luck?"
+
+"I cannot speak for the young ladies," I replied realising that I might
+as well tell the truth, "but I am smitten with the way he hits a ball,
+and also with his genius in explaining it to me. Carter, I tell you this
+fellow Wallace is a wonder!"
+
+Carter was silent a moment.
+
+"I wonder if he would like a job as golf professional?" he said.
+
+"Golf professional?" I repeated. "Where?"
+
+"Right here in Woodvale," declared Carter.
+
+"To take Kirkaldy's place?"
+
+"Yes, to take Kirkaldy's place. Kirkaldy handed me his resignation
+to-night to take effect on Saturday. A rich uncle has died in Scotland,
+and our young friend will buy his own golf balls in future, instead of
+winning them from you and me. Now you and I constitute the majority of
+the house committee, and if this Wallace is as good as you say, and I do
+not doubt your judgment in the least, what's the matter with offering
+him Kirkaldy's place? A man who can drive a dozen balls two hundred
+yards and tell how he does it is squandering his time and cheating
+humanity by serving as hired man."
+
+I told him what Wallace said when I offered him money.
+
+"That's all nonsense," declared Carter. "He can be a professional and
+return to the amateur ranks after he has gone into some other avocation.
+That is the rule not only here but in Great Britain. Kirkaldy can now
+become an amateur, and doubtless will. Get your hat and we'll go over
+and talk to this chap right now."
+
+"How about LaHume?" I asked. LaHume is the third member of the house
+committee.
+
+"Never mind about LaHume," laughed Carter. "I imagine there are reasons
+why LaHume might oppose the selection of Wallace, but if we are
+satisfied LaHume will have to be."
+
+The Bishops had retired when we reached the old house, but Wallace came
+to the door, book in hand. Naturally he was surprised to see us at that
+hour, and he was even more surprised when Carter told him the object of
+our visit.
+
+"We are not authorised to make you a definite offer to-night," said
+Carter. "I am chairman of the committee, and if you care to consider the
+matter seriously we suggest that you play a round with our present
+professional, Kirkaldy, to-morrow afternoon. If your work is
+satisfactory, as I have no doubt it will be from what Smith has said of
+you, the place is yours at the same salary and the same perquisites
+received by Kirkaldy."
+
+"And what are these?" asked Wallace, a twinkle in his eye which I had
+noticed on several occasions. It was a peculiar combination of
+shrewdness, curiosity, and amusement, but one could not take offence at
+it. He certainly is an odd fish, and I like him even if I do not
+understand him.
+
+"One hundred dollars a month with room and board, and all you can earn
+giving lessons," said Carter. "Kirkaldy averages three hundred dollars a
+month, and could have made more had he not been lazy."
+
+"That certainly is a tempting chance for one who is getting twenty
+dollars a month," observed Wallace, after a long pause. "I like it here,
+and will not leave Mr. Bishop without due notice, but if you can obtain
+my release and can positively assure me that my amateur standing will
+not be impaired I will try to qualify for the position you offer. I
+don't mind telling you," he added, and I noticed the same odd twinkle in
+his eyes, "that there was a time, and I hope it will recur, when I
+thought much of playing the game in a non-professional capacity. That,
+however, is amongst ourselves, and if I become your professional I shall
+attend strictly to my business."
+
+The following morning I saw Mr. Bishop, who informed me that Wallace had
+already related the purport of our visit the preceding evening.
+
+"I'll tell you how I look at it, Jack," the old man said. "He's not an
+awful good hired man, but he's willin' and eager to learn, and has the
+makings of the best one in the county, but mor'n that he is a real
+gentleman, and good company for mother and me, and I hate like the
+mischief to lose him. But Lord bless ye, if he can make three hundred
+dollars a month teaching you fools how to hit a ball with a stick, why
+I ain't got no call to keep him here. That's as much money as I make out
+of this whole blamed farm, and I have to work and not play for a livin'.
+If Wallace is the man you want, take him, and I won't put a straw in his
+way. Only I hope you'll sorter hint to him that we'd take it kindly if
+he'd make it a point to drop over here once in a while and take supper
+with mother and me, and stay all night, if he'd care to. Will you do
+that, Jack?"
+
+I heartily promised I would, and felt as guilty as if I had stolen some
+of Bishop's prize sheep. I went down the fields and told Wallace the old
+man had consented to release him, and that Kirkaldy would be on hand at
+the club to play a trial round at two o'clock.
+
+I will describe that game and some other happenings in my next entry.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XIII
+
+OUR NEW PROFESSIONAL
+
+
+LaHume was furious when Carter and I told him Wallace was a candidate
+for Kirkaldy's place.
+
+"What do you mean by taking this step without consulting me?" he
+blustered.
+
+"We have not employed this chap yet," Carter calmly responded. "Don't
+get excited, Percy, Wallace may not make good."
+
+"But who knows who he is?" demanded LaHume. "He may be the rankest kind
+of an impostor."
+
+"A golf impostor?" smiled Carter. "I never heard of one. We can get a
+line on him before he has played five holes."
+
+"I don't mean that," growled LaHume. "What I mean is that we don't know
+anything about this fellow. He comes with no recommendations, and all
+that sort of thing."
+
+"If he can play within five strokes of Kirkaldy, and teach Smith how to
+keep from slicing, that's recommendation enough," remarked Carter. "What
+have you against him, Percy?"
+
+"I'll vote against him in the committee," hotly declared LaHume, "and if
+I'm over-ruled I will appeal the matter to the club."
+
+"Go as far as you like, my boy," drawled Carter, slowly adjusting his
+monocle and turning on his heel.
+
+The news Kirkaldy had resigned and that "Bishop's hired man, Wallace,"
+was to have a try out for his place spread rapidly, and created no end
+of comment and excitement. When it was rumoured that the Misses
+Harding, Ross, and Lawrence--the three acknowledged beauties of the
+club--were his sponsors the interest was vastly increased.
+
+Wallace appeared half an hour ahead of the appointed time, and I
+introduced him to Kirkaldy. The latter studied him intently as they
+chatted, but asked no questions concerning his identity with their
+native Scotland. Wallace looked over an array of clubs, selected some
+which suited him, but retained my cleek and mashie. It was agreed I
+should act as caddy for Wallace, Chilvers for Kirkaldy, and that Carter
+should referee. LaHume declined to act in any capacity.
+
+All games were postponed to watch this strange contest, and the
+"gallery" clustered at the first tee numbered fully one hundred. It was
+agreed that the contest should be at medal play, the match score also to
+be taken into consideration.
+
+Mr. Harding called me aside before the match started.
+
+"What do you think about this game, Smith?" he asked. "You've seen both
+of them play, and I hav'n't. This young fellow, LaHume, is bluffing
+around offering to bet any part of five hundred dollars Kirkaldy will
+beat this Wallace seven strokes. I don't mind losing the money, but I
+hate to make a foolish bet and be laughed at."
+
+"Take LaHume up, and I'll stand half the bet," I said, after considering
+the matter for a moment. "Wallace is a stranger to the course, but I
+doubt if Kirkaldy or anyone living can beat him seven strokes."
+
+Harding covered LaHume's money, and the latter placed several hundred
+dollars more at the same odds. Miss Lawrence heard he was betting
+against Wallace, and her eyes blazed with indignation.
+
+"You go to Mr. LaHume," she said to Marshall, "and ask him what odds he
+will give that Mr. Wallace does not win the game. Do not tell him who
+wishes to know."
+
+"What odds Wallace does not win the game?" sneered LaHume, when Marshall
+sounded him. "Five to one, up to a thousand dollars!"
+
+Just before they teed off, Marshall put a crisp one-hundred-dollar note
+belonging to Miss Lawrence in Harding's hands as stakeholder, and LaHume
+promptly covered it with five bills of the same denomination. There were
+scores of smaller wagers with no such animus back of them.
+
+Wallace won the toss and took the honour. I doubt if there be any
+greater mental or nervous strain than that of making the initial stroke
+in an important golf contest. The player realises that all eyes are on
+him, and unless he has nerves of steel and an absolute mental poise he
+is likely to fall the victim of a wave which surges against him as he
+grasps the shaft of his club.
+
+Wallace's first shot was the poorest I had seen him execute. It went
+high and to the left, and for a moment I was sure it would not clear the
+fence, but it did, dropping in as thick a clump of swamp grass as can
+be found in Woodvale. It left him fully one hundred and fifty yards from
+the cup. It-was a most disappointing shot, and I instinctively turned
+and looked at LaHume.
+
+That young gentleman was satisfied beyond measure. There was something
+vindictive and repellent in the satisfied expression of his face. I
+turned and watched Kirkaldy drive a beautiful ball within fifty yards of
+the cup. The first hole is two hundred and eighty-five yards from the
+tee.
+
+I found Wallace's ball. It was on a soggy spot of ground, with tall
+slush grass in front of it, but luckily there was room to swing a club
+back of it. He studied it a moment intently. It was a villainous lie. I
+did not wish to give advice, but could not restrain myself.
+
+"Better play safe," I said. "It will cost you only one stroke."
+
+"I think I can take it out," he said, reaching in the bag for a heavy,
+old-fashioned lofting iron.
+
+He took one glance at the green, and then came down on that ball as if
+he intended to drive it into the bowels of the earth. I saw nothing but
+a shower of mud and a huge divot hurled up by the club-head as the
+wrists relaxed to save breaking the shaft.
+
+Others saw the ball as it flicked the tips of the menacing grass and
+soared high in the air. It struck on the near edge of the green.
+
+"A bonny shot, mon; a guede clean shot as ere were made out thot muck!"
+exclaimed Kirkaldy, his face mantled with a grin of frank admiration.
+
+It was a glorious recovery! Miss Lawrence was fairly dancing for joy.
+Kirkaldy laid his ball within a foot of the hole, and won it with a
+three against four for Wallace, the latter making bogy. Wallace is
+unable to explain how he made a fluke of that first shot, and I am sure
+I have no idea.
+
+On the second hole both drove perfect balls over the old graveyard, but
+Wallace had a shade the best of it in distance and direction. Both were
+nicely on the green in two, and Wallace missed a putt for a three by a
+hair, while his opponent was lucky, running down in a long lag for four,
+halving it in bogy.
+
+Timid players drive short on the third so as to avoid dropping in the
+brook, but both drove smashing balls far over it.
+
+"I don't know much about this game," chuckled Harding, overtaking me at
+the foot-bridge, "but so far as I can see, this man of Bishop's isn't
+exactly what you folks call a duffer."
+
+[Illustration: "It struck on the near edge of the green"]
+
+Both took this hole in bogy fours, and both drove the duck pond on the
+next hole, and we found their balls fair on the green, 220 yards away
+and slightly up hill. Wallace rimmed the cup for a two, and both made
+threes, one stroke better than bogy. It was lightning golf. LaHume's
+face was a study.
+
+The fifth hole is 470 yards, and both were within easy chopping
+approach of the green on their second. Wallace had the worst of a bad
+kick, and Kirkaldy holed a thirty-foot putt for a par four, making him
+two up. LaHume smiled once again. The next four holes were made in bogy
+by both players, leaving Kirkaldy two up on both medal and match scores.
+Here is the out card:
+
+                 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
+      KIRKALDY-- 3  4  4  3  4  5  5  5  4--37
+      WALLACE--- 4  4  4  3  5  5  5  5  4--39
+
+This was three under bogy for Kirkaldy, and one under for Wallace.
+
+"I think this Scotchman of yours will do," Carter said in an undertone,
+as we neared the tenth tee. "He is executing fairly well for a man
+playing a course for the first time, fixed up with a strange set of
+clubs, and getting all the worst of the luck on putts. He is actually
+outdriving Kirkaldy, but I'm afraid our friend Miss Lawrence will lose
+that hundred to Percy."
+
+"So am I," I said, "but it is the only bet he will win."
+
+It was at the tenth hole that Miss Lawrence sliced her ball over the
+fence, and Wallace deftly returned it, as I have mentioned. As he looked
+over the ground he identified it, and for the first time during the game
+he took a sweeping glance at the "gallery."
+
+His eyes met those of Miss Lawrence, and I saw him make a gesture with
+his hand as if to remind her that this was the spot where he first had
+seen her. She answered with a smile and a nod, and then said something
+to Miss Harding and Miss Rose, at which the three of them laughed.
+
+Then the machine-like Kirkaldy drove his usual accurate long ball.
+
+It is a dangerous hole, this tenth, with a deep cut through which the
+country road runs to the right, and dense woods and rock-strewn
+underbrush to the left. The cautious player does not hazard making the
+narrow opening, but Wallace smashed that ball a full 250 yards as
+straight as a rifle shot. It is a 450-yard hole, and it has been the
+ambition of every player in the club to reach it in two. Kirkaldy had
+never done it, but Wallace had made a record-breaking drive. Could he
+reach the green?
+
+Kirkaldy brassied and was short, but in good position. Wallace did not
+have a good lie, but I told him it was a full 200 yards, and the fore
+caddy gave him the direction. It was uphill almost all the way to the
+hole. He used a full brassie, going well into the turf, and I knew when
+the ball started it would reach the green.
+
+We climbed the hill breathless with curiosity. I came in sight of the
+green. A new, white ball lay within a foot of the cup! All records on
+"Mount Terrible" had been shattered!
+
+Kirkaldy smiled grimly and was short on his approach, but got down in
+two more, losing the hole with a five against that phenomenal three.
+Five is bogy and par for this hole, and sevens more common than fives.
+The medal score was even.
+
+They halved the eleventh, Wallace won the twelfth and lost the
+fourteenth, both making threes on the tricky thirteenth. Wallace took
+the medal lead by winning the fifteenth in another perfect three, and
+the sixteenth produced fours for both of them. It was Kirkaldy's turn to
+register a three on the next, this bringing them to the last hole all
+square on medal score, with Kirkaldy one up on match play. It was
+intensely exciting!
+
+The eighteenth hole is 610 yards. By wonderful long work both were on
+the green in three, but Kirkaldy was on the extreme far edge and away.
+His approach putt was too strong, overrunning the cup by twelve feet.
+Wallace laid his ball dead within six inches of the cup, and putted down
+in five, one under bogy. This insured him at least a tie for the medal
+score, but the match honours would go to Kirkaldy if he could hole that
+long putt. We held our breaths! He went to the left by a slight margin,
+halving the match by holes. Here is the card coming in:
+
+              1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
+   KIRKALDY-- 5  4  6  3  4  4  4  3  6--39
+   WALLACE--- 3  4  5  3  5  3  4  4  5-36
+
+
+[Illustration: "LaHume ... stalking toward the club house"]
+
+Wallace therefore won the medal round by a score of 75 against 76 for
+Kirkaldy, and honours were even on holes. It was a match to make one's
+blood tingle; a clean, honest contest between two clear-headed and
+muscle-trained athletes.
+
+Kirkaldy was the first to grasp Wallace's hand, and in the blue eyes of
+our tried and popular golf mentor there was naught but sincere goodwill
+and unaffected admiration.
+
+"Ye'll do, my laddy, ye'll do!" Kirkaldy exclaimed. "I dinna ken who
+taught ye, but he was a guede mon; a guede mon!"
+
+As Kirkaldy's ball stopped rolling, and it was known Wallace had won the
+medal score, the breathless gallery found their voices and gave vent to
+their feelings. The silent and motionless circle came to life, and, as
+it were, exploded toward its centre. We found ourselves in the vortex of
+cheering men, laughing girls, fluttering 'kerchiefs, and the excited
+clatter of a hundred voices.
+
+I looked for LaHume and saw him stalking toward the club house. Someone
+clutched me by the sleeve, and I looked into the beautiful and happy
+eyes of Miss Lawrence.
+
+"Wasn't it glorious!" she said. "Isn't he a splendid player! Did you
+ever see anything like that tenth hole? And I won! I just thought I
+should scream when Mr. Wallace lay dead for a five on this hole!"
+
+"Say, he's all right, eh, Smith!" said Mr. Harding, handing me a roll of
+money. "Here's your share of the plunder. It was like picking it up in
+the street after a cyclone has hit a national bank. I'm going to blow
+mine in giving a dinner to Wallace and Kirkaldy, and everybody is
+invited."
+
+We had that dinner, and right royally did we welcome the new and speed
+the parting professional. And this is how Tom Wallace, "Bishop's hired
+man," came to Woodvale as its golf professional.
+
+After the dinner in honour of our professionals Kirkaldy made me a
+present of his famous driver. It is a beauty, and I confidently expect
+to lengthen my drive by at least ten yards with it. For the first time
+in my life I am now reasonably sure with my cleek shots. I do not know
+when I have been so well satisfied with my prospects.
+
+My apparent stock losses to date foot up to $202,000.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XIV
+
+MYSELF AND I
+
+
+For an hour I have looked at the unsullied page of this diary. It amused
+me to turn back over its pages, but when I started to write the words
+would not come.
+
+A liar is one who by direction or indirection seeks to deceive. The man
+who lies to an enemy is a diplomat; the man who lies to give harmless
+play to his imagination is an artist; the man who lies to his friends
+for the purpose of taking advantage of them is a scoundrel, and the man
+who lies to himself is a fool.
+
+After re-reading this diary I am convinced that I belong in the last
+class.
+
+I have been lying to myself for the past three weeks. With a smile on my
+lips I have looked myself in the eye and told the one falsehood over and
+over again. I have been the ass fondly to believe I told it with such
+detail and verisimilitude as to carry conviction to myself. I told it
+for the last time a few minutes ago.
+
+My alter ego laughed in my face. I dislike to be jeered at, even by
+myself. I humbly apologised. I promised to reform and confess, and here
+is the confession:
+
+I am in love. I have been in love for three weeks. It is not necessary
+to say with whom, since I and myself both know, but in order that the
+crimes of evasion and equivocation may no longer be charged against me,
+I frankly record that I am in love with Grace Harding!
+
+There you have it, John Henry Smith! Head it over carefully. Does that
+suit you? With it goes my humble apology. Does not this constitute the
+amende honorable? What did you say? Ah, it does! Good Shake hands, old
+fellow! Now let's sit quietly down and talk this matter over, and see
+how we stand. I wish you to help me.
+
+The situation is slightly less complicated. It is settled that I am in
+love with Grace Harding. What's that? "_We_ are in love with Grace
+Harding," you say. Very well, old fellow, have it your own way. You are
+the only one in the world with whom I shall refuse to become jealous.
+They say that two heads are better than one, even if one is a
+blockhead--meaning me, of course.
+
+_We_ are in love with Grace Harding. Well, what if I did say it
+before? I like to keep on saying it. It's the best thing I have written
+since I started this stupid diary. _We_ are in love with Grace
+Harding.
+
+When you come to think of it, John, we cannot take any great amount of
+credit for that. It is not startling, and I'm awfully afraid it is not
+original. Now, as I look at it, it would be much more remarkable if I--I
+beg your pardon, John Henry Smith--it would be much more remarkable if
+we were _not_ in love with Grace Harding. Did you ever think of that?
+
+Falling in love with Grace Harding was the easiest thing we ever did,
+Smith, and you know it. We are entitled to no more credit for it than
+for admiring one of those glorious sunsets, when the eye is ravished by
+blended and ever-changing tints of cloud, sky, and enchanted landscape.
+We do not boast, Smith, that we love the songs of the birds, or the
+graceful bend of the willow as it yields to the summer's breeze; we do
+not call attention to our worship of the early morn, when the dew
+sparkles like swarming diamonds on grass and flower, and bridal veils of
+mist float over the breasts of the hills.
+
+We loved her, Smith, from the moment she dawned upon us the day her
+father made that wonderful drive. We loved her while she was playing
+that first game of golf--and now we can talk frankly with each other, I
+will confess I never saw a woman play worse than she did that day. But
+the fact that our admiration grew during every moment of that weird and
+wonderful exhibition of how not to hit a ball, proves we were in love.
+You never denied it, you say? I know you didn't; and it's to your
+credit.
+
+But does she love us, Smith? You don't know? Of course you don't know,
+but what do you think about it? You hope, she does, you say. Smith
+you're as stupid as I am! Certainly you hope she does, and so do I, but
+have you any reason to believe she does? Why don't you say something?
+
+"She is pleasant to us, smiles at us, and seems to enjoy our society,"
+you say. Well, what of it? What does that prove? I could say the same
+thing of Miss Ross, Miss Dangerfield, and even of Miss Lawrence. I am
+not so conceited as to imagine these charming girls are in love with us
+because they laugh, smile, and seem to be pleased at our attempts to
+entertain them.
+
+Carter could make claim that Miss Harding was in love with him on the
+same plea. And speaking of Carter, I should like your opinion of him.
+I'll tell you frankly I don't like the way he acts.
+
+Mind you, Smith, I'm not going to say anything against Carter, and I
+shall not permit you to. Carter has as much right to fall in love with
+Grace Harding as we have, and for that matter I'm afraid he has more
+claim in that direction. If you will recollect, it was Carter who
+introduced us to Miss Harding.
+
+I have no idea when and where he met her. Carter is a chap who attends
+to his own affairs and who does not permit others to interfere in them.
+It is not likely he will tell us, and I shall never ask him.
+
+Mr. Harding sometimes calls him "Jim." That goes to prove that Carter
+has known the Hardings for a long time. Harding once spoke of knowing
+Carter's father.
+
+That is not what worries me. It is Carter's air and whole attitude which
+puts me on guard. Carter must know, John Henry Smith, that we pay an
+unusual amount of attention to Miss Harding, and sometimes I almost
+imagine he has surmised what I have confessed to you, but it does not
+seem to annoy or concern him in the least. It is as if he knew just how
+far we can go. It strikes me as the confidence bred of assured
+supremacy, but, of course, I may be in error, and sincerely hope I am,
+for your sake as well as mine.
+
+Carter and Miss Harding are much together. They take long walks, and
+both seem very happy in one another's company.
+
+I stumbled across them last evening while looking for a lost ball in the
+old graveyard. They were on a scat under a weeping willow tree, and were
+sitting very close together. Carter was reading something and she was
+looking over his shoulder. They were laughing when they looked up and
+saw me poking about in the grass with my club.
+
+"Hello, Smith!" drawled Carter, looking at me through that monocle of
+his. "Lost your ball? How many times must I tell you that the proper way
+to play this hole is to drive over this sacred spot and not into it?"
+
+Miss Harding drew slightly away from him when she saw me--at least I
+imagined so--and smiled and looked innocent as could be.
+
+[Illustration: "Miss Harding ... smiled and looked innocent as could
+be"]
+
+What I am getting at, John Henry Smith, is this: We would not dare ask
+Miss Harding to sit with us in such a lonely and secluded spot, and I
+think we would have been more embarrassed than was Carter at so
+unexpected an interruption. It simply goes to prove that--well, I don't
+know just what it does prove.
+
+Chilvers told me a year ago he had heard Carter was engaged to be
+married to a very pretty and immensely wealthy girl. I did not think
+much of it at the time, having only passing interest in whether Carter
+married or remained single. The other day I asked Chilvers if he had
+heard anything more about Carter's engagement, and he looked at me
+rather oddly and said he had not. He said his wife might know something
+about it, and advised me to ask her or Carter.
+
+Suppose they were engaged, John Henry Smith? That would settle it, you
+say. You quit too easily. If you desert me in this extremity I shall go
+ahead on my own account. I love her; I must have her! Let Carter fall in
+love with someone else!
+
+For some malignant reason this man Carter has persistently stood between
+me and the realisation of my cherished ambitions. He has won cup after
+cup and medal after medal which would have fallen to me were it not for
+his devilish combination of skill and luck. But he shall not thwart my
+love! He shall not; I swear it; he shall not! Smile, John Henry Smith,
+you do not love her as I do.
+
+"Why should she fall in love with me, or wish to marry me? What have I
+done in the world, or what do I expect to do which will compel that
+admiration and respect which is the basis of true love?"
+
+Those are harsh questions, John Henry Smith. I tell you I love her; is
+not that sufficient? She is not the woman to weigh a man in the same
+scales with his money, his miles of railroad track, and such material
+assets. I would love her if her father were still a section boss.
+
+And I _am_ going to do something in this world. I propose to show
+you, John Henry Smith, that I can do something beside play golf. Am I
+not doing something now? Am I not risking practically every dollar I have
+in the world on my business judgment? Call it gambling if you will; if so,
+it is big gambling. The man who wins must take chances. Mr. Harding did
+not become a railway magnate by remaining a section boss. He is a
+commanding figure in Wall Street. I shall be that and more.
+
+Laugh if you will, John Henry Smith; I mean every word of it!
+
+What does Carter do? He has not done a stroke of work in five years. He
+says a man with an income of $100,000 a year has no right to work and
+strive to increase it. I claim a man should do something to make a name
+for himself, and leave a record of which his children and grand-children
+will be proud. You watch me, John Henry Smith! I'll show you and Miss
+Harding that I can do something beside play golf.
+
+We have wandered from our subject. The question is this: what shall we
+do in order to ascertain if Miss Harding entertains toward us any
+sentiment stronger than friendship? Ask her, you say. Suppose _you_
+ask her. No, my dear John Henry, that is not the proper step at this time.
+
+I do not set myself up as an authority in matters of love, but I do hold
+that no wise man ever proposed to a good and true woman without knowing
+in advance that she would accept him. Love has its secret code, and
+Nature gives the key to its discerning votaries. I have that key, John
+Henry Smith.
+
+One need not speak or write in order to send the first timid messages of
+love; and by the same token the recipient need not even frown in order
+to tenderly reject the proffered passion. There are as many words in
+this unwritten and unspoken vocabulary of love as may be found in
+lexicons. Did you know that, John Henry?
+
+The man who fails to avail himself of this silent but eloquent language,
+and who stupidly assaults a woman with an avowal of an alleged love,
+deserves to be coldly rejected. It is as much of an insult or an
+indiscretion as to walk unheralded and unbidden into a private room.
+Never do it, John Henry!
+
+If a man becomes convinced he loves a woman he should tell her by some
+message in the code which both understand. He will know if she receives
+it. It is not necessary that she answer, "yes." If she answer not at all
+he has achieved a notable victory, but if she promptly signals a decided
+"no" he has met with irreparable defeat. That settles it, my dear Smith.
+
+A woman may refuse a man with words, and he be justified in declining to
+accept the implied rejection, but there is no appeal from the silent
+decision which leaps from the heart.
+
+So long as no message comes back unopened keep on sending them. You are
+justified in assuming that they have been read and are being
+entertained. The time will come, John Henry, when you will get your
+answer. If it is against you, accept it with the best grace you can
+command. Do not be the fool to think her lips will veto her heart.
+
+If, on the contrary, there comes the glad day when over the throbbing
+unseen wire there comes a telepagram sounding the letters "Y-E-S,"
+proceed with the sweet formality of a verbal avowal of your love, and
+you will not be disappointed.
+
+Smile if you will, John Henry Smith, you know I have told the truth.
+
+We have sent a few of these messages to Miss Harding, and thus far none
+have been returned unopened. As you say, John Henry, they have been very
+timid ones, and possibly are so vague she does not think them worth even
+a decided negative. We will send more emphatic ones; not too emphatic,
+mind you, but couched in symbols which cannot be misunderstood.
+
+That is our best plan, John Henry Smith, don't you think so? I am glad
+we agree at last. As yet nothing has happened of a character positively
+discouraging.
+
+Carter? I wish you would not mention his name. From this on we will
+ignore Carter.
+
+I intended to write of our automobile trip, but the hour is late and I
+must postpone it until some other time. Good night, John Henry Smith!
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XV
+
+THE AUTO AND THE BULL
+
+
+I started to tear out what I wrote last night, but on second thought
+will let it remain. Its perusal in future years may amuse me. I will now
+resume the trail of Woodvale happenings.
+
+The touring car won from her father by Miss Harding is a massive and
+beautiful machine. Luckily I am familiar with the mechanism of this
+particular make, and, as a consequence, am called in for advice when any
+trifling question arises. Harding scorns a professional chauffeur.
+
+"Next to running one of these road engines," he declares, "the most fun
+is in pulling them apart to see how they are made. I would as soon hire
+a man to eat for me as to shawf one of these choo-choo cars."
+
+Shortly after the big machine arrived Mr. Harding received a letter from
+a gentleman named Wilson, who is spending the summer at the Oak Cliff
+Golf and Country Club. Wilson challenged him to come to Oak Cliff and
+play golf, and to bring his family and a party of friends with him.
+Harding read the letter and laughed.
+
+"Here's my chance to win a game," he declared. "I can't beat the Kid,
+but I'll put it all over Wilson, you see if I don't."
+
+"Don't be too sure, papa," cautioned Miss Harding.
+
+"Wilson only started golf this year, and the only game he can beat me at
+is hanging up pictures," insisted Harding. "He stands six-foot-four, and
+weighs about one hundred and fifty. He looks like a pair of compasses,
+but he's all right, and we must go up and see him. Do you know the road,
+Smith?"
+
+"Every foot of it."
+
+"How far is it?"
+
+"About forty miles."
+
+"Good!" declared the magnate. "I'll wire Wilson we'll be there
+to-morrow. We'll fill up the buzz wagon, take an early start, and put in
+a whole day at it. Smith shall be chief shawfer, and the Kid and I will
+take turns when he gets tired."
+
+And we did. We started at seven o'clock with a party consisting of Mr.
+and Mrs. Harding, Miss Harding, Chilvers and his wife, Miss Dangerfield,
+Carter, and myself.
+
+There are many hills intervening and some stretches of indifferent road,
+but we figured we should make the run in two hours or less--but we
+didn't.
+
+The few early risers gave us a cheer as we rolled away from the club
+house and careened along the winding path which leads to the main road.
+The dew yet lay on the grass, and little lakes of fog hung over the fair
+green. It was a perfect spring morning, and the ozone-charged air had an
+exhilarating effect as we cleaved through it.
+
+Miss Harding was in the seat with me. I don't imagine this exactly
+pleased Carter, but it suited me to a dot. My lovely companion was in
+splendid spirits.
+
+"Now, Jacques Henri," she said to me in French, pretending that I was a
+professional chauffeur, "you are on trial. Unless you show marked
+proficiency we shall dispense with your services."
+
+"And if I do?" I inquired.
+
+"Then you may consider yourself retained," she laughed.
+
+"For life?" I boldly asked.
+
+I was so rattled at this rather broad insinuation that I swung out of
+the road and struck a rut, which gave the car a thorough shaking.
+
+"If that's the way you drive you will be lucky if you're not discharged
+before we reach Oak Cliff," Miss Harding declared, and I did not dare
+look in her eyes to see if she were offended or not.
+
+For the following minutes I attended strictly to business. The steering
+gear and other operating parts were a bit stiff on account of newness,
+but I soon acquired the "feel" of them, and we ate up the first ten
+miles in seventeen minutes.
+
+We were following a sinuous brook toward its source, now skirting its
+quiet depths along the edge of reedy meadows, and then chasing it into
+the hills where it boiled and complained as it dashed and spumed amid
+rocks and boulders.
+
+"Hold on there, Smith!" shouted Harding from the rear seat in the
+tonneau.
+
+"Stop, Jacques Henri!" ordered my fair employer, and then I dared look
+into her smiling eyes.
+
+"I want to cut some of those willow switches," explained Harding, as
+the car stopped.
+
+"What do you want of willow switches, John?" asked Mrs. Harding.
+
+"Going to make whistles out of them," he said, cutting several which
+sprouted out from the edge of a spring. "Besides they're good things to
+keep the flies from biting the tonneau. Smith runs so slow that they are
+stealing a ride."
+
+"Defend me," I said to my employer.
+
+"Jacques Henri is doing as he is told," declared Miss Harding.
+
+The spring was so inviting that we sampled its clear, cold water.
+Harding in the meantime whittling industriously on his willow switch.
+When he found that his whistle would "blow" he was as pleased as if he
+had designed a new type of locomotive.
+
+A mile farther on we passed sedately through a country village and
+aroused the fleeting interest of the loungers in front of the combined
+post-office and news store. Then we entered a fine farming country, and
+from it plunged into a forest so dense that the overhanging boughs
+almost spanned our pathway.
+
+Moss-covered stone walls lined both sides of the road. Everywhere was a
+profusion of wild flowers, their petals brushing against our tires, and
+their flaunting reds, yellows, and blues brightening the gloom of the
+encompassing wood. A gray squirrel scampered across our path and
+impudent chipmunks chattered to right and left. And then we came to a
+small clearing filled with the wagons, tents and litter of a gipsy camp.
+
+
+
+"Let's stop and have our fortunes told!" cried Miss Dangerfield, but my
+employer vetoed that proposition. It was a vivid flash of colour. The
+brightly painted wagons with their canvas tops, the red-shirted men,
+black of hair and eyes, olive of skin, and graceful in their laziness;
+the older women bare-headed, bent of shoulder, and brilliantly shrouded
+in shawls; the younger women straight as arrows, bold and keen of
+glance, and decked in ribbons and jewelry, and on every hand swarms of
+gipsy children, more or less clothed. The blue smoke of their camp-fires
+twisted through the dark green of the fir trees in the background.
+
+Again the forest closed upon us. The grade became steeper, and in places
+our road had been blasted through solid rock. And then we reached the
+summit of this ridge, and like a flash the superb panorama of the Hudson
+burst upon us. At our feet lay the broad bosom of the Tappan Zee, its
+waters glistening in the sunlight, the spires of a village in the
+foreground, and the distance blue-girt with cliffs, hills, and
+mountains.
+
+I have seen it a thousand times, but it is ever new.
+
+"Stop; Jacques Henri!" commanded Miss Harding, and I stopped.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Harding. "Something busted?"
+
+"We're going to sit right here a minute or more and admire this,"
+declared Miss Harding.
+
+"Great; isn't it?" admitted Harding. "Who owns it, Smith? Does it cost
+anything to look at it?"
+
+"Not a penny," I said.
+
+"First time I've got something for nothing since I struck New York," was
+the comment of that gentleman.
+
+Four or five miles across the Tappan Zee the blue of the mountain was
+splattered with the white of straggling houses. To the left was a
+checker-board of farms, an area hundreds of square miles in extent
+basking in the rays of a cloudless sun. Yet beyond, the Orange mountains
+lifted their rounded slopes. To the south was the grim line of the
+Palisades, blue-black save where trees clung to their steep sides. On
+the north Hook Mountain dipped its feet into the Hudson, and to our ears
+came the dull boom of explosions where vandals are blasting away its
+sides and ruining its beauty.
+
+"Right over there," said Carter, pointing toward Piermont, "is where
+André landed when he crossed the river on the mission to Benedict Arnold
+which ended in his capture and death. Beyond the mountain is the
+monument which marks the spot where he met with what our school books
+term 'an untimely fate.'"
+
+"A short distance to the south," I added, "is the old house where
+Washington made his headquarters during the most discouraging years of
+the Revolution, and in which he and Rochambeau planned the campaign
+which ended with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. And not far
+away is 'Sleepy Hollow,' where Washington Irving lived, wrote, and
+died."
+
+"Yes, yes," contributed Chilvers, "and on this sacred soil there now is
+bunched a cluster of millionaires, any one of whom could pay the entire
+expense of the War of the Revolution as easily as I can settle for a gas
+bill."
+
+We had not noticed Harding, who suddenly appeared in front of the
+machine with his driver and a handful of golf balls.
+
+"The future historian will record," he declared, "that from this spot
+Robert L. Harding drove a golf ball into that pond below!"
+
+"Suppose you can, Robert," observed his wife, "what earthly good will it
+do you, and what will it prove?"
+
+"It will prove that I can drive one of these blamed things into that
+pond," he grinned. "I've got to break into history some way."
+
+On the fifth trial he had the satisfaction of driving a ball into that
+pond. It was not much of a drive, but it pleased him immensely.
+
+"I got my money's worth out of those five balls," he declared as he
+climbed back into the car.
+
+"See how the sun strikes the sail of that schooner!" exclaimed Miss
+Harding. "And how it glances from the brass work of those yachts at
+anchor! There goes an auto boat darting through a swarm of sail boats
+like a bird through fluttering butterflies. It is a glorious view from
+here!"
+
+"It makes the Rhine look like counterfeit money," asserted Chilvers,
+whose similes usually are grotesque. "Any time you hear an American
+raving over the wonderful scenery of Europe you can place a bet that he
+has never seen that of his own country."
+
+"That's right, Chilvers," said Harding. "We have all kinds of scenery
+out West that has never been used. It's a drug in the market, laying
+around out-of-doors for the first one that comes along."
+
+We made the next ten miles at a rapid gait through one of the finest
+country-residence sections in this fair land of ours. Then we entered a
+sparsely settled agricultural district. We were opposite a meadow which
+recently had been mowed. It was a gentle slope with picturesque rocks
+flanking its sides, and near the road was a pond.
+
+[Illustration: "It was not much of a drive"]
+
+"Whoa there, Smith!" shouted Harding. I jammed on brakes and turned to
+see what was the matter.
+
+"What is it, papa?" asked Miss Harding.
+
+"This is just the place I've been looking for," he said, standing and
+surveying the meadow with the eye of an expert.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"To paste a ball in," he asserted, reaching for his clubs.
+
+"Drive ahead, Jacques Henri!" ordered my charming employer. "Papa
+Harding, we're not going to stop every time you see a place where you
+wish to drive a ball!"
+
+"Just this once, Kid," pleaded her father. "Let me soak a few balls out
+there, and I won't say another word until we get to Oak Cliff. Be good,
+Grace, we've got lots of time."
+
+"Very well," she consented, looking at her watch. "We'll wait ten
+minutes for you."
+
+"Here's where I get some real practice," he said, arming himself with a
+driver and a box of balls. "Come on, Chilvers, you and Carter help me
+chase 'em."
+
+"Robert Harding, you are hopeless!" declared his good wife. "You have
+become a perfect golf crank."
+
+"Let me alone," he grinned, as he climbed the fence. "I'm on my
+vacation. Keep your eyes on this one, boys!"
+
+Before we started from Woodvale he declared that it was all nonsense to
+take along a change of clothes, and he was dressed in that wonderful
+costume, plaids, red coat and all.
+
+We lay back in our seats and smilingly watched his efforts. He has shown
+signs of improvement recently, and is imbued with the enthusiasm of the
+novice who realises that his practice has counted for something.
+
+He drove the first half-dozen balls indifferently, but the next one was
+really a good one.
+
+"There was a beaut!" he exclaimed, turning to us as the ball
+disappeared with a bound over the crest of the slope. "What's the matter
+with you folks? Why don't you applaud when a man makes a good shot?"
+
+"That's balls enough, papa, dear," said Miss Harding. "By the time you
+have found them your time will be up."
+
+"Right you are, Kid," he admitted. "I'm proud of that last one, and I'm
+going to pace it. Help me pick 'cm up, boys, I'll drive 'em back, and
+then we'll go on."
+
+He started to pace the distance of the longer ball, counting as he
+strode along. When he reached the crest of the slope we could hear him
+droning, "one hundred twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three," etc. Carter
+was hunting for the balls to the right and Chilvers for those to the
+left.
+
+The red coat and plaid cap disappeared over the hill. Miss Dangerfield
+was chattering about something, I know not what. I was looking at Miss
+Harding, and did not hear her.
+
+I did hear some sound which resembled distant thunder. A moment later I
+saw the top of that plaid cap bob above the hill. Then I saw the
+shoulders of that red coat, and the huge figure of the railroad magnate
+fairly shot into view.
+
+He was running as fast as his stout legs would carry him, waving his
+club and occasionally looking quickly to his rear.
+
+I knew in an instant what was the matter.
+
+"What is papa running for?" exclaimed Miss Harding. That question was
+speedily answered.
+
+"Run! Run, boys!" he yelled as he plowed down that slope. "Run like
+hell; he's after us!"
+
+Carter and Chilvers took one glance and the three of them came tearing
+down that hill.
+
+There came into view the lowered head and humped shoulders of a Holstein
+bull close on the trail of the lumbering millionaire. The women
+screamed.
+
+"He will be killed; he will be killed!" moaned Mrs. Harding. "Oh, do
+something to save him, Mr. Smith; please do something!"
+
+I am rather proud of my generalship at that critical moment. I have a
+certain amount of wit in an emergency, and luckily it did not fail me.
+It is not an easy matter to head off an enraged bull in an open field,
+but I saw a chance and took it.
+
+[Illustration: "Run! Run, boys!"]
+
+I grasped Miss Harding and fairly threw her to the ground.
+
+"Jump! Jump!" I yelled to the others.
+
+Mrs. Chilvers and Miss Dangerfield instantly obeyed, but Mrs. Harding
+was too terrified to comprehend my orders. Her eyes were fixed on her
+husband, and she neither saw nor heard me. There was not a second to
+lose.
+
+I swung that heavy touring-car in a backward curve, so as to face the
+fence over which Mr. Harding had climbed. Turning on full speed I headed
+for it.
+
+The powerful machine quivered for the fraction of a second and then
+leaped from the roadway. There was a crash of splintered fence posts and
+boards, a glimpse of flying lumber, and we were in the meadow.
+
+It takes some time to tell this, but it was not long in happening. When
+we went through that fence Harding was probably seventy yards away and
+to our left. The bull was not twenty feet back of him and gaining
+rapidly at every jump. I saw nothing of Carter or Chilvers.
+
+Harding had dropped his club and was running desperately. I feared every
+moment that he would fall. He was headed for the pond, but never would
+have reached it.
+
+"Drop down! Drop down!" I shouted to Mrs. Harding.
+
+We went over a hummock where a drain-pipe had been laid and I thought we
+were done for. The shock hurled Mrs. Harding to the floor. Beyond that
+point the ground was hard and fairly smooth and our speed became
+terrific.
+
+[Illustration: "Then I struck the bull"]
+
+The distance between the bull and his intended victim had decreased to
+so small a space that I despaired of cutting him off. I cannot tell
+exactly what happened. I only know that I kept my eye on that bull as
+religiously as one attempts to obey the golf mandate, "keep your eye on
+the ball."
+
+Then I struck the bull.
+
+I caught him with the left of the front of the car. The collision was
+at an angle of about thirty degrees, I should say. I missed Harding by
+not more than six feet. I presume we were travelling at a rate of a mile
+a minute, and that bull certainly was going one-third that fast.
+
+As the front of the machine was upon the animal I ducked, but did not
+release my firm grip on the steering-wheel. There was photographed on my
+brain an impression of a shaggy head, short and sharp horns, rage-crazed
+eyes, a wet nose and lolling tongue, of turf cast up by flying hooves,
+of a bearded face with staring eyes, of a red coat and a bewildering
+plaid--and then the machine was upon them.
+
+The shock of the collision was so slight that I feared I had missed my
+target. I shut off the power and swung sharply to the right. One glance
+proved that Mrs. Harding was uninjured.
+
+Two objects were on the ground over which I had passed, and Carter and
+Chilvers were running toward them. Had I struck Harding? I suffered
+agonies in those moments, and I was the first to reach his side.
+
+As I sprang from the car he raised to a sitting posture and attempted to
+speak, but it was impossible to do so. Before Mrs. Harding could reach
+him he was on his feet, making gestures to indicate that he was not
+hurt.
+
+"He's all right!" shouted Chilvers, rushing up to us. "Don't be alarmed,
+Mrs. Harding, he only stumbled and fell. He's winded but will catch his
+breath in a minute!"
+
+Mr. Harding panted, and between gasps bowed and made pantomimic signs to
+indicate that Chilvers had correctly diagnosed his ailment.
+
+His wife has too much sense to give way to her emotions at such a time.
+She brushed his clothes and wiped the perspiration from his face. Miss
+Harding and the others were on the scene before his voice came back to
+him.
+
+"I'm--all--right!" he declared with much effort, walking and swinging
+his arms to prove it to himself and us. Then he shook hands with me, and
+I noted that his violent exercise had not impaired the strength of his
+grip. We walked over and looked at the dead bull.
+
+"That was a good shot, Smith," he said. "That was great work. Do you
+know how close you came to hitting me?"
+
+"It was very close, but I had one eye on you," I replied.
+
+"I honestly believe it was the rush of air from the machine that keeled
+me over, but I was about done for. I doubt if I would have made that
+pond."
+
+"Governor," said Chilvers, "he would have nailed you in two more jumps.
+That was as pretty a piece of interference as I ever saw."
+
+There was not a mark on the dead animal, whose neck must have been
+broken.
+
+"When you struck him," said Chilvers, "the air was full of surprised
+beef. That bull went at least twelve feet in the air, and he never moved
+after he came down. It was a glancing shot, and you could not have done
+better, Smith, if you made a hundred trials."
+
+"Once is enough for me," I said.
+
+I turned my attention to the automobile, and as I started toward it Miss
+Harding intercepted me.
+
+"That was very brave of you, Jacques Henri," she said, offering both of
+her hands. "You are an excellent chauffeur, and we all thank you."
+
+"Don't praise me too much or I shall be tempted to demand an exorbitant
+salary," I declared. "I'm glad I had the sense to think of it in time.
+Let's see if much damage was done to the machine."
+
+It was a happy moment for John Henry Smith, and I would tackle a bull
+every day under the same circumstances if I knew that there was waiting
+for me the reward of such a glance from those eyes and the clasp of
+those little hands.
+
+The forward lamps were smashed beyond repair and several rods were
+slightly bent, but aside from these trifles I could not see that any
+damage had been done. Mr. Harding and the others joined us.
+
+"I suppose somebody owns that bull," he said. "Do you happen to know who
+runs this farm, Smith?"
+
+I had no idea. There was no farmhouse in sight, and Harding was in a
+quandary. He thought a moment and then produced one of his cards.
+
+"Write this for me, Smith. My hand is too shaky. Let's see," and then
+he dictated the following: "_While playing golf I was attacked by this
+bull. Send bill for bull to Woodvale Club_."
+
+"I should say that was all right," he said, reading it carefully. "It is
+short and does not go into unnecessary details."
+
+We tied the card to the animal's horns, and I have an idea the owner of
+that unfortunate beast will be mystified to account for the fate which
+befel him. Having repaired the fence as best we could we resumed our
+journey to Oak Cliff, and Mr. Harding was content to remain in his seat
+until we reached there.
+
+Later in the day Chilvers drew a diagram of this exploit on the back of
+a menu card, and I paste it in here as a droll memento of this incident.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chilvers attempted to explain to Harding and the rest of us that the
+collision between the auto and the bull resulted in "pulled or hooked
+shot," the bull taking the place of a golf ball and the machine serving
+as the face of the driver. It is quite accurate as showing the relative
+positions of the various factors, but I should not term it an art
+product.
+
+"I am familiar with the road from here to Oak Cliff," said Miss Harding
+when we had gone a mile or so. "You may rest, Jacques Henri, and I'll
+take your place."
+
+She did so, and handled the big car with the skill of an expert. I did
+not talk to her for fear of distracting her attention from the task she
+had assumed. I was contented to watch her, to be near her and to know
+that I had had the rare good fortune to do an unexpected turn for one
+who was near and dear to her.
+
+I will tell of our day in Oak Cliff in my next entry.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XVI
+
+MISS HARDING OWNS UP
+
+
+"I Demand part of my payment this afternoon," I said to Miss Harding as
+we neared the Oak Cliff club house.
+
+"You are impatient, Jacques Henri," she laughed. "Is it possible my
+credit is not good?"
+
+"Not in this instance," I returned. "I am demanding that you refuse all
+invitations to play in foursomes, and that after luncheon you and I make
+the round of Oak Cliff."
+
+"That is so modest a request that I grant it," she said, and ten minutes
+later I had the satisfaction of hearing her decline Carter's invitation
+to join in a foursome in which I was to take no part. This proves not
+only that all is fair in love, but that victory favours the one who
+strikes the first blow.
+
+It was about ten o'clock when we reached Oak Cliff, and found Mr. Wilson
+waiting for us. Harding was impatient to test his skill against Wilson,
+and the two were ready to play when the rest of us were still chatting
+with Mrs. Wilson and others of their party.
+
+"We are entitled to a gallery," declared Harding. "Come on, everybody,
+and watch me show Wilson how this game should be played."
+
+Most of us accepted this invitation. Mr. Wilson fits the description
+Harding had given of him. He is wonderfully tall and slim, and I doubted
+if he had much skill as a golfer. His smooth-shaven features and dreamy
+eyes were those of the poet, but he is one of the best bankers and
+business men in the country.
+
+Harding drove a fairly straight ball but Wilson promptly sliced into the
+tall grass. Miss Harding and I helped him search for his ball, and
+Chilvers joined in the hunt.
+
+"Ah, this is very lucky!" exclaimed Mr. Wilson, bending his long frame
+over some object.
+
+"Found your ball?" asked Chilvers.
+
+"The ball? No, no," he said, coming to his feet with something in his
+hand which looked to me like a weed. "But I've found a rare specimen of
+the _Articum Lappa_. It is a beauty!"
+
+"Looks sort of familiar," said the puzzled Chilvers. "What did you say
+it was?"
+
+"The _Articum Lappa_, more commonly called the burdock," explained
+Mr. Wilson.
+
+"If you can't find your ball drop another one and play!" shouted Harding
+from the other side of course. Just then I discovered the ball, and
+after two strokes Wilson got it out of trouble, and then by a lucky
+approach and putt won the hole. Harding looked at him suspiciously.
+
+[Illustration: "What are you looking for?"]
+
+On the next hole their drives landed the balls not far apart and neither
+was in trouble.
+
+"I'm afraid this man Wilson can beat me," Harding said to us in an
+undertone as we neared the balls.
+
+"Don't lose your nerve, papa," cautioned his daughter.
+
+Wilson was away, but when he was within a few yards of his ball he
+looked intently at the turf and then dropped to his knees and crawled
+slowly around.
+
+"What are you looking for?" exclaimed Harding "There's your ball right
+in front of you."
+
+"I know it," calmly said Wilson, running his hand over the turf, "but
+I'm curious to know what kind of _Trifolium_ this is."
+
+"Wilson," said the magnate, as the former rose to his full height and
+took a club from his bag, "Wilson, I might as well quit and give up this
+game."
+
+"Why?" asked the surprised banker.
+
+"Let me tell you something," declared Harding. "I only took up this golf
+business a few weeks ago, and by hard work have found out about mashies,
+hooks, foozles, cops, one off two and all those difficult things, but
+I'm blamed if I ever heard of trifoliums, or whatever you call 'em, and
+you can't ring 'em in on me. I won't stand for it! We don't play
+trifoliums in Woodvale, do we, Smith?"
+
+"But my dear Harding," interposed Wilson, his mobile face wrinkled in a
+smile, "_Trifolium_ is not a golf term and has nothing whatever to do
+with the game."
+
+"What in thunder is it?"
+
+"_Trifolium_ is the genus name for the clover plant, and these are
+beautiful specimens," explained this amateur botanist.
+
+"It is, is it?" laughed Harding. "Well, let's see how far you 'can knock
+that ball out of that bed of _Trifoliums_."
+
+We left them soon after and returned to the club house. The ladies did
+not care to play before luncheon, preferring to take a rest after the
+exciting experiences of the trip from Woodvale. I ran across an old
+friend of mine, Sam Robinson, and he and I played against Carter and
+Chilvers. Robinson is one of the best amateurs in the country and we
+defeated our opponents handily.
+
+It was a merry party which gathered about the table which had been
+spread under the trees near the club house. Oak Cliff is the only club
+which Woodvale recognises as a rival, and the Wilson's entertained us
+charmingly. Mr. Harding was in great spirits.
+
+"I won!" he announced as he returned with our elongated and smiling
+host. "Licked Wilson, trifoliums and all, right here on his own ground!
+But he found a _Rumex_ and a lot of other weeds, so he don't care."
+
+Miss Harding and I had discovered an oil painting in the club library
+which interested us, and when coffee and cigars had been served I asked
+Mr. Wilson about its history.
+
+"Robinson gave it to the club," he said, "he can tell its story better
+than I can."
+
+"It's an odd sort of a yarn," began Robinson. "Last fall an artist
+friend of mine of the name of Powers wrote a letter inviting me to come
+and spend a few weeks with him in a camp he had established on the upper
+waters of the Outrades River in northeastern Quebec. He was there
+sketching and loafing, and I took my golf clubs and went. While he
+painted I batted balls around a cleared space in the forest, fished,
+hunted and had so much fun that we stayed there until cold weather set
+in. Then we loaded up a boat and started down the river with a guide."
+
+"One evening we came to an island with rapids below it. We had to
+portage around these rapids, so we decided to camp for the night. It was
+cold, and rapidly growing colder, but Powers insisted in making a trip
+to that island, the beauty of its rocks fascinating his artistic soul.
+We emptied the boat and he pulled across the swift current. Ten minutes
+later we heard him yell. His boat had drifted from where he thought he
+had moored it, and had been dashed to pieces in the rapids below. The
+guide declared that there was no way to reach him without a boat, and
+that he would have to go back twenty miles to a lumber camp for one. We
+explained this to Powers, and told him to light a fire and make the best
+of it until morning. The current was so swift that no swimmer could
+breast it. It was already down to zero."
+
+[Illustration: "Had ignited the matches"]
+
+"Powers searched his pockets," continued Robinson, "and made the
+startling announcement that he did not have a match. Without a fire he
+surely would freeze before the guide could return. He was dancing up and
+down on a rock and swinging his arms to keep warm."
+
+"He certainly was in a bad fix," interrupted Harding. "Was there no way
+to get at him?"
+
+"Absolutely none," continued Robinson. "The sun was sinking--when I had
+an idea. In the bottom of my golf bag were four badly hacked and split
+balls. I called to Powers to keep his nerve. The balls were
+rubber-cored, and I widened the crack in one of them and gouged out a
+space in the rubber. In this I put the heads of three matches, teed the
+ball on the beach, called to Powers what I had done and told him to keep
+his eye on the ball. I hit it clean and fair, but a trail of smoke told
+that the concussion had ignited the matches. The ball fell in the
+underbrush a few yards from Powers, and he almost cried when he took out
+the charred match heads."
+
+"How far was it?" asked Harding.
+
+"I paced it later and found it to be about one hundred and forty yards,"
+said Robinson.
+
+"You paced it?" exclaimed Harding. "You're a bit mixed on this story,
+Robinson, aren't you?"
+
+"Not at all," laughed that gentleman. "You wait and I'll explain. Then I
+fixed another ball and wrapped the match heads in surgeon's cotton. I
+popped that ball in the air. The next one was pulled, struck a rock and
+bounded into the water. One remained, and it was a critical moment. I
+was numbed with the cold, it was almost dark, and I had to make a shot
+for a man's life, but I made it. It went far and true and struck in the
+branches of a fir tree over Power's head. He did not see it, but he
+heard it. Then began a search for a lost ball. It was pitch dark half an
+hour later when Powers shouted that he had found it, and soon after we
+yelled like madmen when a tiny yellow flame curled up from the island.
+Powers asked me to drive a ham sandwich across, but I did not attempt
+it. The guide started back after another boat, and Powers and I spent
+the long hours over our respective bonfires in an effort to keep from
+freezing."
+
+"It dropped to twenty-five below zero before morning, and when daybreak
+came I went down to the beach. The water still flowed swift and black
+directly across, but when I looked to the north I found that the ice
+extended from the shore to the upper end of the island. I put several
+sandwiches in my pocket and carefully walked across. Powers was trying
+to cook some freshwater clams when I came upon his bonfire."
+
+"That is as much of the story as you will be interested in," concluded
+Robinson. "Powers kept the ball which saved his life, and in return gave
+me that oil painting depicting the scene at nightfall as I was driving
+that last ball."
+
+"It's a good thing for your friend Powers that it was not up to me to
+drive that last ball," declared Harding. "That story is all right,
+Robinson, and the picture proves it."
+
+As we were leaving the table Mrs. Chilvers called me aside.
+
+"Have you made up a game for this afternoon?" she asked, and I thought I
+discerned a mischievous glance in her eyes.
+
+"Why--why, yes," I hesitated, wondering if I were to be dragged into
+some wretched foursome. "I have arranged to play with Miss Harding."
+
+"What, again?" she asked.
+
+"This is only my third game with her," I declared.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Smith, do you remember how I warned you several weeks ago?"
+
+I remembered but did not admit it.
+
+"I told you then that some time you would meet a golfing Venus," she
+said triumphantly, and without waiting for me to make a defense left and
+joined Miss Dangerfield.
+
+Miss Harding and I waited until we had a clear field ahead of us before
+we began our game. It was one of the perfect early summer afternoons
+when it is a delight to live. Oak Cliff is famous for its scenery and
+for its velvet-like greens.
+
+"I'm going to play my best game this afternoon," announced Miss Harding
+when I had teed her ball.
+
+"I always play my best game; don't you?" I asked.
+
+"You shall judge of that when we finish this round," she declared.
+
+It was my first game with her since the day she won the touring car
+from her father, on which occasion she made Woodvale in 116. This was so
+marked an improvement over her former exhibition that I was at a loss to
+account for it. Since then Miss Harding had confined her golf to the
+practising of approach shots and putting, following the instructions
+given by Wallace. I have been so busy with Wall Street and other affairs
+that I have paid little attention to golf, and smiled at her enthusiasm.
+
+"How shall we play?" I asked. "You have improved so much and are so
+confident that I dare not offer you more than a stroke a hole."
+
+"I shall beat you at those odds," she said. "This is a short course, you
+know."
+
+"You will have to make it in a hundred to beat me," I replied.
+
+"Fore!" she called, and drove a beautiful ball with a true swing which
+was the perfection of grace. I made one which did not beat it enough to
+give me any advantage, and we started down the field together.
+
+"Mr. Wallace must be a wonderfully clever teacher," I said, "or else he
+has a most remarkably apt pupil. I wish I could improve that rapidly."
+
+Miss Harding smiled but declined to commit herself. Her second shot was
+a three-quarter midiron to the green and she made it like a veteran. She
+played the stroke--and it is one of the most difficult--in perfect form,
+and I was so astounded that I cut under a short approach shot and had to
+play the odd. She came within inches of going down in three, and I then
+missed a long putt and lost the hole outright, she not needing the
+stroke handicap.
+
+"One up, Jacques Henri!" she laughed.
+
+She drove another perfect ball on the next hole, but the green was three
+hundred and fifty yards away and I reached it in two against her three.
+My work on the green was abominable and we both were down in fives.
+
+"Two up, Jacques Henri!" she exclaimed, her eyes dancing with
+excitement. "Really, now, don't you think I've improved?"
+
+"Improved!" I gasped. "That's not the word for it! You have been
+translated into a golf magician! I cannot understand it!"
+
+I don't suppose I played my best game, but even if I had I could not
+have won at the odds stipulated. I never lose interest in a golf game,
+but I must confess that I paid far more attention to her play than to my
+own.
+
+It was not the first time that I had witnessed a fine exhibition of golf
+by a woman, but it was the first time I had been privileged to see a
+strikingly pretty girl execute shots as they should be made. All former
+experiences had led me to the belief that feminine beauty and
+proficiency in golf run in adverse ratio. But here was a superb creature
+who combined beauty with a skill which was surpassing.
+
+It was difficult to believe the testimony of my own eyes. Here was a
+girl who had taken fifteen to make the first hole of Woodvale only a few
+weeks preceding; who had driven eight of my new balls into a pond which
+demanded only an eighty-yard carry; who had told me that the one
+ambition of her golfing life was to drive a ball far enough so that she
+might have difficulty in finding it; who had repeatedly missed strokes
+entirely, had mutilated the turf, sliced, pulled and committed all the
+faults and crimes possible to a novice--here was this same young lady
+playing a game which was well-nigh perfect to the extent of her
+strength!
+
+When a woman is beautiful and plays a beautiful game of golf, then
+physical grace reaches its highest exemplification. Even an ugly woman
+becomes attractive when she swings a driving club with an evenly
+sustained sweep, picking the ball clean from the turf or tee. But when a
+supremely charming girl acquires this skill it is impossible to express
+in mere language the exquisite grace of it--and I am not going to
+attempt it.
+
+Miss Harding made that round in a flat ninety against my eighty-two, and
+with the odds I had given her defeated me by five up and four to play.
+She made the same score as Chilvers, and he is a good player when on his
+game.
+
+The game ended, we rested in the shade of an arbour where we could watch
+the players on many greens.
+
+"Come now; make your confession," I insisted, looking into her face
+through the blue haze of a cigar.
+
+"Confess what?" she innocently asked.
+
+"Confess why it is that you deliberately deceived me regarding your
+game," I demanded. "Don't you suppose I know that you were not trying to
+play that day when you first favoured me with a game at Woodvale?"
+
+"You know nothing about it," she laughed. "I have been taking lessons
+since then."
+
+"Tell that to someone who does not understand the difficulty of learning
+this game," I responded. "Your father for instance. Unless you confess
+the truth, I shall tell him that you deliberately lured him into a trap
+by which you won that touring car."
+
+"Tell him; I dare you!" she challenged me. "If he believes it he will
+think it a huge joke."
+
+"And you told me that you once made a nine-hole course in Paris in
+ninety-one," I accused her.
+
+"I did," she laughed. "It was in a competition with one club--a putter."
+
+"Was that when you won the gold cup?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"What score did you make when you won that gold cup in Paris?" I asked.
+
+
+
+"The witness declines to answer," she defiantly replied.
+
+"You are guilty of contempt of court. Tell me, Miss Harding, why you
+played so atrociously that day?"
+
+"Atrociously?" she exclaimed with mock indignation. "You told me that I
+was doing splendidly, and you said that with a little practice I would
+make a fine player. And now that I have verified your predictions you
+seem vastly surprised."
+
+"I was--I was trying to encourage you," I faltered.
+
+"In other words you were deceiving me, Jacques Henri. Confess that you
+were!"
+
+"I do confess," I laughed. "You were the worst player I ever saw. Now
+you confess why you did it."
+
+"I shall confess nothing," she declared, her eyes dropping as I gazed
+into them. "I shall confess nothing, Jacques Henri! Since when has it
+been decreed that a lady must confess to her chauffeur? Do not forget
+your place, Jacques Henri. Let's start for the club house; I see papa
+and others on the lawn."
+
+I have a theory of the truth, but it is too foolish to put in writing.
+We made a speedy run to Woodvale after a most delightful afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XVII
+
+THE PASSING OF PERCY
+
+
+During the forenoon of the day following our visit to Oak Cliff Mr.
+Harding, Carter and I were sitting under the big elm tree near the first
+tee. We had our clubs with us, but the railroad magnate wished to finish
+his cigar before starting to play.
+
+A farm wagon drove up the circular roadway which surrounds the club
+house, and the owner after glancing doubtfully about approached us. He
+was tall, angular, and whiskered.
+
+"Can any of you folks tell me if a man named Hardin' hangs out 'round
+this here place?" he said, squinting at a card which I instantly
+recognised.
+
+"I'm Harding," said that gentleman, walking toward him. "I reckon you're
+the man who owns the late deceased bull?"
+
+"I shurely am," said the farmer, stroking his whiskers nervously.
+
+"How much do you want for him?" demanded Harding, with characteristic
+promptness.
+
+"Stranger," began the man with the hoe, "if you'll tell me how in
+thunder you broke the neck of that critter with one of them there
+sticks," pointing to our golf clubs, "I won't charge you one doggoned
+cent for doin' it."
+
+We all roared, and then Harding briefly explained what had happened.
+
+"I reckon you couldn't do nothin' else under what the stump speakers
+call existin' sar-cumstances," slowly drawled the farmer, "but he was a
+mighty fine young bull, an' I hated like all sin tew lose him."
+
+"How much was he worth to you?" asked Harding.
+
+"He was a Holstein, Mister, and I wouldn't er sold him for two hundred
+and fifty the best day you ever saw. He took second prize as a yearlin'
+at our county fair, and I was plumb sure he'd have the blue ribbon hung
+on him this year, but instead of a ribbon I found this here on his
+horns," he concluded sorrowfully, looking at the card with its string
+still attached.
+
+"I'll give you three hundred and fifty dollars and call it square," said
+Harding.
+
+"Dew you mean it, Mister?" his watery blue eyes opening wide, his thin
+lips pursed and his leathery face curiously wrinkled. "Dew ye mean it?"
+
+"Of course I mean it, but I want his head. I'm going to have it
+mounted."
+
+Mr. Harding opened his wallet, stripped off the bills and handed them to
+the pleased farmer.
+
+"Mister," the latter said, "that's more than he was worth, and I feel
+kinder ashamed ter take all of it. Tell you what I'll do! I've got an
+old bull that's no good, but ugly as all get out, and if you'd like ter
+tackle him with that ortermobill of yours I'll turn him loose in that
+same medder, an' you can have it out with him an' it won't cost you a
+cent."
+
+[Illustration: "He was tall, angular, and whiskered"]
+
+"Much obliged," laughed Harding, "but nature evidently did not design me
+for a matador."
+
+If Miss Lawrence does not develop into a great player it will not be
+because of a lack of assiduity in taking lessons. Since Wallace has
+become professional at Woodmere she has taken one and sometimes two
+each day. She was starting to take one of these "lessons" when Harding
+returned.
+
+"See here, Wallace," he said with mock sternness, "I am becoming curious
+to know if you are professional to our charming young friend or to the
+club."
+
+"Why, Mr. Harding!" exclaimed Miss Lawrence, blushing furiously. "I have
+taken only six lessons, and you have no idea how I have improved."
+
+"Without doubt," observed the remorseless millionaire, "but when do I
+get a lesson? My game has steadily deteriorated since I hit my first
+ball. As Smith says, I am way off my game."
+
+"I shall be glad to give you a lesson any time to-morrow afternoon, Mr.
+Harding," said Wallace.
+
+"All right. You and I will play Smith and Carter, and you put me right
+as we go along."
+
+That was satisfactory all around and Wallace turned his attention to his
+fair pupil. I wonder if he is as exacting and she as interested at all
+times as during the few moments they were under our observation?
+
+"A little nearer the ball," he cautioned her. "Grip firmly but keep the
+wrists flexible. Let the club-head come back naturally. Be sure and keep
+the weight of your body on the heels and not on the toes. That's better.
+Try that back swing again. Do not go so far back. Be sure that at the
+top of the swing your entire weight is on the right leg, and that the
+knee is not bent. Do not pause at the top of the stroke. Keep the head
+perfectly still and your eyes on the ball; not on the top of it, but on
+the exact spot where you propose to hit it. Now make a practise swing."
+
+
+
+Miss Lawrence did so, and it seemed almost perfect to me, but Wallace's
+keen eyes detected faults.
+
+"That right shoulder dropped a little," he said. "That's a bad fault.
+Let the right shoulder go straight through. Ah, that was a decided
+improvement! Now swing and keep that right elbow at least four inches
+from the body. You let your wrists in too soon, Miss Lawrence. Do not
+start them to work until you are well down on your stroke. That shoulder
+dropped again! Don't look up as your club goes through; that is a fatal
+fault. Fall back on those heels! Keep the back straight, or curved back,
+if at all. Now we will try it with a ball."
+
+Wallace teed a ball and Miss Lawrence drove a very good one for her. It
+was straight and a trifle high, but it had a carry of fully 120 yards.
+
+"Didn't I tell you I was improving!" she exclaimed, smiling triumphantly
+at Mr. Harding. "Mr. Wallace is a splendid teacher."
+
+"Yes, and you are a splendid pupil," returned Mr. Harding, with a
+knowing smile, "but you give me a chance, or I'll lodge a protest with
+the board of management."
+
+She laughed, waved her hand mockingly at him, and away they went. I
+noticed that Wallace was not playing. He carried the clubs and they
+walked close to each other. He said something and she looked up to his
+face and smiled. It was evident they had much to talk of, and while I
+cannot prove it, I am inclined to doubt if their conversation was
+restricted to the details of the game.
+
+Harding watched them, a quiet smile on his strong, kindly, and rugged
+face. He was humming the air of an old love song.
+
+"Smith," he said after an interval of silence, "there are only two
+things in this life really worth having."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"Youth and health."
+
+"How about love?" I asked.
+
+"Youth and health own love," he replied. "Love is their obedient
+servant. I thank God that I have not lost my youth or my health."
+
+I was privileged to see this remarkable man for a moment in a new light,
+one which increased my respect and admiration for him.
+
+When we returned to the club house the veranda was buzzing with gossip.
+Miss Dangerfield was delighted when she found that I was not acquainted
+with the cause of the excitement. It gave her a chance to impart the
+news to one ready to listen, and she was not slow in taking advantage of
+it.
+
+"Miss Lawrence has refused Mr. LaHume!" she whispered, though she might
+as well have screamed it through a megaphone, since I was the only one
+on the veranda in ignorance of it.
+
+"How do you know?" I asked.
+
+"I dare not tell," she said, but I knew she would. "If you'll promise
+not to reveal it to a living soul I'll tell you."
+
+I promised.
+
+"Mr. LaHume told Mr. Chilvers, Mr. Chilvers told Mrs. Chilvers, Mrs.
+Chilvers told Miss Ross, and Miss Ross told me, so you see that I have
+it right from the original source."
+
+"And you told me," I said. "Why should the chain stop in so obscure a
+link. I am dying to tell somebody."
+
+"But you promised not to," Miss Dangerfield protested.
+
+"So did you," I replied.
+
+"It seems that Percy flatly asked her to marry him, and that she flatly
+refused him," she continued, ignoring my implied threat. "I understand
+that Mr. LaHume is going to resign from the club."
+
+"Why?" I asked. "Does he not find it effective as a matrimonial agency?"
+
+"I don't know," she said. "There he is now, and he's trying to catch
+your eye."
+
+I turned and saw LaHume, who signalled that he wished to speak to me. I
+saw at a glance that he had been drinking. He shoved a piece of paper
+into my hands.
+
+"There is my resignation from the Woodvale Club," he said, his voice
+husky, and sullen anger in his dark eyes. LaHume is a handsome fellow,
+but there is something amiss with him. Possibly his ego is
+over-developed.
+
+"I will present it to the board," I said, preferring to avoid discussion
+with him while in his then condition.
+
+"I don't care a blank whether they accept it or not," he declared with a
+rising voice. "From this day I shall never step foot in Woodvale."
+
+"Better think it over later on," I said.
+
+"If you think I care to have anything further to do with a club which
+shelters and encourages low adventurers like this fellow Wallace, you do
+not know Percy LaHume," he declared, working himself into a fury. "And
+you and Carter are to blame for it," he concluded.
+
+"I shall refuse to discuss that with you at this time," I calmly replied
+and abruptly left him.
+
+A few minutes later I saw him striding down the path on the way to the
+railway station. As luck would have it, Wallace and Miss Lawrence had
+just left the eighteenth green, and stood chatting near the path which
+leads to the station. If they saw the approaching LaHume they paid no
+attention to him. At this moment Carter and Miss Harding joined me and
+the latter asked what I found so diverting.
+
+"I hope that LaHume will have the sense not to pick a quarrel with
+Wallace," I said, pointing in his direction. "He is excited and--and
+nervous."
+
+"Why don't you say it--intoxicated," drawled Carter.
+
+LaHume had reached the professional and his pupil. We saw Wallace lift
+his cap as LaHume came within a few yards of them. The latter stopped,
+and though the trio was quite a distance away, we could plainly hear
+LaHume's voice, but could not make out the words. Wallace made a
+deprecatory gesture and Miss Lawrence drew herself up and faced LaHume
+in an attitude of scorn.
+
+I noted that LaHume was gesticulating with his left hand, and that his
+right arm was lowered and to his back. He kept edging closer to Wallace.
+
+Of a sudden LaHume's right hand swung out and he made a vicious lunge at
+Wallace. I saw the latter throw up his guard, but it was too far away to
+tell if the blow had landed. There was a struggle for a second or two,
+then Wallace pushed him clear, and like lightning I saw his left hand
+swing across to LaHume's stomach. LaHume was shot back several yards and
+fell heavily, his feet in the path and his head and shoulders on the
+turf.
+
+It all happened so quickly that we stood there, spellbound. We saw Miss
+Lawrence rush forward and half fall into Wallace's arms. We saw him
+stagger to a lawn settee, she still clinging to him and screaming.
+LaHume lay as if dead.
+
+These latter details I noticed as Carter and I were running toward them.
+
+Wallace was on his feet before we reached him. He was attempting to
+calm Miss Lawrence who was moaning, "He has killed him; he has killed
+him!" I knew she feared for Wallace, but I was much more apprehensive as
+to the fate of LaHume.
+
+Blood was trickling down the face of the young Scotchman, and its red
+had stained a handkerchief which Miss Lawrence had pressed to his scalp
+above his left temple. It was the sight of this which frightened her,
+but she comported herself with as much bravery as would most women under
+similar circumstances.
+
+"I'm not much hurt," declared Wallace with a reassuring smile. "It's
+only a scratch on the scalp. Miss Lawrence is more alarmed than I am
+injured. I assure you it is nothing."
+
+"LaHume struck him with a knife!" exclaimed Miss Lawrence, recovering
+her nerve as a wave of anger came to her. "He called Mr. Wallace a
+coward and a cad, and when Mr. Wallace tried to calm him he struck at
+him with a knife. Oh, I hope you have killed him!"
+
+[Illustration: "LaHume was shot back several yards"]
+
+"I'm afraid your hope is realised," said Carter, bending over the inert
+form of LaHume.
+
+"Small fear of that," said Wallace, but I detected a note of
+apprehension in his voice. "I aimed to disable without seriously
+injuring him."
+
+As he spoke LaHume moved, groaned and half raised himself. In the
+meantime a group had gathered, and in it was Doctor Barry, a member of
+the club. LaHume was conscious but completely dazed. We were much
+relieved when the doctor said that he was not permanently injured.
+Ordering two of the servants to take LaHume to the club house and put
+him to bed, Doctor Barry turned his attention to Wallace.
+
+Despite the spilling of blood the cut was a trifling one, and after
+giving it simple treatment, the doctor assured Wallace that he could
+attend to his duties as usual. An hour later the nervy Scotchman was out
+on the links giving Lawson a lesson.
+
+We picked the knife from the walk near the scene of the encounter. The
+blow had been aimed at the breast or neck, but Wallace parried it and
+received the scratch before he could grasp LaHume's wrist. The quick
+wrench which caused the knife to fly from LaHume's hand fractured one of
+the small bones in his forearm, as was learned when that desperate young
+man had more fully recovered.
+
+It was a disagreeable incident, and I take no pleasure in recording it.
+Wallace immediately tendered his resignation, but Carter and I told him
+it would not be considered, and I am sure the management will uphold us
+in that action.
+
+The conduct of Miss Lawrence convinces me that she is much attached to
+Wallace. Of course, nothing else was talked of during the afternoon and
+evening.
+
+In the cool of the day Miss Harding accepted my invitation to play "the
+brook holes," as we call them, and we climbed to the top of "The Eagle's
+Nest" to watch the sunset.
+
+I helped her up the steep rocks and finally we stood breathless, gazing
+down on our little world.
+
+"At last we are alone," I said.
+
+It was one of my usual brilliant remarks. There must have been a ring of
+tragedy or melodrama in my voice, but really I said it only because I
+could think of nothing else to say at that moment.
+
+Miss Harding looked up with a curious expression in her deep brown eyes
+and a rather timid smile on her lips. It was as if she were wondering if
+I meditated hurling myself to the depths below, or if I intended to take
+this opportunity to launch some tender declaration.
+
+I wish I had the command of language of the garrulous and ever
+entertaining hero of the popular novel. If I ever propose it will be in
+writing.
+
+I can see that look of startled curiosity on her pretty face as I write
+these lines, and the more I think of it, the more am I convinced that
+she expected something far different from what followed.
+
+I wonder what she would have said or done if I had thrown myself at her
+feet and passionately declared the love I bear to her? I wonder if those
+tender lips would have murmured the words which would have raised me to
+the seventh heaven of happiness, or if she would have firmly said--oh,
+what is the use of wondering?
+
+"No danger of being hit with a golf ball up here," I said, when she
+remained silent.
+
+And then she laughed. Since there was nothing witty in my remark she
+must have been laughing at something else. I have an idea what it was,
+but I had sense enough to laugh with her.
+
+"Do you know," I said, determined to frame a rational statement, "I
+believe Miss Lawrence is in love with Mr. Wallace."
+
+"Indeed?" she exclaimed. "And what of Mr. Wallace?"
+
+"I believe Mr. Wallace is in love with Miss Lawrence."
+
+"What a delightful state of affairs!" she laughed. "Nothing then remains
+but to set the date, celebrate the event and live happily ever
+afterward."
+
+"I do not say she will marry him," I ventured to qualify. "It probably
+started as a harmless flirtation on her part, but I really think she
+cares more for him than she would be willing to admit."
+
+"If she liked him well enough to encourage his attentions, which is a
+fairly good definition of a harmless flirtation," she said, quite
+seriously, "and later discovers that she loves him and that he loves
+her, why should they not marry?"
+
+I think my tactics at this point were rather clever. I saw a chance to
+obtain her views on a question most vital to me, and I proceeded to do
+so, but I hope I did not lower myself in her estimation. As I have said
+before, I think Wallace is good enough for any woman.
+
+"Consider the difference in their stations in life," I interposed. "She
+has wealth, family, and a high position in society. Of Wallace we know
+nothing except that he comports himself like a gentleman in reduced
+circumstances."
+
+"I should imagine that would be the most difficult time to play such a
+role," Miss Harding said. "We know those who cannot be gentlemen even
+under the most encouraging circumstances. The greatest happiness which
+can come to a good woman is to marry the man she loves, and if she
+allows wealth, position or any other selfish consideration to stand in
+the way she does not deserve happiness."
+
+"Right you are!" I declared with an enthusiasm which may have betrayed
+me. "I agree with every word you have said."
+
+"See those perfect yellows against that bar of vivid red," she said,
+pointing to the west, where the sky quivered with a naming sunset. "See
+how the light flashes from the windows of the club house! One would
+think it filled with molten metal. How sharp the old church belfry shows
+against that mass of golden cloud to the northwest!"
+
+We watched this glorious scene in silence until the upper rim of the sun
+sank beneath the rounded crest of "Old Baldy." Then I helped her down
+and we walked slowly back to the club house.
+
+Have I not the right to assume that Miss Harding "likes me well enough
+to encourage my attentions," which is her definition of a flirtation? I
+believe I have. I know that other young gentlemen belonging to the club
+have attempted in vain to compete with me for the favour of her society.
+All have failed--Carter alone excepted. But recently I have been with
+her more than has Carter. In fact I fear him less at the present moment
+than I have at any time. I shall soon know my fate.
+
+For the first time the strain of my stock operations is telling on me. I
+have now purchased 35,000 shares of N.O. & G., and the market for it
+closed to-night at 60. If I were forced to settle at this figure I would
+be about $345,000 loser. If the stock is valueless, as some of the
+experts are now declaring, I am liable for nearly $2,000,000 more.
+
+I have converted everything except my equity in Woodvale into money, and
+counting the margins in the hands of my brokers I find that I have
+nearly $3,000,000. I suppose I could get out with a loss of half a
+million, and there are moments when my cowardice struggles against me
+and when I am tempted to abandon this hazardous enterprise.
+
+I shall stick it out, however. I know the conspiracy which has been
+hatched, and I do not believe they will dare force the price down much
+lower. I am going to buy another block of ten thousand shares if it
+continues to decline, and then await developments. If it goes to zero I
+shall still have a little money left, and I shall have the income from
+the old farm--but I shall not have the hardihood to ask for the hand of
+Grace Harding.
+
+You may talk as much as you please but money is a commanding factor in
+love and marriage. It is all very well for a wealthy man to fall in love
+and marry a poor girl, but it is an entirely different thing for a poor
+man to aspire to the hand and heart of a wealthy woman.
+
+Honestly, I don't believe it right that women should be permitted under
+the law to inherit vast sums of money--at least marriageable women. No
+man of ordinary means who possesses a proper self-respect will espouse a
+woman whose income overshadows his own.
+
+I would limit the inheritances of marriageable women to a maximum amount
+of $100,000. I wish Miss Harding did not have a dollar.
+
+The contest for the Harding Trophy--I mean the bronze, and not the real
+Harding Trophy--has narrowed down to four of us, Carter, Boyd, Marshall
+and myself. I have a sort of a premonition that as that 'bronze gent'
+goes, so will go everything which I hold dear. I am making the fight of
+my life for it. I play Marshall to-morrow morning.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XVIII
+
+MR. HARDING'S STRUGGLE
+
+
+I won my match with Marshall after a contest which went to the twentieth
+hole. He had me dormie one coming to the eighteenth, but by perfect
+playing I won it in a five and halved the match. Nothing happened on the
+first extra hole, but on the following I held a fifteen putt for a three
+and won a beautifully contested match.
+
+Miss Harding went around with us and was my Mascot. I broke my record
+for the course, making a medal score of seventy-eight. Miss Harding
+congratulated me and I was so happy I could have yelled. Dear old
+Marshall did not take his defeat the least to heart, but he is not
+playing for the stakes that I am.
+
+I have dreamed twice that if I won the Harding Trophy I should win
+everything.
+
+Carter beat Boyd handily, and the prize will go to one of us. I must
+beat him; I shall beat him!
+
+After having declared innumerable times that he would master the secrets
+of golf without aid from anyone, Harding finally surrendered and took
+his first lesson this afternoon.
+
+"I take back everything I ever said about this being an easy game to
+play," he said. "I'm a pretty good 'rule of thumb' civil and mechanical
+engineer, I know a few things about the laws of resistances and all that
+sort of thing, I have watched you fellows hit that ball and have tried
+to imitate you, but it's no use. Now I'm going to do just what Wallace
+tells me, and if he can teach me to drive I'll pay him more than any
+professional ever made in the history of the game."
+
+Harding certainly has had a time of it. For weeks he has laboured with a
+patience worthy of better results, he has purchased every known variety
+and weight of club. He has a larger collection of drivers, brassies,
+cleeks, mashies, midirons, jiggers, niblicks, putters and other tools
+than Billy Moon, and Moon is a specialist in that direction.
+
+The surrounding woods, the ponds, brooks and swamps contain unnumbered
+balls which Harding has misdriven. He will not waste one minute looking
+for a ball which gets into difficulty, and since his arrival our orders
+to the manufacturers have more than doubled.
+
+One of his ambitions has been to drive a ball across the old mill pond.
+It is a long carry and beyond probability that he can accomplish it, but
+I have seen him drive box after box of balls and give them to the
+caddies who have recovered them.
+
+Wallace was on hand at the appointed time to give Harding his first
+lesson, and we had quite a gallery for our foursome, including Miss
+Harding and Miss Lawrence. Wallace was to play with Harding against
+Carter and me, but the chief interest centred in whether Wallace could
+effect any improvement in the playing of his ponderous pupil.
+
+He told Harding to make several practise swings Harding did so and
+Wallace studied them closely.
+
+"A man of your build should play with the left foot advanced," he said.
+"Bend the left knee but keep the other one more nearly rigid. Keep the
+weight of your body on your heels or you will fall on your ball when you
+swing through. Do not curve your back like a letter C. Keep the backbone
+straight but not rigid. It is the pivot on which your body and shoulders
+must turn, and how can it turn true if your vertebræ is bent?"
+
+"I had not thought of that," admitted Harding, making a much better
+stroke.
+
+"Unless the back is straight the right shoulder will drop, and that is
+fatal," cautioned Wallace. "Grip firmly and evenly with the fingers--not
+the palms--of both hands, but let the wrists be flexible until the
+club-head comes to the ball."
+
+Wallace corrected other errors, and after fifteen minutes of instruction
+Harding teed a ball and for the first time in his life cleared the lane.
+He was as delighted as a boy who unexpectedly comes into possession of
+his first gun.
+
+"Wallace," he declared, "if you will stick to me until I get so I can do
+that well half of the time I'll give you a hundred shares of the L.M. &
+K. and a job which beats this one all hollow."
+
+"I think you will be able to do even better than that," said Wallace
+confidently.
+
+As the game progressed Harding's play steadily improved and his face
+took on an expression of supreme satisfaction delightful to contemplate.
+
+His crowning triumph came on the thirteenth hole, in which he drove the
+green and found his ball laying within a foot of the cup, from which
+distance he easily negotiated a two which won the hole, and, as it
+subsequently developed, the match, Wallace holding the best ball of
+Carter and myself even.
+
+Harding made the round in 106, which is ten strokes better than any of
+his previous records. He tried in vain to induce Wallace to take some
+large sum of money, but this strange young Scotchman positively refused
+to accept more than the regular rate for a lesson.
+
+LaHume left, bag and baggage, early this morning, and I doubt if
+Woodvale will see him again. His membership is for sale, and at a
+special meeting of the board his resignation was accepted. He seems to
+have been the villain of this diary, but really he is not a bad sort of
+fellow, save for a strain of tactless selfishness. I presume that his
+good looks eventually will win for him some unfortunate heiress.
+
+Had he remained here until this evening he would have been treated to
+another surprise. Wallace took Miss Lawrence's high-powered automobile
+from the garage, and, after a preliminary run of several miles in which
+to become familiar with certain new devices, swung it around the club
+house and up to the landing steps with the easy skill in which he
+handles a mashie.
+
+As Bishop says, he certainly is "a most remarkable hired man."
+
+Miss Lawrence, Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield soon appeared and, with
+Wallace, started on a trip which was to include a call at Bishops, and
+later a spin down the old post road and back by some circuitous route.
+
+It is only a week from to-day until the meeting of the directors of the
+N.O. & G. I shall then know whether I am to be comparatively a financial
+nonentity or a man of affairs. And then I shall know something of vastly
+more importance!
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XIX
+
+THE TORNADO
+
+
+Early Monday morning Mr. Harding took a train for Oak Cliff, where he
+had an appointment with Mr. Wilson. He made a remark to the effect that
+his mission pertained more to business than golf. Mr. Wilson is
+president of the bank through which the "Harding System" transacts most
+of its financial operations.
+
+"You can do me a favour, if you will, Smith," he said. "I shall stay
+over night in Oak Cliff. We have visitors coming to Woodvale to-morrow
+evening, and I should be back here to dine with them by six o'clock.
+There is no train from Oak Cliff within hours of that time, and it has
+occurred to me that the folks might come for me in the red machine. Of
+course the Kid thinks she can handle it, but I hate to trust her on so
+long and hilly a route. Could you come with them?"
+
+An invitation was never accepted with more cheerful willingness. It was
+arranged that Mrs. Harding, Miss Harding and I should arrive at Oak
+Cliff with the auto at about four o'clock Tuesday afternoon.
+
+We were to start from Woodvale at half after one o'clock, so as to have
+plenty of time. That Fate, which is always prying into and disarranging
+the plans of us poor mortals, interfered with our arrangements an hour
+before the time fixed for our departure. The visitors who were to arrive
+in the evening came shortly after noon. It was exasperating.
+
+I pictured myself making that long trip alone, and cursed the chattering
+arrivals who had the bad form to anticipate the hour set for their
+welcome. There were three of them, and I noticed that they were of
+mature years.
+
+I sat glumly watching them and heartily wishing that the train which
+brought them had been blocked for an hour or two, when Miss Harding came
+smilingly towards me.
+
+"Mamma cannot go," she said.
+
+"And you?" I asked, hardly daring to hope for the best.
+
+"They seemed glad to excuse me, Jacques Henri," she laughed.
+
+I have no doubt I grinned like a Cheshire cat. I refrained from telling
+the abominable falsehood that I was sorry Mrs. Harding could not go with
+us, and an hour later the huge touring car rolled smoothly away from the
+Woodvale club house, its front seat occupied by a supremely happy
+gentleman of the name of Smith, and by his side a supremely pretty young
+lady who waved her hand to the elderly group on the veranda.
+
+I had been so absorbed in the unfolding of the incidents just narrated
+that I took no note of the weather or of anything else. For a month or
+more the weather has been so uniformly fine that we had come to accept
+the succession of warm but cloudless days as a matter of course.
+
+When I was a boy my father drilled into me a knowledge of the visible
+signs of impending changes in meteorological conditions. As I became
+older the study of the warnings displayed in the sky and in the
+indescribable variations in the feel of the air possessed a fascination
+for me. During the early years after the formation of the club the
+members jested me on account of my predilection for weather forecasting,
+but the uniform accuracy of these guesses commanded their surprise and
+subsequently won their respect.
+
+Chilvers and others sometimes call me "Old Prog. Smith," and I am more
+proud of that pleasantry than of some others.
+
+There was not a breath of air stirring. The atmosphere seemed stagnant,
+like a pool on which the sun has beat during rainless weeks. The dried
+tops of the swamp grass and reeds pointed motionless to the
+heat-quivering sky. The dust cast up by our car hung over the road like
+a ribbon of fog.
+
+The forest to our left shut off a view of the western sky, but I felt
+sure that the clouds of an approaching storm were already marshalled
+along its horizon. Then we shot out into a clearing and I took one swift
+look.
+
+From north to south was spanned the sweeping curve of a gray cloud with
+just a tinge of yellow blended into it. The ordinary observer would have
+seen in it no premonition of a storm. It was smooth, light in tone and
+restful to the eye as compared with the angry blue from out of which the
+sun blazed.
+
+The upper edges of this mass were unbroken save at one point near the
+zenith of its curve. From this there protruded the sharper edges of a
+"thunder-head," as if some titanic and unseen hand were lifting to the
+firmament a colossal head of cauliflower, its shaded portions
+beautifully toned with blue. This description may be homely, but it has
+the merit of accuracy.
+
+I said no word of my certainty of the oncoming tempest, but threw on
+full speed and dashed ahead at a rate which startled my fair companion.
+From the turn in the road just beyond the clearing we headed directly
+into the line of march of the storm. If it were slow-moving I calculated
+we would reach Oak Cliff before it broke, but I realised it would be
+close work.
+
+Miss Harding leaned over and said something to me. The whirr of the
+machinery and the swaying of the car made conversation difficult. I
+presume she thought I was determined to show my nerve and skill as a
+driver.
+
+"Why this mad haste, Jacques Henri?" she again cried, her head so close
+to mine that her hair brushed my cheek.
+
+I returned a non-committal smile and fixed my eyes on the road which
+slipped toward us like a huge belt propelled by invisible pulleys.
+
+The miles kept pace with the minutes. Of a sudden the sun was blotted
+out. When I lifted my eyes from the road I saw birds circling high in
+the sky. The cattle in adjacent fields lifted their heads and moved
+uneasily as if some instinct sounded a warning in their dull brains.
+Above the trees I saw the skirmish line of the storm.
+
+In after hours Miss Harding told me that she had quickly solved the
+secret of my wild dash. For a quarter of an hour she hung to the swaying
+seat and said no word. Once I looked into her eyes and read in them that
+she understood.
+
+We dashed through a little village and paid no heed to the angry shouts
+and menacing gestures of a man who wore a huge star on his chest. Oak
+Cliff was only ten miles away. Could we make it?
+
+The restful grays of the cloud had disappeared; and low down on the
+horizon I saw a belt of bluish black, and as I looked, a bolt of
+lightning jabbed through it. We were now running parallel to the storm,
+and I believed I could beat it to Oak Cliff. I felt certain I could
+reach the little hamlet of Pine Top, and from there on it would be easy
+to get to shelter. Between us and Pine Top was practically an unbroken
+wilderness, a part of the country reserved as a source of water supply
+for the great city far to the south of us.
+
+Into that wilderness we dashed.
+
+We were taking a hill with the second speed clutch on when a grating
+sound came to my alert ears, and with it an unnatural shudder of the
+machinery. I threw off power and applied the brakes. As the car stopped
+the deep rolling bass of the thunder rumbled over the hills.
+
+"We are caught," declared Miss Harding, but there was no fear in her
+voice.
+
+"Not yet!" I asserted, springing from the car and making a frenzied
+examination of the cause of our breakdown. I knew it was not serious,
+and when I located it I joyously proclaimed it a mere trifle. But
+automobile trifles demand minutes, and nature did not postpone the
+resistless march of its storm battalions. As I toiled with wrench and
+screw-driver I cursed the folly which induced me to plunge into that
+desolate stretch of forest and marsh.
+
+The roar of the tempest's artillery became continuous. The low scud
+clouds travelling with incredible velocity blotted out the blue sky to
+the east and darkness fell like a black shroud. I could not see to work
+beneath the floor of the car, and lost another minute searching for and
+lighting a candle.
+
+In the uncanny gloom I saw the fair face of the one whose safety now was
+menaced by my bold folly. I saw her form silhouetted against the black
+of a fir tree in the almost blinding glare of a flame of lightning.
+
+"Just one minute and I will have it fixed!" I said, and she smiled
+bravely but said nothing.
+
+Still not a breath of air! The spires of the pine trees stood rigid as
+if cast in bronze!
+
+This is the time when a storm strikes terror to my soul. With the first
+patter of the rain and the onrushing of the wind I experience a
+sensation of relief, but it is nerve-racking to stand in that frightful
+calm and await the mighty charge of unknown forces.
+
+As I bolted the displaced part into its proper adjustment I reflected
+that had it not been for the ten minutes thus lost we would have been in
+Oak Cliff. My calculations had been accurate, but again Fate had
+introduced an unexpected factor. I started the engine and leaped into
+the car.
+
+"Only a mile to shelter!" I exclaimed. "I think we can make it. Where
+are the storm aprons?"
+
+"We forgot them," she said.
+
+"I forgot them, you mean," I declared. "Hold fast! It is a rough road!"
+
+The red car leaped forward. I remembered that there was a farmhouse a
+mile or so ahead.
+
+Never have I witnessed anything like the vivid continuity of that
+lightning. With a crash which sounded as if the gods had shattered the
+vault of the heavens a bolt streamed into a tree not a hundred yards
+ahead, and one of its limbs fell to the roadway. It was impossible to
+stop. She saw it and crouched behind the shield. With a lurch and a leap
+we passed over it.
+
+I felt a drop of rain on my face. The trees swayed with the first gust
+of the tempest. We were going down hill with full speed on. A few
+hundred yards ahead was a stone culvert spanning the bed of a creek
+whose waters years before had been diverted to a reservoir a mile or so
+to the east. Save at rare intervals, the bed of this creek was dry.
+
+As the recollection of this old culvert came to me I raised my eyes and
+saw something which drove the blood from my heart! A quarter of a mile
+ahead was a gray wall of rain, and dim through it I saw huge trees mount
+into the air and twist and gyrate like leaves caught up in an air eddy.
+
+Holding our speed for a few seconds, which seemed like minutes, we
+surged toward the old culvert. Jamming on the brakes, I swung to one
+side of the embankment and stopped almost on the edge of the dry bed of
+the creek.
+
+Miss Harding leaped to the ground and stood for an instant dazed. I
+stumbled as I jumped, but was on my feet like a flash. The arch of the
+culvert was not thirty feet away, but had we not been protected by the
+embankment we should have been beaten down and killed ere we reached its
+shelter.
+
+The stones and gravel from the roadway above were dashed into our faces
+by the outer circle of the tornado. Grasping Miss Harding by the arm I
+dragged or carried her, I know not which, to the yawning but welcome
+opening of the old stone archway.
+
+I cannot describe what followed. It was as if the earth were in its
+death throes. We were tossed back and forth in this tunnel, a resistless
+suction pulling us first toward one entrance and then to the other, only
+to be hurled back by buffeting blows.
+
+There was a sense of suffocation as if the lightning had burned the air.
+Our nostrils were filled with the fumes of sulphur, and we looked into
+each other's frightened eyes only when some near flash penetrated the
+awful blackness of what seemed our living tomb.
+
+A tree fell across the west opening, one twisted limb projecting well
+into the tunnel of the culvert. We could not distinguish the crashes of
+thunder from that of hurtling trees or the demoniac roar of the tornado.
+All of our senses were assailed by the unleashed furies of the tempest;
+crazed with rage that we were just beyond their reach.
+
+I cannot say how long this lasted. Observers of the tornado in other
+places state that it was not more than three minutes in passing. Its
+path was less than half a mile in width, but I am convinced that its
+onward speed was comparatively slow else we would not have reached the
+culvert from the time I first saw it until its edge struck us.
+
+Then came a moment of appalling silence. The tornado had passed. With
+this strange calm the darkness lifted and we knew that the crisis was
+over.
+
+[Illustration: "Grasping her by the arm I dragged her"]
+
+We were near the centre of the tunnel. I became aware that I was holding
+her hands and that her head was resting on my shoulder.
+
+As the silence came like a shock, she raised her head and our eyes met.
+
+"God has been very good to us," she said, gently releasing her hands.
+"Let us thank Him."
+
+Standing there in the rising waters we silently offered up our thanks to
+the One who rides on the wings of the storm and Who had guided two of
+His children to a haven of refuge.
+
+The rain was still falling in sheets and the water had risen to our
+shoe-tops. In the growing light I discovered a projecting ledge near the
+centre of our shelter and helped Miss Harding to obtain a footing.
+
+"If the water keeps on rising," she said, "we must get out of here. I am
+sure the rain will not kill us."
+
+"That's true," I admitted, "but I hope the rain will cease before the
+flood reaches your ledge. It's coming down good and hard now."
+
+It was pouring torrents. Though the crippled stream drained only a small
+territory the current had already reached my knees. I waded to the east
+opening and took one glance at the sky. The outlook was not encouraging,
+but we could stand another eighteen-inch rise without serious discomfort
+or danger. I realised that it would not do to be swept against the tree
+which partially clogged the further opening.
+
+Half an hour passed and the rain still fell and the water rose inch by
+inch. We laughed and joked and were not in the least alarmed. Then the
+water lapped over the ledge on which she stood. She declared that her
+feet were wet as they possibly could get.
+
+"I can stand it a few more minutes if you can," she said. "The rain is
+ceasing. You poor Jacques Henri! It's all you can do to keep your feet!"
+
+I stoutly denied it.
+
+"I'm having a jolly time!" I declared. "I see a light in the west. The
+rain will cease in a few minutes."
+
+Even as I spoke the water rose several inches in one wave. I surmised
+what had happened. A dam had formed below us and the water was backing
+up. In less than a minute it had risen six inches, and was at her
+shoe-tops.
+
+"We are drowned out!" I said. "Let's get out before we have to swim for
+it. Now be steady and remember your training as an equestrienne. Grab me
+by the neck and hang on and we'll be out of here in a minute."
+
+I lifted her to my left shoulder and with my free right hand steadied
+myself against the wall of the tunnel. The bed of the brook was of soft
+sand and formed a fairly good footing. Luckily the same cause which so
+suddenly flooded us out materially lessened the force of the current,
+but it still struggled fiercely against me, and a false movement on the
+part of my fair burden might have led to distressing and even serious
+circumstances.
+
+The water was almost to my waist but her skirts were clear of it. I
+slipped once and thought we were in trouble, but we safely reached the
+opening and it was a happy moment when I placed her on solid ground. Not
+that I was tired of my burden--not at all. I cheerfully would have
+attempted the task of carrying her the three miles between us and Pine
+Top.
+
+A light mist was falling, but we did not notice that. We stood
+spellbound, gazing on a scene of unspeakable devastation!
+
+To the north, west and southeast the forest lay prone like a field of
+wind-swept corn. Huge oaks and pines were tossed in grotesque windrows.
+Here and there gnarled roots projected above the prostrate foliage. The
+once proud trees lay like brave soldiers; their limbs rigid in the
+contorted attitudes of death.
+
+The line of wreck was clearly marked along its northern line but the
+hills shut off our view to the west. The road to Pine Top was one mass
+of trunks and twisted limbs. For some distance in the other direction
+there was no forest to the right, and so far as we could see the road
+was clear.
+
+At first glance I thought the touring car a total wreck. It had been
+lifted and hurled on its side against a partially dismantled stone wall.
+It was half hidden by a large branch of a tree, and its rear wheels were
+buried in mud and debris.
+
+As we stood silent and awe-stricken amid this manifestation of the
+insignificance of man, the sun blazed forth from behind a laggard cloud.
+The effect was theatrical. It was like throwing the limelight on the
+scene which marks the climax of some tense situation. Instinctively we
+lifted our arms and cheered for sheer joy.
+
+"What care we for wrecked automobiles and wet clothes?" I shouted. "We
+live, we live!"
+
+"It is good to live," she cried; "it is splendid to live!"
+
+We smilingly saluted His Majesty the sun once again, and then returned
+to earth.
+
+"What shall we do?" Miss Harding asked.
+
+My most vivid impression of this charming young woman at that instant
+was that her shoes gave forth a "chugging" sound as she walked,
+convincing aural evidence that their spare spaces were occupied with
+water. I also recall that her hat was a limp and bedraggled wreck from
+being jammed for an hour or more against the roof of the culvert.
+
+"I don't know," I frankly admitted. "It is certain we cannot take this
+road to Pine Top. I have an idea that our back track is clear. I suggest
+that I proceed to ascertain if this machine is dead beyond hope of
+resurrection. If it isn't we'll take it back to civilisation. If it is
+we'll abandon it and walk."
+
+"It is now half past three o'clock," she said, looking at her watch.
+"Even if we are late in getting to Oak Cliff we must go there if
+possible, for I know papa will wait for us and be worried if we do not
+come."
+
+"I'll do the best I can," I said, hesitating a moment and vainly
+attempting to think of some discreet way in which to express what was on
+my mind.
+
+"It will take some time," I finally said, "and in the meanwhile you had
+better--you had better--"
+
+"Oh, I'm going to," she laughed, and before I could look up she was on
+her way to the sunny side of the embankment on the further approach of
+the culvert. Ten minutes later I turned and saw her a few paces away
+silently watching me, and the same glance revealed a pair of dainty
+shoes on the top rail of the old bridge, and I presume that in some
+place was a pair of stockings so disposed as to give Sol's rays a fair
+chance to do their most effective work.
+
+"I think I can fix it inside of an hour," I said.
+
+"That will be splendid!" she exclaimed.
+
+The sun was blistering hot and I worked like a Trojan, but again was it
+my fate to disappoint her. The working parts were clogged with sand and
+mud, and I had underestimated the magnitude of my task. I know now that
+our best course would have been to abandon the machine and to walk to
+Pine Top, but perhaps what happened was just as well.
+
+It was 5:45 before the machine gave its first sure signs of returning
+consciousness. Miss Harding gave a glad cry and a quarter of an hour
+later when the red monster stood coughing in the muddy roadway those dry
+shoes were where they belonged.
+
+With light hearts we waved farewell to the kindly old culvert and set
+our pace toward Woodvale. It was our plan to take the first crossroad
+leading from the path of the tornado, and if possible make our way to
+Oak Cliff. We passed a small hut which nestled in the shelter of the
+rocks. In our mad rush I had not noticed it, but it seemed vacant.
+
+A little farther on the road turns sharply to the right and re-enters
+the forest. As we came to the top of a knoll I looked ahead and saw at a
+glance that we were again nearing the path of the tornado. But I went on
+until the trunks of the stricken trees brought us to a halt.
+
+"We are trapped, Miss Harding," I said, after an examination which
+proved that even foot travel was well-nigh impossible. "We are in the
+segment of a circle closed at its ends by fallen trees, and the worst of
+it is this: there remains to us positively no outlet to the road."
+
+It was an exasperating situation. We decided to return to the hut in the
+hope that its occupant--if it had one--might be able to show us a trail
+through the woods to the west. As we came near the hut we saw smoke
+coming from its stove-pipe chimney. It looked mighty cheerful.
+
+I knocked on the door and a big, good-natured Norwegian opened it. He is
+one of the watchmen employed by the Water Commissioners to keep
+trespassers off the lands reserved for water supply.
+
+I briefly explained our predicament. He informed me that there was no
+wagon road leading to the east or the west, and said, with a wide grin,
+that our auto could not possibly get out until the road was cleared.
+Miss Harding joined us and made a despairing gesture when told the
+situation.
+
+This man Peterson said that the tornado had missed his hut by a few
+hundred yards. He was in Pine Top when it swept through the edge of that
+village, killing several persons.
+
+"Where is the nearest railway station?" asked Miss Harding.
+
+"Pine Top."
+
+"How far is it?" I asked.
+
+Peterson scratched his head and said that to go around the fallen timber
+meant a journey of fully five miles.
+
+"Will you guide us?" I asked. "I will pay you," I added, naming a
+liberal sum.
+
+Peterson said he would when he had cooked and eaten his supper. It was
+then after seven o'clock, and the thought occurred to us that we were
+hungry. Peterson agreed to do the best he could for us in the way of a
+meal, and he did very well.
+
+We were lamentably shy on dishes and knives and forks. We had bacon and
+eggs, fried potatoes, bread and butter and some really excellent coffee.
+There was only a single room in the hut, but it was clean and fairly
+tidy. Peterson explained that he never had company, and apologised for
+his lack of tableware.
+
+Miss Harding was given the only regulation knife and fork, and I had the
+pleasure of beholding her eating from my plate. There was only one
+plate, Peterson using the frying pan and a carving knife.
+
+What fun we had over that humble but wholesome meal! Miss Harding
+praised our host's cooking, and his honest blue eyes glistened at the
+compliment. Miss Harding and I sat on a board which rested on two nail
+kegs, while Peterson, against his protest, had the one chair in the
+house.
+
+It was growing dark ere the meal was ended. I ran the touring car into
+the little yard and sheltered it as best I could under the projecting
+ledge of a rock. Peterson produced a big strip of heavy canvas which I
+put to good service by protecting the vital parts of the mechanism.
+Peterson assured us that the car would be safe, and with a parting look
+at it we entered the forest.
+
+It was a long, tortuous and in places dangerous journey. While we were
+not in the track of the tornado, the storm had been severe over a wide
+territory. Fallen trees lay across our rocky trail and at times we had
+to make wide detours, forcing our way through thick underbrush and
+scaling slippery rocks.
+
+Miss Harding proved a good woodswoman.
+
+"If I did not know that papa is worried I would enjoy every moment of
+this," she declared, as we paused to rest after a climb of fully five
+hundred feet out of the valley.
+
+The lightning was again flickering in the west and we pressed on. There
+were intervals of cleared spaces now and then. We climbed fences, jumped
+ditches and seemingly walked scores of miles, but still the flickering
+yellow light of that lantern led us remorselessly on. At last when it
+appeared as if our quest were interminable we surmounted a rail fence
+and found ourselves in a road.
+
+"Pine Top half a mile," was the cheering announcement made by Peterson
+as he held the lantern so that Miss Harding could examine the extent of
+a rent just made in her gown.
+
+Ten minutes later we stood on the platform of the little red station in
+Pine Top, and the spasmodic clatter of a telegraph instrument was music
+in our ears.
+
+Down came the rain, but what cared we! The steel rails which gleamed and
+glistened in the signal lights led to Woodvale. We entered the room and
+waited patiently until the operator looked up from the jabbering
+receiver.
+
+"When is the next train to Woodvale?" was my ungrammatical query.
+
+"I wish I could tell you," he answered, rather sullenly. He had been on
+duty hours over time. "They've nearly cleared the track between here and
+Woodvale, but the Lord only knows when a train can get through from Oak
+Cliff."
+
+"No train from Oak Cliff since the storm?" I asked.
+
+"Well, I should guess not!" he gruffly laughed. "Oak Cliff's wiped off
+the map."
+
+Miss Harding clutched my arm. There was startled agony in her eyes, her
+lips trembled but she bore the shock bravely.
+
+"Did you get a message to that effect?" I demanded in a voice which
+must have surprised him.
+
+"No, the wires are down between here and Oak Cliff, but a man came by
+here an hour ago who said it went through the village."
+
+"Did it strike the Oak Cliff club house?" I asked.
+
+"He didn't say," replied the operator, and then the instrument demanded
+his attention.
+
+"These reports are always exaggerated," I assured Miss Harding. "Besides
+the club house is of stone, and it is protected by a hill to the west.
+Do not be in the least alarmed."
+
+"We can only hope and wait," she softly said.
+
+We heartily thanked Peterson and watched him as he disappeared in the
+darkness, tramping stolidly in the face of a driving rain.
+
+Despite the rain it was warm and we sat on a bench under the broad roof
+of the platform. I did my best to take her mind away from the dread
+which possessed her, but it was a wretched hour for both of us. Then we
+saw the flicker of lights down the track, and toward us came a small
+army of labourers who had been clearing the roadbed between us and
+Woodvale.
+
+They stopped a minute in front of the station. These hardy Italians
+stood in the drenching rain, axes in their hands or over their
+shoulders, their clothes smeared with mud, water running in streams from
+the rims of their broad hats; there they stood and laughed, chattered,
+jested and indulged in rough play while their foreman received his
+instructions from the telegraph operator. And then with a cheer and a
+song they started on their way to Oak Cliff. Happiness and contentment
+are gifts; they cannot be purchased.
+
+Something to the south burned a widening circle in the mist and rain,
+and from its centre we made out the headlight of a locomotive. It was a
+passenger train, and as it crawled cautiously to the platform two men
+leaped from it and came toward us.
+
+I recognised Carter and Chilvers.
+
+They had heard of the tornado and had constituted themselves a searching
+party.
+
+"Naturally your mother is alarmed," said Carter "but I assured her that
+it was nothing more serious than delayed trains. She knows nothing of
+the tornado."
+
+We were informed that the up train would be held on a sidetrack until
+the one from Oak Cliff got through. There was nothing to do but wait. It
+was past midnight when we heard the blast of a whistle to the north, and
+when the train from Oak Cliff pulled in Mr. Harding was the first one to
+swing to the station platform.
+
+"Well, well, well!" he exclaimed, releasing his daughter's arms from his
+neck, holding her at arm's length and then kissing her again. "Is this
+the way you call for me at four o'clock? Where's Smith? Hello, Smith!
+Where's the red buzz wagon?"
+
+"Over there," I said.
+
+And then we all talked at once. Chilvers danced a clog-step to the
+delight of the grinning trainmen, Carter removed his monocle and
+polished it innumerable times, Miss Harding laughed and cried by turns,
+Mr. Harding dug cigars from pockets which seemed inexhaustible, and gave
+them to the railroad men, and I furiously smoked a pipe and put in a
+word whenever I had a chance. It was an informal and glorious reunion.
+
+The wires were working to Woodvale, communication having been made while
+we stood there, and the conductor was honoured that he had the privilege
+to hold the train while the famous Robert L. Harding sent a reassuring
+telegram to his wife.
+
+It was nearly two o'clock when we arrived in Woodvale. I asked Mr.
+Harding how near the tornado came to the Oak Cliff club house.
+
+"Smith," he said, laying his hand on my arm, "it passed so close that I
+could have driven a golf ball into it, and I was tempted to try. That's
+the best chance I'll have to get a long carry."
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XX
+
+FAT EWES AND SHARP KNIVES
+
+
+At last I have the spare time in which to bring this diary up to date,
+but where shall I begin?
+
+One romance is ended. It was very pretty and interesting while it
+lasted, but all things must have an end, especially flirtations.
+
+Miss Olive Lawrence has left Woodvale. The season has only started, but
+she confided to Miss Dangerfield that she was wearied with golf and
+Woodvale. So with a smile to all, and having settled in full with
+Wallace for a dozen or more lessons she left for the south with an
+assortment of trunks which tested the capacity of the baggage car.
+
+I feel rather sorry for Wallace, though I give him credit for enough
+sense to have realised that her interest in him could amount to nothing
+more than a desire to amuse herself. It does not speak well for
+fascinating qualities for our Woodvale gallants that Miss Lawrence
+selected this unknown outsider even as a target on which to practise
+flirtation archery, but, in common with most men, it is beyond my ken to
+fathom the caprices of a pretty woman.
+
+[Illustration: "She left for the South"]
+
+Wallace says nothing, but I can see that he takes it to heart. He spends
+most of his spare time at Bishop's, but attends strictly to his
+business. He is the best professional we have ever had, and it is
+fortunate for the club that he did not gain the fair prize which many of
+us thought was within his grasp.
+
+I have won the "Harding Trophy!"
+
+Carter and I played for it last Thursday. I had absolute confidence that
+I should win, and when Miss Harding smilingly told me that she was
+"pulling for me," I had no more doubt that I could win than I had that I
+was alive. We had the largest gallery that ever has followed a match in
+Woodvale. The betting was two to one against me.
+
+I beat Carter four up and three to play, and made a medal score of
+seventy-six, breaking the amateur record for the course. That statement
+is quite sufficient to tell the story of the game.
+
+I gave a dinner in honour of my victory, and at its conclusion Miss
+Harding presented the "Bronze Gent," as Chilvers calls this beautiful
+statuette. She made a graceful speech and we cheered her wildly. How
+charming she looked as she stood beside the huge bulk of her proud
+father! I tried to say something in reply, but the light in her eyes
+seemed to hypnotise me, and after a few incoherent sentences Chilvers
+came to my relief by striking up our club song, to the tune of a
+familiar hymn:
+
+   "Oh, why can't I drive like other men do?
+   How on earth can you drive if you don't follow through?"
+
+   CHORUS
+
+   "Hallelulia; watch that shoulder
+   Hallelulia, my men;
+   Hallelulia; get your wrists in!
+   Must I tell you again?"
+
+"Everybody come in strong on the second verse," ordered Chilvers, and we
+obeyed as best we could, also on the third. They run like this:
+
+   "I can't understand; understand it at all,
+   Why I can't keep my eye on that little white ball."
+
+   CHORUS
+
+   "Hallelulia; keep a-looking;
+   Hallelulia, my men;
+   Hallelulia; keep a-watching!
+   Must I tell you again?"
+
+   "Oh, why can't I hole out on each green in two?
+   Because we all find that a hard thing to do."
+
+   CHORUS
+
+   "Hallelulia; grasp your putter
+   Hallelulia, again,
+   Hallelulia; hit it harder!
+   Never up, never in!"
+
+It was a great occasion, but I have things to narrate which are of much
+more import. The board of directors of the N.O. & G. railroad met on
+Friday!
+
+Mr. Harding and I went to the city together. He was very busy looking
+over papers, and noticing his preoccupation I did not attempt to engage
+in conversation with him.
+
+I had plenty to think of. This was the day big with my future. This was
+the day when the conspirators proposed to pass the dividend on the stock
+of the N.O. & G. Would they dare to do it? What would result if they
+did?
+
+Knowing as I did that the earnings of the property had increased and
+that its prospects never were more favourable, I could not believe it
+possible that responsible officials would dare take so unwarranted a
+step for the purpose of influencing stock quotations. But while I kept
+my head and appeared outwardly calm, I was nervous, and I frankly
+confess it.
+
+I was weighing the situation in its various lights when Mr. Harding
+spoke to me.
+
+"Are you good at figures, Smith?" he asked.
+
+"I can add, subtract, multiply and divide," I said with some confidence.
+
+"Good!" he growled. "You've got nothing else to do, so you may as well
+help me on multiplication and addition. Multiply these by those and add
+'em up--right quick, won't you?"
+
+He passed to me a piece of paper containing the following memorandum:
+
+       500................................68-1/2
+
+      1100................................67-3/4
+
+      4000................................67-1/2
+
+       300................................66-7/8
+
+       600................................66-1/2
+
+      1700................................65-1/2
+
+       200................................64
+
+      2300................................63-1/2
+
+      1000................................62-3/4
+
+       500................................61-1/4
+
+      3000................................60-1/2
+
+      1200................................59
+
+       300................................59-1/4
+
+       100................................58-7/8
+
+       400................................58-1/2
+
+       250................................59
+
+      1000....... ........................58-3/8
+
+There were dates opposite the larger numerals, but these, of course, did
+not enter into the computation.
+
+Harding handed me a blank pad and resumed his study of other papers
+which from time to time he produced from a large black-covered folio. It
+took me some time to finish this calculation, but at last my task was
+ended and I gave the slip to him.
+
+"Sure that's right, Smith?" he asked, looking at the footing.
+
+"Your 18,450 shares of N.O. & G. stock cost you exactly $1,174,815, Mr.
+Harding, not including the commissions to your brokers," I said, calmly
+as possible.
+
+His big head swung quickly and he gazed at me with an expression of
+abject surprise.
+
+"Well I'll be--well--say, Smith, how in thunder did you get the idea
+into your head that those figures stood for N.O. & G. stock?" he
+demanded, after glancing at the slip to make sure that it contained no
+tell-tale initials.
+
+"Because the dates of purchase correspond with the quotations," I
+responded, enjoying his amazement and wondering to what it would lead.
+"I am only guessing that you bought, but of course it's possible you
+sold or went short. Please do not imagine I'm attempting to pry into
+your affairs, Mr. Harding," I added.
+
+He sank back into his seat and for several seconds said nothing.
+
+"Do you mind answering a few questions, Smith?" he said.
+
+"That depends," I smiled. "Go ahead and ask them."
+
+"Have you been dealing in N.O. & G.?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Buying or selling?"
+
+"Buying."
+
+"Outright or on margin?"
+
+"On margin."
+
+"How many shares have you an option on?"
+
+I hesitated.
+
+"Mr. Harding," I said, "in answering that question I assume that the
+information is confidential and that it will not be used to my
+disadvantage. Up to now it has been a secret known only to my brokers."
+
+"You will lose nothing by telling me," Mr. Harding said, and I knew that
+promise was as good as his note at hand.
+
+"My brokers have contracted for 45,000 shares of N.O. & G.," I said,
+handing him a list of my purchases with dates, amounts, and quotations.
+
+He studied it for a while in silence.
+
+"I thought you did nothing but play golf," he said. "Tell me; how did
+you happen to go into a deal of this magnitude?"
+
+I gave him the details of the conspiracy as I had discovered them. It is
+not safe at this time to disclose them even in this diary. Mr. Harding
+listened with growing wonder on his face.
+
+"My boy," he said, when I had ended, "if there is anyone in the country
+who should have discovered and taken advantage of the facts you have
+just told me, it is myself, but I never dreamed of them until you had
+purchased more than 30,000 shares of that stock. These dogs think I'm in
+Europe! They were told so. They think they have sold me out, and perhaps
+they have. I did not watch it as I should have done."
+
+For a minute the train roared on past suburban stations, under viaducts,
+through echoing rows of freight cars, and over clattering switches. We
+were nearing the metropolis.
+
+"Do you mind telling me if you are alone in this transaction?" he
+suddenly asked.
+
+"I am."
+
+"Do you wish to go in with me in this deal?"
+
+"I do!" I replied without hesitation.
+
+"Good!" he said, offering his hand. "We'll talk no more of this here.
+It's not safe. Come with me to my office."
+
+We reached his private office half an hour before the opening of the
+Stock Exchange. In five minutes the machinery of his wonderful system
+was in operation. Notes were dictated, messengers hurried away with
+them, men called, who listened to curt orders and vanished.
+
+An hour passed and he gave orders that no one should be admitted until
+further notice.
+
+"N.O. & G. is stationary around 59," he said, offering a cigar. "The
+directors meet at noon. They will pass the dividend. They think to shake
+out your 45,000 shares and a lot more in small holdings. In all I own
+35,000 shares, so that together we control 80,000 out of 200,000. I now
+propose to show these honourable gentlemen a trick which will give them
+something to think about for several weeks to come. I know a _gentleman_
+who owns outright 25,000 shares. He is one of the heads of which you
+term "the conspiracy". It is not a conspiracy, Smith; it is business. He
+tried to sell me out and has failed as he will learn in a few minutes.
+He will then sell out the men who implicitly trust him, as they would
+sell him out if they could see a chance to make money out of it. Do not
+talk of conspiracies, Smith! These honourable business _gentlemen_ down
+here are extremely sensitive, and you should be careful not to hurt
+their feelings."
+
+We quickly came to an agreement by which our holdings were pooled. It
+was stipulated that he should have entire control of the operations from
+that time on, and after settling important details I suggested that I go
+to my broker's office and await developments.
+
+"There's nothing you can do here," he said, as I arose. "Yes, there is,
+too," he added. "The folks are going to drop in here at about two
+o'clock. I'm going to be too busy to bother with them, and I foolishly
+promised to take them to the gallery of the Stock Exchange. You'll be
+worth more money then than you are now," he said with a grim smile.
+"Take them over and show them how a real sheep-killing looks when the
+ewes are fat and the knives sharp."
+
+I promised to call for them at two o'clock, and then went to the office
+of my brokers.
+
+Carelessly glancing at the quotation opposite the letters N.O. & G., I
+saw that it had dropped to 56. The head of the firm approached me and
+asked me to step into his private office.
+
+[Illustration: "Business is business"]
+
+"The rumour is strong that the dividend will be passed," he said.
+
+"Which is preparatory to saying that you would like me to put up more
+margins, I presume?"
+
+"Business is business, you know, Mr. Smith," he said, softly rubbing his
+hands.
+
+"I have, anticipated your caution," I remarked. Mr. Harding had warned
+me that an unwarranted demand for margins would be made, but confident
+of the integrity of my brokers I had doubted it. "I presume an extra
+ten points will satisfy you?"
+
+He seemed surprised but said it would. I gave him a certified check for
+$450,000.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Smith. You will excuse me for requesting this, but
+business is business."
+
+"So I am learning," I coldly observed, and this closed our interview. I
+was convinced that "the conspirators" had gotten into communication with
+my brokers, but of course I could not prove it.
+
+As the noon hour approached, N.O. & G. sagged off to 53 on comparatively
+heavy transactions. It stuck there until over the various mechanisms for
+sending information came this simple announcement, "The directors of the
+N.O. & G. have passed the regular semi-annual dividend."
+
+The card boy of the stock board became busy. N.O. & G. dropped a point
+or more between sales, until it struck 47. I had small doubt of the
+outcome, but it is not pleasant to sit and watch the figures go up which
+hint at a loss of $45,000 every minute or so. I tried to look
+unconcerned, but doubt if I succeeded.
+
+I knew that not far away a strong man was at the wheel, but the best of
+ships go down. What if his plans had miscarried? I dared not think of
+it!
+
+"Two thousand N.O. & G. at 48," called the watcher at the ticker. "Five
+hundred at 47-1/2; 1,000 at 47; 2,000, 400, I,500, 3,000, at 47. Looks
+as if someone has pegged it at 47!"
+
+The entire market was declining in sympathy with the disturbing news
+concerning this standard property. "Twelve hundred N.O. & G. at 47-1/4,"
+called the man at the ticker. "Three thousand at 48; 1,500 at 49; 5,000
+at 50! Someone's after that non-dividend paying stock!"
+
+Like a man in a dream I watched that stock start on its dizzy climb. In
+five minutes it had reached 55, and by leaps and bounds it soared to 70.
+My brokers rushed to me with their congratulations. Did I wish to place
+any orders? Some strong interest undoubtedly was back of the rise?
+
+I informed them I had purchased all I desired.
+
+I am not indifferent in the matter of money. I am ambitious to possess
+it for the prestige it gives and the power it grants, but it is the
+simple truth to say that in those triumphant moments and in the
+subsequent hours the thought which held possession of me and which made
+me superlatively happy was the consciousness that so far as material
+assets were concerned I had a right to aspire to the hand of Grace
+Harding!
+
+For some time the quotations vibrated nervously about the seventy mark.
+I was about to start for Mr. Harding's office when a man with a loud
+voice read a bulletin just received.
+
+"_One forty-five p.m._," he began. "_Robert L. Harding authorises the
+announcement that in conjunction with John Henry Smith he has purchased
+a majority of the stock of the N.O. & G. railroad, and that it will be
+operated as a part of the system with which Mr. Harding is identified_."
+
+"Who in thunder is John Henry Smith?" asked a veteran stock gambler.
+
+I hurriedly left the room.
+
+In the inner offices of Mr. Harding's headquarters I found Mrs. and Miss
+Harding.
+
+"We have heard the news!" exclaimed Miss Harding. "Isn't it splendid? I
+congratulate you, Mr. Smith!"
+
+Mr. Harding appeared at this moment, a broad smile on his face.
+
+"Not so bad, eh Smith!" he said, shaking hands. The fierce light of
+battle was in his eyes. "They're headed for the tall timber, but we
+still have their range! Did you hear the last quotation?"
+
+"The last figure I saw was seventy-three," I said.
+
+"Seventy-three?" he laughed. "I just bought a thousand shares for
+ninety-one. Take the folks over to the visitor's gallery and let them
+watch the animals. I'm going to begin to feed them raw meat in about
+half an hour."
+
+As we walked toward the Exchange, Mrs. Harding said to me: "I think it's
+perfectly wicked the way you men gamble!"
+
+Bless her dear heart, so do I, but what could I say except to utter some
+commonplace?
+
+The huge box of marble and gold where this gambling is done already was
+seething with maniacs who had reached a stage of delirium pitiful to
+those who witness such scenes for the first time. It was as if a
+thousand human rats had been hurled into a pit, with heaven and earth
+offered as prizes to those who survived.
+
+The swaying forms, the tossing arms, the frantic uplifted faces of aged
+men, the football rush of impetuous youths, the shrieks, howlings and
+bellowings of the combatants, the tramp of feet on the paper-strewn
+floor, the clatter of innumerable instruments, the tinkle of myriads of
+bells; and through the opened windows God's pure sunlight illumining
+this hell on earth--such was the scene they looked down upon.
+
+I knew the signs which told when Harding threw the first bits of "raw
+meat" into this gilded corral. I knew that he long since had cornered
+N.O. & G., and that he would whet the appetites of his victims as only
+he knew how, but I did not know that it was his day of reckoning for
+other "conspirators" equally as grasping as those with whom I had
+measured my puny sword.
+
+As the hands of the clock slowly crawled to the hour of three the frenzy
+of the mob in the centre of the pit became maddening. I had no way of
+knowing from where we stood whether prices were moving up or down, but
+it was evident that Harding was "feeding the animals."
+
+Then the gong boomed the signal that the session was ended. The tumult
+rose to one resounding crash, hesitated, subsided and died away. The
+struggling groups dissolved and partial sanity resumed its sway.
+
+I was ushered into Mr. Harding's private office immediately on our
+return. The magnate was in his shirt sleeves. His mouth was set in stern
+lines and his dark hair tousled as if he had just emerged from deadly
+physical combat. As I entered the room his features relaxed and then he
+laughed. It was the roar of the lion who raises his head for a moment
+from his stricken quarry.
+
+"We won this foursome, Smith, ten up and eight to play," he said. "Sit
+down and I'll tell you how we stand. I put the market up to 175. Could
+have put it to a thousand if it had been necessary, but what's the use?
+There is a short interest of 60,000 shares. Most of them are in the
+outer offices waiting to come in and settle. I'm going to let 'em off
+easy, Smith. Those who were extra dirty will settle at 200, and I've
+made a sliding scale down to 150, which is about what N.O. & G. is
+actually worth as an investment. Outside of your original 45,000 shares
+you have profits coming to you on about 20,000 shares which I bought for
+you at various figures on the way up. Roughly speaking it will net you
+somewhere between a million and a half and two millions, depending on
+how merciful we are to your 'conspirators.' How much will it cost you to
+take up your 45,000 shares?"
+
+[Illustration: "Ten up and eight to play"]
+
+I consulted the statement of my account with Morse & Davis, my brokers
+in these transactions.
+
+"I have paid them $1,525,000, which margined it down to 30," I said.
+"In order to take the stock up I must pay them about $1,375,000 more,
+making my investment in N.O. & G. a total of $2,900,000."
+
+"Tell you what I'll do, Smith," said Mr. Harding. "If you care to get
+out of this deal I'll take that block of 45,000 shares off your hands at
+$150 a share. That's $6,750,000," he concluded after making a rapid
+calculation.
+
+"Thank you," I said, "but I've decided to hold it as an investment and
+go into the railroad business."
+
+"Good for you, Smith!" he heartily exclaimed. "Mark my prediction; N.O.
+& G. will go to 200 before the first of the year. You've done fairly
+well for a beginner, my boy. Your investment and the contributions of
+the wicked 'conspirators' net you between five and six millions. That's
+better than sweating over that 'Bronze Gent,' now isn't it?"
+
+The magnitude of my winnings nearly took my breath, and I fear that my
+expression and words showed it.
+
+"You'll have to get out of here now, Smith," said Mr. Harding, glancing
+at his watch. "Take the folks for a ride or something to entertain them,
+and come back here at 5:30. Then we'll all go to dinner somewhere and
+take the nine o'clock train for Woodvale."
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XXI
+
+I AM ENTIRELY SATISFIED
+
+
+For an hour I have been seated at a table on the veranda of the Woodvale
+club house looking over the pages of this diary.
+
+Certainly I am entitled to a new sobriquet. As a youngster I was called
+"Socks Smith." In more recent years I have been hailed as "Foxy Old
+Smith," and by a few friends as "Old Prog. Smith," but as I review my
+record for the past two months it seems to me that I am fairly entitled
+to be called "Lucky Smith."
+
+Of least importance, but none the less satisfying has been the wonderful
+improvement in my golf game. I am driving as long a ball as any club
+member. I have won the club championship and the Harding Trophy. I hold
+the low amateur score for the course, and only yesterday came within a
+stroke of defeating Wallace. I must admit that the poor chap was off his
+game. He is still thinking of Miss Lawrence. It's a shame the way she
+led him on, but he is young and will get over it.
+
+It was my privilege to be instrumental in saving Mr. Harding's life from
+the mad rush of that bull. I showed a little judgment and nerve,
+perhaps, but luck gave me the opportunity.
+
+Every incident preceding, during and after that tornado was in my
+favour. Even my mistakes resulted to my advantage. Fate smiled on me
+through the awful fury of that tempest.
+
+These fortuitous happenings and incidents are nothing compared with one
+consideration which makes me the happiest man in the world. It is not
+that I made a lucky venture in stocks and acquired more millions than
+all of my ancestors ever possessed. That is something, of course, but I
+had enough money for any rational human being before this flood of
+wealth poured into my lucky hands.
+
+These are not the things which steep my soul in joy ineffable!
+
+I know that I possess the love of Grace Harding!
+
+She has not told me; it is not necessary that she shall say the words to
+confirm the truth which has come to me. I know that she loves me; is not
+that enough?
+
+Chilvers passed while I was sitting here and caught me smiling. I was
+reading the sixteenth entry in this diary.
+
+"What are you grinning at, Smith?" he demanded.
+
+I did not tell him. I had been reading my soliloquy to the effect that
+the knowledge of love is conveyed without verbal expression between
+those who love. I had written: "The man who fails to avail himself of
+this silent but eloquent language, and who stupidly assaults a woman
+with an open avowal of an alleged love deserves to be coldly rejected."
+
+Then I wrote that these voiceless messages to the one you love would be
+considered and finally answered, and that there might come a day "when
+over the throbbing unseen wire there comes a telepagram sounding the
+letters 'Y-E-S,' then proceed with the sweet formality of a verbal
+confession and avowal of your love, and you will not be disappointed."
+
+I have received that glorious message! Grace Harding has told me that
+she loves me!
+
+The message was transmitted from the depths of her beautiful eyes! It
+has been confirmed by the gentle pressure of her hand as it rested on my
+arm! It has been echoed in the accents of her sweet voice! I have read
+it in the blush which mantles her check as I draw near, and I know it
+from a thousand little tokens which my heart understands and which my
+feeble words cannot express.
+
+I am
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XXII
+
+I AM UTTERLY MISERABLE
+
+_On Board "Oceanic," East-bound._
+
+
+I may as well finish the sentence which ends brokenly in the preceding
+entry. "I am _an ass_."
+
+Three weeks have passed since I finished that entry with the most
+appropriate words, "I am." They fittingly express the consummate egoism
+with which I was then afflicted. I have recovered--partially, at least.
+
+I am--there goes that "I am" again--I am on the "Oceanic" pointed for
+London. Unless we sink--and I care little whether we do or not--I should
+be in that city inside of forty-eight hours.
+
+In looking over my luggage I found this diary. I gave it to my room
+steward and told him to throw it overboard. Then it occurred to me that
+it would be my luck that it would be picked up and published as the
+mental meanderings of an idiot, so I called him back and took it away
+from him.
+
+This steward of mine discovered my mental unbalance the first day out,
+but considers me harmless and treats me accordingly.
+
+I have decided to bring this diary up to date, retain possession of it
+pending certain developments, and then incinerate it with appropriate
+ceremonies. So I will begin at the beginning, which is the ending of the
+last entry with its immortal declaration, "I am."
+
+I have forgotten what I intended to write when I started that sentence,
+and what it was cuts no figure. I only know that just at that instant
+Chilvers, Marshall, and Carter appeared, dragged me from my chair and
+insisted that I join them in a foursome. There was no escape, so I got
+ready and in a few minutes was with them at the first tee.
+
+On my way there I met Miss Harding, Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield. I
+chatted with them for a moment and went on. I remember--oh, do I not
+remember!--that I called Miss Harding aside and reminded her that we
+were to take a moonlight spin in my new automobile. She smilingly
+replied that she had not forgotten it, and with a look into each
+other's eyes which thrilled my very being I turned to join those
+golfers.
+
+How can I write this? It is like pouring a burning acid into a wound!
+
+I have forgotten who won the game. I know I played vilely for I was not
+thinking of golf. I was counting the minutes which must elapse before I
+could be by her side and tell her that I loved her.
+
+I was rehearsing the words I should whisper to her as we paused on the
+smooth crest of "Old Baldy." I was picturing the fairy landscape
+shimmering in the moonlight, its rays falling on her fair face as I took
+her hand in mine. I saw it all as plain as I see this page in front of
+me. I felt it vividly as I feel the heaving of this great ship and the
+vibrations of its engines.
+
+How could I play a decent game of golf under such circumstances?
+
+On returning to the club house one of the attendants handed me a
+telegram which had just been received. I opened it carelessly and read:
+
+   Albuquerque, New Mexico.
+   To JOHN HENRY SMITH, Woodvale:
+
+   If you wish to see your Uncle Henry alive come at once.
+
+   DR. L.L. CLARK.
+
+I had an hour in which to get ready to catch the last train to the city
+and make the proper connections. I called my man and gave him the
+necessary instructions.
+
+Then I began a search for Miss Harding. I suddenly resolved to declare
+my love that day if the opportunity presented. I was delighted when I
+found her alone in the library.
+
+She did not hear me as I softly entered the room. She was seated near a
+window, an opened book in her lap but her gaze was not on its print and
+it was evident her thoughts were far away.
+
+I gently touched her shoulder, thinking to surprise her. I shall never
+forget the changing expressions in her eyes as they met mine.
+
+"I beg pardon, Miss Harding," I began. "I am--"
+
+She rose to her feet, the book falling to the floor. Her pretty head was
+erect, her shoulders thrown back, her eyes flashing and her face deadly
+pale.
+
+"Do not address me, sir!" she exclaimed, drawing away from me as if I
+were some repulsive animal.
+
+I stood transfixed! I knew she was not dissembling. I could not think; I
+could not speak! The floor seemed flying beneath my feet, and I must
+have reeled.
+
+"Leave me, sir! Leave me, sir, and never speak to me again!"
+
+My voice came back to me.
+
+"But, Miss Harding, there must be some mistake!" I stammered. "I beg of
+you--"
+
+"There is no mistake!" she cried with intense bitterness, pushing past
+me. "If you were a gentleman you would grant the last request I shall
+ever ask of you!"
+
+I stood as in a trance and watched her sweep proudly from out the room.
+I fell back into the chair she had vacated. I do not know how long I
+remained there or what tumultuous thoughts crashed against me like
+breakers storm-lashed on a rock-girt shore; I only know that my man
+found me there and told me that my train was due in fifteen minutes.
+
+I went to my room and changed my golf for a travelling suit. The next I
+remember is that I was on the train rushing toward the city.
+
+[Illustration: "She rose to her feet"]
+
+No sleep came to my eyes that long and awful night as the miles spun out
+which separated me from the one I loved so madly. Yes, I loved her then,
+and I love her now!
+
+Like a caged and wounded animal I paced the narrow confines of my
+stateroom. Ten thousand times I asked for the disclosing of this pitiful
+mystery, and ten thousand times a mocking laugh came back in the roar
+and shriekings of the train. The car wheels chuckled in rhythm, the
+airbrakes hissed in derision and the engine whistle hooted in scorn.
+
+It was daybreak when I threw myself on the couch and closed my eyes. I
+think I slept for an hour or so. To my surprise and disgust I found
+when I awoke that I was hungry. I had thought I should never care to
+eat again.
+
+It was necessary to wait several hours when a thousand miles of my
+journey had been made, and I employed them in writing a letter to her.
+It was a long letter, and I poured my heart into it. I told her I loved
+her, and that I was innocent of offense toward her by thought, word or
+deed.
+
+I could think of only one thing over which she might have taken offense,
+and this was so absurd that I regretted later to have dignified it by
+mentioning and apologising for it.
+
+I recalled that I had touched her on the shoulder--the left shoulder. It
+was an ill-bred and thoughtless act, but as I knew, when I had pondered
+the matter more calmly, Miss Harding has too much sense and poise to
+exhibit such anger at what at its worst was merely a boorish
+indiscretion. It was the only straw on which I could float an apology
+for a concrete act, but I thought later on I did not help my case by
+mentioning it.
+
+Imploring her to enlighten me as to my offending, and assuring her of my
+undying love and abject misery I closed an appeal which exhausted the
+persuasion, eloquence and rhetoric at my command.
+
+I may as well say now as at any other time that I received no answer to
+it.
+
+Uncle Henry died on the fourth day after my arrival. Before he passed
+away he expressed a wish that he be buried in the little Eastern town
+where he was born. He had forgiven me for turning the old farm into golf
+links, and aside from a few small bequests, I was his heir. Thus by the
+death of this good man I come into possession of money, estates, stocks
+and other property for which I have no use.
+
+Of what special use is property to me? It does not help secure the one
+thing on earth I desire. I would rather--oh, what's the use of writing
+that?
+
+As soon as my uncle was put under ground, I hastened to Woodvale. I
+arrived there nineteen days after my hurried departure. It seemed years,
+and I was surprised when I searched in vain for gray hairs in my head.
+
+I gazed anxiously out of the car window for a glimpse of the club house,
+and my heart gave a bound when its tower came in sight. She was there!
+Would not the knowledge of my bereavement soften her heart toward me?
+Surely she did not know all that I had suffered.
+
+As the train crossed the road over which we had sped on our way to Oak
+Cliff, I recalled that it was at this exact spot where she first had
+called me "Jacques Henri." How happy I was that day! I thought of the
+terrors of the tornado and would have given all that I possessed to live
+through it again with her.
+
+Handing my bags to the porter I hastened toward the club house. I was
+hurrying across the edge of the eighteenth green when someone shouted to
+me.
+
+"Hello, Smith!"
+
+I turned and saw Marshall and Chilvers. Marshall pitched his ball to the
+green with more than his usual deliberation, and then they came toward
+me and I advanced to meet them.
+
+"Where in thunder have you been?" asked Chilvers, and it suddenly
+occurred to me that I had told no one of my mission, neither had I left
+my address. The next instant I realised that Miss Harding had not told
+of the receipt of my letter. This might mean much or little.
+
+"My Uncle Henry died out in New Mexico," I said.
+
+"Too bad," said the sympathetic Chilvers. "Unless one of my uncles dies
+pretty soon I'll have to go to work. But why didn't you let us know
+where you were."
+
+"I had just time to catch a train," I said. "What's the news?"
+
+"News? Let's see?" reflected Chilvers. "Grandma Marshall, here, won the
+July cup, and our team won the match with South Meadows by a score of
+twenty-three to five. Say, we didn't do a thing to those boys. Moon has
+bought two new clubs, Boyd made the sixth hole in two, Duff won four
+dozen balls from Monahan, Lawson has a new stance which he claims will
+lengthen out his drive twenty yards--and speaking about Lawson, he
+discovers something every week which lengthens his drive at least twenty
+yards. I've figured out that he should be driving at least five hundred
+yards from improvements alone. That's all the news I can think of; do
+you know any, Marshall?"
+
+"They have moved the tee back on the seventh hole," volunteered
+Marshall, "and--oh, yes; Wallace has gone."
+
+"Where's he gone?" I asked, exasperated at the character of their
+information.
+
+"Someone died over in Scotland and left him money," said Chilvers. "Just
+as soon as we get a good professional, his rich relatives pass away and
+we lose him."
+
+"How is Mr. Harding?" I asked.
+
+I saw Chilvers wink at Marshall.
+
+"Did you say Mr. Harding or Miss Harding?" asked Chilvers.
+
+"I said Mr. Harding. What's the matter; are you deaf?"
+
+"I'm a little hard of hearing at times," he grinned. "Let's see; when
+did Mr. Harding leave here, Marshall?"
+
+"It was the day that you and I beat Boyd and Lawson," said Marshall,
+after a long pause. "That was a week ago."
+
+"I presume he's in the city," I carelessly remarked.
+
+"I presume he is not," laughed Chilvers. "He's probably rolling around
+in the English Channel right this minute."
+
+"Gone abroad?"
+
+"That's what."
+
+"And Mrs. Harding?" I inquired.
+
+"Gone with him, of course. Also Miss Harding."
+
+"And Carter," added Marshall. "They all went on the same boat."
+
+"At the same time," laughed Chilvers. "You see that lots of things have
+happened since you went away. What are you looking so white and glum
+about, Smith? Brace up, man; it may not be true. Come up to the club
+house. We've got a new brand of Scotch, and it's great."
+
+I don't know whether my laugh sounded natural or not, but I cheerfully
+could have murdered both of them.
+
+In those brief minutes I learned practically all I now know concerning
+the departure and the whereabouts of the Hardings and Carter. There was
+a lot of mail awaiting me, and I opened letter after letter hoping
+against hope that there might be one from Miss Harding. There was none.
+
+I discreetly questioned Miss Ross, Miss Dangerfield and others whom I
+met, and all that I learned was this: A few days after my departure the
+Hardings suddenly decided to go to England, or France or Germany or
+somewhere. Carter was with them much of the time, but none of them
+talked of their plans, and all the hints dropped to me by the married
+and unmarried ladies of Woodvale were unproductive of information. They
+had been here; they were abroad--and that was all there was to it.
+
+It was yet early in the day and I took the first train for the city and
+went straight to Mr. Harding's office. I am known to his representatives
+there. They told me that all they knew was that Mr. Harding had gone
+abroad to remain for a time.
+
+"I assure you, Mr. Smith," said his private secretary, "that I do not
+know where he is. He said that his family was going with him, and that
+nothing possibly could happen here which would warrant bothering him. I
+am sure he would be glad to see you, and I can only advise you to call
+on his London bankers, who may have his address."
+
+"Do you think the family are in England?" I asked, willing to accept the
+faintest clue.
+
+"I have no more idea than have you," he replied and I am convinced he
+was telling the truth.
+
+The "Oceanic" was the first boat to sail, and here I am. I doubt if a
+sane man ever went on so absurd and hopeless a quest. I have had nothing
+to do for several days but think over this situation, and the mystery of
+the sudden departure resolves itself into these two possibilities;
+first, that they have gone abroad to keep away from me; and, second,
+that they have gone to England for the purpose of celebrating the
+marriage of Carter and Miss Harding.
+
+I do not see how I shall be of much use in either event. But this good
+ship is cleaving the water toward England at the rate of twenty-five
+knots an hour and I cannot turn back if I would.
+
+I do not see how I am to stop the wedding. I remember that Carter once
+told me that if he ever married it would be in London. I suppose they
+are married before this time. Perhaps they will assume that I came
+across on purpose to congratulate them.
+
+I cannot understand why Mr. Harding did not leave some word for me.
+Surely I have not offended him?
+
+[Illustration: "I cannot turn back if I would"]
+
+I met and chatted with him a few minutes before Miss Harding said the
+words which have made me the most miserable of human beings.
+
+This thing is past my solving. I only know that whatever she has done or
+whatever she may do I love her and ever shall love her.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XXIII
+
+A FEW CLOSING CONFESSIONS
+
+
+On my arrival in London I lost no time in presenting myself to Mr.
+Harding's bankers. I also presented a letter of introduction from that
+gentleman's private secretary, and I presume these London financiers
+called a meeting of the board of directors to consider this weighty
+matter. I waited for hours, and was finally ushered into a private
+office. It was as dingy and inadequate as are most London offices, and I
+was properly impressed with its age, traditions and smells.
+
+An old gentleman looked at me for a minute or two, and then took my
+letter of introduction from his desk. He read it carefully again, wiped
+his glasses and asked me if I were John Henry Smith. I assured him that
+to the best of my knowledge and belief I was.
+
+He looked doubtfully at me, hesitated as if determined to make no
+mistake, sighed and then informed me that Mr. Harding had not left his
+address in their care. I was tempted to express the opinion that Mr.
+Harding showed rare judgment in declining to leave it with them, since
+it doubtless would require an action at law to recover it in the event
+he should have use for it, but I thanked the aged man for all that they
+had done for me, and emerged from this gloomy den into the street.
+
+[Illustration: "He looked doubtfully at me"]
+
+This reed had broken. I never had much faith in it.
+
+I had more confidence in a plan I then set in motion. I have a friend in
+London of the name of Flynn. He is an American newspaper man. Flynn says
+he would like to be a "journalist," but needs the money; therefore he
+continues to be a newspaper man, and he is a good one.
+
+Flynn is connected with one of the big news associations and after
+drifting with the tide of cab and omnibus traffic which gorges on Fleet
+Street, I finally located him in an office in New Bridge Street. I had
+not seen him in five years.
+
+"Hello, Smith!" he exclaimed, placidly as if we had spent the preceding
+evening together. "When did you strike town?"
+
+"Last night," I said, heartily shaking hands.
+
+"I see that you recently put a crimp in that Wall Street gang," he
+observed, lighting a cigarette and leaning back in his chair. "You were
+in with Harding on that deal, weren't you?"
+
+"Yes," I said, "and I'm looking for him."
+
+I briefly told him of the death of my uncle, and explained that Harding
+had left suddenly and that it was necessary I should locate him without
+delay.
+
+"He was in London stopping at the Savoy a week ago," said Flynn, after
+consulting a record book. "I sent a man to see him and he wouldn't be
+seen. No use for you to go there; they won't tell you where he went."
+
+"But can you help me locate him?" I eagerly asked.
+
+"Certainly I can, provided you stand the tolls," he said. "Electricity
+is as rapid here as in the United States, and if this magnate is on one
+of these islands we can get his address in four or five hours, if we
+have any kind of luck. Suppose we wire the twenty larger cities and
+towns, about the same number of summer resorts, and the leading golf
+centres?"
+
+"Great scheme, Flynn!" I declared, "you're a natural detective."
+
+"Natural nothing," growled that clever individual, "it's a part of the
+regular grind. It should be no great trick to find a man worth thirty
+millions in an area not much bigger than Illinois."
+
+He wrote a telegram, dictated the list of places to his stenographer and
+turned to me.
+
+"Any engagement for dinner?" he asked, and when I said I had none he
+suggested we go to the Savage Club. We did so, and that dinner was the
+first enjoyable episode in many dismal weeks. The quiet charm of the old
+club, together with its famous ale, had a soothing effect on my nerves,
+and after several pleasant hours we took a cab back to his office.
+
+Flynn disappeared for a minute and when he returned he handed me a stack
+of telegrams.
+
+"There are some reports already in," he said. "Look them over while I
+attend to the work for which I'm supposed to draw salary."
+
+I read them hurriedly. There was no news of the Hardings from
+Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Brighton,
+Blackpool, and a score of other places. Then I opened one from Glasgow.
+They had been in Glasgow, but had left. I was on the trail, and
+announced the news to Flynn. He smiled and again bent over his work.
+
+In a few minutes a boy came in with more telegrams. They had been in
+Edinburgh on the day following their visit to Glasgow, but were not
+there now.
+
+"They were in Edinburgh four days ago," I declared.
+
+"Probably headed for St. Andrews," said Flynn, stopping in the middle
+of a sentence he was dictating. "Don't bother me, Smith, I'm busy."
+
+I spent the next half hour studying a map of Great Britain on which I
+mentally traced _Her_ course from London to Glasgow and from there to
+Edinburgh. Another batch of telegrams from Plymouth, Hull, Dublin,
+Southampton, Newcastle, York, Hastings, and lesser places was silent
+concerning the missing Hardings.
+
+It was ten o'clock in the evening when the boy handed me three
+envelopes. I read the first two and threw them on the floor. Without
+glancing at the date line I read the third one. It ran:
+
+"Robert L. Harding, wife and daughter at the Caledonia.--Jones."
+
+It was dated St. Andrews.
+
+"I've found them!" I declared. Flynn was just closing his desk. His
+day's work was ended and he was in better humour.
+
+"Where are they?" he asked, throwing a mass of stuff into a waste
+basket.
+
+"St. Andrews."
+
+"Of course. Every American golf crank heads for St. Andrews from the
+same fanatical instinct which impels a Mohammedan to steer for Mecca."
+
+A study of the time tables showed that I could take a late night train
+which would place me in Edinburgh early in the morning.
+
+"I'm indebted to you for this more than you realise," I said to him.
+
+"Don't mention it."
+
+"How much do I owe your concern for this service?"
+
+"Couldn't tell you," asserted Flynn. "Won't know until the bills come
+in, and that will take a month or more. I'll have them tabbed up and
+send you a statement, you send a cheque and that will end it."
+
+"If there is anything I can do for you I--"
+
+"Nothing," interrupted Flynn, "unless you should happen to run across
+the New York plutocrat who hires me. You might tell him that unless he
+tilts my salary he is likely to lose the most valuable man who ever
+produced dividends for him."
+
+"I'll do that!" I declared, and I meant it.
+
+Two hours later my train rumbled out of the station and headed for
+Scotland. I had been supremely satisfied with my progress during the
+day, but when I began to analyse the situation I was unable to discover
+any sound basis for self-congratulation.
+
+I merely had ascertained her probable location. That did not improve my
+prospects. I had not the slightest reason to believe that she had
+changed her attitude toward me, and I had no right to assume that she
+would receive, much less listen to me. She might be married, and
+probably was. I thought of these things and fell from the fool's heaven
+to which I had climbed.
+
+But on I went toward Scotland. I would drink the cup to its lees. I
+foil into a troubled sleep, and after a miserable night did not know
+whether to be pleased or scared that I had finished the longer stage of
+my journey.
+
+The early morning train from out Edinburgh's dingy station carried one
+passenger who paid small attention to the scenery between the beautiful
+capital of Scotland and its famous university town. My one thought when
+we crossed over the great bridge which spans the Firth of Forth was that
+it was unconscionably long, and that the train slackened its speed in
+taking it.
+
+Then we came to a junction within sight of St. Andrews, and when I was
+informed by the railway agent that I would have to wait half an hour for
+a connection I told him that I would walk down the track. He informed me
+that this was against the law. Having some familiarity with the monotony
+with which the laws are enforced in Scotland, I smoked and waited.
+
+The railroad skirts the links of St. Andrews, and from its pictures I
+recognised the club house. Disdaining to ask questions or take a
+carriage, I ordered my luggage to a hotel and started on a brisk walk,
+hoping thus to brace myself for the ordeal ahead of me.
+
+_She_ was here. Somewhere in this picturesque old town _she_
+was living and breathing that very moment. _She_ had passed through
+the street which then resounded with my brisk footsteps. Her name had
+been Grace Harding. Was it yet Grace Harding?
+
+I ran square into Carter!
+
+"Why, my dear Smith!" he exclaimed, clutching at his monocle which came
+as near falling as it well could and remain in place. "Why don't you
+call 'Fore!' when you drive ahead like this? You're in Scotland, my dear
+fellow!"
+
+I begged his pardon, though of course it was not necessary. We heartily
+shook hands--at least he did.
+
+We were on a corner of a crooked and cobblestoned street which twists
+around the side of a hill. There is a small store on this corner, and
+its neatly pointed red bricks and shining plate glass are sharp in
+contrast to the ancient and somewhat dilapidated structures which
+surround it. I recall these facts distinctly, and I can see even now
+every attitude and expression on the part of Carter.
+
+During our brief interview his eyes frequently wandered from mine to
+those plate-glass windows, as if something within were of vast interest
+to him.
+
+"You're looking fine, Carter," I said, and he was; "St. Andrews must
+agree with you."
+
+He smiled placidly and his eye twinkled merrily through that monocle.
+
+"I'm feeling fine! Congratulate me, old fellow!"
+
+The blow had fallen--but I stood it better than I had dreamed would be
+possible!
+
+A swarm of thoughts came to me in that instant, but I maintained my
+outward serenity. I knew that he was a clean, honourable man and worthy
+in every way of the hand and heart of Grace Harding. Possibly they had
+been long engaged. All of my alleged rights and wrongs faded into thin
+air. Besides, what was the use of whimpering? It was a stunning blow,
+but I would stand it like a man.
+
+"I do congratulate you, Carter!" I exclaimed, clasping his hand and
+looking him frankly in the eyes. "You have won the most glorious woman
+on earth, and I esteem it an honour that I have had the privilege of
+meeting her and of enjoying her society! I am--"
+
+"Confound it, man, you never met my wife!" said Carter. "What on earth
+are you talking of, my dear Smith? Ah, excuse me!"
+
+He pushed past me to meet a radiant creature with laughing blue eyes who
+came from out that little store. He smiled and took a tiny parcel from
+her hands. Then he said something to her and they turned to me.
+
+"Stella, my dear," he said, her hand in his as they confronted the most
+dazed human on the face of the earth, "you have heard me talk so much of
+my dear friend, 'Foxy Old Smith'; well, here he is! Permit me to present
+Mr. John Henry Smith, champion of Woodvale, winner of the Harding
+Trophy, also Wizard of Finance!"
+
+I assured Mrs. Carter that I was delighted to meet her, and if ever a
+man told the truth I did at that moment. I said a lot of things, laughed
+so boisterously that Carter looked shocked; I told of the death of my
+uncle and grinned all the time. I certainly must have made an
+impression on that lovely bride.
+
+They compelled me to listen while they told of their marriage in London,
+nearly a week before. She is an English girl, and Carter kept his word
+that he would be married in London. Since she has never been in America,
+and since this was my first visit to Great Britain, it was evident I had
+not met her.
+
+I do not know what Carter thought of my wild outburst. He has not
+mentioned the subject, and I shall not bring it up.
+
+"Where are the Hardings?" I asked, when I no longer could restrain my
+impatience.
+
+"They are stopping at the Caledonia," said Carter. "You probably will
+find the Governor out on the links. He has struck up a great friendship
+with 'Old Tom' Morris, and doubtless is playing with him right now."
+
+"I think I will go and look him up," I said, as we came to a cross
+street. "I have an important business matter in which he is interested.
+I'll see you at dinner."
+
+"The club house is yonder," said Carter, pointing down the hill. With a
+bow and my uncontrollable grin, I parted from them and armed with a card
+which Carter had given me, hastened toward the headquarters of the Royal
+and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
+
+The sedate gentlemen who were lounging about, waiting for the
+prearranged times when they are privileged to drive from the first tee,
+must have identified me as the typical American from the manner in which
+I hastened from one room to another. I explored the locker rooms, the
+cafes, reception hall, library, billiard room, the verandas, and every
+nook and corner of the structure.
+
+There is one sacred retreat called the "Room of Silence." Here are
+displayed the famous relics and historical curios of the game, including
+clubs used by King James, also strange irons once wielded by champions
+whose bones have been mouldering for generations. In this awesome place
+one must enter with sealed lips, and sit and silently ponder over his
+golf and other crimes. It is sacrilege to utter a word, and not in good
+form to breathe too rapidly.
+
+An elderly gentleman who looked as if he might be a mine of information
+was seated in a comfortable chair. He was the sole occupant of the room.
+I had not asked a question since I had entered the building, and here
+was my chance.
+
+"Do you happen to know an American gentleman named Harding--Robert L.
+Harding?" I asked, deferentially.
+
+He did not move an eyelash. I pondered that it was just my luck that the
+first gentleman I had addressed was deaf and dumb. As I crossed the
+threshold, I caught an indignant mumble: "Talkative chap, that; he must
+be an American."
+
+I fled the club house and started down the course. There are three
+links, but I was certain that Harding would be playing on the "regular"
+one, and since it is rather narrow I had no difficulty in following it.
+For the first time I was possessed of no ambition to play. Several
+indignant golfers shouted "Fore!" but I pursued my way, keeping a sharp
+lookout to right and left.
+
+When about a mile from the first tee, I saw Harding. His head and
+shoulders showed above the dreaded trap of "Strath's Bunker," and not
+far from him was a white-bearded old gentleman with twinkling blue eyes
+who was smiling at Harding's desperate efforts to loft his ball out of
+the sand.
+
+[Illustration: "This takes the cake!"]
+
+"Thot weel not do-o, mon!" I heard him say as I neared the scene of this
+tragedy. "Take yeer niblick, mon, an' coom richt doon on it!"
+
+Out of a cascade of flying sand I saw his ball lob over the bunker, and
+with various comments Mr. Harding scrambled out of this pit, brushed the
+sand off his clothes, and then turned and saw me.
+
+"Of all the damned places to get in trouble, Smith, this takes the
+cake!" he exclaimed, mopping the perspiration from his face. "Do you
+know," he added, looking about for his ball, "that it took me five
+strokes to get out of that cursed sand pit!"
+
+He looked in his bag for another club, played his shot, and made a
+fairly good one, and then appeared to recall for the first time that he
+had not recently seen me.
+
+"Hello, Smith; when did you strike town?" he said, a welcoming smile on
+his face as he offered his hand.
+
+"About an hour ago," I said.
+
+"Well, well! I'm glad to see you! Why didn't you wire you were coming?
+We'd have come for you in our new machine. Bought a new one since we
+came over here and have been travelling around in it. It's more
+comfortable than these confounded English trains. They're the limit,
+aren't they? Well, how are you? Seems to me you look a bit peaked?"
+
+"I'm all right," I insisted. "How is--how is Mrs. Harding?"
+
+"Never better in her life!"
+
+"And how is--how is Miss Harding?"
+
+We were on the edge of the green, and Harding had played his ball so
+that we passed near the old gentleman who was Harding's opponent.
+
+"Smith," said that gentleman, "I want you to know Old Tom Morris! Of
+course, you have heard of him--every golfer has--and all that I ask is
+that I may be able to play as good a game and be as good a fellow when I
+am eighty-five years old. Mr. Morris, this is my young friend, John
+Henry Smith, of America."
+
+I greeted this famous character with some commonplace remarks, and
+remained silent while they putted out. I made no further attempt in the
+conversational line until they had driven the next tee.
+
+"How is your daughter, Mr. Harding?" I asked.
+
+"Grace? The Kid?" he hesitated. "She's pretty well, but this climate
+don't seem exactly to agree with her. We must get her started on golf
+again. She hasn't played a game since she has been here."
+
+My heart gave a bound when he said that little word "we." Surely he knew
+nothing of the trouble which had come between us. If she were married,
+he surely would have said something about it, and up to that minute I
+had a lingering fear that I might have lost her to some suitor other
+than Carter.
+
+"And she has never played the course?" I asked, not knowing what else to
+say.
+
+"Not once," he declared. "As a matter of fact, Smith, women are not very
+popular around here. They herd them off on a third course which is set
+aside for them. I looked it over, and it's a scrubby sort of a place."
+
+"That's an outrage!" I declared.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," he returned. "They can hack around over there and do
+no great damage. Between you and me, Smith, I think women are more or
+less of a nuisance on a course frequented by good players."
+
+I recalled that I once held the same opinion, and in looking back to the
+opening pages of this diary I find that I expressed it even more
+brutally than did Mr. Harding. But I was in no mood to argue the matter
+with him.
+
+"I presume Mrs. and Miss Harding are at the hotel?" I carelessly
+remarked. "I should like to pay my respects to them."
+
+"They're about the hotel, I reckon," he said, taking his stance for a
+brassie shot. He made a very good one.
+
+"How's that, Smith?" he exclaimed. "My boy, I'm getting this game down
+fine! Old Tom has put me onto some new wrinkles. See that old cock line
+out that ball! Isn't he a wonder?"
+
+"I think I will go and call on them," I said.
+
+"Call on who? Oh, yes!" he said, as I started away.
+
+"By the way, you won't find Grace there, come to think of it. Let's see;
+where did she say she was going? She's painting the ruins, and has
+finished the old cathedral and the monastery. What's that other famous
+wreck around here? Oh, yes; the castle! I remember now that she said she
+was going to paint the castle to-day. Somebody ought to paint it. I
+understand it hasn't been painted for more than eight hundred years."
+
+His roar of laughter sounded like old Woodvale days.
+
+"What's your hurry?" he asked. "Tell you what let's do! I'll fit you out
+with a set of clubs and we'll play a few holes on the second course.
+Then we'll go to the hotel, talk over the news with the women folks, and
+this afternoon we'll drag Carter away from his bride, and you and he can
+play Tom Morris and me a foursome! How does that strike you?"
+
+"I cannot play this forenoon," I promptly said. "I must attend to my
+luggage, shave, write some letters, send telegrams and--and do a lot of
+things."
+
+"How about this afternoon?" he asked. "We start at three o'clock."
+
+"I'll be on hand," I promised, desperately.
+
+"All right, and don't fail," he cautioned me. "You would not believe it,
+Smith, but I have got so that I can line 'em out from one hundred and--"
+
+I turned and left him with those unknown yards poised on his lips. When
+at a safe distance I looked back and saw him gazing at me with an
+attitude and expression of dumb wonder.
+
+I retained the services of a red-headed and freckled-faced boy who was
+confident he could direct me to the ruins of the old castle. It was not
+a long walk, and when he pointed them out in the distance I gladdened
+his heart and brought a grin to his tanned face by giving him a
+half-crown as I dismissed him.
+
+I was within sight of my fate! My steps faltered as I neared the grim
+arches, and once I stopped and tried to plan how I should act and what I
+should say. But I could think of nothing, and mustering all my courage
+and invoking the god of luck, I went on.
+
+In a few minutes I stood within the shadow of the gray and crumbling
+walls, undecided which way to turn. Picking my way over fallen masonry,
+I turned the corner of a huge pile which seemed as if it might crash to
+earth at any moment.
+
+And then I saw her!
+
+She was seated at an easel, a small canvas in front of her. Her hat was
+lying on a rock near by, and the breeze had toyingiy disarranged the
+dark tresses of her hair.
+
+She was looking out over the ocean, a brush idly poised in her hand. I
+saw the profile of her sweet face as I stood motionless for an instant,
+not five yards away.
+
+"Grace!" I softly said.
+
+That easel with its unfinished canvas was tipped to the rocks as with a
+startled cry she sprang to her feet. For one agonising moment I gazed
+into her startled eyes and saw her quivering lips.
+
+[Illustration: "And then I saw her!"]
+
+"Jack!" she cried, and we were in each other's arms.
+
+I cannot write what we did or said during the first sweet minutes which
+followed, for I do not know. I only know that we told each other the
+most rapturous news which comes to mortal ears. Oh, the wonder of it!
+
+We lived and we loved! This great earth with its blue-domed sky, its
+fields, its flowers and its heaving seas became ours to enjoy "till
+death us do part!"
+
+There we sat amid the ruins where kings and queens had been born; where
+they had lived, loved and died centuries agone. Their ashes mingled with
+the dust from which they sprang; of their pomp and splendour naught
+remained save the walls which crumbled over our heads; since their time
+the world had been born anew, but the god of Love who came to them now
+smiled on us, his heart as youthful, his figure as beautiful and his
+ardour as strong as when he whispered sweet words into the ears of the
+lovers who dwelt in Eden.
+
+I had forgotten that we ever had quarrelled. As we sat there looking out
+on the sea it seemed as if we had always known of each other's love.
+
+"Sweetheart," I asked, "when did you first know that I loved you?"
+
+"When I became angry at you," she replied.
+
+"When you became angry at me?" I repeated, and then the thought of the
+anguish through which I had passed recalled itself.
+
+"Darling!" I exclaimed, "why did you treat me so? What had I done?
+Sweetheart, you do not know how I have suffered!"
+
+"But you must have known all the time that I loved you," she said, a
+strange smile on her lips.
+
+"How could I know?" I faltered.
+
+"Could you not tell?" she asked, lifting her dancing eyes to mine. "Who
+was the inspired author of lines which run like this: 'I have received
+that glorious message! Grace Harding loves me! The message was
+transmitted from the depths of her beautiful eyes! It has been confirmed
+by the gentle pressure of her hand as it rested on my arm! It has been
+echoed in the accents of her sweet voice! I have read it in the blush
+which mantles her cheek as I draw near, and I know it from a thousand
+little tokens which my heart understands and which my feeble words
+cannot express. I am--'"
+
+'"I am an ass,' is the amended and proper ending of that sentence," I
+humbly said. "I beg of you, tell me how you ever came to see those
+words from my miserable diary!"
+
+"It makes me mad even now when I think of it!" she declared, vainly
+attempting to release her hand. "You great big stupid; do you not know
+what you did?"
+
+"I only know that I wrote those vain-glorious lines and that you must
+have read them," I said.
+
+"I did not read them! Oh, I could box your ears! While you were
+composing that rhapsody Mr. Chilvers and others came along and asked you
+to play golf with them. Golf being more important than anything else on
+earth, you rushed up stairs for your clubs and left that diary on the
+table. Do you remember that on your way to the first-tee you met Miss
+Ross, Miss Dangerfield and me?"
+
+I remember it.
+
+"When we arrived on the veranda," she continued with rising indignation,
+"Miss Dangerfield picked up that literary treasure of yours and of
+course opened it to the page from which I have been quoting. And then
+she read it to us! I never was so mortified and angry in my life. I
+rushed away from them, and when you found me I was so angry that I
+could have killed you. It was not a declaration of your love for me; it
+was a declaration of my love for you!"
+
+I could not help laughing, and then she did box my ears.
+
+"That little minx of a Miss Dangerfield busied herself until your return
+from your golf game in copying from your diary its choicest extracts,"
+continued Grace, after we had "made up," "but I managed to get them away
+from her, and I have them yet. Some of them were--well, they were nicer
+than the one Miss Dangerfield read."
+
+"Which one, for instance?"
+
+"I won't flatter your vanity by repeating them. But when I received your
+letter and had thought it over several days I decided to forgive you,
+Jack, and so I wrote you that letter."
+
+"But I never received a letter from you!" I exclaimed.
+
+On comparing dates we found that I had left Albuquerque before the
+letter could arrive there, and that it probably had not been forwarded
+to Woodvale in time so that I would get it prior to my sailing.
+
+"It was a cold and formal letter," she said, trying to look severe.
+
+"I don't care anything about the old letter, sweetheart," I declared,
+"now that I have found you."
+
+And then we laughed and cried and were very happy. It seems that Miss
+Dangerfield gave the diary to the steward, who must have sent it to my
+rooms, for I have no recollection of missing it at any time.
+
+We talked of many, many things as we sat there within the shadows of the
+old castle.
+
+"Oh, Jack!" she suddenly exclaimed, "we must secure an invitation for
+you to the wedding."
+
+"Ours, dearest?" I innocently asked. "Do I need an invitation?"
+
+"You are so stupid I'm afraid you will--if it ever takes place," she
+added, looking down. "Be good, Jack, and don't tease me. I meant to Lord
+Marwick's wedding."
+
+"Lord Marwick? Who is Lord Marwick?"
+
+"Lord Wallace Marwick, of Perth!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands in
+delight at being the custodian of some great secret.
+
+"My knowledge of the peerage is so slight, dearest, that I confess I
+have never heard of, much less met, Lord Wallace Marwick of Perth," I
+declared, smiling in sympathy with her enthusiasm.
+
+"Oh, yes you have! You know him very well!"
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, you; you dear old stupid!"
+
+"Who on earth is Lord Wallace Marwick, or whatever his name is?"
+
+"Bishop's hired man!"
+
+"Wallace?"
+
+"Wallace, our club professional!"
+
+"And his bride is--?"
+
+"Can you not guess?" she exclaimed.
+
+"Miss Olive Lawrence," I hazarded.
+
+"Really, Jack, you are improving. Two weeks from this noon Bishop's
+hired man, Lord Wallace Marwick, will be united in marriage with Olive
+Lawrence!"
+
+If she had told me that her father had bought the English throne and was
+about to be crowned I should not have been more surprised.
+
+"What was he doing at Bishop's?" I gasped.
+
+"He was studying farming," she explained. "It seems that his father
+invested heavily in farming lands in the abandoned districts of New
+England. Upon his death Wallace determined to acquire a practical
+knowledge of the methods of American farming, and this was the way in
+which he went about it. He had already worked on two farms before he
+applied to Mr. Bishop. He was about to return to Scotland when he met
+Miss Lawrence. The reasons for his subsequent course you certainly must
+understand."
+
+"How soon did Miss Lawrence learn that he was--that he was what he is?"
+
+"Shortly after he became our professional." she replied. "That
+disclosure, and certain other disclosures constituted one of her
+'lessons.' Olive confided the secret to me, and this is the principal
+reason we are here."
+
+"Sweetheart," I said, after an interval of silence, "would it not be
+splendid to have our wedding at the same time? I have always been--been
+partial to double weddings."
+
+"I do not know," she whispered, looking intently at the tip of her
+dainty shoe. "Perhaps--perhaps--I don't know what papa and mamma would
+think about it."
+
+I heard the crunching of gravel.
+
+"Don't you folks ever eat?" demanded a familiar voice, and Mr. Harding
+bore down upon us. We said nothing.
+
+"Do you know what time it is?" he added, with an impatience which
+puzzled me.
+
+"I have not the slightest idea," I truthfully replied.
+
+"Well, it's nearly two o'clock," he declared, looking at his watch.
+"I've been looking everywhere for you, Smith, and then I began to be
+worried about you," turning to his daughter. "Why, Kid, you've had time
+to paint this old stone shack two coats."
+
+"I imagine I'm to blame," I interposed.
+
+"Have you forgotten, Smith, that you have an engagement to play a
+foursome with old Tom Morris, Carter and myself this afternoon?" he
+said, looking at us rather suspiciously, I thought.
+
+"I have another engagement," I returned, mustering all my courage.
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"I have an engagement with Grace for life, and we wish to know if you
+will give your consent to our marriage two weeks from to-day!"
+
+He gazed at us for a moment, a grave look on his rugged and honest face.
+He dropped his cane, took our hands in his and said:
+
+"Children, you didn't fool your old dad for one minute! Take her, my
+boy, and God bless both of you! Your mother knows it, Grace, and she
+sends her blessing."
+
+We almost overcame him with our expressions of gratitude. As we started
+back to the hotel he glanced at us and chuckled.
+
+"I suppose you two have not quit eating?" he suggested.
+
+We promptly admitted we were hungry.
+
+"And I presume you will play golf once in a while?"
+
+We assured him that we certainly should.
+
+"Well, suppose we go to the hotel, get a bite to eat and then go out and
+play that foursome with old Tom Morris and Carter," he pleaded. "There
+is one green out there which is called 'The Garden of Eden,' and I want
+to show it to you. You, Grace, and mother and Mrs. Carter can go along
+and be the gallery. I'll promise not to say a word or give a hint about
+what has happened."
+
+Oh, that happy, happy afternoon on the turf, sand dunes, braes and
+greens of Old St. Andrews! The sea gulls circled over our heads, the
+foam-flecked surf crooned its song of love, the River Eden wound about
+our pathway, and the blue sky smiled down upon us.
+
+"Sweetheart," I said, "there is one confession you have not made to me."
+
+"What is it, Jack?"
+
+"Why did you play so wretchedly that first game in Woodvale?"
+
+Old Tom Morris looked back and smiled in sympathy with her joyous laugh.
+
+"They told me that you were a confirmed woman hater, and that nothing so
+exasperated you as to be compelled to play with a girl who was a novice.
+I wished to see if it were true. You are not a woman hater; are you,
+Jacques Henri?"
+
+"No longer!" I declared.
+
+"And you take back all the mean things you wrote about us in your
+diary?"
+
+"Every word of it, Sweetheart!"
+
+"Oh, Jack; I thought I should die of laughter when I drove those eight
+new balls in the pond. And when you never said a cross word, and smiled
+and tried to encourage me, then I suspected that you loved me."
+
+"I wouldn't have cared if you had driven me into the pond," I said, and
+then I missed my fourth brassie.
+
+Two weeks from that day there was a double wedding in the fine old
+drawing room of Marwick Mansion. From the wedding feast which followed
+cablegrams went to our friends in Woodvale, also one to Mr. James
+Bishop, farmer near Woodvale, informing him that sometime next season
+all of us, including the "hired man," would be with him for dinner and
+another dance in the new red barn.
+
+We have been cruising in the Mediterranean, and now are anchored in the
+beautiful Bay of Naples. Mr. Harding has been pacing the deck and gazing
+at the smoke-wreathed crest of Vesuvius.
+
+[Illustration: "I believe I can carry it"]
+
+"Jack," he has just remarked, "that is quite a bunker, but with a little
+more practice I believe I can carry it."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's John Henry Smith, by Frederick Upham Adams
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HENRY SMITH ***
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Henry Smith, by Frederick Upham Adams
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: John Henry Smith
+       A Humorous Romance of Outdoor Life
+
+Author: Frederick Upham Adams
+
+Release Date: March 3, 2005 [EBook #15247]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HENRY SMITH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Shimmin, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "... and I got it"]
+
+John Henry Smith
+
+A Humorous Romance of Outdoor Life
+
+By
+
+FREDERICK UPHAM ADAMS Author of "John Burt" and "The Kidnapped
+Millionaires"
+
+Illustrated for Mr. Smith by A.B. FROST
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NEW YORK Doubleday, Page & Company 1905
+
+Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company Published June, 1905
+
+_All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
+languages, including the Scandinavian._
+
+DEDICATED TO MY DAUGHTER Olive Marie Adams
+
+
+
+TO THE READER
+
+
+John Henry Smith has requested me to revise and edit his diary, and, to
+use his own expression, "See if I can make some kind of a book from it."
+It was his idea that I should eliminate certain marked passages, and
+disguise others, so as to conceal the identity of the originals. Since
+Mr. Smith is abroad I can do as I please. Aside from renaming his
+characters, I have left them exactly as he has drawn them. This may lead
+him to do his own editing in the future.
+
+I have also taken the liberty of reproducing some of the sketches made
+by Mr. Smith. In addition to literary, artistic, and athletic gifts Mr.
+Smith has had the rare good fortune to--but I must not anticipate his
+story.
+
+THE EDITOR
+
+Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+   ENTRY NO.                              PAGE
+
+   I. Miss Harding is Coming                 3
+
+   II. Mainly about Smith                   21
+
+   III. Mr. Harding Wins a Bet              29
+
+   IV. Bishop's Hired Man                   44
+
+   V. The Eagle's Nest                      54
+
+   VI. I Play with Miss Harding             65
+
+   VII. Two Boys from Buckfield             77
+
+   VIII. Downfall of Mr. Harding            91
+
+   IX. Mr. Smith Gets Busy                 102
+
+   X. The Two Gladiators                   115
+
+   XI. The Barn Dance                      136
+
+   XII. The St. Andrews Swing              154
+
+   XIII. Our New Professional              176
+
+   XIV. Myself and I                       188
+
+   XV. The Auto and the Bull               199
+
+   XVI. Miss Harding Owns Up               219
+
+   XVII. The Passing of Percy              235
+
+   XVIII. Mr. Harding's Struggle           253
+
+   XIX. The Tornado                        258
+
+   XX. Fat Ewes and Sharp Knives           281
+
+   XXI. I am Entirely Satisfied            300
+
+   XXII. I am Utterly Miserable            303
+
+   XXIII. A Few Closing Confessions        317
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARACTERS
+
+JOHN HENRY SMITH, who tells the story. Heir of his father, lives in
+Woodvale club house, devoted to golf, becomes interested in Wall Street,
+and falls in love with Grace Harding
+
+GRACE HARDING, only daughter of Robert L. Harding, visitor in Woodvale
+
+ROBERT L. HARDING, millionaire railway magnate, who first despises golf
+and then becomes infatuated with it
+
+MRS. HARDING, the matter-of-fact wife of the above
+
+JIM BISHOP, farmer near Woodvale, who knew Harding when the two were
+boys in Buckfield, Maine
+
+WILLIAM WALLACE, Bishop's hired man, later golf professional in
+Woodvale, and later something else
+
+OLIVE LAWRENCE, pupil to William Wallace
+
+PERCY LAHUME, in love with Miss Lawrence
+
+JAMES CARTER, wealthy member of Woodvale, who knows how to keep a secret
+
+MISS DANGERFIELD, who makes a collection of golf balls
+
+MISS ROSS, who is very pretty
+
+MR. and MRS. CHILVERS, and MR. and MRS. MARSHALL, estimable young
+people, who enter into this narrative
+
+BOYD, LAWSON, DUFF, BELL, MONAHAN, ETC., members in good standing in the
+Woodvale Golf and Country Club
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+   "... and I got it"                       _Frontispiece_
+
+   "How do I look?"                          _Title Page_
+
+                                                       PAGE.
+
+   "... and threw it in the pond"                        9
+
+   "Fore there! hay there!!"                            15
+
+   "It makes an ideal hazard"                           25
+
+   "... but there was blood in his eye"                 37
+
+   "Fore"                                               49
+
+   "There is no law to compel a man to play golf"       57
+
+   "We rested on top of the hill"                       73
+
+   "Did it hit you?"                                    87
+
+   "... and missed the ball by three inches"            95
+
+   "It is not necessary to caution me"                 105
+
+   The dream                                           113
+
+   "At the gate waiting for us"                        121
+
+   "We're not fighting, my dear!"                      131
+
+   "It must be tough to have to wear skirts all the time"
+                                                       135
+
+   "What do you think of me?"                          137
+
+   "Jack ... never stopped a second"                   145
+
+   "Mr. Harding ... executed a clog dance"             153
+
+   "We ran the auto into the sheep pasture"            159
+
+   "I have never seen a more perfect shot"             163
+
+   "It struck on the rear edge of the green"           181
+
+   "LaHume ... stalking toward the club house"         185
+
+   "Miss Harding ... smiled and looked innocent as
+   could be"                                           193
+
+   "It was not much of a drive"                        207
+
+   "Run! Run, boys!"                                   211
+
+   "Then I struck the bull"                            213
+
+    Diagram, "The auto and the bull"                   218
+
+   "What are you looking for?"                         221
+
+   "Had ignited the matches"                           225
+
+   "He was tall, angular, and whiskered"               237
+
+   "LaHume was shot back several yards"                245
+
+   "Grasping her by the arm I dragged her"             267
+
+   "She left for the South"                            282
+
+   "Business is business"                              291
+
+   "Ten up and eight to play"                          297
+
+   "She rose to her feet"                              307
+
+   "I cannot turn back if I would"                     315
+
+   "He looked doubtfully at me"                        318
+
+   "This takes the cake!"                              329
+
+   "And then I saw her!"                               335
+
+   "I believe I could carry it"                        345
+
+
+
+
+JOHN HENRY SMITH
+
+
+
+
+JOHN HENRY SMITH
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY No. I
+
+Miss HARDING Is COMING
+
+
+"Heard the news?" demanded Chilvers, approaching the table where
+Marshall, Boyd, and I were smoking on the broad veranda of the Woodvale
+Golf and Country Club. We shook our heads with contented indifference.
+It was after luncheon, and the cigars were excellent.
+
+"Where's LaHume?" grinned Chilvers. "Where's our Percy? He must hear
+this."
+
+"LaHume and Miss Lawrence are out playing," languidly answered Marshall.
+"What's happened? Don't prolong this suspense."
+
+Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield turned the corner and Chilvers saw them.
+Chilvers is married, but has lost none of his effervescence and
+consequently retains his popularity.
+
+"Come here," he called, motioning to these two charming young ladies.
+"I've got something for you! Great news; great news!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Miss Ross, her deep-brown eyes brightening with
+curiosity.
+
+"Another heiress coming!" announced Chilvers, with the bow of a jeweller
+displaying some rare gem "--another heiress on her way to Woodvale! This
+is going to be a hard season for such perennial bachelors as Smith,
+Boyd, Carter, and others I could name. You girls will have your work cut
+out when this new heiress unpacks her trunks and sets fluttering the
+hearts of these steel-plated golfers."
+
+"Who is it?" impatiently demanded the chorus. Chilvers has all the arts
+of an actor in working for a climax.
+
+"Miss Grace Harding; that's all!" said Chilvers.
+
+"The famous beauty?" cried Miss Ross.
+
+"Last season's society sensation in Paris and London?" exclaimed Miss
+Dangerfield.
+
+"Daughter of the great railway magnate?" asked Marshall.
+
+"The one to whom Baron Torpington was reported engaged?" I added.
+
+"You all have guessed it the first time," laughed Chilvers. "She's the
+only daughter of Robert L. Harding, magnate, financier, Wall Street
+general, the man who recently beat the pirate kings down there at their
+own game. How much is Harding supposed to be worth, Smith?"
+
+"Thirty millions or so," I replied.
+
+"Well, I wish I had the 'so.' That would keep me in golf balls for a
+while," Chilvers continued, turning his attention to the ladies. "What
+show have you unfortunate girls against a combination like that? And
+think of Percy LaHume! What will that poor boy do? Percy heads for the
+richest heiress of each season with that same mighty instinct which
+leads a boy to cast wistful glances at the largest cut of pie. He
+thought the heiresses had quit coming, and now this happens; but he has
+gone so far in his campaign for the hand and cheque-book of Miss
+Lawrence, that he cannot stop quick without dislocating his spine. I
+doubt if that poor little Lawrence girl will ever have more than five
+millions."
+
+"Never mind Percy and his prospects," said Marshall. "Who told you that
+Miss Grace Harding is coming to Woodvale?"
+
+"Carter told me," replied Chilvers. "Carter knows them. The whole
+Harding family is coming, which includes Croesus, his wife, and their
+fair daughter, aged nineteen or thereabouts. Ah! why did I marry so
+soon?"
+
+Mrs. Chilvers was standing back of him and soundly boxed his ears.
+
+"How does it happen that the Hardings are coming here?" asked Mrs.
+Chilvers, when told the cause of this excitement. "Are they Mr. Carter's
+guests?"
+
+"Mr. Harding is a charter member of Woodvale," I informed her. "For
+some unknown reason he joined the club when it started, but has never
+been here, and I doubt if he has ever played golf. He is the owner of
+the majority of the bonds issued against this clubhouse."
+
+"I wonder if Miss Harding plays golf?" said Boyd.
+
+"Golf is not among the list of accomplishments mentioned by those
+writers who pretend to know all about her," remarked Chilvers. "I have
+been forced to learn from a casual reading of society events that this
+remarkable heiress is without an equal as an equestrienne, that she
+paints, sings, drives a sixty-horse-power Mercedes with a skill and a
+courage which discourages the French chauffeurs, and does other athletic
+and artistic feats, but I have yet to learn that she golfs."
+
+"I presume," I said, "that she will take up the game, and also the turf.
+The three Hardings doubtless will form one of those delightful family
+parties which add so much to the merriment of a golf course. I can shut
+my eyes and see them hacking their way around the links; the daughter
+pretty and more anxious to show off the latest Parisian golfing costumes
+than to replace a divot; the father determined, perspiring, and red of
+face, and the mother stout and always in the way."
+
+"Isn't Mr. Smith the incorrigible woman-hater?" exclaimed Mrs. Chilvers.
+"You did not talk that way before you became so infatuated with golf,
+Mr. Smith."
+
+"I am not a woman-hater," I protested, "but I--I don't like to----"
+
+"Some day Smith will meet a fair creature on the golf links and lose his
+drive and his heart at the same time," declared Chilvers. "That was the
+way I was tripped up and carried into bondage," he added, his hand
+wandering to his wife's waist.
+
+"With the exception of Mrs. Chilvers," I said, and I came very near
+making no exceptions, Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield having left
+us--"with the exception of Mrs. Chilvers, I have yet to see the woman
+who shows to advantage with a golf regalia. If Miss Harding is beautiful
+enough to overcome the handicap which always attaches to the female golf
+duffer, she can give Venus odds and beat her handily."
+
+"You will meet a golfing Venus some day," smiled Mrs. Chilvers, willing
+that her sex should be attacked so long as she was exempt.
+
+"That's what he will," added Chilvers; "I'm agile, but I slipped."
+
+"The artists who depict the woman golfer as graceful and attractive," I
+continued, "must draw from imagination rather than from models. In my
+humble opinion a woman shows to better advantage climbing a steep flight
+of stairs than in any possible posture in striking a golf ball."
+
+"The ladies--God bless 'em--and keep them off the links!" muttered
+Marshall.
+
+"Why, Charlie Marshall!" exclaimed Mrs. Quivers. "I shall see that your
+wife hears that!"
+
+"Don't tell her; she'll beat him terribly," warned Chilvers. "Did you
+ever hear, Boyd, why our friend Smith is so sour when he sees a lady on
+these links?"
+
+Chilvers has told that story on me many times, but Boyd declared he had
+not heard it.
+
+"As you know," began Chilvers, "Smith was born on this farm. It's the
+ancestral Smith homestead, and Smith's relatives were very indignant
+when he leased it to the Woodvale Golf and Country Club. What was the
+name of that maiden aunt of yours, Smith?"
+
+"My Aunt Sarah Emeline Smith," I replied.
+
+"Yes, yes! Well, Aunt Sarah Emeline was especially incensed over this
+act of sacrilege on Smith's part," continued this historian, and he
+followed the facts closely, "and only once since has she stepped foot on
+the broad acres where her happy girlhood was spent. It was my
+good-fortune to meet her on that occasion, and I shall never forget it."
+
+"Neither shall I," I said.
+
+"On her visit here Aunt Sarah Emeline persisted in wandering over the
+links. She had on a wonderful bonnet, and through it she glared
+disdainfully at the members of the club who yelled 'Fore!' at her. She
+was headed for the old mill, which now is used as a caddy house. I was
+playing the last hole and thought she was well out of line of a brassey,
+so I fell on that ball for all I was worth. I sliced it; yes, I sliced
+it badly."
+
+[Illustration: "... and threw it in the pond"]
+
+Chilvers paused and seemed lost in thought.
+
+"Did it hit her?" asked Boyd.
+
+"Of course it hit her," resumed Chilvers. "Aunt Sarah Emeline is more
+than plump, and since it did not hit her in the head I can't see how it
+could have hurt her. She certainly was able to stoop down, pick up that
+ball and throw it in the pond--and it was a new ball. I ran toward her
+and apologised the best I could, and what she said to me made a lasting
+impression. I suppose, Smith, that it was the most expensive sliced ball
+ever driven on these links?"
+
+"Very likely," I sadly replied. "The following day I received a letter
+from Aunt Sarah Emeline informing me that she had cut me out of her
+will. And you still slice abominably, Chilvers."
+
+"Thus you see that Smith has solid reasons for his prejudice against the
+gentler sex as golfists," concluded Chilvers.
+
+I entered a general denial, and the conversation drifted into other
+channels. As a matter of fact, my dislike of the woman golfer is based
+on different grounds.
+
+A pretty woman is a most glorious creature, and I yield to no one in my
+admiration of the fair sex, but a woman is out of her proper environment
+when she persists in frequenting a golf course designed for men who are
+experts at the game.
+
+When I see women on the broad verandas of the Woodvale Club, or when I
+see them strolling along the shaded paths or indulging in tennis,
+croquet, and other games to which they are physically fitted, I know
+that they possess tact and discrimination, but when I see them ahead of
+me on the golf links--well, it is different.
+
+Women may gain in health by attempting to play golf, but they do so at
+the expense of shattered masculine nerves and morals. When our board of
+management decided to permit the ladies to have free use of the course
+at all times except when tournaments are in progress, I resigned as
+director, but what good did it do?
+
+A woman never is so tenacious of her rights as when she is in the wrong.
+I wonder if that is original?
+
+I know of no agony more acute than to be condemned to play golf with
+women when there is a chance to get in a foursome with good scratch men.
+The dyspeptic compelled to fast while watching the progress of a
+banquet, must suffer similar torture.
+
+"What's the use of sitting here and talking?" demanded Chilvers. "It has
+cooled off; let's have a foursome. Marshall and I will play you and
+Boyd, Smith. What do you say?"
+
+At this instant the head waiter appeared and said Mr. Thomas wished me
+to come to his table for a moment. Thomas was on the other side of the
+veranda, but I had a suspicion of what was in store for me and arose
+with a sinking heart.
+
+Thomas is the only good player in the club who is willing to make up a
+foursome with women, or, as it is most properly called, a "mixed
+foursome." I never saw one which was not mixed before many holes had
+been played.
+
+Just as I anticipated, I found Thomas at a table with Miss Ross and Miss
+Dangerfield. Both are so pretty it is a shame they attempt to play golf.
+
+"We are planning a foursome and Miss Dangerfield has chosen you for her
+partner," began Thomas, who knows exactly how I feel about such matters
+and who delights to lure me into trouble.
+
+"If you and Miss Dangerfield will give Miss Ross and me two strokes,"
+proposed Thomas, "we will play you for the dinners."
+
+I felt sure it was a put-up job, but what could I say?
+
+"I did not dare choose you for my partner, Mr. Smith," interposed Miss
+Dangerfield. "I know it is tiresome for a good player to go pottering
+around the links with women at his heels, and only suggested a game if
+you had no other engagements."
+
+"Mr. Smith dare not plead another engagement," asserted Miss Ross, her
+dark eyes flashing a challenge. She is a lovely girl, but digs up the
+turf terribly.
+
+"Smith has no game on. He has been over there talking for an hour,"
+added Thomas, before I could say a word. I could have murdered him.
+
+"I am delighted, and it is kind of you to ask me," I lied most
+effusively. "It is an easy game for us, Miss Dangerfield."
+
+"Do not be too sure," scornfully laughed Miss Rosa. "Mr. Thomas is a
+splendid player."
+
+"But he cannot equal Mr. Smith," declared my loyal partner. "Oh, Mr.
+Smith, I have heard so much of your long drives and wonderful approach
+shots! It is so good of you to play with us."
+
+"It is an unexpected pleasure," I replied, rather ashamed of myself.
+
+I have no patience to describe in detail the game which followed. I am
+usually sure on a drive, but I topped five out of the eighteen and
+popped half of the others into the air.
+
+Miss Dangerfield distinguished herself by missing her ball four
+successive times from the tee. This is not the female record for this
+feat, so I am informed, but it is a very creditable performance for a
+young lady who selects a scratch player for her partner.
+
+Miss Ross played my ball by mistake on two occasions, and on one of them
+succeeded in almost cutting it in half. It is a mystery to me why a
+woman cannot keep track of her own ball, when as a rule she does not
+knock it more than twenty yards.
+
+The ball she hits is usually a dirty, hacked-up object, but when she
+goes to look for it she imagines that by some miracle it has been
+transformed into a clean, white, and unmarked sphere, which has been
+driven for the first time.
+
+Carter arrived at the club shortly after our "mixed foursome" had
+started out. He took my place, he and Boyd playing Marshall and
+Chilvers. Our orbits crossed several times.
+
+Miss Dangerfield found three balls. One of them belonged to Chilvers,
+and he saw her find it, but he is a perfect gentleman and did not say a
+word. It was the one redeeming incident in the game.
+
+Miss Dangerfield confided to me that she is making a collection of
+balls.
+
+"I am awfully lucky," she said, looking critically at Chilvers' ball.
+"Whenever I find one I keep it as a memento of the game; that is, of
+course, if it is nice and clean like this one."
+
+"As a memento?" I inquired.
+
+"Certainly," she declared. "I have a cute little brush and some water
+colours. I paint the date of discovery on the ball and add it to my
+collection. Sometimes I paint flowers on the ball, and sometimes birds
+and other things. You should see my collection! Don't you think it's a
+real cute idea?"
+
+"It is startlingly original," I said, and her bright and innocent smile
+showed her appreciation of the compliment. "How many have you in your
+collection?"
+
+[Illustration: "Fore there! hay there!!"]
+
+"Oh, lots and lots of them," she said. "I am to have a portrait of
+myself done in oil, showing me in a golfing costume just about to knock
+the ball as far as I can, and the frame will be composed of golf balls I
+have found. Oh, here's another lost ball!" and she started for one which
+was lying on the fair green not many yards away. I knew to whom it
+belonged.
+
+"Fore! Fore! Hi, hay there; drop it; that's my ball!" yelled a club
+member named Pepper, coming on a run from behind a bunker. Pepper is a
+married man, near the fifty-year mark, and he is extremely nervous and
+even irritable when any one approaches his ball.
+
+"Don't touch it!" shouted Pepper, now on a dead run. "You'll make me
+lose the hole! Don't you know the make of the ball you're playing? Mine
+is a Kempshall remade."
+
+"Oh, this is not my ball," frankly declared Miss Dangerfield. "My ball
+is over there, but I thought this was one which had been lost."
+
+"I pitched it out of that trap a moment ago," insisted Pepper, "and did
+not take my eyes off it."
+
+"I am sure I do not want it if it is yours!" haughtily declared Miss
+Dangerfield, turning indignantly away.
+
+"Thank you," said Pepper, politely as he knows how, and we went on our
+way leaving him to recover his composure as best he could. I looked back
+and noted that he fumbled his next shot.
+
+"If I thought as much as that of a mere golf ball I would never play
+the game," pouted Miss Dangerfield. "I think he is horrid, and I shall
+never speak to him again!"
+
+"If he had lost the ball he would have lost the hole," I explained,
+anxious to extenuate Pepper's offense as much as possible.
+
+"Suppose he did lose the old hole!" exclaimed the wronged young lady.
+"What does it amount to if you lose one insignificant hole when there
+are eighteen in all?"
+
+I could think of nothing else to say, and had the tact to change the
+conversation to the unique frame for her portrait with its "lost ball"
+border.
+
+"You will save material and secure a more artistic effect," I suggested,
+"by having an artisan cut the balls in halves. They will then lie flat
+to the frame, and one ball will do the service of two."
+
+Miss Dangerfield was so taken with this idea that she speedily forgot
+that brute Pepper.
+
+Coming in we were passed by Marshall, Chilvers, Carter, and Boyd. How I
+envied them! We stood and silently watched while each made ripping long
+drives. There is nothing which contributes more to a man's good opinion
+of himself than to line a ball straight out two hundred yards when a
+bevy of pretty girls is watching him.
+
+The tendency of the woman golfer to frankly express her admiration for
+the strength and skill of a man who can drive a clean and long ball is
+her great redeeming trait when on the links.
+
+The man who is careless of the praise of his male peers is prone to be
+raised to the seventh heaven of golf bliss when listening to the
+long-drawn chorus of "Oh!" "Wasn't that splendid!" "I could just die if
+I could drive like that!" and similar expressions from dainty maidens
+who do not know the difference between a follow through and a jigger.
+
+An ideal golf course would be one where the members of the fair sex are
+content to group themselves about the driving tees and award an honest
+meed of praise and applause to their fathers, husbands, or sweethearts.
+
+"You're up, Thomas," I said when the crack foursome was out of range.
+
+Thomas basted out a screecher, and Miss Ross followed with the best shot
+she ever made. Miss Dangerfield missed as usual.
+
+"I'm awfully sorry," she said, "but I'm sure you will do better than Mr.
+Thomas."
+
+In my anxiety to verify her prediction I pressed, topped my ball, and it
+rolled into the bunker. Chilvers looked back and grinned and then said
+something to Marshall at which both of them laughed.
+
+Of course we were beaten, and beaten disgracefully. Miss Dangerfield did
+not take it the least to heart, but the dinner did not cost her
+thirty-two dollars. Not that I care for the money, but it is the first
+time this year that my score has been more than ninety.
+
+I can take Thomas out alone and beat him so badly he will not dare turn
+in his score, but in a mixed foursome he can put it all over me.
+
+It does not take much to throw a man off his golf game. For instance: My
+private secretary came up from the city early this morning. Among other
+matters he called my attention to the fact that my N.O. & G. railway
+stock has dropped three points during the week. I seldom indulge in
+stock speculation, but was induced to buy two thousand shares of this
+security on what I believed to be inside information. The stock is now
+selling at five points below my purchase price, a paper loss of $10,000.
+
+"Your brokers inform me that unless you desire to take your losses it
+will be necessary to put up a ten-point margin," said my secretary.
+
+"That means a cheque for $20,000, I presume," I observed, making a
+hurried calculation. He said it did, and I gave it to him.
+
+As soon as he had gone I went out with Kirkaldy, our club professional,
+and played a few holes before luncheon, hoping to get that confounded
+N.O. & G. stock affair out of my mind so that I could play a good game
+in the afternoon. I made the fifth hole in five, which reminded me that
+the cursed stock had dropped five points. As a consequence I drove wide
+on the next hole, and Kirkaldy won half a dozen balls from me.
+
+In order to play a perfect game of golf one's mind must reflect no
+outside matter, and I shall sell that miserable stock the moment I can
+get out without serious loss. This should be a lesson to me.
+
+I saw Carter a few minutes ago and he tells me he understands that the
+famous Grace Harding does play golf. My worst fears are confirmed.
+
+I shall now clean my clubs and go to bed.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. II
+
+MAINLY ABOUT SMITH
+
+
+It has rained all day and nothing of interest has happened. The ladies
+are clustered on the sheltered side of the veranda. Some are reading,
+others are engaged in fancy work. The leading topic of discussion is the
+coming of the Hardings--or rather a fruitless inquiry as to what gowns
+and how many Miss Grace Harding will wear.
+
+They are due to-morrow. I wonder if old Harding knows anything about
+N.O. & G. stock? He probably does--and will keep it to himself.
+
+There being nothing else to write about I shall write of myself.
+
+As Chilvers said yesterday, I was born on the farm which now constitutes
+the Woodvale golf links. When my father died he willed this land and
+other property to me. I take it that a man has a right to do as he
+pleases with his own.
+
+The old farm makes a sporty golf course, and I cannot say that I have
+ever regretted my action in signing the lease which transfers its use to
+the Woodvale Golf and Country Club for a long term of years.
+
+I doubt if the two hundred odd acres ever yielded so large an income as
+I now receive semi-annually from the treasurer of the club, but this
+does not appeal to my Uncle Henry.
+
+"It is an outrage," he once said to me, with unnecessary adjectives, "to
+use the fine old farmhouse, sacred to long generations of Smiths, as an
+ell to a club house."
+
+He said other things which I will not repeat. He is a banker, and I
+sincerely hope Chilvers does not hit him with a golf ball. That infernal
+slice of Chilvers' has already cost me one legacy.
+
+I have traced my ancestry as far back as I dare, and have a certain
+amount of reverence for hallowed traditions and all that sort of thing.
+I must admit there have been times when I have almost imagined that the
+shades of three generations of more or less distinguished Smiths were
+holding an indignation meeting to protest against this golf invasion of
+their mundane haunts.
+
+Where my great-grandmother once sang over her spinning wheel there has
+been installed a modern shower bath. The huge old-fashioned dining-room,
+with its cavernous fireplace, is now lined on three sides with lockers.
+The place above it which was once filled with the blackened oil portrait
+of our original Smith is now adorned with an engraving of Harry Varden
+at the finish of his drive.
+
+This picture of Varden's is said to be the best likeness yet produced
+of this truly remarkable man. I have studied it for hours, but cannot
+understand how he can grip a club as he does without hooking his ball.
+
+All the bed-chambers on the second floor have been thrown into one large
+room, which is used as a gymnasium. As near as I can make out, the place
+where I once knelt to say my prayers is now occupied by a punching bag.
+
+The ceiling has been removed, which, of course, does away with the
+attic, and trapeze ropes now hang from rafters where successive
+grandmothers suspended peppermint, pennyroyal and other weeds and herbs
+possessing medicinal or culinary virtues.
+
+I confess it does look a bit odd, but it makes a ripping good gym.
+
+Certain it is that the old farm never looked as beautiful as it does
+now. The cow pasture once flanked with boggy marshes has been drained
+and rolled until the turf is smooth as velvet. The cornfields have
+disappeared. The straggling stone walls have been converted into
+bunkers, and the whole area has been converted into a park.
+
+Old Bishop owns the adjoining farm, and whenever he sees our employees
+at work with rollers or grass-mowers he is overcome with rage.
+
+"The best tract of land for corn, oats or hay in the county!" he
+exclaims, "and you have made it the playground of a lot of rich dudes!
+Jack, I should think your father would turn over in his grave. I'd like
+to run a plow an' harrer over them puttin' greens of yours, as ye call
+them. You've wasted enough manure on that grass to make me rich."
+
+Bishop does not understand or appreciate the beauties and niceties of
+golf.
+
+The first tee is under an elm which was planted by the Smith who was
+born in 1754, and who served under Washington. Facing it is the quaint
+old country church where the Father of our Country has attended many
+services, and in which my parents were married.
+
+A straight drive of one hundred and thirty yards will carry the lane and
+insure a good lie, but a sliced ball is likely to go through a window of
+the church. However, the church is no longer used, and besides there is
+no excuse for slicing a ball. Some of the members assert that the old
+belfry is a "mental hazard."
+
+On the second hole it is necessary to carry the old graveyard. A topped
+ball or even a low one is likely to strike one of the blackened slate
+slabs. The grass is so thick and rank that it is almost impossible to
+find a ball driven into this last resting place of my ancestors.
+
+It makes an ideal hazard.
+
+The second time I ever played this hole I lined out a low ball which
+struck the tombstone of Deacon Lemuel Smith. It bounded back at least
+seventy-five yards, but I had a good lie and my second shot was a
+screaming brassie. It carried the graveyard and landed on the edge of
+the green.
+
+[Illustration: "It makes an ideal hazard"]
+
+After carefully studying my putt I holed out from twenty yards, making
+the hole in three after practically throwing my first shot away.
+
+This ability to recover from an indifferent or unfortunate shot is one
+of the strong points of my game.
+
+The third hole requires a hundred-and-thirty-yard drive over the brook
+where I used to fish when a boy, and on the fourth hole you must carry
+the pond. I came very near being drowned in that pond when a youngster,
+and I firmly believe that this is the reason I so often flub my drive on
+this hole.
+
+But it is unnecessary to describe all of the eighteen holes. The links
+are 3,327 yards out and 3,002 yards in, a long and sporty course, the
+delight of the true golfer and the terror of the duffer.
+
+Woodvale is very exclusive. The membership is limited, and hundreds of
+the best people in the city are on the waiting list. Our club house is
+one of the finest in the country. In addition to the links we have
+tennis courts, croquet grounds, bowling alleys and other games, but why
+one should care to indulge in any game other than golf is a mystery to
+me.
+
+We also have bicycle and riding paths, flower gardens and all the
+luxuries and artificial scenic charms possible from the judicious
+expenditure of nearly four hundred thousand dollars. Nothing can surpass
+it.
+
+I live here during the golfing season, and one is unfortunate if he
+cannot play nine months in the year in Woodvale. In the winter it is
+safer to go to Florida or California, and I propose to do so in the
+future rather than risk a repetition of last season's heavy snows which
+made golf impossible for days at a time.
+
+My suite of rooms in the club house is as finely furnished as any in the
+city, and the service and cuisine are excellent.
+
+One saves a vast amount of time by living in such a club house as that
+of Woodvale. The hours expended by golfers in travelling between their
+places of business and the links will foot up to an enormous total each
+year. I remain here and thus save all that time.
+
+Not that I neglect my business; far from it. Once a week my private
+secretary comes to the club house from my office in the city. He brings
+with him letters and other matters which imperatively demand my personal
+attention, and I sternly abandon all else for the time being.
+
+On the days when he is here I play twenty-four holes instead of the
+usual thirty-six or more, but I find the change diverting rather than
+otherwise. Without claiming special merit for an original discovery, I
+believe I have struck what may be termed the happy medium between work
+and relaxation.
+
+I do not class the keeping of this diary as work for the reason that I
+shall not permit it to interfere with my golf. When I feel disposed to
+make a note of an event, an idea or a score I shall do so, but I do not
+propose to be a slave to this diary.
+
+I have just returned from a walk on the veranda. Miss Ross came to me,
+greatly excited.
+
+"They are here!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Who; the Hardings?" I asked.
+
+"No, their trunks are here. And what do you think?"
+
+"I would not make a guess," I declared.
+
+"Miss Harding has only six trunks, and I had seven myself."
+
+The sweet creature was happy and immensely relieved. I forgot to ask her
+if any golf clubs were included in the Harding luggage.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. III
+
+MR. HARDING WINS A BET
+
+
+I have met Harding, the western railroad magnate, and he is a character.
+His wife is in the city, but will be out here in a few days.
+
+Harding--I call him Mister when addressing him, since he is worth thirty
+millions or more, and he is old enough to be my father--Harding strolled
+out to the first tee early this morning and stood with his hands in his
+pockets watching some of the fellows drive off.
+
+I should judge him to be a man of about fifty-five, or perhaps a year of
+two older. He stands more than six feet, is broad of shoulder and
+equally broad of waist, ruddy of complexion, clear of eye and quick of
+motion. He is of the breezy, independent type peculiar to those who have
+risen to fortune with the wonderful development of our western country,
+and it is difficult to realise that he is a real live magnate.
+
+His close-cropped beard shows few gray hairs, and does not entirely hide
+the lines of a resolute chin. He looks like a prosperous farmer who has
+been forced to become familiar with metropolitan conventionalities, but
+whose rough edges have withstood the friction. His voice is heavy but
+not unpleasant, and his laugh jovial but defiant. He reminds me of no
+one I have seen, and I shall study him with much interest.
+
+He was with Carter, who seemed well acquainted with him, and he greeted
+each drive whether it was good or bad with a sneering smile. This told
+me that he had never played the game, and that he had all of the
+outsider's contempt for it. I knew exactly what he thought, for I was
+once as ignorant and unappreciative as he is now.
+
+A mutual contempt exists between those who play golf and those who do
+not. Those who have not played are sure they could become expert in a
+week, if they had so little sense as to waste time on so simple and
+objectless a game. Those who are familiar with the game know that no man
+living can ever hope to approach its possibilities, and they also know
+that it is the grandest sport designed since man has inhabited this
+globe.
+
+I have sometimes thought that this old globe of ours is nothing more nor
+less than a golf ball, brambled with mountains and valleys, and scarred
+with ravines where the gods in their play have topped their drives. The
+spin around its axis causes it to slice about the sun. This strikes me
+as rather poetic, and when I write a golf epic I shall elaborate on this
+fancy.
+
+Harding has no such conception of this whirling earth of ours. He is
+fully convinced that it was created for the purpose of being
+cross-hatched with railroads, and that it never had any real utility
+until he gridironed the western prairies with ten thousand miles of rust
+and grease. I thought of that as I watched him standing by the side of
+Carter, his huge hands thrust deep in his pockets, his bushy head thrown
+back, and a tolerant grin on his bearded lips.
+
+I was practising putting on a green set aside for that purpose, and
+Carter saw me and motioned me to come to him. He introduced Harding, who
+shook hands and then glanced curiously at my putter.
+
+"What do you call that?" he asked, taking it from my hand. It was an
+aluminum putter of my own design, and I have won many a game with it. I
+told him what it was.
+
+"Looks like a brake shoe on the new-model hand-cars," he said, swinging
+it viciously with one hand. "How far can you knock one of those little
+pills with it?"
+
+"I see that you do not play golf," I said, rather offended at his
+manner.
+
+"No, there are a lot of things I do not do, and this is one of them," he
+replied, and then he laughed. "But let me tell you," he added, "I used
+to be a wonder at shinny."
+
+I would have wagered he would make some such remark.
+
+"Do you see that scar on the bridge of my nose?" he asked. "That came
+from a crack with a shinny club when I was not more than ten years old.
+Shinny is a great game; a great game! It requires quickness of eye and
+limb, and more than that it demands a high degree of courage. It teaches
+a boy to stand a hard knock without whimpering. Yes, sir, shinny is a
+great game, and all boys should play it," and he rubbed the scar on his
+nose tenderly.
+
+A man who would compare golf with shinny is capable of contrasting
+Venice with a drainage canal, and I came near telling him so. Golf and
+shinny! Whist and old maid! Pink lemonade and champagne!
+
+"No, sir, I never could see much in this golf game," said Harding,
+handing back my putter. "It certainly isn't much of a trick to hit one
+of those balls with a mallet like that. When I was your age," turning to
+Carter, "I could swing a maul and send a railroad spike into five inches
+of seasoned oak, and never miss once a week, and I'll bet that if I had
+to I could do it again. That was what your father used to do for a
+living, and if he hadn't worked up from a section boss to the presidency
+of a railroad you would have something else to do besides batting balls
+around a farm and then hunting for 'em. But I suppose you must like it
+or you wouldn't do it."
+
+"I think you would find the game interesting if you took it up,"
+suggested Carter, whose father is nearly as rich as Harding. "Smith and
+I will initiate you into the mysteries of the game."
+
+"Oh, I suppose I'll have to play now that I'm here," he said, with the
+most exasperating complacency. "My daughter plays some, and she is as
+crazy about it as the rest of them. I don't see where the fascination
+comes in. I called the other day on a man who was once in the Cabinet.
+He is rich and famous, and can have anything or do anything he likes,
+but he spends most of his time playing golf. I went to him and attempted
+to induce him to represent us in a big railway lawsuit, but he said it
+would prevent his playing in some tournament where he expected to win
+five dollars' worth of plated pewter. What do you think of that?
+Wouldn't take the case, and there was fifty thousand in it for him! I
+roasted the life out of him."
+
+"'If you would drop this fool game and pay the same amount of attention
+to your political fortunes,' I said to him, 'you would have a right to
+aspire to the Presidency of the United States.' And what do you suppose
+he said to me?"
+
+I assured him that I had not the slightest idea.
+
+"'Mr. Harding,' he said to me in perfect seriousness, when I attempted
+to put this presidential bee in his bonnet, 'Mr. Harding, I would rather
+be able to drive a golf ball two hundred and fifty feet than be
+President of the United States for life.' That's what he said, and I
+told him he was crazy, and he is so mad at me that I don't dare go near
+him."
+
+"Didn't he say two hundred and fifty yards?" asked Carter, who had been
+listening intently. "Two hundred and fifty feet is no drive."
+
+"Mebbe it was yards," admitted Harding, disgusted that Carter ignored
+the point of his story, "but let me tell you that I'd rather be
+President of the United States for one minute than to be able to drive
+one of those little pellets two hundred and fifty miles! I'll tell you
+what I'll do!" he exclaimed, turning fiercely on both of us. "I never
+tried to play this idiotic game in my life, but I'll bet the Scotch and
+soda for the three of us that I can drive a ball further than either of
+you."
+
+"That would hardly be fair," I protested, though I was delighted at the
+chance to take some of the conceit out of him. I have seen many of his
+type before, and it is a pleasure to witness their downfall.
+
+"Why wouldn't it be fair?" he demanded.
+
+"Because you know nothing of the swing of a club or of the follow
+through," I attempted to explain.
+
+"The follow what?" he asked.
+
+"The follow through," I repeated.
+
+"What the devil is the follow through?" he asked, reaching for Carter's
+bag. "Let me take yours and I'll try it anyhow."
+
+"The 'follow through' is not a club," I explained when we had ceased
+laughing, "but it is the trick of sending the face of the club after the
+ball when you have hit it. It is the end of the stroke, and by it you
+get both distance and direction. Without a good follow through it is
+impossible to drive a ball any considerable distance, no matter how
+great the strength with which you hit it. This knack can only be
+acquired after much practise."
+
+"You don't say?" he laughed. "Let me tell you that when I used to play
+baseball I had a 'follow through' which made the fielders get out so far
+when I came to bat that the spectators had to use fieldglasses to see
+where they were. If I hit that golf ball good and fair it will 'follow
+through' into the next county, and don't you forget that I told you so!
+Come on, boys!"
+
+Carter looked at me and winked. There was no one waiting on the first
+tee, and a clear field ahead. It was agreed that Carter should have the
+honour, I to follow, and that Harding should drive last.
+
+Harding stripped off his coat and waistcoat, removed his collar and
+rolled up his sleeves. I was impressed with his magnificent physique,
+and do not recall when I have seen so massive and well-formed a forearm.
+From my bag he selected a driver which I seldom use on account of its
+excessive weight, and looked at it critically.
+
+"Pretty fair sort of a stick," he observed, swinging it clumsily and
+viciously, "but I'd rather have one of those hickory roots we used to
+cut for shinny when I was a boy. Go ahead and soak it, Carter, so that I
+may know what I've got to beat."
+
+I mentally resolved to press even at the chance of flubbing. Carter hit
+the ball too low, and it sailed into the air barely clearing the lane,
+stopping not more than one hundred and fifty yards away.
+
+"That's not so much," said Harding, grimly. "Bat her out, Smith, and
+then watch your Uncle Dudley!"
+
+I carefully teed a new ball and took a practise swing or two. I felt
+morally certain that Harding could not beat Carter's drive, poor as it
+was, but I was anxious to show him how a golf ball will fly when
+properly struck.
+
+I fell on that ball for one of the longest and cleanest drives I ever
+made, and it did not stop rolling until it was twenty yards past the
+two-hundred-yard post. I was properly proud of that shot, and despite
+his loud talk I felt a sort of pity for Harding.
+
+"Is that considered a fairly good shot?" he asked.
+
+"It was a good one for Smith, or for that matter for anyone," replied
+Carter, who was a bit sore that he had fallen down.
+
+"It looks easy for me," calmly declared Harding stepping up to the tee.
+"Can you make as high a pile of sand as you want to?"
+
+"Yes, but it is better to tee it close to the ground," advised Carter.
+"If you tee it high you are apt to go under it."
+
+Ignoring Carter's advice he reached into the box, scooped out a
+double-handful of sand and piled it in a pyramid at least four inches
+high. On the apex of this he placed a new ball I had taken from my bag,
+and which I felt reasonably certain would be cut in two in the
+improbable event that he hit it. He stood back and surveyed his
+preparations with evident satisfaction.
+
+[Illustration: "... but there was blood in his eye"]
+
+It was impossible for Carter and me to keep our faces straight, but
+Harding paid no attention to us.
+
+"I ought to be able to hit that, all right," he said, walking around the
+sand pile and viewing it from all sides. Then he stood back and took a
+practise swing.
+
+He stood square on both feet, his legs spread as far apart as he could
+extend them. He grasped the shaft of the club with both hands, holding
+the left one underneath. His practise swing was the typical baseball
+stroke used by all novices, and I saw at a glance that in all
+probability he would go under his ball.
+
+"The blamed club is too light, but I suppose it's the best you've got,"
+he said. "It feels like a willow switch. Well, stand back and give me
+lots of room. Here goes!"
+
+As he grasped the club I saw the muscles of his right forearm stand out
+like whipcords. His face was wrinkled in a frown, but there was, blood
+in his eye.
+
+Carter and I stood well away so as to escape a flying club-head. I
+cannot describe how Harding made that swing; it was done so quickly that
+I only noted what followed.
+
+When the club came down there was a crack that sounded like a pistol
+shot, and at that instant I noted that the pyramid of sand was intact.
+Then I saw the ball! It was headed straight out the course, curving
+with that slight hook which contributes so much to distance.
+
+When I first caught sight of it I should say it was fifty feet in the
+air and slowly rising. I never saw a ball travel so in my life. We had
+sent a caddy out ahead, and he marked the spot where it landed. It was
+more than twenty-five yards beyond the two-hundred-yard mark, and the
+ball rolled forty-five yards farther, making a total of two hundred and
+seventy yards.
+
+It was within ten yards of the longest drive ever made by Kirkaldy, our
+club professional.
+
+The exertion carried Harding fairly off his feet, and he landed squarely
+on the tee. He half raised himself, and followed the flight of the ball.
+His shirt was ripped open at the shoulder and torn at the neck.
+
+"If I hadn't slipped," he declared, rising to a sitting posture, "I
+could have belted it twice as far as that, but I guess that's enough to
+win."
+
+I heard the rustle of a woman's garment.
+
+"Why, Papa Harding!" exclaimed a voice, musical as a silver bell. "You
+said you never would play golf! You should see how you look!"
+
+I turned and saw Grace Harding. She is the most beautiful creature I
+ever met in my life.
+
+Before any of us could reach him, Harding scrambled to his feet. He was
+streaked with sand, but there was a merry twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Did you see me soak it, Kid?" he asked, brushing the sand from his
+trousers, and fumbling at a broken suspender.
+
+"You are nothing but a great big boy," she declared. "Are you sure you
+are not hurt, papa?"
+
+"Hurt, nothing!" exclaimed Harding, "but I'll bet I hurt that ball. I've
+lost my collar button," he said, pawing about the tee with his feet.
+"Your eyes are sharper than mine, Kid, see if you can find it. It must
+be around here somewhere."
+
+"My friend, Mr. Smith," said Carter, presenting me to Miss Harding. She
+did not bow coldly, as do most young ladies in our set, neither was
+there anything bold in accepting this most informal introduction. She
+acted like a good fellow should act, and frankly offered her hand, her
+eyes dancing with amusement.
+
+"Smith owns this land," volunteered Harding, still hunting for the
+button, "but he was too lazy to work it, so he turned it into a golf
+course. He and Carter are great players, so I have heard, but I have
+been putting it all over them driving a ball, and I didn't half try at
+that."
+
+"Did you hit it, papa?" she asked.
+
+"Did I hit it?" he repeated, "Did I hit it? Ask them if I hit it. Where
+in thunder is that collar-button?"
+
+And then the four of us hunted for that elusive but useful article.
+Miss Harding found it in a tuft of grass, and I stood and stupidly
+watched her while she put it in place, adjusted the collar and tied the
+cravat.
+
+"Papa is very lucky in whatever he undertakes," she said, addressing me
+rather than Carter, so I believe. "I could have warned you that he would
+have beaten you, though I cannot understand how he happened to drive a
+ball as far as that."
+
+She smiled and looked proudly at the huge figure of her father, who
+patted her on the cheek and laughed disdainfully.
+
+Carter made some commonplace remark, but for the life of me I did not
+know what to say. The proud little head, the arched eyebrows, the cheeks
+faintly touched with a healthy tan, the little waist, the slender but
+perfect figure, and the toe of a dainty shoe held me in an aphasic
+spell. But the laughing eyes brought me out of it, and I made one of the
+most brilliant conversational efforts of my career.
+
+"Do you play golf, Miss Harding?" I asked. Having thus broken the ice I
+experienced a vast sense of relief.
+
+"I won a gold cup in a competition in Paris, didn't I, papa?"
+
+"Sure thing," responded her father, "I ought to know; it cost me fifteen
+dollars to pay duty on that ornament."
+
+"And I once made the course in ninety-one," continued Miss Harding.
+
+"I don't know anything about that," said Harding. "Is ninety-one
+supposed to be any good?"
+
+"It is a splendid record for a lady for eighteen holes!" I exclaimed,
+"and it is not a bad score for a man."
+
+"But this was only a nine-hole course," explained Miss Harding, "and
+there were many of the ladies who did not do anywhere near as well as
+that. I have played considerably since then, and am confident that I can
+do much better."
+
+"You'll have to excuse us, Kid," interrupted her father, patting her on
+the arm with his huge hand. "I have important business in the club house
+with these gentlemen, and it is a matter which takes precedence over
+everything else. You can tell Smith about your golf triumphs some other
+time."
+
+He talked to her as if she were a child who was in the way. I suppose it
+does not occur to him that she is a woman grown. I would rather have
+remained where I was and attempted to talk to her, or even look at her,
+than to sip the finest Scotch whiskey ever bottled.
+
+Now that I read this last line it does not convey much of a compliment,
+but I mean all that it implies. She certainly is very pretty. We made
+our excuses to her, and went to the club cafe, and I have not seen her
+since. She has gone to the city with her mother on a shopping tour and
+will not be back for several days.
+
+I wonder how Carter became acquainted with her. He seems to know her
+very well, and must have met her many times. I should like to ask him,
+but of course that would not be the proper thing to do.
+
+I had no idea that I would write so much as this when I started.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. IV
+
+BISHOP'S HIRED MAN
+
+
+Miss Harding is still in the city, and I have added nothing to this
+diary for several days. She is expected back to-morrow.
+
+I do not know how to account for it, but since the coming of the
+Hardings my game has fallen off several strokes. It seems impossible for
+me to concentrate my mind on my shots.
+
+Ninety-one is very poor golf for nine holes, and I am sure that with
+practice under a capable golfer Miss Harding could do much better. She
+has just the figure for a long, true and swinging stroke. I shall make
+it a point to ask her to play before Carter gets a chance to forestall
+me.
+
+Unless I am entirely in error Carter is badly smitten with Miss Harding.
+It also occurs to me that I have written enough about that young lady.
+
+Mr. Harding is also in the city. I wish I had his opinion about the
+future of N.O. & G. railroad stock. It has gone down another point,
+which means the loss of two thousand dollars to me.
+
+An odd sort of an incident happened yesterday morning. None of the
+scratch players was about, so I accepted an invitation to play a round
+with LaHume and Miss Lawrence. She is a very pretty girl, though in my
+opinion she is not to be compared with Miss Harding. LaHume is devoted
+to her, as much as he can be devoted to any one or anything, and there
+have been rumours now and then that they were engaged or about to be
+engaged, but since it has always been possible to trace these reports
+back to LaHume I have had my doubts of their accuracy. Miss Olive
+Lawrence has inherited a large fortune, and is the master of it and of
+herself.
+
+LaHume has been a persistent fortune hunter, and if patience be a virtue
+he deserves to win. He had a tiff yesterday with Miss Lawrence, and it
+came about curiously enough.
+
+The Bishop farm adjoins the club grounds on the east, and everyone for
+miles about knows Bishop. He has little use for anything but work and
+money, and he always has difficulty in keeping farm labourers, or "hired
+men," as he terms them.
+
+About a month ago he employed a fellow named Wallace, who admitted that
+he did not know much about farming, but who said he was strong and
+healthy and was willing to do the best he could. It was in the haying
+season and Bishop was short of men, so he gave this chap a chance.
+
+I met Bishop one day shortly after he put Wallace to work, and he told
+me something about him.
+
+"He's strong an' willin' enough," said Bishop, as we stood talking over
+the fence, "but he surely is the blamedest, funniest hired man I ever
+had, an' I've had some that'd make a man quit the church. What do you
+think he wants?"
+
+I assured him that I could not imagine.
+
+"Soap in his room, and cake soap at that!" he exclaimed. "If I hadn't
+given it to him he'd a quit, so I had to give it to him. He takes a bath
+every morning, an' shaves. That's what he does! Gets up about four
+o'clock and goes down to the old swimming hole in the crick, paddles
+around a while, an' then comes back to the house an' shaves, an' then
+goes out an' milks an' cleans out the stables. Never saw a man wash his
+hands so much in my life, but accordin' to his lights he's a mighty good
+worker. He eats a lot, but then all hired men eats a lot. An' he reads!
+Brought a big trunk with him, an' in it was a lot of books in French,
+Dutch or some other language that no white man can understand. And
+fight! You know Big Dave Cole, that's been with me for years?"
+
+I assured him that I should never forget "Big Dave" Cole. I have known
+him ever since he went to work for Bishop, and that was when I was a
+boy. From that day he has been the terror of the neighbourhood, and I
+have sometimes thought that even Bishop stood in fear of him.
+
+"Wal," he said slowly and impressively, biting the end from a plug of
+tobacco, "this here Wallace licked the life plumb out of Big Dave no
+more than yesterday, an' Big Dave is that disgusted he has packed up and
+quit me."
+
+"What caused the trouble?" I asked.
+
+"Big Dave called him an English dude, an' it seems that Wallace took
+offense because he's Scotch," explained Bishop, "at least that's what
+the other men who was there when it started said. I couldn't get a word
+outer Wallace, who said he'd quit if I wanted him to, but I told him
+that a man who could lick Big Dave and come out without a scratch had
+the makings of a rattlin' good hired man, an' I raised his wages two
+dollars a month an' gave him Big Dave's room, which is bigger than the
+one he had. If he could milk, an' run a seeder, or a thresher, or stack
+oats an' corn as well as he can fight, I would give him forty dollars a
+month."
+
+This incident was related to me several weeks ago, and I have made it a
+point to study this chap when I have met him. I should say he is about
+my age, twenty-five or so, and I must say that he is a good-looking
+fellow. He is tall, dark of complexion, broad of shoulder and narrow of
+loin, and certainly looks as if he was able to take care of himself. I
+presume that he is some college chap who cannot make his way in the
+profession he has chosen, and who is trying to get a financial start by
+working on a farm.
+
+I am going to have a talk with him at the first opportunity, and if my
+suspicion is verified I shall try to find some way to give him a quicker
+start. I doubt if Bishop is paying him more than twenty dollars a month.
+
+As I started to describe, LaHume, Miss Olive Lawrence and I were playing
+a threesome. It was along about noon when we came to the tenth tee,
+which is located so that a sliced ball may go into or over the country
+road which separates the Bishop farm from the golf course. Miss Lawrence
+is not an accurate player, but she drives as long a ball as any woman
+golfer in Woodvale.
+
+She hit the ball hard, but sliced it, and a strong westerly wind helped
+deflect it to the right. It sailed over the fence, and struck in a
+ploughed field only a few feet from a man whom I recognised as Wallace.
+
+He had evidently been looking in our direction, and he followed the
+flight of the ball. He walked up to it.
+
+"Are you playing bounds?" he shouted, lifting his cap.
+
+"Yes!" answered LaHume, "throw it back!"
+
+Wallace carried a stout stick of some kind in his hand. He looked at the
+end of it critically, placed the ball on a clod of soil, glanced at us
+and called "Fore!" and then lofted that ball with as clean a shot as ever
+I saw, dropping it almost at LaHume's feet. He bowed again, twirled the
+stick about his fingers, and then turned and went toward the farmhouse.
+
+[Illustration: "Fore"]
+
+"Well, what do you think of the cold nerve of that clodhopper?"
+exclaimed LaHume, staring at the retreating figure of Wallace. "I
+presume he has ruined that new ball."
+
+"Not with that stroke," I said. "I wish I could make as good an approach
+with any club in my bag as he did with that improvised cane."
+
+I picked up the ball and found that there was not a blemish on it.
+
+"Wasn't he a handsome young gentleman?" murmured Miss Lawrence, whose
+eyes had been fixed on Wallace until he vanished behind a clump of
+trees. "Who is he?"
+
+"Gentleman?" laughed LaHume, teeing the ball. "He's a farm labourer; old
+Bishop's hired man. One of his duties is to deliver milk every morning
+at the club house."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed Miss Lawrence. "I presume it is impossible for him
+to attend to such duties and remain a gentleman."
+
+"Not impossible, but highly improbable," laughed young LaHume, unaware
+that he was treading on thin ice.
+
+"My father made his start in that way, and before he died there were
+many who called themselves gentlemen who were glad to associate with
+him," declared Miss Lawrence with a warmth uncommon to her. "What did
+your father do?"
+
+"Really now, I did not mean anything," stammered LaHume, the red
+flushing through the tan of his face. It suddenly dawned on me that
+there was a period in the life of my father when he worked as a hired
+man in order to earn the money with which to marry my mother, and that
+from this humble start he was able finally to acquire the ancestral
+Smith farm, then in the possession of a more wealthy branch of the
+family. I made common cause with Miss Lawrence, and I did it with better
+grace from the fact that I resent the airs assumed by LaHume.
+
+"LaHume's father founded the roadhouse down yonder," I said, pointing
+towards a resort which yet goes by the LaHume name, and one which does
+not enjoy a reputation any too savory. Of course this is not the fault
+of the elder LaHume, who has since made a fortune in the hotel business.
+I could see that the shot went home.
+
+"I say, Smith, let's play golf and cut out this family history
+business," protested LaHume, who was fighting angry. "It is your shot,
+Miss Lawrence."
+
+"Don't you think he is handsome, Mr. Smith?" she asked.
+
+"Who; Mr. LaHume?" I returned, not averse to rubbing it into the
+descendant of the roadhouse keeper.
+
+"Of course not," she replied, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I mean
+that lovely hired man."
+
+"He's a rustic Apollo," I said, "and it may interest our friend to know
+that he also combines the qualities of Hercules and Mars."
+
+And while LaHume fumed and Miss Lawrence clapped her hands I told the
+story of the downfall of "Big Dave" at the hands of the quiet and
+cleanly Wallace, making sure that the defeat of the village bully lost
+nothing in its telling.
+
+All the way back to the club house--we did not play out the remaining
+holes--Miss Lawrence plied me with questions concerning Wallace. Of
+course I know that her object was to punish LaHume, and she did it most
+effectively.
+
+She pretended to believe that there is some great romance back of
+Wallace's present status. She pictured him as a Scotch nobleman, or the
+son of one, I have forgotten which, forced by most interesting
+circumstances to remain for a while in foreign lands. She conjured from
+her fancy the castle in which he was born, and over which he will some
+time rule, and I helped her as best I could.
+
+I can see that it will be a long time before LaHume will ask me to make
+up a threesome with Miss Lawrence. I wonder what "the hired man" would
+think if he knew that his lucky stroke with a hickory club had created
+so great a furor? I have a suspicion that this was not a lucky day in
+LaHume's campaign for the Lawrence hand and fortune.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. V
+
+THE EAGLE'S NEST
+
+
+Miss Grace Harding is here again, and I am to play a game of golf with
+her to-morrow. Carter does not know it yet, but that is because I have
+not had a chance to tell him.
+
+Carter is a rattling good fellow and a fine golfer--he has made Woodvale
+in seventy-seven; two strokes better than my low score--but he is a bit
+conceited; he imagines he is a lady's man, and I propose to take him
+down a peg.
+
+I am certain he schemed to play with Miss Harding before I did, and he
+went about it in what he doubtless thought was a diplomatic way. He
+opened his campaign this morning by playing a round with her father.
+Carter furnished clubs and balls for Mr. Harding, who broke two of the
+clubs and lost six new balls, to say nothing of those he mutilated.
+
+Diplomacy is not my long suit. I prefer to carry things by assault. When
+I saw what Carter was up to I formed a plan and put it into operation
+without delay. It was very simple. I walked right up to Miss Harding and
+asked her if she would like to play a round with me. That was this
+morning.
+
+"When?" she asked, with a charming smile which told me victory was in
+sight.
+
+"Right now!" I said, bold as could be.
+
+"You are brave to ask me to play with you, after what I have told you of
+my game," she said, pressing down a worm cast with the toe of her dainty
+shoe. We were standing on the edge of the practise putting green. I am
+no hand to describe a woman's gowns, and in fact know nothing of them,
+but I recall distinctly that she was dressed in blue, with some white
+stuff here and there, and it was very becoming.
+
+"Why?" I inquired.
+
+"If I could play in eighty-five, as you and Mr. Carter do, I would not
+recognise one who requires from one hundred and thirty to one hundred
+and sixty," laughed Miss Harding.
+
+For the life of me I cannot recall what I said in answer to this
+assertion, but it was something stupid, no doubt. She finally promised
+to play with me to-morrow, explaining that she and her father were about
+to go automobiling.
+
+We strolled over to one of the practise tees, and I was delighted when
+she asked me to observe her swing, and advise her how to correct it. I
+spent half an hour doing this, and she made wonderful improvement. I
+hoped Carter would come along and see us, but I saw nothing of him.
+
+While we were there, Marshall, Chilvers and Lawson passed and asked me
+to make up a foursome. For the first time in my life I refused, and the
+way those idiots looked back at me and grinned tempted me to break a
+club over their heads. There is no law to compel a man to play golf if
+he does not wish to. I figured that a rest for half a day would improve
+my game. The fact is, and the best golfers are coming to realise it,
+that a man can play so much that he goes stale.
+
+I have just been looking back over the notes of my second entry in this
+diary of a golfer, and I wish to modify the statement to the effect that
+a woman under no circumstances appears graceful or attractive in golf
+attitudes.
+
+In fact I absolutely repudiate that ungallant and prejudiced assertion.
+In one place I said: "If Miss Harding is beautiful enough to overcome
+the handicap which always attaches to the golf duffer, she can give
+Venus all sorts of odds and beat her handily. I have yet to see the
+woman who shows to advantage with a golf regalia."
+
+I take that back, also.
+
+To see a woman raise a golf club with a jerky, uneven stroke, and come
+down on the helpless turf with the head of it, as if beating a carpet,
+has always given me a chill and a sensation of wild rage, but there is
+something about the way Miss Harding does this which is actually
+artistic. There are combinations of discords which make for perfect
+harmony, and it is the same with the little eccentricities of Miss
+Harding's swing.
+
+[Illustration: "There is no law to compel a man to play golf"]
+
+The poise of the head and shoulders, the sweep of the arms, and the
+undulations of the figure seem to take on an added charm from what might
+be called the "graceful crudity" of her stroke. I do not know why this
+is so, but it is a fact.
+
+I shall never forget the attempt I once made to instruct my sister in
+the rudimentary principles of the swing of a golf club. She was a pretty
+girl; bright, lively and graceful, but after I had given her two lessons
+we were so mad at one another that we did not speak for weeks. It
+seemingly was impossible to make her distinguish between the back sweep
+and the follow through. She would persist in coming down on the tee with
+the face of her club, but at that she made a splendid marriage, and is a
+happy wife and mother.
+
+Miss Harding will make a first-class golf player, and I told her so.
+
+"Do you really think so?" she asked, after several swings, most of which
+would have hit the ball.
+
+"I certainly do," I declared. "All that you need is the constant advice
+of someone who is thoroughly familiar with the technique of the game."
+
+She utterly ignored this hint.
+
+"My one ambition," she said, with a bewitching little laugh, rather
+plaintive, I thought, "is to drive a ball far enough so that there will
+be some difficulty in finding it. It must be jolly to hit a ball
+straight out so far that you cannot tell within yards just where it is.
+Do you know," and she looked really sad, "I have never lost a ball in my
+life?"
+
+"How remarkable!" I exclaimed. "I have known Carter to lose a dozen at
+one game."
+
+"Indeed! I think Mr. Carter is a perfectly splendid player," she
+declared. "I was watching him one day last week. He is so strong,
+confident and easy in his execution of shots. If I could drive like he
+does I would be willing to lose a dozen balls every time I played."
+
+I changed the subject, and was showing her a new way to grip the club
+when I heard a step behind us.
+
+"Hello, Smith! If you are going out in that buzz-wagon with me, Kid, you
+had better drop that stick and get a move on."
+
+Of course it was her father. No one else would dare talk to Miss Harding
+like that. To hear him one would think that she was twelve years old,
+but I suppose fathers can do as they like.
+
+"Fix up a ball, Kid, and let's see how far you can soak it," he said.
+
+"I am just practising the follow through," explained Miss Harding. "Mr.
+Smith has told me many things about the correct way to follow through."
+
+"When your mother was your age she was practising the 'follow through,'
+as you call it, on a scrubbing board over a wash tub," declared Mr.
+Harding, and he said it as if he were proud of it.
+
+"I could do that if I had to," laughed Miss Harding, handing me the
+club. "Thank you, Mr. Smith. To-morrow I expect to show decided
+improvement. Come on, papa!"
+
+"So long, Smith," said Harding. "I'm going to trim you youngsters at
+your own game before I get through with you."
+
+I took a rest all the afternoon so as to be in shape for to-morrow. I
+propose to show Miss Harding that I am the peer of Carter or anyone else
+who plays here.
+
+It never occurred to me that it was possible to get enjoyment out of a
+golf course by any method other than by playing over it, but I had keen
+pleasure all the afternoon in studying the men who frequent the Woodvale
+links. My refusal to play created a sensation, and I enjoyed that.
+
+It is amusing to study the way in which different players go about this
+game. The railway station is only a few hundred yards away, and as I
+watched those men who came on the 1:42 train from the city the thought
+occurred to me that I could have picked out the good players even had I
+been a stranger to those who approached the club house. You can class
+the various types of golfers by their mannerisms, even if you have never
+seen them with a club in their hands. For instance there were two
+members who left the station platform at the same time--Duff and
+Monahan. Both are men of standing in the community, and both are charter
+members. They started to learn the game at the same period, and both
+play at least five afternoons during the season, yet Monahan plays
+consistently in eighty-two, while Duff is fortunate to score in
+ninety-five. Why this woeful inferiority of Duff?
+
+They are great friends and always play together, and they go through the
+same performance every time they reach the grounds.
+
+The moment Monahan left the train he headed for the club house as if it
+were on fire and all of his money in its lockers. Duff says Monahan is
+perfectly quiet and sane until he catches the first glimpse of the
+links, but that his blood then begins to boil, and that he burns in a
+fever of haste to get a club in his hands.
+
+Monahan barely nodded to me as he passed and rushed up stairs. In less
+than two minutes he was back and ready to play. As he tore out he met
+Duff, who had strolled complacently up the walk, stopping now and then
+to speak to a friend or to watch a shot.
+
+Duff's clothes were the model of fashion and good taste. In his hand was
+twirled a cane, and in his lapel was the inevitable boutonniere. He had
+paused to chat with Miss Ross--Duff is married and has a daughter older
+than Miss Ross--and was engaged in a discussion concerning a new play
+when Monahan approached. Monahan had on a golf suit which would cause
+his arrest as a tramp if he wandered from the links.
+
+"Did you come up here to play golf or to pose on the veranda?" demanded
+the indignant Monahan, grasping Duff by the shoulder and swinging him
+half way around. "Please go away from him, Miss Ross; he will talk you
+to death."
+
+Twenty minutes later Duff wandered leisurely out to the first tee, where
+Monahan had been waiting, glaring every few seconds at the club house,
+and swearing under his breath. Duff looked even neater than in his
+street clothes. His shirts, scarfs, trousers, shoes and caps form
+combinations which are sartorial poems.
+
+Duff smiled complacently during the tongue lashing administered by the
+irate Monahan. This happens regularly every time they play. One would
+think that the calm, unruffled Duff would defeat the nervous and
+impatient Monahan, but nothing of the kind happens. The latter exacts
+revenge by beating Duff to a frazzle.
+
+I do not mean to infer that the slow or deliberate person will not make
+a good player, but with deliberation he must have that keen interest
+which dominates all of his faculties.
+
+Marshall, for instance, is the slowest player I ever saw, and one of the
+best. It is tiresome to watch him prepare to make a shot. He averages
+four practise strokes. He has become so addicted to the practise-stroke
+habit that he makes a series of preliminary manoeuvres before carving a
+steak, and he raises his glass and sets it down several times before
+taking a drink. His game is the sublimation of caution. It is the
+brilliancy of care.
+
+Later in the afternoon I wandered down the old lane which bisects the
+links and climbed "The Eagle's Nest," a jagged pile of rocks which rise
+on the southeastern part of the course. When a boy I discovered a way to
+reach the crest of the higher ledge, fully two hundred feet above the
+brook which takes its rambling course to the west. At this altitude
+there is a natural seat, so formed by the rocks that those below cannot
+see the one who uses this as a sentinel box.
+
+It suited my mood to climb there this afternoon. Lazily smoking a cigar
+I drank in the pastoral panorama spread out before me. The old Sumner
+road wound as a dusty-gray ribbon amid fields of grain and corn. Below
+were the pigmy figures of golfers, grotesque in their insignificance,
+striding along like abbreviated compasses.
+
+What dwarfs they were compared with their huge playground; what insects
+they were contrasted to the splendid area within the sweep of the
+horizon; what microbes they were when the eye wandered from them to the
+superb vault of the skies!
+
+I heard the lowing of cattle, and saw the Bishop herd coming over a hill
+from the meadows. The notes of a Scotch air, sung in a clear, mellow
+baritone came to my ears, and a moment later I saw Bishop's "hired
+man," Wallace, driving the kine before him. His cap was in his hand, and
+his jet-black hair fell back from his forehead.
+
+I have no idea what impelled me to do so, but I leaned over the cliff
+and looked below.
+
+Half-way up the gentler slope of "The Eagle's Nest" I saw the figure of
+a girl, or a woman. I keep my eyes on her, and as near as I can
+determine she never once took hers from Bishop's hired man. Not until he
+vanished in the woods which surrounds the farmhouse, did she move. Then
+she turned and slowly picked her way down the rather dangerous path.
+
+It was Miss Olive Lawrence.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. VI
+
+I PLAY WITH MISS HARDING
+
+
+I regret that lack of intimacy with the muses prevents me from recording
+this entry in verse. I have been playing golf with Miss Harding!
+
+Not until this afternoon did I realise that constant association with
+Marshall, Carter, Chilvers, and other hardened golfers has dulled my
+finer sensibilities and deadened my appreciation of the wonderful scenic
+beauties of the Woodvale golf course.
+
+Like the fool bicycle scorcher who tears past beautiful bits of
+landscape, his eyes fixed on the dusty path spurned by his whirring
+wheel, or like the goggled maniac who steers an automobile, I now find
+that I have played hundreds of times over this course without once
+having seen it.
+
+When I was a boy my foolish parents took me on a tour of the continent,
+for the reason, I presume, that they did not dare leave me at home. My
+impression of the colossal splendour beneath the vaulted heights of
+Saint Peter's was that a certain smooth space on the tiled floor offered
+unequalled facilities for playing marbles. I marvelled that baseball
+grounds were not laid out in the noble open spaces surrounding the
+palaces of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. The Swiss Alps had a fascination
+for me by reason of their unsurpassed opportunities for coasting.
+
+It never occurred to me until to-day that nature had any motive in
+planning Woodvale other than to provide a sporty golf course. Miss
+Harding has opened my eyes to the fact that it is one of the most
+beautiful spots on the face of the earth.
+
+When I told Carter I was to play with Miss Harding, he looked sort of
+queer for a moment, and then bet me a box of balls I would not make
+eighty-five. This was the only thing he could think to say. He tried
+hard to conceal his surprise, but I could see that he was hard hit.
+
+He wins the box of balls, all right. As a matter of fact we did not
+finish the round, but I did not tell Carter that. I simply grinned
+happily and told him that he had won.
+
+There is no reason why I should attempt to write an account of this game
+in this diary. I shall never forget the slightest detail of it as long
+as I live.
+
+The night is black as a raven's wing, but I am certain that I can start
+from the first tee and retrace every step made by Miss Harding over the
+fourteen holes played, and I will admit that it was far from a straight
+line. I will wager that I can place my hand on every place where her
+club tore up the turf, and can locate the exact spots where she drove
+out of bounds.
+
+The day was beautiful, the weather perfect. A few fleecy clouds drifted
+across a deep sky. The rich green of the slopes blended into the darker
+shades of the encompassing forests. As a rule, the only thing I can
+recall after a golf game, so far as weather is concerned, is whether it
+rained or if a high wind were blowing. It was different to-day.
+
+I noted that the breeze was just strong enough to ruffle the lace at her
+throat, and that the blue of her gown matched perfectly with cloud, sky,
+and the dominating tones of the undulating carpet on which she tread.
+
+I might play with Marshall or Chilvers a thousand times and not know or
+care if the links were garbed in green or yellow, or if the clouds were
+pink or Van Dyke brown, but as I said before, the only sentiment aroused
+by association with these vindictive golf fiends is a wild and
+unreasoning desire to beat the life out of them at their own game. I
+dislike to say it, but they have never inspired in me one sentiment of
+which I am proud.
+
+At my suggestion we decided to start at the third tee. The first one
+requires a long drive to carry the lane, and on the second it is
+necessary to negotiate the old graveyard, and I disliked to put Miss
+Harding to so severe a test on the start.
+
+As I made a tee for her and carefully placed a new white ball on it, I
+could not help think of the many times I have sneered and laughed at
+Thomas, who is the only good player in the club who has really seemed to
+enjoy a game of golf with one of the opposite sex.
+
+I can see now that I have been very unfair to Thomas.
+
+The man who refuses to play golf with a woman, or who even hesitates,
+and who justifies such conduct on the plea that she cannot play well
+enough to make the contest an equal one--well, he has none of the finer
+instincts of a gentleman.
+
+I told Marshall and Chilvers so this evening, and they laughed at me.
+
+Both of these men are married, and both used to play golf with their
+sweethearts when they were engaged. Once in a great while they now play
+a round with the alleged partners of their joys and sorrows, but they do
+it as if it were a penance, and seem immensely relieved when the ordeal
+is over. It is pitiful to watch these two ladies forced to play
+together, while their lords and masters indulge in fierce foursomes,
+waged for the brute love of victory--and incidentally, perhaps for a
+ball a hole.
+
+If I ever marry I shall play with the habitual golfer only when Mrs.
+Smith is disinclined to favour me with her society on the links.
+Chilvers and Marshall say that they made the same resolution--and kept
+it nearly six months. Let them watch me.
+
+Miss Harding missed the ball entirely the first time she swung at it,
+and both of us laughed heartily.
+
+Now that I come to think of it, nothing used to infuriate me more than
+to have to wait on a tee for a woman who was wildly striking at a ball.
+But one must learn, and it is no disgrace for a lady to miss so small
+an object as a golf ball.
+
+She hit the ball on the second attempt. It did not go far, it is true,
+but it went gracefully, describing a parabolic curve considerably to the
+right of the line of the green.
+
+Then I drove a long, straight ball, and felt just a little bit ashamed
+of myself. It seemed like taking an unfair advantage of my fair
+opponent. In fact it seemed a brutal thing to do, but she expressed
+delight.
+
+"That was splendid, Mr. Smith!" she declared, as my ball stopped
+rolling, more than two hundred yards away. "I know that my poor little
+game will bore you to death, but you invited this calamity."
+
+"I only wish that--that I----" and then I stopped in time to keep from
+saying something foolish.
+
+"Well?" she said, a smile hovering on her lips.
+
+"I only wish that I could drive as far as that every time," I continued,
+"and--and that you could drive twice as far."
+
+"What an absurd wish!" declared Miss Harding.
+
+It was worse than absurd; it was stupid! Imagine a woman driving a ball
+four hundred yards! I would never dare marry such a woman, and I came
+near making some idiotic remark to that effect, but luckily at that
+moment we came to her ball. I selected the proper club for her, jabbered
+something about how to play the shot, and thus got safely out of an
+awkward situation.
+
+At my suggestion we were playing without caddies. There are times when
+these little terrors take all of the romance out of a situation, and I
+did not wish to be bothered with them.
+
+On her fourth shot Miss Harding landed her ball in the brook, and it
+took quite a time to find it. While we were looking for it Boyd and
+LaHume arrived on the tee, and I motioned them to drive ahead.
+
+I have seen this brook a thousand times. It was my greatest source of
+amusement and mischief when a boy, but never until this afternoon did I
+observe its perfect beauty. Heretofore it has been no more nor less than
+a ribbon of water with weed-lined banks and tall rushes, into which a
+poor player is likely to drive a ball and lose one or more strokes. It
+is one of our "natural hazards," and I have thought no more of it than I
+would of the cushion on a billiard table.
+
+I shall never cross that brook again without thinking of her face as I
+saw it mirrored in the shadows of the old stone bridge. The reflection
+was framed with delicate interfacings of water cress, while in the bed
+of the stream the smooth pebbles gleamed like pearls. The pointed reeds
+nodded and waved in the gentle breeze.
+
+Now that I think of it, I have cursed those reeds many, many times while
+hunting for a lost ball.
+
+"Is it not beautiful?" I exclaimed to Miss Harding.
+
+"That drive of Mr. Boyd's?" she asked in reply. Boyd had made a ripper,
+which went sailing over our heads. "It was a lovely drive! He has beaten
+you by several yards."
+
+"I meant the brook," I said.
+
+"The brook?" she exclaimed. "I am surprised, Mr. Smith! I had no idea
+that a confirmed golfer could find beauty in anything outside of a
+drive, brassie, approach or putt."
+
+"You malign us, Miss Harding," I declared, looking first in her eyes and
+then in her mirrored image in the water. "From where I stand that brook
+is the most lovely thing in the world, except--except----"
+
+"Mr. LaHume has put his ball square on the green on his second shot!"
+interrupted Miss Harding, clapping her hands in excitement.
+
+I do not know whether she knew what I was going to say or not. I wish I
+had the nerve to finish some of the fine speeches and compliments I plan
+and begin, but as a rule I end them without a climax.
+
+We found the ball and I dropped it a few yards back of the brook. She
+promptly drove it into the brook a second time, and what became of it
+will always remain a mystery to me. It did not go more than fifteen
+feet, and we looked and looked but could not find it, so I smiled and
+dropped another one, and this time she made a really good shot.
+
+Counting all of the strokes and penalties it took Miss Harding fifteen
+to make that hole, the bogy for which is four, but I assured her that I
+have known men to do worse, and I believe the statement a fact, though I
+cannot recall at this moment who did it in such woeful figures.
+
+Miss Harding insisted in trying to drive over the pond on the fourth
+hole, and said she would gladly pay for all the balls that went into it,
+but of course I would not listen to that. The pond is very shallow at
+this season of the year, and in fact is a mud hole in most places, and
+it is therefore impossible to recover a ball which fails to carry less
+than eighty yards.
+
+She barely touched the ball on her first attempt, and I got it after
+wading in the mud to my shoe tops. Then she hit it nicely, but it failed
+to carry the pond by a few yards, and disappeared in the ooze.
+
+"I thought I could do it, but I give it up," she said, and I could see
+that she was disappointed.
+
+"Try it again," I insisted, teeing up a new one. "Keep your eye on the
+ball when your club comes down, and don't press."
+
+She made a brave effort, but hit the ball a trifle on top. It struck the
+water, ricochetted and eventually poised itself on a mud bank. I recall
+how white it looked against the black slime with lily pads in the
+background, but I saw at a glance that it would remain there, so far as
+we were concerned.
+
+[Illustration: "We rested on top of the hill"]
+
+Against her protest I teed another ball, but she went under it and it
+met the fate of its predecessors. It took all my eloquence to induce her
+to make the five attempts which followed, and then I made the discovery
+that I had brought only eight new balls with me. So I excused myself and
+went back to the club house and bought a box of a dozen, but nothing
+would change her determination not to try it again.
+
+I am firmly convinced that with a little luck she could have done it,
+but it was the first time Miss Harding had played this course, and that
+makes lots of difference.
+
+Of the various incidents in this most delightful game nothing gave me
+more keen enjoyment than when Miss Harding played Carter's ball. It was
+by mistake, of course. Nature has implanted in woman an instinct which
+leads her to play any ball rather than her own. The ball thus selected
+is generally without a blemish, and it has been ordained that a weak
+little creature can with one stroke cut that sphere in halves.
+
+That is what happened to Carter's ball when Miss Harding played it by
+mistake, and I never laughed more heartily. Carter smiled and bowed and
+pretended to be amused, but I knew he was not.
+
+We rested on top of the hill after this exploit and talked of the rare
+view and of other topics which had nothing whatever to do with golf.
+Never before have I rested during a game, and I did not think it
+possible. I have been on that hill innumerable times, but it never
+occurred to me to take more than a passing glance at the inspiring
+vista which spreads away to the north and west.
+
+We talked of poetry and of art. Think of sitting with a golf club in
+your hand, resting a few rods from a tee where a clean shot will carry
+the railway tracks a hundred feet below and land your ball on a green
+two hundred and eighty yards from the tee--it is one of the finest holes
+in the country--think of idling an hour away on the most perfect golf
+afternoon you ever saw, and repeating line after line of verse
+descriptive of "meadows green and sylvan shades," and all that sort of
+thing!
+
+We did that! I would not believe it, but I actually felt sorry for the
+chaps who went past us, their minds absorbed in the mere struggle to see
+which would take the fewer numbers of strokes in putting golf balls in
+certain round holes. Honestly I pitied them.
+
+And they envied me. I could see that. The arrival of Miss Harding has
+created a sensation, and it was no small honour to play the first game
+with her. Of course Marshall, Chilvers, Pepper and other married men
+hardly noticed me, but Thomas, Boyd, Roberts and such young gallants
+smiled, bowed and looked longingly in my direction.
+
+It took us more than five hours to play twelve holes, and I have played
+twice around in less than that. I have not the slightest idea what my
+score is, and that is something which never before happened to me.
+Carter wins a dozen balls, and he can have them, or a dozen dozen for
+all I care.
+
+Miss Harding has promised to play with me again.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. VII
+
+TWO BOYS FROM BUCKFIELD
+
+
+When Harding was in the city he purchased a huge golf bag, the most
+wonderful assortment of clubs imaginable, also two golf suits and a
+bewildering array of shirts, caps, scarfs, shoes and other articles that
+some dealers assured him were necessary for the proper playing of the
+game.
+
+"If I have got to play this fool game, and I suppose there is no way I
+can get out of it," he said to me, looking down disdainfully at his
+knickerbockered legs and taking an extra hitch on his new leather belt,
+"I may as well have the regulation uniform. How do I look?"
+
+I told him the suit was very becoming. He was a sight! On his huge,
+bushy head was a Scotch cap, and it is certain that no clan stands
+sponsor for that bewildering plaid. The silk shirt was a beauty, but it
+did not harmonise with the burning red of his coat, with its cuffs and
+collar of vivid green.
+
+His trousers were of another plaid, but I should say that his stockings
+were the dominating feature of his make-up. They were of green and gray,
+the stripes running around instead of up and down, the effect being, of
+course, to emphasise the appearance of stoutness. When you pull a thick
+stocking or legging over an eighteen-inch calf you have done something
+which compels even those who are near-sighted and blase to sit up and
+give attention.
+
+Harding's feet are of generous proportions, and his tan shoes with their
+thick, broad soles armed with big spikes to keep him from slipping
+looked most impressive.
+
+He was the personification of newness. The leather of his bag was
+flawless, and the grips of his clubs were new and glossy. The steel and
+nickel of his iron clubs shone without one flaw to dim their lustre. In
+the pocket of his bag were a dozen new balls, so white and gleaming that
+it seemed a shame to use them. I could see that the art collection of
+balls being made by Miss Dangerfield would take on a boom from the
+advent of Harding.
+
+"Tell you what I want to do, Smith," said Harding, as we stood on the
+veranda of the club house, early this forenoon. "I want to find some
+place where I can soak a ball as far as I can and not have it stopped by
+a hill or a brook, or something like that. I haven't been over this
+place yet, but isn't there some smooth, level place where a ball would
+naturally roll a quarter of a mile or so if you hit it good and hard?"
+
+"The eighteenth hole is six hundred and thirty-two yards--one of the
+longest in the country," I said, "and it is smooth as a barn floor after
+you carry the railroad tracks. That is a long carry, and most players go
+short and take the tracks on their second shot."
+
+"Six hundred odd yards," he mused. "Let's see; over a third of a mile,
+eh?"
+
+I said that it was, and a par hole in six.
+
+"Anybody ever drive it yet?" he asked.
+
+"Drive it?" I repeated, laughing. "Well, I should say not! I have
+reached the green in three only twice in all the times I have played it,
+and am well satisfied to be there in four."
+
+"That proves nothing to me," he said, looking me over, "but you're a
+pretty husky-appearing chap at that. You're nearly six feet, aren't you,
+Smith?"
+
+"A quarter of an inch more than six feet in my stockings," I said.
+
+"And how much do you weigh?"
+
+"One hundred and eighty-five."
+
+"You'd ought to be able to drive a ball farther than you do," he said,
+with the air of one who had mastered the game in all its details. There
+is not a man in the club who can consistently out-drive me, and I'll
+wager that Kirkaldy himself cannot average ten yards more than I do, but
+what was the use of arguing with Harding?
+
+It was easy to see that this magnate actually believed that his first
+stroke at a golf ball was no accident, and was confident that with a
+little practice he could far surpass that terrific drive of two hundred
+and seventy yards. But though I well knew what was coming to him I held
+my peace.
+
+I asked Kirkaldy if he had ever known of a happening similar to
+Harding's now famous drive. He said he could not recall when a duffer
+had reached so great a distance, but it was not unusual for a husky
+novice to drive a few good balls before he began to attempt an
+improvement of a natural, but of course crude, stroke.
+
+"But," I asked Kirkaldy, "how did Harding manage to drive it so far?"
+
+"Strength and luck, mon," said our Scotch professional, "the more luck.
+It war th' same as when ye won a match with me by makin' th' last three
+holes in less than bogy. Luck, mon, is yer truest friend."
+
+I think Kirkaldy is right.
+
+"I never like to take up a thing unless it is difficult," said Harding,
+as we started for the eighteenth tee. "I like to do the things other men
+say cannot be done, and without blowing my own horn I have done a few of
+them. I am fond of work, but when I play I play with all my might. The
+boy who is not a good player will never make a good worker. You take a
+boy who is playing baseball, for instance. I can watch a game among
+youngsters and pick out those who are likely to win out later on in
+life."
+
+"How?" I interrupted.
+
+"By the way they go at it. The one who covers the most ground on a ball
+field will cover the most ground later on in whatever he undertakes. The
+one who plays to win, who takes chances even at the risk of making
+errors is the coming man. The boy who sits down in the out-field, on the
+theory that a ball is not likely to come in his direction, will be poor
+all his life. The boy who plays an unimportant position as if his very
+existence depended upon it will get along all right, and don't you
+forget it. But this golf game is so simple that it does not call on a
+man to let himself out. Billiards is my game. Billiards is a game of
+endless possibilities, and no matter how well a man plays there is
+always room for improvement."
+
+That made me mad, and I resented this assertion the more for the reason
+that I once held the same views as he then expressed. I went right at
+him.
+
+"When you have played as many games of golf as you have of billiards," I
+said, and I play a fair billiard game myself, "you will not mention them
+in the same breath. Let me assure you, Mr. Harding, that golf is the
+most difficult game in the world, and you have only the slightest
+conception of what you must master before you can play more than an
+indifferent sort of a game."
+
+He smiled indulgently.
+
+"What is there hard about it?" he demanded. "In billiards, for instance,
+you--"
+
+"You play billiards on a table which is not more than five feet by ten,"
+I broke in, "and you play golf on a table which may cover two hundred
+acres of hills, woods, marshes, ponds, brooks, and meadows. You play
+billiards in a room which is always at about the same temperature, and
+where there is not a breath of air stirring. You play golf out-of-doors,
+where it may be one hundred in the shade or far below freezing; under
+conditions of perfect calm, or with winds ranging all the way from a
+zephyr to gales from every point of the compass."
+
+"There is something in that," he admitted, "but you need not get mad
+about it, Smith."
+
+"Your billiard table is always the same," I continued. "It consists of
+the cloth and four cushions, and they are smooth as art can make them.
+Your golf course is never the same on any two days, and would not be if
+you played through all eternity. Sometimes the grass in a certain place
+is long, and sometimes it is short; sometimes it is thick, and again it
+is thin; sometimes the ground is hard from lack of rain, and again it is
+soft and spongy from an excess of rain. There are millions of variations
+in these conditions, and every one of them must be considered in making
+a perfect shot."
+
+"Yes, I suppose that is so," he admitted, and I could see I had started
+him thinking.
+
+"There are days when the air is light," I went on, "and when a certain
+stroke will send the ball where you wish it to go. There are other days
+when the air is heavy, and when a hit ball seems to have no life in it.
+You must allow for the force and direction of every slant of wind. There
+are conditions of atmosphere when objects seem near, and others when
+they seem far away, and you must take this into account."
+
+He was silent, and I went on.
+
+"On a billiard table your ball is always within easy reach. You stand on
+a level floor and play on a level table. In golf your ball never lands
+in the same place twice. It may be above you, or below you. It may lie
+in any one of ten million separate conformations of ground, and for each
+you must exercise judgment. Your clubs change in weight as you clean
+them; no two golf balls have the same degree of elasticity when new, and
+as you use them it decreases. But more than all else, you are not the
+same man physically or mentally on any two days. A slight increase in
+weight, the wearing of an extra garment, the congestion of a muscle or
+the stiffening of a chord may be sufficient to throw you off your stroke
+and seriously impair your game."
+
+"Nonsense; I don't believe it," he declared. "When I once find out how
+to make a certain shot I will keep right on improving until I have it
+perfect."
+
+"If that were possible golf would lose its charm," I said. "A man will
+go on making a certain shot with almost perfect accuracy for months, and
+all at once lose the knack of it, and not be able to recover it for
+months, and perhaps never. In order to hit a golf ball accurately there
+are scores of muscles which must act in perfect accord, and the several
+parts of the body must maintain certain positions during the various
+parts of the stroke. If the shoulder drops the quarter of an inch, if
+the heel rises too soon by the minutest fraction of a second, if either
+hand grasping the club turns in any degree the stroke is ruined. You
+will hit the ball, but it will not go the distance or the direction
+required."
+
+"Must be a mighty hard game, from all that you say," he laughed, grimly.
+"Guess I'd better go back and not try it, but I notice that there was
+nothing the matter with the position of my muscles, cords, hands and the
+rest of my anatomy the other day when I whacked that ball out of sight.
+And I can do it again, Smith, and don't you forget it."
+
+I preferred to await the arbitrament of events so far as that boast was
+concerned.
+
+We had arrived at the eighteenth tee, and he looked over the field with
+much satisfaction. The railroad embankment is about one hundred and
+fifty yards from the tee, and few try to carry it. The old post road
+runs parallel to the line of this hole, and forms the western boundary
+of the Woodvale links. There is no bunker save the railroad bank for the
+entire distance, and it is an ideal hole for the golf "slugger."
+
+"Where is the green?" asked Harding, standing on the elevated tee. I
+pointed in the line of the old church belfry, and after a long look he
+declared that he could see the white flag floating from the standard.
+
+"Nobody ever drove it, you say?" he observed, throwing his shoulders
+back.
+
+"Of course not," I laughed, and added, "and never will."
+
+"Don't be too sure about that," he said, piling a mound of sand. "It's
+nothing more than a 'putt,' as you call it, to bat a ball over that
+railroad."
+
+"You talk about driving six hundred yards to that green," I said,
+annoyed at his ignorant nerve, "I will bet you a box of cigars that you
+do not carry that railroad track in a month."
+
+"Don't be foolish, Smith."
+
+"Do you wish to bet?"
+
+"Of course I do," he replied, teeing a ball, "and we'll get action on it
+in about ten seconds. Just keep your eye on this ball!"
+
+Disdaining to take a practice stroke, he swung viciously at it. He must
+have caught it on the toe of his club, for it sliced to the right in a
+low and sweeping curve.
+
+As I followed its flight I saw a farm wagon in the road. The driver had
+stopped his team, and was standing up watching Harding. I recognised
+Farmer Bishop, and noted that his sallow face was distorted in a
+disdainful grin, which froze on his lips when he saw the ball curving
+toward him.
+
+It is difficult for an experienced golfer to dodge a sliced drive, even
+when he has a chance to run to one side or the other, but all that
+Bishop could do was to duck, which he did, with the result that the
+ball hit his left temple. He half fell and half jumped to the ground,
+and was not so badly hurt as to prevent his being the maddest
+agriculturist I have seen in many years.
+
+He danced up and down at the edge of the road, his hand to his head,
+warm, loud words flowing in a torrent from his mouth.
+
+Harding dropped his club and we both ran toward the injured man. Harding
+was the first to reach the fence, but he did not climb over.
+
+"Did it hit you?" he asked Bishop.
+
+The farmer took one more hop and then turned and faced the railroad
+magnate. There was a lump over his eye bigger than a hen's egg, and on
+it I could see the bramble marks of the ball. It was a moment before his
+rage permitted utterance. He spit out a mouthful of tobacco so as not to
+be handicapped.
+
+"Did you hit me; you dod-gasted old poppinjay of a fat dude!" he
+exclaimed, shaking a brawny, freckled fist at Harding. "Did you hit me;
+you flabby old chromo! Do you suppose I fall out of my wagon and dance
+up and down this road for exercise; you old boiled lobster?"
+
+"I am very sorry, sir," said Harding, amusement and growing anger
+struggling for mastery. "I wasn't shooting in this direction. Something
+happened to my ball; what do you call it, Smith?"
+
+[Illustration: "Did it hit you?"]
+
+"You sliced it," I said.
+
+"That's it; I sliced it," declared Harding, as if that were more or less
+of a valid excuse.
+
+"You come over that fence an' I'll slice you!" roared Bishop, taking a
+step forward. "Things have come to a fine pass in this country if an
+honest farmer can't take his milk to town without riskin' bein' murdered
+by plutocrats with 'sliced balls' and all that blankety-blank tommyrot.
+Climb over on this side of the fence an' I'll lick seven kinds of
+stuffin' out of you in erbout a minute."
+
+"Keep your shirt on!" retorted Harding, "you won't lick nobody."
+
+He looked curiously at the maddened farmer.
+
+"Your name is Bishop, isn't it?" he asked, and I wondered how he
+happened to know.
+
+"Yes, my name's Bishop," was the sullen and defiant answer.
+
+"Jim Bishop?"
+
+"Yes; Jim Bishop."
+
+Harding grinned good-naturedly.
+
+"Don't you know who I am?" he asked.
+
+"No, I don't, and I don't give a damn!" replied Bishop, looking at him
+more closely, I thought.
+
+"Did you know a young fellow named Harding when you were a boy?" asked
+Harding.
+
+"Bob Harding?"
+
+"Yes, Bob Harding!"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that you're the Bob Harding who uster live on a
+farm near Buckfield, Maine?" asked Bishop, the anger dying from his
+voice.
+
+"That's what I am!" declared the millionaire, as Bishop came toward him,
+a curious smile on his tanned face. "How are you, Jim?"
+
+"Well; I'll be jiggered! How are you, Bob?" and they shook hands across
+the fence. For a moment neither spoke.
+
+"It's thirty years or more since I've seen you," said Harding. "When did
+you move to this country?"
+
+"Over twenty-five years ago," said Bishop. "And what have you been doing
+with yourself all these years? I surely hope you've found something
+better to do than play this here fool game an' knock people's heads
+off."
+
+He tenderly rubbed the lump on his forehead.
+
+"I just took this game up," said Harding rather sheepishly. "I've been
+building railroads."
+
+"Are you Robert L. Harding, the railroad king that the papers talks so
+much erbout?" demanded Bishop.
+
+"I guess I'm the fellow," admitted Harding.
+
+"Well; I never would er believed it!" gasped Bishop, and then they shook
+hands again.
+
+They sat on a rock and talked about Buckfield and their boyhood days for
+an hour. It seems that they were born and raised on adjoining farms, and
+were chums until Harding's father died, at which time Harding went West
+and found his fortune.
+
+Not until the horses became restless and started to go home did Bishop
+note the passing of time. He cordially invited Harding and his daughter
+to come and call on him, and Harding did not hesitate in accepting the
+invitation.
+
+Now that I think of it, none of us gave a thought to that ball, and I
+suppose it is out in the road yet. Harding said that was all the golf he
+wished that day, and so we went back to the club house.
+
+"Talk about driving a ball six hundred yards, Smith," he said, as we
+came to the eighteenth tee. "I knocked that ball so far that I hit a boy
+in Maine, and that's hundreds of miles from here."
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. VIII
+
+DOWNFALL OF MR. HARDING
+
+
+I do not know whether to be annoyed or amused over the result of my
+second golf game with Miss Harding. It was not in the least like my
+anticipations.
+
+Our first game was so romantic. It was as if the kindly skies had raised
+a dome over earth's most favoured spot and reserved it for our use. It
+was different to-day.
+
+I presume it is necessary that beautiful maidens shall have fathers. I
+raise no doubt that Mr. Harding is a wonderful financier and railroad
+genius, and it is likely he is entitled to a vacation and to that
+relaxation which comes from taking exercise, but this does not justify
+him in--well, in "butting in" on our game. I don't use slang as a rule,
+but no other term so accurately describes the conduct of that gentleman
+this afternoon.
+
+As for Carter--I have no words to express what I think of Carter.
+
+If I had a daughter nineteen years old it would occur to me that she
+might prefer to play golf with a young gentleman somewhere near her own
+age rather than with me, especially if that young gentleman were a good
+golfer, and possessed of wealth, prospects, and honourable ambitions.
+But Mr. Harding treats her as if she were a school miss in short
+dresses. He persists in calling her "Kid," and only rarely does he
+address her by the beautiful name of Grace.
+
+When Miss Harding started from the club house her father was on the lawn
+not many yards away engaged in the interesting but expensive experiment
+of trying to drive balls across the lake. He was buying new balls by the
+box--they cost $5.50 a box--with the joyous abandon of a pampered boy
+purchasing fire-crackers on the Fourth of July.
+
+All he asks of a ball is "one crack at it," and the caddies were reaping
+a harvest. He had not made one decent drive, and was surprised and
+angry.
+
+As luck would have it he turned and saw us as we were starting for the
+first tee. He had laid aside that flaming red-and-green coat, and was in
+his shirt sleeves. His face was crimson from exertion, and his hair wet
+with perspiration.
+
+"Where are you going?" he called.
+
+"We're going to play a round," I answered, with a sinking heart.
+
+"Good; I'll go with you," he returned. "Chuck the rest of those balls
+into that sack," he said to one of his caddies, "and follow me."
+
+What could I do but say we would be delighted to have him join us? We
+were waiting for him, when who should come from the club house but
+Carter.
+
+"Hello there, Carter!" shouted Harding. "Come on and play with us! This
+is my first real game, and we'll make it a foursome, or whatever you
+call it. What d'ye say?"
+
+"That's fine!" declared Carter.
+
+I happen to know that he had already made up a game with Marshall, Boyd,
+and Chilvers, but he did not hesitate to abandon them for his
+long-coveted chance to play with Miss Harding.
+
+"We'll have a great game," asserted Mr. Harding mopping his brow. "How
+shall we divide up? I suppose you're the best player, Carter, and Smith
+comes next, but I can beat the Kid, here," patting Miss Harding on the
+shoulder.
+
+"I'll bet you cannot," I declared, angry that he should class Carter
+above me.
+
+"Bet I cannot beat my Grace?" he exclaimed. I told him that such was my
+opinion.
+
+"Of course I can beat you, papa," laughed Miss Harding. "You have never
+played, and know nothing of the game. I can beat you easily."
+
+"Talk of the insolence and ingratitude of children!" he gasped. "Kid,
+I'm astonished at you! I'll teach both of you a lesson. What do you want
+to bet, Smith?"
+
+I suggested that a box of balls would suit me as a bet.
+
+"Box of monkeys!" exclaimed Harding. "I thought you were a sport, Smith!
+A box of balls don't last me as long as a box of cigarettes does Carter.
+Tell you what I'll do. We'll all keep track of our shots, and for every
+one I beat her you pay me a box of balls, and for every one she beats me
+I pay you a box of balls. How does that strike you?"
+
+"Take him up, Mr. Smith," said Miss Harding, a smile on her lips and a
+meaning glance in her eyes. I would not have hesitated had I known it
+would have cost me every dollar in the world.
+
+"You are on, Mr. Harding," I said.
+
+"We'll teach you a good lesson, Papa Harding," she declared, with a
+confidence which surprised me. "You have never seen me play."
+
+He roared with laughter.
+
+"Talk about David and Goliath!" he exclaimed. "Tell you what I'll do,
+Kid. I'll make you a small bet on the side. You remember that sixty
+horse-power buzz wagon we were looking at in the city the other day?"
+
+"The one in red that I admired so much?" asked Miss Harding.
+
+"Yes, the one you tried to soft soap me into buying. Tell you what I'll
+do. If you beat me I'll buy that machine for you, and if I beat you I
+get a new hat which you pay for out of your pin money."
+
+"It's a shame to take advantage of you, papa, dear," she hesitated, "but
+I want that machine awfully, and I'll make the wager."
+
+[Illustration: "... and missed the ball by three inches"]
+
+"If you never get it until you beat me at this shinny game you will
+wait a long time," he declared. "Who shoots first?"
+
+"Miss Harding and I will be partners," suggested Carter, before I could
+get the words out of my mouth.
+
+"Since I am interested in Miss Harding's play to the extent of a box of
+balls a stroke, I claim the right to act as her partner and adviser," I
+said, looking hard at Carter.
+
+"Mr. Smith and I will be partners," said Miss Harding, and it was the
+happiest moment of my life.
+
+"I don't care who are partners," said Harding, stepping up to the tee.
+"I'll shoot first, and you keep your eye on your Uncle Dudley!"
+
+He piled up a hill of sand, gripped his club like grim death, drew back,
+swung with all his might--and missed the ball by three inches.
+
+"One stroke!" laughed Miss Harding.
+
+"That don't count!" he declared. "I didn't hit the blamed thing at all!
+Look at it! It's just where I fixed it a minute ago. Don't cheat, Kid!"
+
+"A missed ball counts a stroke," laughed Carter.
+
+"Are you sure that's the rule?"
+
+We all assured him there was not the slightest doubt of it.
+
+"All that I can say is that it's a fool rule," he protested, "but at
+that, one missed swipe cuts little figure with me. Here goes for number
+two!"
+
+"Don't press!" cautioned Carter.
+
+"I'll press all I darned please. Keep your eyes on this one!"
+
+He grazed the ball enough to make it roll not more than twenty feet into
+a clump of tall grass. He looked blankly at it, but did not say a word.
+Then he took a jack-knife from his pocket and cut two notches in the
+shaft of his club.
+
+Carter drove out a good one, and I teed a ball for Miss Harding. The
+lane is about a hundred yards away, and I thought of advising her to
+play short, but on reflection determined not to embarrass her by
+suggestions so early in the game.
+
+The moment she took her stance and grasped her club I noted a difference
+in her style of play as compared with that of the preceding day. Her
+club head came back with a free, even curve, and on the return she
+caught the ball with a good though not perfect follow through. The ball
+carried straight and true over the lane, and did not stop rolling until
+it had passed the 130-yard mark. It was a nice clean drive, and I smiled
+my approval.
+
+"Good work, Kid," grinned Harding, but he did not seem the least
+dismayed. I should not care to play poker with him. I lined out a
+beauty, and then Harding returned to the attack.
+
+It took two strokes to get his ball out of the grass. On his fifth shot
+the ball had a good lie about ten yards from the lane fence. He smashed
+at it with a brassie, but drove too low. The ball hit a fence post and
+bounded back fully seventy-five yards. In five strokes he had not
+gained a foot. After a combination of weird and wonderful shots he
+reached the green in twelve.
+
+Harding's putting was a revelation in how not to drop a ball in a cup.
+He went back and forth over the hole like a shuttle. This performance
+added six to his score, and he holed out in nineteen. He was fighting
+mad, but did not say a word. While the rest of us were holing out he
+sullenly added seventeen notches to his club.
+
+I was astonished and pleased at the reversal in form shown by Miss
+Harding. Two iron shots laid her ball on the green, her approach was a
+little weak, and she missed an easy two-foot putt, but she made the hole
+in seven, which is not at all bad for a woman. Carter and I both got
+fours.
+
+When Harding finally got his ball out of the old graveyard in playing
+the second hole there was a dispute as to how many strokes he had taken.
+I counted twelve, but he claimed only nine, and we let him have his own
+way about it. I did not dare to dispute with him, fearing that he might
+have a stroke of apoplexy. He marked eleven new notches on his club
+shaft for this hole.
+
+He made a fair drive over the marsh on his third hole, flubbed his
+second and third shots, but his fourth was a screaming brassie which
+landed him on the green within two inches of the cup. It was one of
+those freak shots which a man makes once a season, but Harding took
+vast credit for it and was the happiest person on the links over his
+bogy five for this long hole.
+
+Miss Harding was playing like a veteran. This hole is 355 yards from the
+tee, but she was well on the green on her third, and holed out in six.
+Carter did the same, but I got a five and saved the hole for our side.
+
+I do not know how to account for Miss Harding's improved playing. It was
+not in the least like that of the day when we were alone. For the entire
+eighteen holes she played steady, consistent golf. It was not brilliant,
+but it was a creditable exhibition for a woman. She kept on the course,
+missed only two drives, and rarely failed to get distance and direction.
+
+Not until we had played half-way around and Harding was hopelessly
+behind did he give voice to his amazement.
+
+"This is the time you have got the old man down and out, Kid," he said,
+after she had made the ninth hole in four to his fourteen. "I'll admit
+that there is a trick about this game that I'm not on to, but you just
+wait; you just wait. I seem to hit 'em all right, but confound 'em, they
+don't go right. I don't understand it. I'd have bet a million dollars
+against a perfecto cigar that I could drive a ball farther than a
+125-pound girl, even if she is my daughter."
+
+"We will call our bet off, Mr. Harding," I suggested, satisfied that we
+had tumbled him from the pedestal reared by his conceit.
+
+"We'll call nothing off," he promptly declared. "Soak it to me as hard
+as you can; I'll get even with all of you before the season's over."
+
+No language can describe the game played by the railway magnate. His
+miserable playing was supplemented by worse luck. A predatory cow
+swallowed his ball. He drove another one into the crotch of a tree, hit
+Carter in the shin, broke a window in the club house, tore his trousers,
+sprained his thumb, and poisoned his hands with ivy while searching for
+a lost ball. He conversed much with himself when Miss Harding was not
+near.
+
+The nicks in his club by which he kept score became so numerous, and
+they so weakened the shaft, that he finally broke it; also one of the
+commandments.
+
+The story of his calamities and of his undoing is feebly indicated by
+his score, which was as follows:
+
+          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
+   Out-- 19 11  5  7 12  9  8 16 14--101
+   In---  8  6 10  5  7  7 11  5 12-- 71
+                                     ---
+         Total                     --172
+
+Miss Harding made it in 116, and with a reasonable amount of luck I am
+sure she would have done much better. I played a rattling good game,
+completing the round in 80, which is the best score I have made this
+season.
+
+I put it all over Carter, who had made me a side bet of the dinners for
+the four of us that his individual score would be better than mine.
+
+Miss Harding won an automobile which will cost not less than $15,000; I
+won fifty-six dozen golf balls, enough to last me two years; Carter lost
+a dinner which I thoroughly enjoyed, and Mr. Harding lost his temper,
+but I will give him credit for finding it the moment the game was over.
+
+He laughed as if it were the greatest joke in the world.
+
+"You threw me down, Kid," he said to Miss Harding, "but I'll forgive
+you. You get the buzz wagon and Smith gets a cartload of balls, but I'll
+tell you one thing, and that is this: I'm going to learn how to hit one
+of those blamed balls in the nose every time I swipe at it, even if I
+have to resign the presidency of the R.G. & K. railroad."
+
+I can see that the golf microbe has marked him for a shining victim.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. IX
+
+MR. SMITH GETS BUSY
+
+
+I have had to neglect my golf and attend to business. For nearly a week
+I have not seen Miss Harding. And all on account of that miserable N.O.
+& G. stock.
+
+Early in the week it dropped to more than ten points below the figure at
+which I purchased it. This meant a loss of $20,000.
+
+Tuesday morning I called on my broker and he informed me that if N.O. &
+G. dropped two more points he would have to call on me for margins.
+There were rumours, he said, that it would pass its next dividend, or at
+least reduce it. Then I got busy.
+
+I called on Jones, the kind friend who steered me against this
+investment. Jones informed me that certain powerful banking interests
+were raiding the stock. He could not identify them, and I saw that he
+knew nothing about it.
+
+"We are the lambs, Smith," he sadly said. "I'm in for a thousand shares
+myself."
+
+"They have not an ounce of my fleece yet," I declared, and turned and
+left him.
+
+I served two years on Wall Street under my father, and there was no
+streak of mutton in him. It made me furious to think that I should be
+made to "hold the bag" for a lot of unscrupulous tricksters.
+
+I set about ascertaining the exact status of the business of the N.O. &
+G. In my search for information I was thwarted again and again, but I do
+not think it was entirely luck which led me to solve the mystery to my
+personal satisfaction. I employed detectives to assist me, and in four
+days had the information on which to act.
+
+It is as neat a conspiracy as ever was hatched by financial brigands,
+but I think I know every tree behind which they are hid. It is probable
+that they are within the pale of the written law, but one would have the
+same right to operate in gold bricks or green goods.
+
+It may be that the action I have taken will spell my financial ruin, but
+I propose to ascertain if a gentleman cannot take a modest flyer in Wall
+Street without being marked as "a come-on," which is the term used by
+those who rig the market.
+
+If they get me it will be not for $20,000 but for $2,000,000. I propose
+to make the fight of my life. I wonder what Miss Harding would think if
+she knew I were engaged in a deal of this magnitude?
+
+On Thursday I instructed my business agents to convert certain
+negotiable assets into cash, and to arrange for an extension of my
+credit with the banks. I now propose to follow N.O. & G. to the
+bottom--if there be one--and if not I shall drop with my money into the
+fathomless void of bankruptcy.
+
+I called on my broker.
+
+"I wish to get out," I said to him. "I will take my losses. This has
+been an expensive experience to me."
+
+"I do not imagine, Mr. Smith," he said, "that the loss of $23,000 will
+seriously cripple you or disturb your serenity."
+
+I made a gesture of despair.
+
+"If that were all I would not give it a thought," I said. He looked at
+me curiously.
+
+"I hope that you are not long on this stock to any great extent," he
+said.
+
+"I should have said nothing about it," I returned, looking as distressed
+as possible. "Please make no inference from my remark, and keep this
+transaction entirely an office secret."
+
+"It is not necessary to caution me," he quickly said.
+
+The financial papers that evening recorded a rumour to the effect that
+"The son of a late well-known banker and operator is said to be heavily
+long on N.O. & G., and the slump in that stock during the closing hours
+was probably due to his frantic efforts to close out an account
+estimated at 20,000 shares."
+
+I wonder where that rumour originated. This is the way secrets are kept
+in Wall Street.
+
+Prior to this I had commissioned Morse & Davis, brokers in whom I have
+implicit confidence, to purchase 5,000 shares of the stock at or below
+75. I obtained 79 for my original investment, and its sale combined with
+the circulation of the rumour before mentioned precipitated a flurry in
+N.O. & G. which sent it as low as 74 and a fraction.
+
+[Illustration: "It is not necessary to caution me"]
+
+Before the market closed I had my five thousand shares.
+
+Friday morning selling orders poured in from frightened small holders,
+and when their demands had been satisfied the "syndicated conspirators"
+put the screws on just as I expected. They also circulated an alleged
+authorised interview with an official of the N.O. & G. forecasting the
+passing of the regular semi-annual dividend.
+
+Had I not been acquainted with the plans of these quotation wreckers I
+should have been seriously alarmed.
+
+When the tape recorded a sale at 70 I placed an order with Morse & Davis
+for 10,000 shares, and they picked it up in small lots at an average of
+69. It rose slightly on Saturday, and I did nothing with it.
+
+I have put up in margins $375,000, sufficient to protect me against a
+drop of twenty-five points. I stand to lose $1,975,000, and know where I
+can place my hands on the money. I anticipate that the stock will go
+much lower, and have planned accordingly. My share of my lamented
+father's estate is worth fully two and a half millions, and it is in
+such shape that I can speedily convert it into cash. If these thieves
+can get it they are welcome to it, but they will know that they have
+been in a fight.
+
+The transition from the healthy quiet of Woodvale to the feverish furore
+of Wall Street was startling. At times as I stood by the ticker I could
+hardly persuade myself that it was not a dream, from which I should
+awake to stroll with Miss Harding across the brooks and green meadows we
+both love so well.
+
+My prolonged absence from the links created some comment, so I am told,
+but no questions were asked and I volunteered no information. I have
+arranged matters so that it will not be necessary to spend much of my
+time in the city, unless something unexpected develops.
+
+I have lost no sleep, but my golf this afternoon was disappointing.
+
+I required eighty-nine for the round and lost seven golf balls to
+Chilvers and Boyd. This will never do![1]
+
+[Footnote 1: NOTE BY THE EDITOR.--From the foregoing it appears that Mr.
+Smith's stock transactions up to this date have involved a net loss of
+about $51,000, with a probability of a continuance of the decline during
+the coming week. Under these circumstances it would seem that he
+attaches undue importance to the loss of seven golf balls, which I am
+informed, may be purchased at the standard price of fifty cents apiece.
+
+Possibly this criticism may be impeached by those familiar with the
+ethics and peculiarities of golf, a game of which my knowledge is purely
+academic.]
+
+On the table in front of me stands the finest golf trophy which ever
+delighted the eye of a devotee of the game. It is the bronze figure of a
+player whose mashie is in the position of that valuable iron club at the
+end of a short approach. It is the work of a French sculptor, and in
+design and execution it is nothing short of an inspiration. The position
+of the feet, body, arms, and shoulders, the expression of the face and
+eyes; all these details are perfect.
+
+The figure is twenty-four inches in height and is mounted on an ebony
+pedestal.
+
+Mr. Harding has given this magnificent bronze to the club, and it is in
+my keeping, as chairman of the Greens Committee. It will be presented to
+the winner of this year's championship of Woodvale by Miss Grace
+Harding, and I have posted an announcement of the conditions of the
+competition. It is open to all members, sixteen best scores to qualify,
+and then match play of eighteen holes, with thirty-six for the finals.
+The tournament starts a week from Tuesday.
+
+Between watching Wall Street and getting in shape for this competition I
+am likely to have a busy week.
+
+Mr. Harding called me into his apartments yesterday evening, displayed
+this gem of a bronze, and told me how he came to acquire it.
+
+"It was the Kid's suggestion, but I endorsed it in a minute," he said,
+passing a box of cigars. "We were prowling around the jewelry haunts,
+Grace and I, seeing what she could flim-flam me into buying for her,
+when we ran across this thing. She thought it was great. I looked it
+over and saw that this bronze gentleman does not hold his club the way I
+do, and was in favour of letting him wait for another owner. Then she
+suggested that it would be a great scheme to buy it and give it to the
+club. I thought it over a minute and decided that it might be a good
+idea, and so I bought it, and here it is. Now you boys will have to
+scrap it out among yourselves, and may the best one win."
+
+"This is the finest trophy ever offered to the club," I said, "and on
+behalf of the members I wish to thank you as donor and Miss Harding as
+the instigator."
+
+"I'll create enough trouble around here to work out any indebtedness you
+fellows owe me for that gee-gaw," he laughed. "I've had an awful time
+since you have been down town, Smith. I reckon I've ploughed up as much
+turf as Jim Bishop did all last spring. Speaking of Bishop, did you know
+we're invited over to his place Monday evening?"
+
+"I had not heard of it," I said.
+
+"Well, we are," he said. "There's going to be great doings day after
+to-morrow night. Bishop's new red barn is finished, and a bunch of us
+are going over to dinner and then participate in the dance. Let's go
+down stairs and hunt up Grace and Carter and constitute the four of us a
+committee on arrangements and invitation. Grace talked to Bishop more
+than I did and she knows all about it."
+
+We found Miss Harding, Miss Lawrence, LaHume, and Carter on the veranda,
+and decided to enlarge the committee to six. Miss Harding said Mr.
+Bishop intimated he should expect about a dozen of us.
+
+"Well, let's see," figured Mr. Harding, and I felt in my bones he would
+make a mess of it. "Get out your pencil, Smith, and take us down as I
+give the names. There's Ma Harding and me, that's two; there's Carter
+and Grace makes four; LaHume and his sweetheart makes six; then
+there's----"
+
+"Mr. LaHume and whom?" interrupted Miss Lawrence, her cheeks red and her
+eyes snapping fire. The grin on LaHume's face died out.
+
+"Why, LaHume and----"
+
+"You've gone far enough," laughed Miss Harding. "Let me help you out,
+papa. We will select the gentlemen first. Please take down this list,
+Mr. Smith. Suppose we name Mr. LaHume, Mr. Carter, Mr. Marshall, Mr.
+Chilvers, Mr. Smith, and Papa Harding. Then there's Miss Lawrence, Miss
+Ross, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Chilvers, Mamma, and myself. That makes
+twelve."
+
+"Those were the ones I was going to name when you stopped me," declared
+Mr. Harding, who pretended to be much puzzled, but who knew full well
+what was the matter. He gave me a quiet nudge with his elbow, and then
+went on to say that the twelve of us would dine with the Bishops at six
+o'clock, and stay to the dance which would start as soon as it was dark.
+It ought to be great fun.
+
+I wish I knew if Miss Harding resented the coupling of her name with
+Carter. I watched both of them closely, but neither gave a sign.
+
+Chilvers tells me that Carter and Miss Harding have played several games
+together during the past week, and I assured him that the fact possessed
+not the slightest interest to me. Chilvers pretends to think it does,
+and seems to take much delight in harping on that subject.
+
+As a matter of curiosity I should like to know when and where Carter
+first met the Hardings. Once or twice I have thrown out a hint to
+Carter, but he has not said a word.
+
+Carter is a good-looking chap, and I think he knows it. The fond mammas
+here in the club consider him a catch. I am not exactly a pauper myself,
+but I may be if this N. O. & G. deal goes against me.
+
+I wonder how it would seem to be poor? I wonder if Miss Harding would
+care to play golf with me if she knew I had to work for a living? I
+wonder what I would work at?
+
+I dreamed last night that N.O. & G. stock went down and down until it was
+worth less than nothing, and that I had lost every dollar in the world
+and owed several millions.
+
+It was an awful dream. I was in jail for a time, and when they let me
+out I did not have the car fare to get back to Woodvale. I walked all
+the way, and was chased by dogs. When I got here, the steward presented
+my bill, which amounted to several hundred dollars. I told him I could
+not pay it, and he marked my name off the membership list. I met Carter
+and several others and they would not speak to me. I was dying from
+hunger, and looked longingly at the remnants of a steak left by
+Chilvers, but one of the servants told me to move on.
+
+Then the scene changed, as things move in dreams, and I was at work on
+Bishop's farm. I was cutting and shocking corn, and the boss of the
+hired help swore because I was so slow. My hands were bleeding from
+scratches where the sharp edges of the bayonet-like blades had cut them,
+and I was so hungry and tired that I was ready to lie down and die. My
+wages were fifteen dollars a month, and every cent of it had been levied
+against by my Wall Street creditors. Not until I was seventy years old
+would any of the money I earned be coming to me. The other hired men
+looked on me as a weakling, and laughed at the torn golf suit in which I
+was clothed.
+
+I was happy when I awoke and realised it was only a nightmare.
+
+I raised the curtain so as to let in the cool air. The links were bathed
+in a flood of moonlight. Half a mile away were Bishop's cornfields in
+which the dreamland fiends had tortured me. It was not yet midnight, and
+down the lane I made out the forms of Chilvers, Marshall, Lawson, and
+other nighthawks. Chilvers was singing, the others coming in the chorus
+of the last line, drawing it out to the full length and strength of a
+parody of the old negro song:
+
+      "Where, oh where are the long, long drivers?
+      Where, oh where are the long, long drivers?;
+      Where, oh where are the long, long drivers?
+      'Way down yander in the corn field."
+
+[Illustration: The dream]
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. X
+
+THE TWO GLADIATORS
+
+
+There was little doing in N.O. & G. stock on Monday or Tuesday. It
+dropped off a point and then recovered. I told my brokers to pick up
+10,000 shares at or below 65. I am confident it will strike that figure
+before the end of the week.
+
+It was nearly five o'clock before we started up the lane toward
+Bishop's. We were delayed half an hour waiting for Marshall, but,
+knowing his weakness, we fixed the time of departure half an hour sooner
+than necessary.
+
+If Marshall's hope for eternal salvation depended on applying at the
+pearly gates at a specified time, he would spend eternity in the other
+place on account of being thirty minutes late. Knowing this to be his
+habit, we always provide against it. If the club house ever catches on
+fire, we shall lose Marshall, and he is a splendid good fellow.
+
+Marshall's wife informs me it took him thirty weeks to propose after he
+had made up his mind to do so, and that after the wedding day was set it
+was necessary to postpone the ceremony thirty days in order to permit
+him to attend to some trifling business affairs. We call him "Thirty"
+Marshall, and it takes him thirty seconds to smile in appreciation of
+the jest. But he plays a good game of golf, with at least four
+deliberate practise swings before each stroke at the ball.
+
+Chilvers wanted to have a team hitched up and ride over in the club bus.
+He said it tired him to walk. We vetoed that proposition, and Chilvers
+stopped twice to rest on the half-mile jaunt to Bishop's.
+
+Chilvers thinks nothing of playing twice around Woodvale, a distance of
+not less than ten miles, but when in the city he takes a cab or a street
+car when compelled to go a few blocks. When there is no ball ahead of
+him he is the most fatigued man of my acquaintance, but he can stride
+over golf links from daybreak until it is so dark you cannot see the
+ball, and quit as fresh as when he started. There are others like
+Chilvers.
+
+I walked with Mrs. Harding. I had a good chance to walk with Miss
+Harding, but wished to show Carter that it was a matter of indifference
+to me. More than that, it occurred to me it was not a bad plan to become
+better acquainted with Mrs. Harding.
+
+The man who gets Mrs. Harding for a mother-in-law will be fortunate.
+None of the thrusts and jibes of the alleged funny men will apply to her
+as a mother-in-law.
+
+One would not readily identify Mrs. Harding as the wife of a famous
+railway magnate. Wealth certainly has not turned her motherly head. Of
+course, she is a little woman. Huge men such as Harding invariably
+select dolls of women for helpmates. She is round, smiling, pretty, and
+thoughtful, and I like her immensely.
+
+We were approaching the Bishop place. The orchard trees were covered
+with fruit. Some of the tomatoes showed the red of their fat cheeks
+through the green of their foliage. Miss Lawrence had started with
+LaHume, but under some pretext left him and was with Carter and Miss
+Harding, and I doubt if Carter was pleased with that evidence of his
+popularity. LaHume walked with Miss Ross and talked and laughed, but I
+could see he was angry.
+
+It suddenly occurred to me that Miss Lawrence would probably meet
+Bishop's hired man, Wallace, and I presume LaHume was thinking of the
+same thing. It was apparent they had quarrelled over something.
+
+Marshall and Chilvers were together, their wives trailing on behind, as
+usual. The way these two married men neglect these lovely women makes me
+angry every time I am out with them, but the ladies do not seem to care,
+and I presume it is none of my business.
+
+Harding walked with everybody, and was happy as a lark. He threw stones
+at a telegraph pole, and was in ecstasy when a lucky shot shivered one
+of the glass insulators.
+
+"How was that for a shot, mother?" he shouted, as the glass came flying
+down. "Hav'n't hit one of those since I was fourteen years old. Say, I
+wish I was fourteen years old now, barefooted, and sitting on the bank
+of that creek catching shiners."
+
+"I wouldn't throw any more stones, Robert," Mrs. Harding said, laying
+her hand on his arm and looking up to his happy face. "The last time you
+threw stones you were lame for a week, and I had to rub you with
+arnica."
+
+"But think of the fun I had," he said, and then he went back and told
+Marshall and Chilvers some yarn which must have been very amusing from
+the way they laughed.
+
+I had been praising the beauties of the country around Woodmere, and
+asked Mrs. Harding how she liked the club house, and if she were
+enjoying her summer there.
+
+"I would enjoy it much better," she said, "if I did not know that I
+should be home."
+
+"I presume you feel that you are neglecting your social duties," I
+ventured.
+
+"Social fiddlesticks," she laughed. "I should be home canning tomatoes
+and putting up fruit. We won't have a thing in the house fit to eat all
+next winter."
+
+"But the servants," I began. "The servants----"
+
+"If you knew as much about housekeeping as you do about golf," she said,
+"you would know that servants do not know how to preserve fruit. Last
+year I put up more than two hundred cans, and unless I can drag Mr.
+Harding away from here, it will be too late for everything except pears
+and quinces, and he does not care much for either."
+
+Think of the wife of a multi-millionaire standing over a hot kitchen
+fire and preserving tomatoes, cherries, grapes, jams, jells, and all
+that kind of thing! I did not exactly know how to sympathise with her.
+
+"It is nice down here," she said, after a pause, "but there's nothing to
+do."
+
+"The drives are splendid," I said, "and I'm sure you would become
+interested in golf or tennis if you took them up."
+
+"I mean that there's no work to do," she said. "I nearly had a row with
+my husband before he would let me darn his socks. He does not know it,
+but I keep the maid out of our rooms so that I can do the work myself.
+It's awful to sit around all day with nothing to do but read and do
+fancy work. I hate fancy work. If you have any socks which need darning,
+Mr. Smith, I wish you would let me have them."
+
+We both laughed, but she was in earnest and made me promise I would turn
+over to her any socks which show signs of wear. I shall keep them as a
+memento.
+
+That is the kind of a woman I should like for a mother-in-law.
+
+And the more I see of Mr. Harding the better I like him. But I must
+record the many things which happened that afternoon and evening at
+Bishop's.
+
+The fine old farmhouse is ideally located on a rising slope of ground.
+It is surrounded with the most beautiful grove of horse-chestnut trees
+in this section of the country.
+
+The house is more than a hundred years old, and Bishop has the sense
+not to attempt an improvement in its exterior architecture. When a boy I
+spent most of my spare time in and around the Bishop house. Joe Bishop
+and I were chums, but when I went away to college, Joe wandered out
+West, and it is years since I have seen him. I have often thought that I
+must have been an awful source of bother to the Bishops, but they never
+seemed to mind it much. All of their children are grown up and married,
+but here the old folks are, working away as hard as when I was a child.
+
+I suppose James Bishop is about Mr. Harding's age, somewhere between
+fifty and fifty-five. He in no way resembles the farmer of the cartoons.
+He wears a stubby moustache, and looks more the prosperous horseman than
+the typical farmer. He is a big man, a trifle taller than Mr. Harding,
+but not so broad of shoulder. Either of them would tip the beam at 230
+pounds.
+
+Bishop was at the gate waiting for us, and back of him two good-natured
+dogs bayed a noisy welcome.
+
+"Come right in," he said, shaking hands with Harding. "If I'd known that
+you had to walk I'd hitched up a rig and come after ye. This is Mrs.
+Harding, I reckon," he said, grasping that lady's hand. "Glad to meet
+ye, Mrs. Harding! I knowed that thar husband of your'n when he wasn't
+bigger nor a pint of cider."
+
+[Illustration: "At the gate waiting for us"]
+
+"Robert has often spoken of you, Mr. Bishop," said that lady. "How is
+Mrs. Bishop?"
+
+"She's well; first-rate, thank ye. Come right in and we'll hunt her
+up," he said, leading the way. "I suppose she's puttering around in the
+kitchen."
+
+I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Bishop through the window. She was hurriedly
+shedding a large calico apron, and met us as we were on the steps of the
+veranda. A woman trained in the conventionalities of society could not
+have conducted herself better than did this American wife of an American
+farmer, and I was proud of her as if she had been my own mother. She had
+the rare tact of making her guests feel perfectly at home.
+
+Bishop had disappeared, but soon returned with an enormous glass pitcher
+and a tray of glasses.
+
+"Here's some new sweet cider for the ladies," he said, pouring out a
+glass and handing it to Mrs. Harding. "Pressed it out this afternoon,
+and picked out the apples myself. Try some, Miss Harding. Here's a glass
+for you, Miss----, blamed if I hav'n't forgot your name already,"
+proffering a glass to Miss Lawrence, "but we don't mind a little thing
+like that, do we."
+
+"Indeed we do not," laughed Miss Lawrence.
+
+"How about this?" demanded Chilvers. "What was that you said about cider
+for the ladies? My friend Marshall is dying for a drink, and my throat
+is as dusty as his boots. Do we walk two miles and then choke to death?
+We don't want to lose Marshall like this."
+
+"You hold your horses a minute," grinned Bishop. "The ladies like sweet
+cider, God bless 'em, and I made this for them. If any of you fellows
+would like to try some real cider, the best that ever was raised in this
+State, come on and follow me. I reckon the ladies have seen all they
+want to of you for a while. Come on; I'll show you some cider that is
+cider."
+
+He led us around the house until he came to a cellar door, which he
+threw back and we followed him. When our eyes became accustomed to the
+dim light we saw long rows of huge casks, mounted on frames so that the
+spigots were eighteen inches from the floor. The air was deliciously
+cool. It was permeated with the subtle odour of apple juice long
+confined in wood. Films of cobwebs softened the sharp lines of the cask
+heads and faintly gleamed between the rafters where the light struck
+them.
+
+"Here's cider that is cider!" declared Bishop, proudly tapping on the
+heads of the great casks as he led the way into the darker recesses of
+the cellar. "I reckon, Bob," he said to Harding, "that it's a long time
+since you've had a chance to try a swig of real old Down East hard
+cider."
+
+"It's been a long time, Jim," admitted Harding. "How old is this?"
+
+"I've put in a cask every year since I took the place," he replied, "and
+that's more'n thirty years ago, and not a cask here but has cider in
+it."
+
+"Cider thirty years old!" exclaimed Chilvers. "You mean vinegar, don't
+you?"
+
+"I said cider, young man; an' when I say cider I mean cider," retorted
+Bishop, rather indignantly. "It is no more vinegar than brandy's
+vinegar, nor champagne's vinegar. Now, I don't reckon none of you,
+barring my old friend John Harding, here, ever tasted a drop of real
+hard cider. Oh, yes, Smith has, of course; but how about the rest of
+ye?"
+
+Carter, LaHume, Marshall, and Chilvers admitted that their idea of hard
+cider was a beverage which had started to ferment.
+
+Bishop placed his hand reverently on a blackened, time-charred cask. It
+was evident he was as proud of that possession as others might be of an
+authenticated Raphael.
+
+"I don't tap this here very often," he said, "but in honour of this
+occasion I'll let it run a bit. This here cider is fifty years old!"
+
+He drew off a pint or so in a stone jug, and we went out into the light
+to examine it. It was almost colourless, slightly amber in shade, if any
+tint can describe it. I had seen that sacred cask when a boy, and I
+recall now that Joe Bishop did not dare touch it, and there were few
+things of which he was afraid.
+
+We all solemnly sampled it from small glasses, which Bishop produced
+from some mysterious hiding place.
+
+"There is no taste to it," declared Chilvers. "It's smooth as oil, but
+it has no flavour."
+
+"Hasn't, eh?" smiled Bishop. "You just wait a minute and you'll get the
+bouquet--as you wine experts call it. It's one of these coming tastes,
+but when it hits you you cry for more."
+
+It was as the farmer said. There came to our palates the subtle
+gustatory perfume of apple blossoms. Within the old cask there had been
+stored the fragrance and the spell of the orchard of half a century
+agone. It was the wine of the apple; the favoured fruit of the gods.
+
+"Is it supposed to be intoxicating?" asked Marshall. Bishop laughed
+uproariously, and Harding joined in his merriment.
+
+"My boy," Bishop said, "it's as intoxicating as the feel of your
+sweetheart's cheek against your own, only it affects you in a different
+way. I've known a man to fill up on that smooth-tastin' and innocent
+lookin' stuff an' not come tew until he was on shipboard, an' half way
+to Cape Horn. Under its influence the secretary of a peace society would
+tackle the Japanese navy in a rowboat. From what I know about mythology
+I'm sure Mars drank it regular."
+
+Our host drew a generous allowance from a cask containing a more recent
+vintage, and led the way from out the old cellar to seats beneath the
+trees facing the smooth turf of an unused croquet ground.
+
+LaHume wandered away in search of the ladies, whose laughter and chatter
+from the near-by veranda proved they were cheerfully enduring his
+absence. I caught a glimpse of Wallace as he drove the cows into the old
+barn, and wondered if LaHume seriously considered the "hired man" as a
+rival.
+
+We filled our pipes and lay back in the comfortable seats, content to
+listen to the music of the birds overhead, and follow aimlessly the
+conversation between Bishop and Harding. The cider from the sacred cask
+had bridged the years which separated them from boyhood days back in
+Buckfield, Maine.
+
+The old grindstone reminded Harding of an incident, to the telling of
+which both contributed details. They told of swimming exploits; of how
+they helped lock the school teacher out of the little red building which
+seemed to them a prison; they told of blood-curdling feats of coasting
+and of skating on thin ice, and of other things more or less distorted,
+perhaps, when seen through the haze of forty years.
+
+Then they told of the boys they had "licked," and of the boys who had
+whipped them, also of the feud between the lads of Buckfield and Sumner
+and the desperate encounters which resulted from it.
+
+"Do you remember, Bob," asked Bishop, after a moment's pause, "of that
+'rasslin' match we had on the floor of your dad's barn?"
+
+"The time I got a black eye, and you lost part of your ear?" asked
+Harding, his eyes brightening at thought of it.
+
+"That's the time," declared Bishop. "I tore your clothes most to
+pieces."
+
+"I don't remember about that," responded the railroad magnate, "but I
+do remember that I flopped you three times out of five."
+
+"Three times outer nothin'!" exclaimed the farmer. "I put you down fair
+and square three times running, Bob, and if you'll stop and think a
+minute you'll recollect it."
+
+"Recollect nothing!" defiantly laughed Harding. "You never saw the day
+in your life, when you or any boy in Buckfield could put my shoulders to
+the ground three times running. You're losing your memory, Jim."
+
+"I did it all right."
+
+"I say you didn't!"
+
+"And I can do it again!"
+
+"You can, eh?" shouted Harding, springing to his feet and pulling off
+his coat. "We'll mighty quick see if you can! I'll tackle you right here
+on this croquet ground!"
+
+"Side holt, square holt, or catch-as-catch-can?" asked Bishop, casting
+one anxious look towards the house.
+
+"We always rassled catch-as-catch-can, and you know it," declared
+Harding. "I suppose you think just because I do nothing but build
+railroads and things that I've grown effeminate since you tackled me the
+last time. Come on; I'll show you!"
+
+"I'm afraid I'll hurt you, Bob," said Bishop, and I could see that he
+honestly meant it. "I've been outer doors all my life, an' you've
+been----"
+
+"I suppose you think I've been in an incubator, don't ye?" snorted
+Harding. "Don't weaken! Don't be a coward, Jim! There's the line; toe
+it!" and he marked a crease in the soft turf.
+
+"You bet I'll toe it!" growled the now irate farmer. "And don't whimper
+if I break a bone or two when I flop ye!"
+
+As Bishop threw his cap to the ground and rushed toward the defiant
+millionaire Carter saw fit to interfere.
+
+"Don't do this," he protested, jumping between them. "One of you will
+get hurt! It's dangerous for men of your age to wrestle!"
+
+Both of them reached out and brushed Carter away, and the next instant
+they were at it.
+
+Bishop ducked and got an underhold, and I was sure Harding would go
+down, but he braced himself with his huge legs, and with the strength of
+a giant broke the clasp of his opponent's arms. It takes skill as well
+as muscle to do this, and I saw at a glance that Harding had not
+forgotten the tricks of his boyhood. As Bishop spun half-way around the
+other caught him at a disadvantage, raised him clear from the turf and
+dashed him down, falling with all his weight upon him.
+
+It was as clean and quick a fall as I have seen, but for a second my
+heart stood still, fearing Bishop's neck had been broken. He gasped once
+or twice, and then I heard a muffled laugh.
+
+"Let me up, Bob; that's one for you!" he said, and both struggled to
+their feet. There was a rent in the right knee of Harding's trousers,
+and his shirt was a sight, but he neither knew of this nor would have
+cared for it.
+
+"Not quite so soft and easy as you thought I was eh, Jim?" he panted,
+extending his hand. "You got the holt all right, but you wasn't quick
+enough."
+
+"I held you too cheap that time," admitted Bishop, rather sheepishly,
+throwing away a pair of ruined suspenders, "but I'll get you this time.
+Come on, Bob!"
+
+"You referee this match, Smith!" said Harding, standing on guard. "You
+know the rules. No fall unless both shoulders and one hip is down."
+
+Misfortune had taught Bishop caution. I could see he feared Harding's
+enormous strength and that he aimed to wind him if possible. He managed
+to elude the grasp of his antagonist for probably a minute, and more by
+luck than skill fell on top when the end of the clinch came. But Harding
+was not down by any means, and there then ensued a struggle which made
+me oblivious to all surroundings.
+
+Though I was the referee I was "rooting" for Harding, and so was Carter,
+while Marshall and Chilvers were giving mental and vocal encouragement
+to Bishop. I do not suppose any of us realised we were saying a word.
+
+First Harding would have a slight advantage, and then the tide would
+turn in favour of Bishop. The latter was more agile, but the former
+outclassed him in power. They writhed along that croquet ground like two
+gigantic tumble-bugs locked in a life and death struggle. Neither said a
+word, and both were absolutely fair in attack and defense. As the
+struggle continued it seemed to me that Harding was weakening, but he
+told me later he was merely resting for the effort which would insure
+him victory.
+
+I heard the swish of skirts, the frightened cry of female voices, and
+the next instant two most estimable ladies invaded the improvised ring
+and laid hands on the principals.
+
+I doubt if the combined physical exertion of Mrs. Bishop and Mrs.
+Harding could have made the slightest impress on the embrace which held
+their lords and masters, but what they said had a magical and
+peacemaking effect.
+
+"James Bishop, you should be ashamed of yourself!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Bishop, tugging at the remnant of a shirt, which promptly detached
+itself from the general wreck.
+
+[Illustration: "We're not fighting, my dear!"]
+
+"Robert Harding, what do you mean by fighting?" gasped Mrs. Harding,
+tugging at his undershirt, the outer garment long since having lost its
+entity.
+
+Instantly they relaxed their holds, rolled over and came to a sitting
+posture, facing each other and their respective wives. It was as if the
+act had carefully been rehearsed, and was ludicrous beyond any
+description at my command.
+
+Their glances rested for an instant on one another, and then on their
+frightened and indignant helpmates. Their attitude was that of two
+schoolboys detected by their teachers in some forbidden act. I am sure
+Harding would have spoken sooner if he could have recovered his breath.
+
+"We're not fighting, my dear!" he managed to say. "Are we, Jim?" he
+added with a mighty effort.
+
+"Of course not," declared Bishop, gouging a piece of turf from his eye.
+"We're only rasslin'; that's all, isn't it, Bob?"
+
+"And you in your best suit of clothes, James Bishop!" exclaimed his good
+wife.
+
+"You should see how you look, Mr. Harding," added his better half with
+justifiable emphasis. "Are you hurt?" anger changing to solicitude.
+
+"Of course I'm not hurt," he asserted. "We were only fooling. Where in
+thunder is my shirt?"
+
+And then Chilvers and Carter and Marshall and I exploded. It was not a
+dignified thing to do, and I apologised to both of the ladies afterward,
+but we fell down on that mutilated croquet-ground and laughed until
+exhausted. I am glad Miss Harding and the others were not there.
+
+Assisted by their wives the two gladiators had struggled to their feet,
+but the most cursory inspection disclosed that they were more
+presentable when on the ground. And then the ladies joined in the laugh.
+
+
+"Jack," said Mr. Bishop, who has called me by that nickname since I was
+seven years old, "Jack, go out to the old barn and get a pair of horse
+blankets. You know where I keep them."
+
+"You've got a great head on you, Jim," roared Harding. "I was thinking
+of a pair of barrels."
+
+When I returned with the red and yellow blankets the ladies had
+disappeared.
+
+"Never mind sending down to the club for your other clothes," Bishop was
+saying. "I've got several suits, such as they are, and I reckon one of
+them will fit ye."
+
+"This blanket is pretty good," declared the magnate. "Say, Jim, what was
+it you said about that fifty-year-old cider?"
+
+"I'm glad I didn't give you any more of it; I'd lost my life as well as
+my clothes," declared the farmer. "If they'd stayed away 'nother minute
+or so I'd won that second fall, sure as sin, Bob," he said, rather
+ruefully, as we wrapped the blanket around him.
+
+"You just think you would," grinned Harding, lifting up the blanket so
+as to keep from stumbling over it. "Say, it must be tough to have to
+wear skirts all the time. Be a good fellow, Smith, and hold up my
+train."
+
+They tried to sneak in at the back entrance, but Miss Harding and the
+others saw them and headed them off. I shall never forget their looks of
+amazement, and then the screams of laughter which followed the hurried
+explanation.
+
+I must postpone an account of the dinner and the dance until the next
+entry.
+
+[Illustration: "It must be tough to have to wear skirts all the time"]
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XI
+
+THE BARN DANCE
+
+
+We gave Mr. Harding a great reception when he appeared on the veranda,
+arrayed in garments furnished by our host. I have an idea Mr. Bishop's
+wardrobe was about exhausted when the two of them had completed their
+toilet.
+
+"What do you think of me?" demanded Harding, striking a pose.
+
+He obtained a variety of opinions. They were unable to find a "boiled
+shirt" with an eighteen inch neck band or collar, so a blue gingham one
+was made to do service. The only coat broad enough across the shoulders
+was a "Prince Albert," in which Bishop had been married, and Harding
+admitted the combination was not exactly _de rigeur_. The trousers
+were woefully tight at the waist, and were inches too long.
+
+"You are lucky to get anything," declared Mrs. Harding, retying the
+wonderful red and yellow scarf and vainly attempting to smooth out some
+of the wrinkles in the coat. "You should be made to go home and to bed
+without your supper."
+
+"You surely are the real goods, Governor," said Chilvers, walking about
+him and inspecting his costume from all angles. "What show have Marshall
+and the rest of us at to-night's dance against you?"
+
+[Illustration: "What do you think of me?"]
+
+Miss Lawrence pinned a bunch of nasturtiums on his coat, and we all
+stood and hilariously admired him. Bishop called him aside and motioned
+me to join them.
+
+"Mother and I don't know what to do about Wallace," our host said, after
+hesitating a moment. "He's our hired man, you know," he added.
+
+"What about him?" asked Harding.
+
+"He's always eaten with us," Bishop said. "He's a quiet, well-behaved
+sorter chap, and he's company for us, but mother is afraid it wouldn't
+be just the thing to have him at the table when company's here, and so I
+thought I'd ask you and Jack. We don't have folks here very often, and I
+wanter do what's right."
+
+"You have him sit right down with us," promptly advised Harding. "If
+there's anybody in this country who has a right to eat good and plenty
+it's a hired man. If any of our folks don't like it, let them wait until
+the second table."
+
+That settled it, and I could see that Bishop was pleased over the
+outcome.
+
+"I sorter hated to tell Wallace to wait," he said to me after Harding
+had turned away. "It might offend him. He's a queer fish, but has the
+makings of the best hired man in the county."
+
+When we entered the big dining-room Wallace was sitting in one corner
+reading. He laid aside the book, arose and bowed slightly. Harding went
+right up to him.
+
+"Mr. Wallace, I believe," he said, shaking hands. "My name's Harding,
+and I'll introduce you to the rest of us." And he did.
+
+This young Scotchman is a handsome chap. His features are those of Byron
+in his early manhood. His hair is dark and wavy as it falls back from a
+smooth high forehead. He is tall, broad of shoulder and singularly easy
+and graceful in his movements. He certainly looks like a man who has
+seen better days.
+
+I am still inclined to my original opinion that he is some college chap
+who is trying to get a financial start so as to enter on his chosen
+profession.
+
+He sat opposite me, and not until the first course was served did I
+notice that he was to the right of Miss Lawrence, with LaHume to her
+left. When I first observed this trio Miss Lawrence and Wallace already
+were engaged in a spirited conversation--or, more properly speaking,
+Miss Lawrence was.
+
+There was a babble of voices and of laughter, and I could make out
+little they were saying during the early part of the dinner, though I
+was so impolite as to attempt to do so. Miss Lawrence was praising the
+scenic beauties of Woodvale and its environs, he adding a word or a
+sentence now and then with the tact of one pleased to listen to the
+chatter of a charming companion. The trace of Scotch in his enunciation
+was so slight as to defy reproduction, but it was sufficient to stamp
+the place of his nativity.
+
+LaHume made several attempts to join in their conversation, and though
+Wallace lent him all possible aid Miss Lawrence effectually discouraged
+LaHume's participation. He reminded me of a boy making ineffectual
+attempts to "catch on behind" a swift-moving sleigh, and who is finally
+tumbled on his head for his pains.
+
+Mrs. Bishop is famous the country round as a cook, and she excelled
+herself that afternoon. Bishop is a crank on truck gardening, and the
+vegetables served would have taken prizes in any exhibit. A delicious
+soup was followed by a baked sea trout--I must not forget to ask Mrs.
+Bishop how she made that sauce.
+
+I wonder why it is that the most skilled hotel chefs cannot fry spring
+chicken so as to faintly imitate the culinary wonders attained by a
+capable housewife?
+
+"I want to ask you a question, Mrs. Bishop," said Mr. Harding, after he
+had made a pretense of refusing a third helping of fried chicken. "Did
+you really raise these chickens on this farm?"
+
+Mrs. Bishop smiled and said they did.
+
+"I don't believe it," he returned. "If the truth were known they lit
+down here from heaven, and Jim Bishop nailed them and you cooked them."
+
+I was ashamed of Chilvers. He ate seven ears of green corn and boasted
+of it, but I will admit I did not know it was possible to produce corn
+such as was served at that farmhouse dinner. The crisp sliced cucumbers,
+the ice-cold tomatoes, the succulent hearts of lettuce, the steaming
+dishes of string beans, summer squash, and green peas--it makes me
+hungry as I write of that simple but excellent feast.
+
+I thought as we sat there of the democracy of that little gathering.
+There was Harding, the multi-millionaire railway magnate, in his hickory
+shirt; the fastidious and monocled Carter with his wealth and boasted
+New England ancestry; Miss Lawrence, an heiress in whose veins flowed
+the purest blood of the southern aristocracy; Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, plain
+honest folk from 'way down east in Maine; and the unknown Wallace,
+driven no doubt by stress of poverty from the hills of his beloved
+country--there we all were meeting one another as equals, enjoying the
+bounties Nature has so lavishly bestowed on her children.
+
+I caught Miss Harding's eye, and she smiled as if in sympathy with my
+wandering thoughts. It takes a remarkably pretty young woman to lose
+none of her charm while eating green corn off the cob, but Miss Harding
+triumphantly stands that test. She was talking to Marshall, who is so
+constitutionally slow that he is invariably half a course behind
+everyone else at a table.
+
+Marshall was attempting to explain to Miss Harding how it is possible to
+hook a ball and play off the right foot. He laid out a diagram on the
+table cloth, using "lady-fingers" to show the positions of the feet, a
+round radish to indicate the ball, and a fruit knife to illustrate the
+face and direction of the club.
+
+Chilvers watched this most unconventional dinner performance with a grin
+on his face, and just as Marshall was showing just how the club should
+follow through, Chilvers called "Fore!" in a sharp tone. Miss Harding
+and Marshall were so absorbed in the elucidation of this most difficult
+golf problem that they instinctively dodged, and when Miss Harding
+recovered, her cheeks were delightfully crimson.
+
+I never noticed until that moment that there are traces of dimples in
+her cheeks. Unless Venus had dimples she had no just claim to be crowned
+the goddess of love and beauty.
+
+"Jim," said Mr. Harding, addressing our host, when coffee was served,
+"did you know our friend Smith when he was a kid?"
+
+"Knew him when he couldn't look over this table," replied Mr. Bishop.
+
+"What kind of a boy was he?"
+
+"Full of the Old Nick, like most healthy boys," he answered. "He and my
+boy Joe went to school together, got into trouble together and got out
+of it again. What was it the boys used to call you, Jack?" he said to
+me, a twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Never mind," I said, and attempted to turn the conversation, but it was
+no use.
+
+"They used to call him 'Socks Smith,'" said Bishop. "That was it, 'Socks
+Smith.' I hadn't thought of it in years."
+
+"What an alliterative nickname," laughed Mrs. Chilvers. "How did you
+ever acquire it, Mr. Smith?"
+
+"He won't tell ye," declared my tormentor, without waiting for me to say
+a word, "but it's nothin' to his discredit. You know that mill pond
+where--"
+
+"Don't tell that incident," I protested.
+
+"Tell it! Tell it, Mr. Bishop!" pleaded Miss Lawrence, Miss Harding, and
+others in chorus.
+
+"Sure I'll tell it," continued Bishop. "As I was saying, you all know
+the mill pond where you folks try to drive golf balls over. Well, it
+uster be bigger an' deeper than it is now, and in the winter it was the
+skating place for all the lads in the neighbourhood. Up at the far end
+there is a spring, and even in the coldest weather it don't freeze over
+above that spring."
+
+"One bitter cold day--and it never gets cold enough to keep boys off
+smooth ice--young Smith, here--he was about twelve or fourteen years old
+at that time--was out on the ice with his skates on, wrapped up in an
+overcoat, a comforter over his ears and thick mittens on his hands,
+skatin' around that pond with my boy Joe and other lads, all of them
+thinkin' they was havin' the time of their lives. Mother, what was the
+name of that poor family that lived over in the old Bobbins' house at
+the time?"
+
+"Andersons," said Mrs. Bishop.
+
+"That's right; Andersons," continued the Boswell of my infantile
+exploits. "Well, these Andersons were so poor they didn't have any
+skates, but some of the boys had let them take a sled, and two of these
+little Anderson kids were slidin' around on the ice and havin' all the
+fun they could, even if they didn't have skates. I suppose their toes
+was as cold and their noses as blue, and that's half of skatin' or
+sleighin'."
+
+"Smith, Joe, and the other skaters were on the southwest end of the pond
+playin' 'pigeon goal,' and these poor Anderson kids were slidin' around
+up at the other end where they would be out of the way. The wind was
+blowin' pretty hard, and I suppose they were careless; anyhow a gust
+struck them and swept them along into that air hole."
+
+"They yelled as best they could, and some boys who were near them
+hollered, and the boys who were skating heard them and came tearing
+along to see what was the matter. Jack Smith, here, was fixing a strap
+or somethin', and was the last one to get started. The whole bunch of
+them were standin' 'round watching those poor Anderson kids drown, so
+scared they didn't know what to do. The poor little tots were hanging
+onto the sled right out in the middle of an open space about thirty
+yards wide."
+
+[Illustration: "Jack ... never stopped a second"]
+
+"Jack, here, never stopped a second. He saw what was up as he came
+skatin' along, and he legged it all the harder, and in he went--skates,
+overcoat, comforter, mittens and all. It's no easy job swimmin' with
+such an outfit, to say nothin' of rescuin' two half-drowned youngsters,
+and I don't know how he did it, and I don't reckon you do either, Jack.
+But anyhow, he got to them, paddled along to the edge of the ice, and
+held on to them until the other boys pushed out boards and finally got
+the whole caboodle of 'em up on solid ice."
+
+"Bully for you, Smith!" exclaimed Chilvers, "didn't know it was in
+you."
+
+"Mr. Chilvers is jealous of you," declared Miss Lawrence. "I think it
+was real heroic."
+
+"So do I," asserted Miss Harding, "but I cannot imagine how you acquired
+so absurd a nickname as 'Socks Smith' from that incident."
+
+"Was the water cold?" asked Marshall.
+
+"I hav'n't finished my story," said Mr. Bishop, after these and other
+comments had-been made. "I reckon the water was some cold, and the air
+colder; at any rate I happened along in my wagon just as they were
+draggin' them out, and before I could get them up to Smith's father's
+house the whole bunch of them was frozen so stiff that I had to pack 'em
+into the kitchen like so much cordwood."
+
+"But boys of that age are tough, and when they had been thawed out,
+boiled in hot baths, and blistered with mustard poultices they was as
+good as new, and I reckon the Anderson kids was a mighty sight cleaner
+than they had been since the last time they went in swimmin'."
+
+"Now, as I said before, these Andersons were desperate poor, but they
+were good folks, and what you might call appreciative. Jack had saved
+the lives of two of the family, and they wanted to show what they
+thought of him in some way or other. There was twelve children in the
+Anderson family, six boys and six girls, and the older girls and the old
+lady went to work, and blamed if they didn't knit a dozen pair of
+woollen socks and sent them to Jack as a Christmas present."
+
+"And that is how Jack got the name of 'Socks Smith,'" concluded Mr.
+Bishop, when the laughter had subsided. "For riskin' his life he got all
+those nice warm socks and a nickname that uster make him so darned mad
+that I suppose he's had a hundred fights on account of it, and I'm not
+certain he won't poke me in the jaw when he gets me alone for tellin'
+this yarn on him."
+
+"This darned woollen yarn," observed Marshall.
+
+"You're all right, Socks," declared Chilvers. "I only wish I could get
+as good a press agent as our friend Bishop. When I was a kid I used to
+push 'em into the pond and run, and let someone else fish them out."
+
+"If a man were to do an act as brave as that," asserted Miss Harding,
+"the world would acclaim him a hero, and not pile ridicule on him."
+
+"All of which proves that no boy is a hero to another boy," commented
+Mr. Harding, "and that is as it should be. Boys get their heroes out of
+books, and as a rule they are fighters and pirates rather than of the
+self-sacrificing type."
+
+I was glad when Miss Lawrence changed the topic of conversation.
+
+"What do you think?" she exclaimed, addressing no one in particular, "I
+have discovered that Mr. Wallace knows how to play golf, and that he
+learned the game on some of the famous old courses of Scotland. He has
+promised to teach me the St. Andrews swing."
+
+LaHume's face was a study as Miss Lawrence made this rather startling
+announcement. Surprise, disgust, and anger were reflected in his eyes
+and in the lines of his mouth.
+
+"You have played St. Andrews?" asked Carter of Wallace.
+
+"Yes, many a time," said this remarkable "hired man." "I was born
+hard-by the old town," he added.
+
+"Indeed?" sneered LaHume. "What were you while there; caddy or
+professional?"
+
+I thought I detected a flash of anger in the eyes of the young
+Scotchman, but if offended he controlled himself admirably. Not so with
+Miss Lawrence, who glared indignantly at LaHume.
+
+"I doubt if I knew enough of the game," said Wallace, quietly, "to be
+either. I merely played there and at other places when I had the
+opportunity."
+
+"Mr. Wallace says that St. Andrews does not compare with some of the
+newer links in Scotland," declared Miss Lawrence, ignoring LaHume.
+
+"Which ones, for instance?" asked Carter, who has played over most of
+the fine courses in Great Britain.
+
+"Muirfield and Prestwick offer better golf than St. Andrews, and are
+not so crowded," replied Wallace. "The farther you get from St. Andrews
+the greater its reputation, but it is too rough for perfect golf. A
+long, straight drive is often penalised by a bad lie, and an indifferent
+shot favoured by a good one, which is more luck than golf."
+
+Carter smiled, and he afterwards told me it struck him as odd that a
+farmhand should converse in such words and on so peculiar a topic.
+Wallace good-naturedly and modestly answered a number of questions, but
+evaded telling the class of his game.
+
+I wonder where Miss Lawrence will receive those lessons which will
+enable her to acquire the "St. Andrews swing"? I doubt if our rules will
+permit this remarkable farm labourer to play over Woodvale, even as the
+guest or at the request of Miss Lawrence. I shall watch developments
+with much interest.
+
+Wallace asked to be excused, observing with a laugh that it was milking
+time, and a few minutes later we saw him pass the window, clad in blue
+overalls and a "jumper."
+
+"Tell you what I'll do with you, LaHume," said Chilvers, who never
+misses an opportunity to stir up trouble. "I'll bet you a box of
+Haskells that our Scotch friend, who is now out there milking, can
+outdrive you twenty yards, and I never saw him with a club in his
+hands."
+
+"I am not his rival in that or in any other capacity," warmly declared
+LaHume.
+
+At this instant our hostess arose, giving the signal that the dinner was
+ended, and we adjourned to the lawn. LaHume said something to Miss
+Lawrence; she laughed scornfully, and left him and joined Miss Harding.
+
+After cigars and pipes we inspected the new red barn. It is a huge
+structure, modern in every particular, and Bishop was properly proud of
+it. The lofts were partially filled with sweet clover hay, and the odour
+combined with that of the new pine lumber was delicious. The floor had
+been planed smooth, and oiled and waxed so as to make an excellent space
+for dancing. The uprights were twined with ivy and decorated with wild
+flowers, and the effect was pleasing.
+
+The guests were already arriving in all sorts of vehicles, from farm
+wagons to automobiles.
+
+An "orchestra" of five pieces was on hand, and the musicians took their
+places beneath a cluster of Chinese lanterns. There were fully a hundred
+on the floor at nine o'clock, when Mr. Harding and Mrs. Bishop led off
+in the grand march. I had secured Miss Harding as my partner, and LaHume
+and Miss Lawrence were behind us. Carter was with some village beauty,
+but I saw nothing of Wallace in the grand march.
+
+Later he appeared and danced a waltz with Miss Ross, and they made a
+handsome couple. The "hired man" was as well dressed as any gentleman in
+the room, and I have never seen a more graceful dancer than that tall,
+young Scotchman. LaHume watched him like a hawk. When Wallace claimed
+Miss Lawrence for a schottische the glum LaHume stood by the door and
+looked as if he would rather fight than dance. Chilvers told him he was
+making an ass of himself.
+
+It was a glorious night beneath the radiance of a full moon which
+silvered the lace-work of a mackerel sky. I never fully realised what
+dancing was until Miss Harding favoured me with a polka. And then we
+wandered out into the moonlight, talked about the moon, and hunted for
+the Great Dipper.
+
+Even a plain woman looks pretty when with eyes and chin lifted she gazes
+at the star-studded heavens, her face profiled against the gleaming orb
+of a full moon, but no words of mine can describe the splendid beauty of
+Miss Harding in that attitude. I tried to think of something to say, but
+was under a spell and could think of nothing, and it was perhaps just as
+well. I composed some ripping good sentences before I went to sleep that
+night, but it was too late to use them, and I shall not record them
+here.
+
+And then we met Wallace and Miss Lawrence, her arm drawn through his,
+her face lifted toward his, and her tongue going when she was not
+laughing. They were "walking out" a dance, and evidently enjoying it.
+
+Mr. Harding had the time of his life. He danced with stout farm wives,
+slender village maidens, and executed a clog dance which made the barn
+shudder on its foundations. He led the singing, told stories to groups
+of farmers who shouted with laughter, and refused to go home until Mrs.
+Harding took him by the arm and fairly dragged him away.
+
+I walked home with Miss Harding.
+
+[Illustration: "Mr. Harding ... executed a clog dance"]
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XII
+
+THE ST. ANDREWS SWING
+
+
+A week has passed since I made the last entry in this diary, and a
+number of peculiar things have happened.
+
+My brokers have brought an additional 10,000 shares of N.O. & G., which
+brings my speculative holdings to a total of 25,000 shares. They
+acquired the last block at an average price of 65, and the market closed
+to-night at 63. If I were to settle at this figure I would be loser to
+the amount of $150,000, not including the $23,000 lost on the first two
+thousand shares purchased, on which I have taken my losses. Counting
+commissions and interest I am about $175,000 to the bad, but am not in
+the least worried.
+
+My brokers are now placing their orders through houses in other cities,
+and I am certain the extent of my operations is a secret beyond the
+slightest question.
+
+The qualifying round for the "Harding Trophy" brought out the largest
+field of players in the history of our club competitions. Of course most
+of those who started declared that they had no expectation of winning,
+or even of qualifying in the first sixteen. For instance, there was
+Peabody, whose best medal score is 112.
+
+"Are you going to play for that bronze gent?" demanded Chilvers, as
+Peabody came to the first tee.
+
+"Thought I might just as well enter," said Peabody. "Of course I know I
+haven't a chance in the world to win."
+
+"You never can tell," said Chilvers, his face solemn as an owl. Chilvers
+is a merciless "kidder."
+
+"That's right," admitted Peabody.
+
+"If you play the way I saw you doing the other day, there's not a man in
+the club has anything on you," asserted Chilvers, winking at me.
+
+"Stranger things have happened," declared Peabody, his face illuminated
+by a hopeful grin. "I made the last hole yesterday in five, and that is
+as good as Carter or Smith have done it in this year."
+
+Now, as a matter of fact, there was not one chance in five hundred that
+Peabody would qualify, and he didn't, but that did not prevent his
+starting out with a hope and a sort of a faith that by some bewildering
+combination of circumstances he would qualify, and later on bowl over
+all of his competitors and carry off the prize with the sweeter honours
+of victory.
+
+If there be any soil where hope absolutely runs riot it is in the breast
+of a golfer. The fond mother who cozens herself into the faith that her
+boy will some day be President of the United States builds on the same
+foundation as the duffer who enters a competition in which he is
+outclassed.
+
+Personally I can see no reason why I shall not some day win the
+international golf championship, and I have strong expectations of doing
+so, but know perfectly well that I will not. It is a peculiar but
+delightful complication of mind.
+
+Carter had the best qualifying score, making the round in a consistent
+eighty. Marshall was second with an eighty-two, Boyd and LaHume were
+tied with eighty-four each, and I came in fifth with one more.
+Chilvers, Pepper, and Thomas also qualified, but the cup should lie
+among the first five.
+
+Candour compels me to admit that on form it should come to a struggle
+between Carter and Marshall; but if I get into the finals with either of
+these gentlemen I shall play with confidence of winning.
+
+A most astounding thing has happened! If I were incorporating these
+events in a narrative or a novel I presume I would reserve the statement
+I am about to make until the finish, so as to form an effective
+climax--and on reflection I have decided to do so in these notes. So I
+will begin at the beginning.
+
+The second day after our visit to Bishop's, Miss Lawrence called me
+aside on the veranda, and I could see that some great secret had
+possession of her.
+
+"I wish to ask a favour of you, Mr. Smith," she said, after beating
+about the brush for a minute.
+
+"Anything at my command is yours," I said.
+
+"I have come to you," she said, "because I know that you are one of the
+members of the club who can keep a secret. Not that this is any
+tremendous affair," she added, a blush faintly touching her cheek, "but
+I don't care to have everybody know it."
+
+I assured her that wild horses could not drag from me any confidence
+reposed.
+
+"I want to borrow some of your clubs," she faltered.
+
+"My clubs?"
+
+"Yes; some old ones which you do not use regularly."
+
+"You may have any or all the clubs I have," I assured her. "When do you
+wish them?"
+
+"Right now."
+
+She was silent a moment, and I was too mystified to frame any comment.
+
+"I am going to tell you all about it," she impulsively declared, laying
+her little hand on my arm. "I want them for Mr. Wallace!"
+
+"Mr. Wallace?" I repeated. At that instant I could not think whom she
+meant.
+
+"Mr. Bishop's assistant."
+
+"Oh, yes!" I exclaimed. By a mighty effort I kept from smiling. It was
+the first time I had heard a "hired man" called an "assistant," and I
+have heard them called many names.
+
+"Do you remember that at the dinner I said Mr. Wallace had promised to
+teach me the St. Andrews swing?" she asked, her eyes bright with
+excitement.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I took my first lesson yesterday afternoon. Miss Ross and I went over
+to Mr. Bishop's after dinner, as we arranged we should during the dance.
+We put our clubs in my auto when no one was looking, and went by a
+roundabout way to the big sheep pasture to the east of the farmhouse. Do
+you know where it is?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"It was still half an hour from sunset, and Mr. Wallace was there
+waiting for us. Mr. Smith," clasping her hands, "you should see that
+gentleman play golf!"
+
+"I had an idea he could play from the moment he lofted your sliced ball
+over the fence that afternoon," I said.
+
+"Can you go with us?" she asked suddenly. "Miss Ross and I promised Mr.
+Wallace we would come over this afternoon an I bring a set of men's
+clubs with us, and it would be just splendid for you to go with us. Will
+you go, Mr. Smith?"
+
+I assured her it would be a pleasure. At that moment Miss Harding
+appeared, and we quickly decided to let her into the secret.
+
+"Mr. Wallace said he would arrange with Mr. Bishop to get away from his
+work an hour or so any time we came over this afternoon," explained Miss
+Lawrence, "so there will be no deception on his part."
+
+"Oh, you should see him drive!" exclaimed Miss Ross, raising her eyes as
+if following a ball which was travelling an enormous distance. "And he
+did not dare hit them hard for fear of breaking my club. It was
+perfectly lovely!"
+
+[Illustration: "We ran the auto into the sheep pasture"]
+
+"And approach!" added Miss Lawrence.
+
+"And putt!" declared Miss Ross. "It was grand!"
+
+"Let us see this paragon of all the golfing virtues without delay,"
+laughed Miss Harding, and half an hour later our automobile stopped in
+front of the Bishop house.
+
+Wallace must have been on the outlook for us, since he appeared
+directly. He seemed a bit surprised to see me, but greeted us
+pleasantly.
+
+"Miss Lawrence and Miss Ross were so kind as to praise shots I made
+yesterday," he explained, "but, as Mr. Smith will understand, the good
+ones were more or less lucky, for it is long since I have had a club in
+my hand. However, I will do the best I can to illustrate the typical
+Scottish swings, as I execute them, but please do not expect too much."
+
+We ran the auto into the sheep pasture, and I presume it was the first
+invasion of those haunts by this modern vehicle. At least the sheep
+seemed to so regard it, and ran bleating in every direction. It is an
+ideal spot for an exhibition of the long game, and Bishop has had many
+offers from golf clubs seeking a location for links. That farmer
+gentleman appeared shortly after we arrived at the crest of a gentle
+hill.
+
+"No trespassin' on these here premises!" he grinned.
+
+"How are ye, everybody? Miss Lawrence tells me that my man Wallace,
+here, is a crackerjack drivin' one of them golf balls. You'd ought to
+see him drive a team when he first come here. Took him two weeks to
+learn the difference between 'gee' and 'haw,' and to tell the 'nigh'
+from the 'off' boss, but I suppose drivin' a golf ball is a sight
+easier. But I won't bother ye. I'll just stand here and watch. Perhaps I
+might learn somethin'."
+
+It was a warm afternoon and Wallace laid aside his thin jacket. He was
+dressed in a tennis suit which fitted him perfectly. Bishop called me
+aside.
+
+"That chap has two or three trunks full of all kinds of clothes," he
+said in a whisper, "but this is the first time I ever saw this one. What
+do you call it?"
+
+"That's a tennis suit," I said.
+
+"Tennis!" he grunted. "That's worse than golf, isn't it, Jack?"
+
+I laughed, and then we turned our attention to the young Scotchman.
+
+The moment he grasped my driver and swung it with an easy but powerful
+wrist movement I knew he was an expert. You can almost pick the good
+golfer by the way he takes a club from a bag. His skill is shown in his
+manner of teeing a ball, and no duffer ever "addressed" the sphere or
+"waggled" his club so as to deceive those who know the game.
+
+Wallace did not tee the ball on any raised inequality of the turf, but
+simply placed it on a smooth spot, such as one would select as the
+average brassie lie. If I had any lingering doubt as to his ability,
+this one preliminary act dispelled it.
+
+Now that I calmly recall this scene in that sheep pasture, its dramatic
+grotesqueness rather appeals to me. Here were three young ladies, all of
+them pretty, all wealthy and holding high social positions, watching
+with bated breath a farmhand of unknown birth in the act of striking a
+golf ball. Surely golf is the great leveller! Perhaps it is the hope of
+the ultimate democracy; the germ of the ideal brotherhood of man.
+
+I presume Bishop was thinking that Wallace would better be employed in
+running a mowing machine.
+
+"The Scotch method of making a full drive," said Wallace, facing his
+interested little audience, and speaking with more enthusiasm than was
+his wont, "or, if you prefer it, the St. Andrews style, is distinguished
+from most types by what might be termed its exaggerated freedom. It is a
+full, free swing with an abandoned follow through. It probably comes
+from the confidence which has been handed down from generations of
+golf-playing people. The Scotch are a conservative and deliberate people
+in most things, but the way they seem to hit a golf ball gives to most
+observers the impression of carelessness and lack of considered effort.
+That, I should say," he concluded, with a droll smile, "is enough for
+the preacher."
+
+[Illustration: "I have never seen a more perfect shot"]
+
+I felt mortally certain Wallace would make a failure of that first shot,
+and he told me later he was rather nervous, but he took no unnecessary
+chances.
+
+He used a three-quarter swing--at least so it appeared to me--such a one
+I should employ to drive a low ball about one hundred and fifty yards.
+He seemed to put no effort into it, but the result proved there was not
+an ounce of misapplied energy. It all seemed unstudied, but I knew that
+every muscle and sinew of his lithe and well-proportioned body was
+working to the end that the face of his club should not swerve by one
+hair's breadth from the course he had planned for it.
+
+It was the ball which we less-favoured golfers dream shall some day be
+ours to command; the ball which starts low, rises in a concave curve,
+and ends its trajectory in a slight slant to the left--the low, hooked
+ball. It was not a phenomenally long drive; about two hundred yards, I
+should say, but for the apparent effort expended I have never seen a
+more perfect shot.
+
+"Why in thunder don't you hit it hard, Wallace?" demanded Bishop. "Soak
+it, man, soak it! That was only a love tap."
+
+I would rather have stood in the shoes of that "hired man," and listened
+to the comments of those three girls, than to rival the eloquence of
+Demosthenes, and withstand the surges of the applause of admiring
+thousands.
+
+"Let me drive two or three easy ones, Mr. Bishop," Wallace said, placing
+another ball on the turf, "and then I will press a bit, and see if I
+have lost the feel of a full swing."
+
+It was a wonderful exhibition of clean, long driving. He teed a dozen
+balls, and I doubt if one of them fell fifteen yards outside the line of
+the lone walnut tree which had been selected as the target. The ground
+was fairly level, and Mr. Bishop and I paced the distance to the outer
+ball. We agreed that it was about two hundred and forty yards from the
+point driven, and seven of the twelve balls were found within a radius
+of fifteen yards. In fact all of them would have been on or near the
+edge of a large putting green.
+
+I have seen longer driving, but nothing equalling it in accuracy or
+consistency.
+
+"It is very much better than I had expectation of doing," said Wallace.
+"That is a well-balanced club of yours, Mr. Smith, but a bit too short
+and whippy for me."
+
+He good-naturedly consented to try lofting and approaching shots. On the
+start he was a little unsteady, due probably to lack of familiarity with
+my clubs, which are made to conform with some of my pet hobbies. After a
+few minutes' practise he got the hang of them and did really brilliant
+work.
+
+With a mashie at one hundred and twenty yards he dropped ball after ball
+within a short distance of a stake which served to indicate a cup. He
+picked them clean from the turf, lofting them with that back-spin which
+causes them to drop almost dead. It was the golf I have always claimed
+to be within the range of possibility, but I never hoped to see it
+executed. Even Bishop was impressed with the skill displayed by his
+employee, and as the balls soared true from his club, like quoits from
+the hand of a sturdy expert, the farmer grinned his appreciation.
+
+"I don't know much about this here game, Jack," he said, as Wallace
+rejoined us, "but it looks to me as if this man of mine has you Woodvale
+fellows skinned a mile. Tell you what I'll do! I'll back him for ten
+dollars against any man you've got."
+
+"I am not eligible to play in Woodvale," observed Wallace, a peculiar
+smile hovering on his lips, "so it is useless to discuss that."
+
+"You shall play as my guest," declared Miss Lawrence. "I have a perfect
+right to--"
+
+"I should be glad to extend that courtesy to Mr. Wallace at any time," I
+interrupted, fearing that she might say something which would be
+misconstrued.
+
+"I thank both of you, but it is out of the question," said Wallace with
+quiet dignity, and Miss Harding with her usual tact changed the topic by
+asking Wallace to illustrate a certain point relating to the short
+approach shot.
+
+On our way back to the auto I walked with Mr. Bishop, and of a sudden a
+thought occurred to me.
+
+"I am in an important competition for a trophy presented to the club by
+Mr. Harding," I explained, "and I wish you to do me a favour."
+
+"What kind of a favour?"
+
+"If I can arrange with Wallace to give me a few lessons in driving and
+approaching, will you have any objections? It would put some extra money
+in his pocket."
+
+"Not after he is through with his work," Bishop said, hesitating a
+moment. "But I can't have you folks takin' up his time as a regular
+thing when he should be out in the field. This thing to-day is all right
+enough, and I'm glad to accommodate Miss Lawrence and the rest of ye,
+but of course, as you know, Jack, it breaks up his day's work, and this
+is a busy season on a farm like this. But as a rule he is through his
+chores at half-past six, and there's lots of sunlight after that."
+
+I managed to get Wallace aside before we left the farmhouse. I told him
+of the club competition and of my desire to win the Harding trophy.
+
+"Mr. Bishop tells me your time is your own after half-past six in the
+evening," I said. "Would you be willing to give me a few lessons after
+that hour? I will bring clubs and balls and meet you where we were this
+afternoon."
+
+"I will tell you anything I know, Mr. Smith," he said, "but I fear I
+shall prove a poor instructor."
+
+"I shall expect to pay for your time, Mr. Wallace, and if you can
+improve my drive you will find it worth your while," I said, glad of a
+chance to do something in an honourable way for a chap who certainly has
+not been favoured with his share of good fortune.
+
+"If I accept pay I will become a professional golfer, will I not, Mr.
+Smith?" he asked, and for the life of me I did not know what to say.
+
+"I would be willing to pay you five dollars a lesson," I said, ignoring
+his question, trusting that the figure named would outweigh scruples, if
+he really had any.
+
+"It is more than I would take, though I thank you for the offer," he
+said. "I do not doubt that golf is an honourable profession--in fact I
+know it is--but for reasons which will not interest you I prefer to
+maintain my amateur standing. It will be a pleasure to play with you,
+sir, and to help your game if I can, but I would rather not accept
+money."
+
+"Very well," I said, "I'll find some other way to repay you. Suppose I
+take the first lesson to-morrow evening?"
+
+"To-morrow evening at half after six o'clock," he said, and we shook
+hands in parting to bind the agreement.
+
+I had already formed a plan by which I could even matters without the
+direct passing of money. It strikes me as odd that this farmhand should
+object to becoming a professional golfer, but it tends to prove the
+accuracy of my original opinion that he is some college chap, probably
+of good family, who is at the end of his resources.
+
+We had no sooner started from Bishop's than Miss Lawrence turned her
+batteries on me.
+
+"You think you are very sly, do you not, Mr. Smith?" she began.
+
+"In what way, Miss Lawrence?"
+
+"You think to steal my golf instructor from me," she declared. "That is
+just like a man; they are the meanest, most selfish things ever
+created."
+
+"Listen to me--"
+
+"I did listen to you," declared that young lady with a triumphant laugh.
+"I did listen to you, and I have sharp ears. You are to have your first
+exclusive lesson to-morrow evening. I make the discovery that Mr.
+Wallace knows more of golf than all of you Woodvale boys together, and
+then you seek to monopolise his skill. That's what he did, girls, and he
+dare not deny it! What do you think of him?"
+
+"Monster!" laughed Miss Harding, our fair chauffeuse on this return
+trip, raising her eyes for an instant to mine.
+
+"Ingrate!" hissed Miss Ross, leaning forward from the tonneau.
+
+"What shall we do with him?" demanded Miss Lawrence.
+
+"Make him take us with him!" they chorused, and I assured them that
+nothing would give me more pleasure.
+
+And thus it happened that Wallace acquired four pupils instead of one,
+and for three successive evenings we had a jolly time in the old sheep
+pasture taking our lessons from this most remarkable "hired man." We had
+to let Mr. Harding into the secret the second evening, but he promised
+not to "butt in" to our class, so he and Bishop sat on a side hill and
+smoked and laughed and seemed to enjoy the exhibition hugely.
+
+These little excursions to the old sheep pasture excited increasing
+curiosity in the club. I enjoyed them immensely, since it gave me a
+chance to walk slowly home with Miss Harding.
+
+After the first visit we discarded the auto, since its use threatened
+too much publicity. There was no real reason for keeping the affair a
+secret, except that it is a pleasure to hold an interest in a mystery,
+and I think most of us will confess to this harmless weakness. In
+addition I was steadily improving my short game, which has been my great
+handicap when pitted against Carter.
+
+And besides, as I have noted, I enjoyed the companionship of Miss
+Harding--and, of course, that of the others of our little group.
+
+I am of the opinion that LaHume followed and spied upon us on the
+occasion of our second trip, and very likely on the succeeding one. I am
+sure I saw someone raise his head above a scrubby knoll to the south,
+and am reasonably certain I recognised LaHume's gray cap. He was not
+about the club that evening until after our return, and the same thing
+happened on the following evening. His manner led me to believe he knew
+more than he cared to tell. He was sullen almost to the point of
+insolence.
+
+After having been ignored once or twice by Miss Lawrence, LaHume left
+our little group on the veranda and pulled a chair to the side of
+Carter, who was reading his evening paper. It is not safe to interrupt
+Carter while thus engaged, but after LaHume said a few words the other
+laid aside the paper and listened intently. They talked for some time,
+and in view of what happened later I have an idea of the subject of
+their conversation.
+
+Carter called me aside the next evening.
+
+"I understand," he said, "that you have retained the services of a
+private golf tutor."
+
+"Who told you that?" I was thunderstruck.
+
+"Never mind who told me," laughed Carter. "Trying to steal a march on
+the rest of us, eh? Foxy old Smith; foxy old Smith!"
+
+There was nothing I cared to say, and I said it.
+
+"Is he any good?" Carter asked.
+
+"Is who any good?" I parried.
+
+"Wallace, of course. Oh, I know all about it. You, Miss Lawrence, Miss
+Ross, and Miss Harding have been taking lessons from Wallace for several
+evenings over in Bishop's sheep pasture. What I wish to know is this:
+does this Scotch chap of Bishop's really know anything about the game,
+or are the girls carried away with him because he is a handsome dog who
+has seen better days and is now playing in bad luck?"
+
+"I cannot speak for the young ladies," I replied realising that I might
+as well tell the truth, "but I am smitten with the way he hits a ball,
+and also with his genius in explaining it to me. Carter, I tell you this
+fellow Wallace is a wonder!"
+
+Carter was silent a moment.
+
+"I wonder if he would like a job as golf professional?" he said.
+
+"Golf professional?" I repeated. "Where?"
+
+"Right here in Woodvale," declared Carter.
+
+"To take Kirkaldy's place?"
+
+"Yes, to take Kirkaldy's place. Kirkaldy handed me his resignation
+to-night to take effect on Saturday. A rich uncle has died in Scotland,
+and our young friend will buy his own golf balls in future, instead of
+winning them from you and me. Now you and I constitute the majority of
+the house committee, and if this Wallace is as good as you say, and I do
+not doubt your judgment in the least, what's the matter with offering
+him Kirkaldy's place? A man who can drive a dozen balls two hundred
+yards and tell how he does it is squandering his time and cheating
+humanity by serving as hired man."
+
+I told him what Wallace said when I offered him money.
+
+"That's all nonsense," declared Carter. "He can be a professional and
+return to the amateur ranks after he has gone into some other avocation.
+That is the rule not only here but in Great Britain. Kirkaldy can now
+become an amateur, and doubtless will. Get your hat and we'll go over
+and talk to this chap right now."
+
+"How about LaHume?" I asked. LaHume is the third member of the house
+committee.
+
+"Never mind about LaHume," laughed Carter. "I imagine there are reasons
+why LaHume might oppose the selection of Wallace, but if we are
+satisfied LaHume will have to be."
+
+The Bishops had retired when we reached the old house, but Wallace came
+to the door, book in hand. Naturally he was surprised to see us at that
+hour, and he was even more surprised when Carter told him the object of
+our visit.
+
+"We are not authorised to make you a definite offer to-night," said
+Carter. "I am chairman of the committee, and if you care to consider the
+matter seriously we suggest that you play a round with our present
+professional, Kirkaldy, to-morrow afternoon. If your work is
+satisfactory, as I have no doubt it will be from what Smith has said of
+you, the place is yours at the same salary and the same perquisites
+received by Kirkaldy."
+
+"And what are these?" asked Wallace, a twinkle in his eye which I had
+noticed on several occasions. It was a peculiar combination of
+shrewdness, curiosity, and amusement, but one could not take offence at
+it. He certainly is an odd fish, and I like him even if I do not
+understand him.
+
+"One hundred dollars a month with room and board, and all you can earn
+giving lessons," said Carter. "Kirkaldy averages three hundred dollars a
+month, and could have made more had he not been lazy."
+
+"That certainly is a tempting chance for one who is getting twenty
+dollars a month," observed Wallace, after a long pause. "I like it here,
+and will not leave Mr. Bishop without due notice, but if you can obtain
+my release and can positively assure me that my amateur standing will
+not be impaired I will try to qualify for the position you offer. I
+don't mind telling you," he added, and I noticed the same odd twinkle in
+his eyes, "that there was a time, and I hope it will recur, when I
+thought much of playing the game in a non-professional capacity. That,
+however, is amongst ourselves, and if I become your professional I shall
+attend strictly to my business."
+
+The following morning I saw Mr. Bishop, who informed me that Wallace had
+already related the purport of our visit the preceding evening.
+
+"I'll tell you how I look at it, Jack," the old man said. "He's not an
+awful good hired man, but he's willin' and eager to learn, and has the
+makings of the best one in the county, but mor'n that he is a real
+gentleman, and good company for mother and me, and I hate like the
+mischief to lose him. But Lord bless ye, if he can make three hundred
+dollars a month teaching you fools how to hit a ball with a stick, why
+I ain't got no call to keep him here. That's as much money as I make out
+of this whole blamed farm, and I have to work and not play for a livin'.
+If Wallace is the man you want, take him, and I won't put a straw in his
+way. Only I hope you'll sorter hint to him that we'd take it kindly if
+he'd make it a point to drop over here once in a while and take supper
+with mother and me, and stay all night, if he'd care to. Will you do
+that, Jack?"
+
+I heartily promised I would, and felt as guilty as if I had stolen some
+of Bishop's prize sheep. I went down the fields and told Wallace the old
+man had consented to release him, and that Kirkaldy would be on hand at
+the club to play a trial round at two o'clock.
+
+I will describe that game and some other happenings in my next entry.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XIII
+
+OUR NEW PROFESSIONAL
+
+
+LaHume was furious when Carter and I told him Wallace was a candidate
+for Kirkaldy's place.
+
+"What do you mean by taking this step without consulting me?" he
+blustered.
+
+"We have not employed this chap yet," Carter calmly responded. "Don't
+get excited, Percy, Wallace may not make good."
+
+"But who knows who he is?" demanded LaHume. "He may be the rankest kind
+of an impostor."
+
+"A golf impostor?" smiled Carter. "I never heard of one. We can get a
+line on him before he has played five holes."
+
+"I don't mean that," growled LaHume. "What I mean is that we don't know
+anything about this fellow. He comes with no recommendations, and all
+that sort of thing."
+
+"If he can play within five strokes of Kirkaldy, and teach Smith how to
+keep from slicing, that's recommendation enough," remarked Carter. "What
+have you against him, Percy?"
+
+"I'll vote against him in the committee," hotly declared LaHume, "and if
+I'm over-ruled I will appeal the matter to the club."
+
+"Go as far as you like, my boy," drawled Carter, slowly adjusting his
+monocle and turning on his heel.
+
+The news Kirkaldy had resigned and that "Bishop's hired man, Wallace,"
+was to have a try out for his place spread rapidly, and created no end
+of comment and excitement. When it was rumoured that the Misses
+Harding, Ross, and Lawrence--the three acknowledged beauties of the
+club--were his sponsors the interest was vastly increased.
+
+Wallace appeared half an hour ahead of the appointed time, and I
+introduced him to Kirkaldy. The latter studied him intently as they
+chatted, but asked no questions concerning his identity with their
+native Scotland. Wallace looked over an array of clubs, selected some
+which suited him, but retained my cleek and mashie. It was agreed I
+should act as caddy for Wallace, Chilvers for Kirkaldy, and that Carter
+should referee. LaHume declined to act in any capacity.
+
+All games were postponed to watch this strange contest, and the
+"gallery" clustered at the first tee numbered fully one hundred. It was
+agreed that the contest should be at medal play, the match score also to
+be taken into consideration.
+
+Mr. Harding called me aside before the match started.
+
+"What do you think about this game, Smith?" he asked. "You've seen both
+of them play, and I hav'n't. This young fellow, LaHume, is bluffing
+around offering to bet any part of five hundred dollars Kirkaldy will
+beat this Wallace seven strokes. I don't mind losing the money, but I
+hate to make a foolish bet and be laughed at."
+
+"Take LaHume up, and I'll stand half the bet," I said, after considering
+the matter for a moment. "Wallace is a stranger to the course, but I
+doubt if Kirkaldy or anyone living can beat him seven strokes."
+
+Harding covered LaHume's money, and the latter placed several hundred
+dollars more at the same odds. Miss Lawrence heard he was betting
+against Wallace, and her eyes blazed with indignation.
+
+"You go to Mr. LaHume," she said to Marshall, "and ask him what odds he
+will give that Mr. Wallace does not win the game. Do not tell him who
+wishes to know."
+
+"What odds Wallace does not win the game?" sneered LaHume, when Marshall
+sounded him. "Five to one, up to a thousand dollars!"
+
+Just before they teed off, Marshall put a crisp one-hundred-dollar note
+belonging to Miss Lawrence in Harding's hands as stakeholder, and LaHume
+promptly covered it with five bills of the same denomination. There were
+scores of smaller wagers with no such animus back of them.
+
+Wallace won the toss and took the honour. I doubt if there be any
+greater mental or nervous strain than that of making the initial stroke
+in an important golf contest. The player realises that all eyes are on
+him, and unless he has nerves of steel and an absolute mental poise he
+is likely to fall the victim of a wave which surges against him as he
+grasps the shaft of his club.
+
+Wallace's first shot was the poorest I had seen him execute. It went
+high and to the left, and for a moment I was sure it would not clear the
+fence, but it did, dropping in as thick a clump of swamp grass as can
+be found in Woodvale. It left him fully one hundred and fifty yards from
+the cup. It-was a most disappointing shot, and I instinctively turned
+and looked at LaHume.
+
+That young gentleman was satisfied beyond measure. There was something
+vindictive and repellent in the satisfied expression of his face. I
+turned and watched Kirkaldy drive a beautiful ball within fifty yards of
+the cup. The first hole is two hundred and eighty-five yards from the
+tee.
+
+I found Wallace's ball. It was on a soggy spot of ground, with tall
+slush grass in front of it, but luckily there was room to swing a club
+back of it. He studied it a moment intently. It was a villainous lie. I
+did not wish to give advice, but could not restrain myself.
+
+"Better play safe," I said. "It will cost you only one stroke."
+
+"I think I can take it out," he said, reaching in the bag for a heavy,
+old-fashioned lofting iron.
+
+He took one glance at the green, and then came down on that ball as if
+he intended to drive it into the bowels of the earth. I saw nothing but
+a shower of mud and a huge divot hurled up by the club-head as the
+wrists relaxed to save breaking the shaft.
+
+Others saw the ball as it flicked the tips of the menacing grass and
+soared high in the air. It struck on the near edge of the green.
+
+"A bonny shot, mon; a guede clean shot as ere were made out thot muck!"
+exclaimed Kirkaldy, his face mantled with a grin of frank admiration.
+
+It was a glorious recovery! Miss Lawrence was fairly dancing for joy.
+Kirkaldy laid his ball within a foot of the hole, and won it with a
+three against four for Wallace, the latter making bogy. Wallace is
+unable to explain how he made a fluke of that first shot, and I am sure
+I have no idea.
+
+On the second hole both drove perfect balls over the old graveyard, but
+Wallace had a shade the best of it in distance and direction. Both were
+nicely on the green in two, and Wallace missed a putt for a three by a
+hair, while his opponent was lucky, running down in a long lag for four,
+halving it in bogy.
+
+Timid players drive short on the third so as to avoid dropping in the
+brook, but both drove smashing balls far over it.
+
+"I don't know much about this game," chuckled Harding, overtaking me at
+the foot-bridge, "but so far as I can see, this man of Bishop's isn't
+exactly what you folks call a duffer."
+
+[Illustration: "It struck on the near edge of the green"]
+
+Both took this hole in bogy fours, and both drove the duck pond on the
+next hole, and we found their balls fair on the green, 220 yards away
+and slightly up hill. Wallace rimmed the cup for a two, and both made
+threes, one stroke better than bogy. It was lightning golf. LaHume's
+face was a study.
+
+The fifth hole is 470 yards, and both were within easy chopping
+approach of the green on their second. Wallace had the worst of a bad
+kick, and Kirkaldy holed a thirty-foot putt for a par four, making him
+two up. LaHume smiled once again. The next four holes were made in bogy
+by both players, leaving Kirkaldy two up on both medal and match scores.
+Here is the out card:
+
+                 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
+      KIRKALDY-- 3  4  4  3  4  5  5  5  4--37
+      WALLACE--- 4  4  4  3  5  5  5  5  4--39
+
+This was three under bogy for Kirkaldy, and one under for Wallace.
+
+"I think this Scotchman of yours will do," Carter said in an undertone,
+as we neared the tenth tee. "He is executing fairly well for a man
+playing a course for the first time, fixed up with a strange set of
+clubs, and getting all the worst of the luck on putts. He is actually
+outdriving Kirkaldy, but I'm afraid our friend Miss Lawrence will lose
+that hundred to Percy."
+
+"So am I," I said, "but it is the only bet he will win."
+
+It was at the tenth hole that Miss Lawrence sliced her ball over the
+fence, and Wallace deftly returned it, as I have mentioned. As he looked
+over the ground he identified it, and for the first time during the game
+he took a sweeping glance at the "gallery."
+
+His eyes met those of Miss Lawrence, and I saw him make a gesture with
+his hand as if to remind her that this was the spot where he first had
+seen her. She answered with a smile and a nod, and then said something
+to Miss Harding and Miss Rose, at which the three of them laughed.
+
+Then the machine-like Kirkaldy drove his usual accurate long ball.
+
+It is a dangerous hole, this tenth, with a deep cut through which the
+country road runs to the right, and dense woods and rock-strewn
+underbrush to the left. The cautious player does not hazard making the
+narrow opening, but Wallace smashed that ball a full 250 yards as
+straight as a rifle shot. It is a 450-yard hole, and it has been the
+ambition of every player in the club to reach it in two. Kirkaldy had
+never done it, but Wallace had made a record-breaking drive. Could he
+reach the green?
+
+Kirkaldy brassied and was short, but in good position. Wallace did not
+have a good lie, but I told him it was a full 200 yards, and the fore
+caddy gave him the direction. It was uphill almost all the way to the
+hole. He used a full brassie, going well into the turf, and I knew when
+the ball started it would reach the green.
+
+We climbed the hill breathless with curiosity. I came in sight of the
+green. A new, white ball lay within a foot of the cup! All records on
+"Mount Terrible" had been shattered!
+
+Kirkaldy smiled grimly and was short on his approach, but got down in
+two more, losing the hole with a five against that phenomenal three.
+Five is bogy and par for this hole, and sevens more common than fives.
+The medal score was even.
+
+They halved the eleventh, Wallace won the twelfth and lost the
+fourteenth, both making threes on the tricky thirteenth. Wallace took
+the medal lead by winning the fifteenth in another perfect three, and
+the sixteenth produced fours for both of them. It was Kirkaldy's turn to
+register a three on the next, this bringing them to the last hole all
+square on medal score, with Kirkaldy one up on match play. It was
+intensely exciting!
+
+The eighteenth hole is 610 yards. By wonderful long work both were on
+the green in three, but Kirkaldy was on the extreme far edge and away.
+His approach putt was too strong, overrunning the cup by twelve feet.
+Wallace laid his ball dead within six inches of the cup, and putted down
+in five, one under bogy. This insured him at least a tie for the medal
+score, but the match honours would go to Kirkaldy if he could hole that
+long putt. We held our breaths! He went to the left by a slight margin,
+halving the match by holes. Here is the card coming in:
+
+              1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
+   KIRKALDY-- 5  4  6  3  4  4  4  3  6--39
+   WALLACE--- 3  4  5  3  5  3  4  4  5-36
+
+
+[Illustration: "LaHume ... stalking toward the club house"]
+
+Wallace therefore won the medal round by a score of 75 against 76 for
+Kirkaldy, and honours were even on holes. It was a match to make one's
+blood tingle; a clean, honest contest between two clear-headed and
+muscle-trained athletes.
+
+Kirkaldy was the first to grasp Wallace's hand, and in the blue eyes of
+our tried and popular golf mentor there was naught but sincere goodwill
+and unaffected admiration.
+
+"Ye'll do, my laddy, ye'll do!" Kirkaldy exclaimed. "I dinna ken who
+taught ye, but he was a guede mon; a guede mon!"
+
+As Kirkaldy's ball stopped rolling, and it was known Wallace had won the
+medal score, the breathless gallery found their voices and gave vent to
+their feelings. The silent and motionless circle came to life, and, as
+it were, exploded toward its centre. We found ourselves in the vortex of
+cheering men, laughing girls, fluttering 'kerchiefs, and the excited
+clatter of a hundred voices.
+
+I looked for LaHume and saw him stalking toward the club house. Someone
+clutched me by the sleeve, and I looked into the beautiful and happy
+eyes of Miss Lawrence.
+
+"Wasn't it glorious!" she said. "Isn't he a splendid player! Did you
+ever see anything like that tenth hole? And I won! I just thought I
+should scream when Mr. Wallace lay dead for a five on this hole!"
+
+"Say, he's all right, eh, Smith!" said Mr. Harding, handing me a roll of
+money. "Here's your share of the plunder. It was like picking it up in
+the street after a cyclone has hit a national bank. I'm going to blow
+mine in giving a dinner to Wallace and Kirkaldy, and everybody is
+invited."
+
+We had that dinner, and right royally did we welcome the new and speed
+the parting professional. And this is how Tom Wallace, "Bishop's hired
+man," came to Woodvale as its golf professional.
+
+After the dinner in honour of our professionals Kirkaldy made me a
+present of his famous driver. It is a beauty, and I confidently expect
+to lengthen my drive by at least ten yards with it. For the first time
+in my life I am now reasonably sure with my cleek shots. I do not know
+when I have been so well satisfied with my prospects.
+
+My apparent stock losses to date foot up to $202,000.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XIV
+
+MYSELF AND I
+
+
+For an hour I have looked at the unsullied page of this diary. It amused
+me to turn back over its pages, but when I started to write the words
+would not come.
+
+A liar is one who by direction or indirection seeks to deceive. The man
+who lies to an enemy is a diplomat; the man who lies to give harmless
+play to his imagination is an artist; the man who lies to his friends
+for the purpose of taking advantage of them is a scoundrel, and the man
+who lies to himself is a fool.
+
+After re-reading this diary I am convinced that I belong in the last
+class.
+
+I have been lying to myself for the past three weeks. With a smile on my
+lips I have looked myself in the eye and told the one falsehood over and
+over again. I have been the ass fondly to believe I told it with such
+detail and verisimilitude as to carry conviction to myself. I told it
+for the last time a few minutes ago.
+
+My alter ego laughed in my face. I dislike to be jeered at, even by
+myself. I humbly apologised. I promised to reform and confess, and here
+is the confession:
+
+I am in love. I have been in love for three weeks. It is not necessary
+to say with whom, since I and myself both know, but in order that the
+crimes of evasion and equivocation may no longer be charged against me,
+I frankly record that I am in love with Grace Harding!
+
+There you have it, John Henry Smith! Head it over carefully. Does that
+suit you? With it goes my humble apology. Does not this constitute the
+amende honorable? What did you say? Ah, it does! Good Shake hands, old
+fellow! Now let's sit quietly down and talk this matter over, and see
+how we stand. I wish you to help me.
+
+The situation is slightly less complicated. It is settled that I am in
+love with Grace Harding. What's that? "_We_ are in love with Grace
+Harding," you say. Very well, old fellow, have it your own way. You are
+the only one in the world with whom I shall refuse to become jealous.
+They say that two heads are better than one, even if one is a
+blockhead--meaning me, of course.
+
+_We_ are in love with Grace Harding. Well, what if I did say it
+before? I like to keep on saying it. It's the best thing I have written
+since I started this stupid diary. _We_ are in love with Grace
+Harding.
+
+When you come to think of it, John, we cannot take any great amount of
+credit for that. It is not startling, and I'm awfully afraid it is not
+original. Now, as I look at it, it would be much more remarkable if I--I
+beg your pardon, John Henry Smith--it would be much more remarkable if
+we were _not_ in love with Grace Harding. Did you ever think of that?
+
+Falling in love with Grace Harding was the easiest thing we ever did,
+Smith, and you know it. We are entitled to no more credit for it than
+for admiring one of those glorious sunsets, when the eye is ravished by
+blended and ever-changing tints of cloud, sky, and enchanted landscape.
+We do not boast, Smith, that we love the songs of the birds, or the
+graceful bend of the willow as it yields to the summer's breeze; we do
+not call attention to our worship of the early morn, when the dew
+sparkles like swarming diamonds on grass and flower, and bridal veils of
+mist float over the breasts of the hills.
+
+We loved her, Smith, from the moment she dawned upon us the day her
+father made that wonderful drive. We loved her while she was playing
+that first game of golf--and now we can talk frankly with each other, I
+will confess I never saw a woman play worse than she did that day. But
+the fact that our admiration grew during every moment of that weird and
+wonderful exhibition of how not to hit a ball, proves we were in love.
+You never denied it, you say? I know you didn't; and it's to your
+credit.
+
+But does she love us, Smith? You don't know? Of course you don't know,
+but what do you think about it? You hope, she does, you say. Smith
+you're as stupid as I am! Certainly you hope she does, and so do I, but
+have you any reason to believe she does? Why don't you say something?
+
+"She is pleasant to us, smiles at us, and seems to enjoy our society,"
+you say. Well, what of it? What does that prove? I could say the same
+thing of Miss Ross, Miss Dangerfield, and even of Miss Lawrence. I am
+not so conceited as to imagine these charming girls are in love with us
+because they laugh, smile, and seem to be pleased at our attempts to
+entertain them.
+
+Carter could make claim that Miss Harding was in love with him on the
+same plea. And speaking of Carter, I should like your opinion of him.
+I'll tell you frankly I don't like the way he acts.
+
+Mind you, Smith, I'm not going to say anything against Carter, and I
+shall not permit you to. Carter has as much right to fall in love with
+Grace Harding as we have, and for that matter I'm afraid he has more
+claim in that direction. If you will recollect, it was Carter who
+introduced us to Miss Harding.
+
+I have no idea when and where he met her. Carter is a chap who attends
+to his own affairs and who does not permit others to interfere in them.
+It is not likely he will tell us, and I shall never ask him.
+
+Mr. Harding sometimes calls him "Jim." That goes to prove that Carter
+has known the Hardings for a long time. Harding once spoke of knowing
+Carter's father.
+
+That is not what worries me. It is Carter's air and whole attitude which
+puts me on guard. Carter must know, John Henry Smith, that we pay an
+unusual amount of attention to Miss Harding, and sometimes I almost
+imagine he has surmised what I have confessed to you, but it does not
+seem to annoy or concern him in the least. It is as if he knew just how
+far we can go. It strikes me as the confidence bred of assured
+supremacy, but, of course, I may be in error, and sincerely hope I am,
+for your sake as well as mine.
+
+Carter and Miss Harding are much together. They take long walks, and
+both seem very happy in one another's company.
+
+I stumbled across them last evening while looking for a lost ball in the
+old graveyard. They were on a scat under a weeping willow tree, and were
+sitting very close together. Carter was reading something and she was
+looking over his shoulder. They were laughing when they looked up and
+saw me poking about in the grass with my club.
+
+"Hello, Smith!" drawled Carter, looking at me through that monocle of
+his. "Lost your ball? How many times must I tell you that the proper way
+to play this hole is to drive over this sacred spot and not into it?"
+
+Miss Harding drew slightly away from him when she saw me--at least I
+imagined so--and smiled and looked innocent as could be.
+
+[Illustration: "Miss Harding ... smiled and looked innocent as could
+be"]
+
+What I am getting at, John Henry Smith, is this: We would not dare ask
+Miss Harding to sit with us in such a lonely and secluded spot, and I
+think we would have been more embarrassed than was Carter at so
+unexpected an interruption. It simply goes to prove that--well, I don't
+know just what it does prove.
+
+Chilvers told me a year ago he had heard Carter was engaged to be
+married to a very pretty and immensely wealthy girl. I did not think
+much of it at the time, having only passing interest in whether Carter
+married or remained single. The other day I asked Chilvers if he had
+heard anything more about Carter's engagement, and he looked at me
+rather oddly and said he had not. He said his wife might know something
+about it, and advised me to ask her or Carter.
+
+Suppose they were engaged, John Henry Smith? That would settle it, you
+say. You quit too easily. If you desert me in this extremity I shall go
+ahead on my own account. I love her; I must have her! Let Carter fall in
+love with someone else!
+
+For some malignant reason this man Carter has persistently stood between
+me and the realisation of my cherished ambitions. He has won cup after
+cup and medal after medal which would have fallen to me were it not for
+his devilish combination of skill and luck. But he shall not thwart my
+love! He shall not; I swear it; he shall not! Smile, John Henry Smith,
+you do not love her as I do.
+
+"Why should she fall in love with me, or wish to marry me? What have I
+done in the world, or what do I expect to do which will compel that
+admiration and respect which is the basis of true love?"
+
+Those are harsh questions, John Henry Smith. I tell you I love her; is
+not that sufficient? She is not the woman to weigh a man in the same
+scales with his money, his miles of railroad track, and such material
+assets. I would love her if her father were still a section boss.
+
+And I _am_ going to do something in this world. I propose to show
+you, John Henry Smith, that I can do something beside play golf. Am I
+not doing something now? Am I not risking practically every dollar I have
+in the world on my business judgment? Call it gambling if you will; if so,
+it is big gambling. The man who wins must take chances. Mr. Harding did
+not become a railway magnate by remaining a section boss. He is a
+commanding figure in Wall Street. I shall be that and more.
+
+Laugh if you will, John Henry Smith; I mean every word of it!
+
+What does Carter do? He has not done a stroke of work in five years. He
+says a man with an income of $100,000 a year has no right to work and
+strive to increase it. I claim a man should do something to make a name
+for himself, and leave a record of which his children and grand-children
+will be proud. You watch me, John Henry Smith! I'll show you and Miss
+Harding that I can do something beside play golf.
+
+We have wandered from our subject. The question is this: what shall we
+do in order to ascertain if Miss Harding entertains toward us any
+sentiment stronger than friendship? Ask her, you say. Suppose _you_
+ask her. No, my dear John Henry, that is not the proper step at this time.
+
+I do not set myself up as an authority in matters of love, but I do hold
+that no wise man ever proposed to a good and true woman without knowing
+in advance that she would accept him. Love has its secret code, and
+Nature gives the key to its discerning votaries. I have that key, John
+Henry Smith.
+
+One need not speak or write in order to send the first timid messages of
+love; and by the same token the recipient need not even frown in order
+to tenderly reject the proffered passion. There are as many words in
+this unwritten and unspoken vocabulary of love as may be found in
+lexicons. Did you know that, John Henry?
+
+The man who fails to avail himself of this silent but eloquent language,
+and who stupidly assaults a woman with an avowal of an alleged love,
+deserves to be coldly rejected. It is as much of an insult or an
+indiscretion as to walk unheralded and unbidden into a private room.
+Never do it, John Henry!
+
+If a man becomes convinced he loves a woman he should tell her by some
+message in the code which both understand. He will know if she receives
+it. It is not necessary that she answer, "yes." If she answer not at all
+he has achieved a notable victory, but if she promptly signals a decided
+"no" he has met with irreparable defeat. That settles it, my dear Smith.
+
+A woman may refuse a man with words, and he be justified in declining to
+accept the implied rejection, but there is no appeal from the silent
+decision which leaps from the heart.
+
+So long as no message comes back unopened keep on sending them. You are
+justified in assuming that they have been read and are being
+entertained. The time will come, John Henry, when you will get your
+answer. If it is against you, accept it with the best grace you can
+command. Do not be the fool to think her lips will veto her heart.
+
+If, on the contrary, there comes the glad day when over the throbbing
+unseen wire there comes a telepagram sounding the letters "Y-E-S,"
+proceed with the sweet formality of a verbal avowal of your love, and
+you will not be disappointed.
+
+Smile if you will, John Henry Smith, you know I have told the truth.
+
+We have sent a few of these messages to Miss Harding, and thus far none
+have been returned unopened. As you say, John Henry, they have been very
+timid ones, and possibly are so vague she does not think them worth even
+a decided negative. We will send more emphatic ones; not too emphatic,
+mind you, but couched in symbols which cannot be misunderstood.
+
+That is our best plan, John Henry Smith, don't you think so? I am glad
+we agree at last. As yet nothing has happened of a character positively
+discouraging.
+
+Carter? I wish you would not mention his name. From this on we will
+ignore Carter.
+
+I intended to write of our automobile trip, but the hour is late and I
+must postpone it until some other time. Good night, John Henry Smith!
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XV
+
+THE AUTO AND THE BULL
+
+
+I started to tear out what I wrote last night, but on second thought
+will let it remain. Its perusal in future years may amuse me. I will now
+resume the trail of Woodvale happenings.
+
+The touring car won from her father by Miss Harding is a massive and
+beautiful machine. Luckily I am familiar with the mechanism of this
+particular make, and, as a consequence, am called in for advice when any
+trifling question arises. Harding scorns a professional chauffeur.
+
+"Next to running one of these road engines," he declares, "the most fun
+is in pulling them apart to see how they are made. I would as soon hire
+a man to eat for me as to shawf one of these choo-choo cars."
+
+Shortly after the big machine arrived Mr. Harding received a letter from
+a gentleman named Wilson, who is spending the summer at the Oak Cliff
+Golf and Country Club. Wilson challenged him to come to Oak Cliff and
+play golf, and to bring his family and a party of friends with him.
+Harding read the letter and laughed.
+
+"Here's my chance to win a game," he declared. "I can't beat the Kid,
+but I'll put it all over Wilson, you see if I don't."
+
+"Don't be too sure, papa," cautioned Miss Harding.
+
+"Wilson only started golf this year, and the only game he can beat me at
+is hanging up pictures," insisted Harding. "He stands six-foot-four, and
+weighs about one hundred and fifty. He looks like a pair of compasses,
+but he's all right, and we must go up and see him. Do you know the road,
+Smith?"
+
+"Every foot of it."
+
+"How far is it?"
+
+"About forty miles."
+
+"Good!" declared the magnate. "I'll wire Wilson we'll be there
+to-morrow. We'll fill up the buzz wagon, take an early start, and put in
+a whole day at it. Smith shall be chief shawfer, and the Kid and I will
+take turns when he gets tired."
+
+And we did. We started at seven o'clock with a party consisting of Mr.
+and Mrs. Harding, Miss Harding, Chilvers and his wife, Miss Dangerfield,
+Carter, and myself.
+
+There are many hills intervening and some stretches of indifferent road,
+but we figured we should make the run in two hours or less--but we
+didn't.
+
+The few early risers gave us a cheer as we rolled away from the club
+house and careened along the winding path which leads to the main road.
+The dew yet lay on the grass, and little lakes of fog hung over the fair
+green. It was a perfect spring morning, and the ozone-charged air had an
+exhilarating effect as we cleaved through it.
+
+Miss Harding was in the seat with me. I don't imagine this exactly
+pleased Carter, but it suited me to a dot. My lovely companion was in
+splendid spirits.
+
+"Now, Jacques Henri," she said to me in French, pretending that I was a
+professional chauffeur, "you are on trial. Unless you show marked
+proficiency we shall dispense with your services."
+
+"And if I do?" I inquired.
+
+"Then you may consider yourself retained," she laughed.
+
+"For life?" I boldly asked.
+
+I was so rattled at this rather broad insinuation that I swung out of
+the road and struck a rut, which gave the car a thorough shaking.
+
+"If that's the way you drive you will be lucky if you're not discharged
+before we reach Oak Cliff," Miss Harding declared, and I did not dare
+look in her eyes to see if she were offended or not.
+
+For the following minutes I attended strictly to business. The steering
+gear and other operating parts were a bit stiff on account of newness,
+but I soon acquired the "feel" of them, and we ate up the first ten
+miles in seventeen minutes.
+
+We were following a sinuous brook toward its source, now skirting its
+quiet depths along the edge of reedy meadows, and then chasing it into
+the hills where it boiled and complained as it dashed and spumed amid
+rocks and boulders.
+
+"Hold on there, Smith!" shouted Harding from the rear seat in the
+tonneau.
+
+"Stop, Jacques Henri!" ordered my fair employer, and then I dared look
+into her smiling eyes.
+
+"I want to cut some of those willow switches," explained Harding, as
+the car stopped.
+
+"What do you want of willow switches, John?" asked Mrs. Harding.
+
+"Going to make whistles out of them," he said, cutting several which
+sprouted out from the edge of a spring. "Besides they're good things to
+keep the flies from biting the tonneau. Smith runs so slow that they are
+stealing a ride."
+
+"Defend me," I said to my employer.
+
+"Jacques Henri is doing as he is told," declared Miss Harding.
+
+The spring was so inviting that we sampled its clear, cold water.
+Harding in the meantime whittling industriously on his willow switch.
+When he found that his whistle would "blow" he was as pleased as if he
+had designed a new type of locomotive.
+
+A mile farther on we passed sedately through a country village and
+aroused the fleeting interest of the loungers in front of the combined
+post-office and news store. Then we entered a fine farming country, and
+from it plunged into a forest so dense that the overhanging boughs
+almost spanned our pathway.
+
+Moss-covered stone walls lined both sides of the road. Everywhere was a
+profusion of wild flowers, their petals brushing against our tires, and
+their flaunting reds, yellows, and blues brightening the gloom of the
+encompassing wood. A gray squirrel scampered across our path and
+impudent chipmunks chattered to right and left. And then we came to a
+small clearing filled with the wagons, tents and litter of a gipsy camp.
+
+
+
+"Let's stop and have our fortunes told!" cried Miss Dangerfield, but my
+employer vetoed that proposition. It was a vivid flash of colour. The
+brightly painted wagons with their canvas tops, the red-shirted men,
+black of hair and eyes, olive of skin, and graceful in their laziness;
+the older women bare-headed, bent of shoulder, and brilliantly shrouded
+in shawls; the younger women straight as arrows, bold and keen of
+glance, and decked in ribbons and jewelry, and on every hand swarms of
+gipsy children, more or less clothed. The blue smoke of their camp-fires
+twisted through the dark green of the fir trees in the background.
+
+Again the forest closed upon us. The grade became steeper, and in places
+our road had been blasted through solid rock. And then we reached the
+summit of this ridge, and like a flash the superb panorama of the Hudson
+burst upon us. At our feet lay the broad bosom of the Tappan Zee, its
+waters glistening in the sunlight, the spires of a village in the
+foreground, and the distance blue-girt with cliffs, hills, and
+mountains.
+
+I have seen it a thousand times, but it is ever new.
+
+"Stop; Jacques Henri!" commanded Miss Harding, and I stopped.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Harding. "Something busted?"
+
+"We're going to sit right here a minute or more and admire this,"
+declared Miss Harding.
+
+"Great; isn't it?" admitted Harding. "Who owns it, Smith? Does it cost
+anything to look at it?"
+
+"Not a penny," I said.
+
+"First time I've got something for nothing since I struck New York," was
+the comment of that gentleman.
+
+Four or five miles across the Tappan Zee the blue of the mountain was
+splattered with the white of straggling houses. To the left was a
+checker-board of farms, an area hundreds of square miles in extent
+basking in the rays of a cloudless sun. Yet beyond, the Orange mountains
+lifted their rounded slopes. To the south was the grim line of the
+Palisades, blue-black save where trees clung to their steep sides. On
+the north Hook Mountain dipped its feet into the Hudson, and to our ears
+came the dull boom of explosions where vandals are blasting away its
+sides and ruining its beauty.
+
+"Right over there," said Carter, pointing toward Piermont, "is where
+Andre landed when he crossed the river on the mission to Benedict Arnold
+which ended in his capture and death. Beyond the mountain is the
+monument which marks the spot where he met with what our school books
+term 'an untimely fate.'"
+
+"A short distance to the south," I added, "is the old house where
+Washington made his headquarters during the most discouraging years of
+the Revolution, and in which he and Rochambeau planned the campaign
+which ended with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. And not far
+away is 'Sleepy Hollow,' where Washington Irving lived, wrote, and
+died."
+
+"Yes, yes," contributed Chilvers, "and on this sacred soil there now is
+bunched a cluster of millionaires, any one of whom could pay the entire
+expense of the War of the Revolution as easily as I can settle for a gas
+bill."
+
+We had not noticed Harding, who suddenly appeared in front of the
+machine with his driver and a handful of golf balls.
+
+"The future historian will record," he declared, "that from this spot
+Robert L. Harding drove a golf ball into that pond below!"
+
+"Suppose you can, Robert," observed his wife, "what earthly good will it
+do you, and what will it prove?"
+
+"It will prove that I can drive one of these blamed things into that
+pond," he grinned. "I've got to break into history some way."
+
+On the fifth trial he had the satisfaction of driving a ball into that
+pond. It was not much of a drive, but it pleased him immensely.
+
+"I got my money's worth out of those five balls," he declared as he
+climbed back into the car.
+
+"See how the sun strikes the sail of that schooner!" exclaimed Miss
+Harding. "And how it glances from the brass work of those yachts at
+anchor! There goes an auto boat darting through a swarm of sail boats
+like a bird through fluttering butterflies. It is a glorious view from
+here!"
+
+"It makes the Rhine look like counterfeit money," asserted Chilvers,
+whose similes usually are grotesque. "Any time you hear an American
+raving over the wonderful scenery of Europe you can place a bet that he
+has never seen that of his own country."
+
+"That's right, Chilvers," said Harding. "We have all kinds of scenery
+out West that has never been used. It's a drug in the market, laying
+around out-of-doors for the first one that comes along."
+
+We made the next ten miles at a rapid gait through one of the finest
+country-residence sections in this fair land of ours. Then we entered a
+sparsely settled agricultural district. We were opposite a meadow which
+recently had been mowed. It was a gentle slope with picturesque rocks
+flanking its sides, and near the road was a pond.
+
+[Illustration: "It was not much of a drive"]
+
+"Whoa there, Smith!" shouted Harding. I jammed on brakes and turned to
+see what was the matter.
+
+"What is it, papa?" asked Miss Harding.
+
+"This is just the place I've been looking for," he said, standing and
+surveying the meadow with the eye of an expert.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"To paste a ball in," he asserted, reaching for his clubs.
+
+"Drive ahead, Jacques Henri!" ordered my charming employer. "Papa
+Harding, we're not going to stop every time you see a place where you
+wish to drive a ball!"
+
+"Just this once, Kid," pleaded her father. "Let me soak a few balls out
+there, and I won't say another word until we get to Oak Cliff. Be good,
+Grace, we've got lots of time."
+
+"Very well," she consented, looking at her watch. "We'll wait ten
+minutes for you."
+
+"Here's where I get some real practice," he said, arming himself with a
+driver and a box of balls. "Come on, Chilvers, you and Carter help me
+chase 'em."
+
+"Robert Harding, you are hopeless!" declared his good wife. "You have
+become a perfect golf crank."
+
+"Let me alone," he grinned, as he climbed the fence. "I'm on my
+vacation. Keep your eyes on this one, boys!"
+
+Before we started from Woodvale he declared that it was all nonsense to
+take along a change of clothes, and he was dressed in that wonderful
+costume, plaids, red coat and all.
+
+We lay back in our seats and smilingly watched his efforts. He has shown
+signs of improvement recently, and is imbued with the enthusiasm of the
+novice who realises that his practice has counted for something.
+
+He drove the first half-dozen balls indifferently, but the next one was
+really a good one.
+
+"There was a beaut!" he exclaimed, turning to us as the ball
+disappeared with a bound over the crest of the slope. "What's the matter
+with you folks? Why don't you applaud when a man makes a good shot?"
+
+"That's balls enough, papa, dear," said Miss Harding. "By the time you
+have found them your time will be up."
+
+"Right you are, Kid," he admitted. "I'm proud of that last one, and I'm
+going to pace it. Help me pick 'cm up, boys, I'll drive 'em back, and
+then we'll go on."
+
+He started to pace the distance of the longer ball, counting as he
+strode along. When he reached the crest of the slope we could hear him
+droning, "one hundred twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three," etc. Carter
+was hunting for the balls to the right and Chilvers for those to the
+left.
+
+The red coat and plaid cap disappeared over the hill. Miss Dangerfield
+was chattering about something, I know not what. I was looking at Miss
+Harding, and did not hear her.
+
+I did hear some sound which resembled distant thunder. A moment later I
+saw the top of that plaid cap bob above the hill. Then I saw the
+shoulders of that red coat, and the huge figure of the railroad magnate
+fairly shot into view.
+
+He was running as fast as his stout legs would carry him, waving his
+club and occasionally looking quickly to his rear.
+
+I knew in an instant what was the matter.
+
+"What is papa running for?" exclaimed Miss Harding. That question was
+speedily answered.
+
+"Run! Run, boys!" he yelled as he plowed down that slope. "Run like
+hell; he's after us!"
+
+Carter and Chilvers took one glance and the three of them came tearing
+down that hill.
+
+There came into view the lowered head and humped shoulders of a Holstein
+bull close on the trail of the lumbering millionaire. The women
+screamed.
+
+"He will be killed; he will be killed!" moaned Mrs. Harding. "Oh, do
+something to save him, Mr. Smith; please do something!"
+
+I am rather proud of my generalship at that critical moment. I have a
+certain amount of wit in an emergency, and luckily it did not fail me.
+It is not an easy matter to head off an enraged bull in an open field,
+but I saw a chance and took it.
+
+[Illustration: "Run! Run, boys!"]
+
+I grasped Miss Harding and fairly threw her to the ground.
+
+"Jump! Jump!" I yelled to the others.
+
+Mrs. Chilvers and Miss Dangerfield instantly obeyed, but Mrs. Harding
+was too terrified to comprehend my orders. Her eyes were fixed on her
+husband, and she neither saw nor heard me. There was not a second to
+lose.
+
+I swung that heavy touring-car in a backward curve, so as to face the
+fence over which Mr. Harding had climbed. Turning on full speed I headed
+for it.
+
+The powerful machine quivered for the fraction of a second and then
+leaped from the roadway. There was a crash of splintered fence posts and
+boards, a glimpse of flying lumber, and we were in the meadow.
+
+It takes some time to tell this, but it was not long in happening. When
+we went through that fence Harding was probably seventy yards away and
+to our left. The bull was not twenty feet back of him and gaining
+rapidly at every jump. I saw nothing of Carter or Chilvers.
+
+Harding had dropped his club and was running desperately. I feared every
+moment that he would fall. He was headed for the pond, but never would
+have reached it.
+
+"Drop down! Drop down!" I shouted to Mrs. Harding.
+
+We went over a hummock where a drain-pipe had been laid and I thought we
+were done for. The shock hurled Mrs. Harding to the floor. Beyond that
+point the ground was hard and fairly smooth and our speed became
+terrific.
+
+[Illustration: "Then I struck the bull"]
+
+The distance between the bull and his intended victim had decreased to
+so small a space that I despaired of cutting him off. I cannot tell
+exactly what happened. I only know that I kept my eye on that bull as
+religiously as one attempts to obey the golf mandate, "keep your eye on
+the ball."
+
+Then I struck the bull.
+
+I caught him with the left of the front of the car. The collision was
+at an angle of about thirty degrees, I should say. I missed Harding by
+not more than six feet. I presume we were travelling at a rate of a mile
+a minute, and that bull certainly was going one-third that fast.
+
+As the front of the machine was upon the animal I ducked, but did not
+release my firm grip on the steering-wheel. There was photographed on my
+brain an impression of a shaggy head, short and sharp horns, rage-crazed
+eyes, a wet nose and lolling tongue, of turf cast up by flying hooves,
+of a bearded face with staring eyes, of a red coat and a bewildering
+plaid--and then the machine was upon them.
+
+The shock of the collision was so slight that I feared I had missed my
+target. I shut off the power and swung sharply to the right. One glance
+proved that Mrs. Harding was uninjured.
+
+Two objects were on the ground over which I had passed, and Carter and
+Chilvers were running toward them. Had I struck Harding? I suffered
+agonies in those moments, and I was the first to reach his side.
+
+As I sprang from the car he raised to a sitting posture and attempted to
+speak, but it was impossible to do so. Before Mrs. Harding could reach
+him he was on his feet, making gestures to indicate that he was not
+hurt.
+
+"He's all right!" shouted Chilvers, rushing up to us. "Don't be alarmed,
+Mrs. Harding, he only stumbled and fell. He's winded but will catch his
+breath in a minute!"
+
+Mr. Harding panted, and between gasps bowed and made pantomimic signs to
+indicate that Chilvers had correctly diagnosed his ailment.
+
+His wife has too much sense to give way to her emotions at such a time.
+She brushed his clothes and wiped the perspiration from his face. Miss
+Harding and the others were on the scene before his voice came back to
+him.
+
+"I'm--all--right!" he declared with much effort, walking and swinging
+his arms to prove it to himself and us. Then he shook hands with me, and
+I noted that his violent exercise had not impaired the strength of his
+grip. We walked over and looked at the dead bull.
+
+"That was a good shot, Smith," he said. "That was great work. Do you
+know how close you came to hitting me?"
+
+"It was very close, but I had one eye on you," I replied.
+
+"I honestly believe it was the rush of air from the machine that keeled
+me over, but I was about done for. I doubt if I would have made that
+pond."
+
+"Governor," said Chilvers, "he would have nailed you in two more jumps.
+That was as pretty a piece of interference as I ever saw."
+
+There was not a mark on the dead animal, whose neck must have been
+broken.
+
+"When you struck him," said Chilvers, "the air was full of surprised
+beef. That bull went at least twelve feet in the air, and he never moved
+after he came down. It was a glancing shot, and you could not have done
+better, Smith, if you made a hundred trials."
+
+"Once is enough for me," I said.
+
+I turned my attention to the automobile, and as I started toward it Miss
+Harding intercepted me.
+
+"That was very brave of you, Jacques Henri," she said, offering both of
+her hands. "You are an excellent chauffeur, and we all thank you."
+
+"Don't praise me too much or I shall be tempted to demand an exorbitant
+salary," I declared. "I'm glad I had the sense to think of it in time.
+Let's see if much damage was done to the machine."
+
+It was a happy moment for John Henry Smith, and I would tackle a bull
+every day under the same circumstances if I knew that there was waiting
+for me the reward of such a glance from those eyes and the clasp of
+those little hands.
+
+The forward lamps were smashed beyond repair and several rods were
+slightly bent, but aside from these trifles I could not see that any
+damage had been done. Mr. Harding and the others joined us.
+
+"I suppose somebody owns that bull," he said. "Do you happen to know who
+runs this farm, Smith?"
+
+I had no idea. There was no farmhouse in sight, and Harding was in a
+quandary. He thought a moment and then produced one of his cards.
+
+"Write this for me, Smith. My hand is too shaky. Let's see," and then
+he dictated the following: "_While playing golf I was attacked by this
+bull. Send bill for bull to Woodvale Club_."
+
+"I should say that was all right," he said, reading it carefully. "It is
+short and does not go into unnecessary details."
+
+We tied the card to the animal's horns, and I have an idea the owner of
+that unfortunate beast will be mystified to account for the fate which
+befel him. Having repaired the fence as best we could we resumed our
+journey to Oak Cliff, and Mr. Harding was content to remain in his seat
+until we reached there.
+
+Later in the day Chilvers drew a diagram of this exploit on the back of
+a menu card, and I paste it in here as a droll memento of this incident.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chilvers attempted to explain to Harding and the rest of us that the
+collision between the auto and the bull resulted in "pulled or hooked
+shot," the bull taking the place of a golf ball and the machine serving
+as the face of the driver. It is quite accurate as showing the relative
+positions of the various factors, but I should not term it an art
+product.
+
+"I am familiar with the road from here to Oak Cliff," said Miss Harding
+when we had gone a mile or so. "You may rest, Jacques Henri, and I'll
+take your place."
+
+She did so, and handled the big car with the skill of an expert. I did
+not talk to her for fear of distracting her attention from the task she
+had assumed. I was contented to watch her, to be near her and to know
+that I had had the rare good fortune to do an unexpected turn for one
+who was near and dear to her.
+
+I will tell of our day in Oak Cliff in my next entry.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XVI
+
+MISS HARDING OWNS UP
+
+
+"I Demand part of my payment this afternoon," I said to Miss Harding as
+we neared the Oak Cliff club house.
+
+"You are impatient, Jacques Henri," she laughed. "Is it possible my
+credit is not good?"
+
+"Not in this instance," I returned. "I am demanding that you refuse all
+invitations to play in foursomes, and that after luncheon you and I make
+the round of Oak Cliff."
+
+"That is so modest a request that I grant it," she said, and ten minutes
+later I had the satisfaction of hearing her decline Carter's invitation
+to join in a foursome in which I was to take no part. This proves not
+only that all is fair in love, but that victory favours the one who
+strikes the first blow.
+
+It was about ten o'clock when we reached Oak Cliff, and found Mr. Wilson
+waiting for us. Harding was impatient to test his skill against Wilson,
+and the two were ready to play when the rest of us were still chatting
+with Mrs. Wilson and others of their party.
+
+"We are entitled to a gallery," declared Harding. "Come on, everybody,
+and watch me show Wilson how this game should be played."
+
+Most of us accepted this invitation. Mr. Wilson fits the description
+Harding had given of him. He is wonderfully tall and slim, and I doubted
+if he had much skill as a golfer. His smooth-shaven features and dreamy
+eyes were those of the poet, but he is one of the best bankers and
+business men in the country.
+
+Harding drove a fairly straight ball but Wilson promptly sliced into the
+tall grass. Miss Harding and I helped him search for his ball, and
+Chilvers joined in the hunt.
+
+"Ah, this is very lucky!" exclaimed Mr. Wilson, bending his long frame
+over some object.
+
+"Found your ball?" asked Chilvers.
+
+"The ball? No, no," he said, coming to his feet with something in his
+hand which looked to me like a weed. "But I've found a rare specimen of
+the _Articum Lappa_. It is a beauty!"
+
+"Looks sort of familiar," said the puzzled Chilvers. "What did you say
+it was?"
+
+"The _Articum Lappa_, more commonly called the burdock," explained
+Mr. Wilson.
+
+"If you can't find your ball drop another one and play!" shouted Harding
+from the other side of course. Just then I discovered the ball, and
+after two strokes Wilson got it out of trouble, and then by a lucky
+approach and putt won the hole. Harding looked at him suspiciously.
+
+[Illustration: "What are you looking for?"]
+
+On the next hole their drives landed the balls not far apart and neither
+was in trouble.
+
+"I'm afraid this man Wilson can beat me," Harding said to us in an
+undertone as we neared the balls.
+
+"Don't lose your nerve, papa," cautioned his daughter.
+
+Wilson was away, but when he was within a few yards of his ball he
+looked intently at the turf and then dropped to his knees and crawled
+slowly around.
+
+"What are you looking for?" exclaimed Harding "There's your ball right
+in front of you."
+
+"I know it," calmly said Wilson, running his hand over the turf, "but
+I'm curious to know what kind of _Trifolium_ this is."
+
+"Wilson," said the magnate, as the former rose to his full height and
+took a club from his bag, "Wilson, I might as well quit and give up this
+game."
+
+"Why?" asked the surprised banker.
+
+"Let me tell you something," declared Harding. "I only took up this golf
+business a few weeks ago, and by hard work have found out about mashies,
+hooks, foozles, cops, one off two and all those difficult things, but
+I'm blamed if I ever heard of trifoliums, or whatever you call 'em, and
+you can't ring 'em in on me. I won't stand for it! We don't play
+trifoliums in Woodvale, do we, Smith?"
+
+"But my dear Harding," interposed Wilson, his mobile face wrinkled in a
+smile, "_Trifolium_ is not a golf term and has nothing whatever to do
+with the game."
+
+"What in thunder is it?"
+
+"_Trifolium_ is the genus name for the clover plant, and these are
+beautiful specimens," explained this amateur botanist.
+
+"It is, is it?" laughed Harding. "Well, let's see how far you 'can knock
+that ball out of that bed of _Trifoliums_."
+
+We left them soon after and returned to the club house. The ladies did
+not care to play before luncheon, preferring to take a rest after the
+exciting experiences of the trip from Woodvale. I ran across an old
+friend of mine, Sam Robinson, and he and I played against Carter and
+Chilvers. Robinson is one of the best amateurs in the country and we
+defeated our opponents handily.
+
+It was a merry party which gathered about the table which had been
+spread under the trees near the club house. Oak Cliff is the only club
+which Woodvale recognises as a rival, and the Wilson's entertained us
+charmingly. Mr. Harding was in great spirits.
+
+"I won!" he announced as he returned with our elongated and smiling
+host. "Licked Wilson, trifoliums and all, right here on his own ground!
+But he found a _Rumex_ and a lot of other weeds, so he don't care."
+
+Miss Harding and I had discovered an oil painting in the club library
+which interested us, and when coffee and cigars had been served I asked
+Mr. Wilson about its history.
+
+"Robinson gave it to the club," he said, "he can tell its story better
+than I can."
+
+"It's an odd sort of a yarn," began Robinson. "Last fall an artist
+friend of mine of the name of Powers wrote a letter inviting me to come
+and spend a few weeks with him in a camp he had established on the upper
+waters of the Outrades River in northeastern Quebec. He was there
+sketching and loafing, and I took my golf clubs and went. While he
+painted I batted balls around a cleared space in the forest, fished,
+hunted and had so much fun that we stayed there until cold weather set
+in. Then we loaded up a boat and started down the river with a guide."
+
+"One evening we came to an island with rapids below it. We had to
+portage around these rapids, so we decided to camp for the night. It was
+cold, and rapidly growing colder, but Powers insisted in making a trip
+to that island, the beauty of its rocks fascinating his artistic soul.
+We emptied the boat and he pulled across the swift current. Ten minutes
+later we heard him yell. His boat had drifted from where he thought he
+had moored it, and had been dashed to pieces in the rapids below. The
+guide declared that there was no way to reach him without a boat, and
+that he would have to go back twenty miles to a lumber camp for one. We
+explained this to Powers, and told him to light a fire and make the best
+of it until morning. The current was so swift that no swimmer could
+breast it. It was already down to zero."
+
+[Illustration: "Had ignited the matches"]
+
+"Powers searched his pockets," continued Robinson, "and made the
+startling announcement that he did not have a match. Without a fire he
+surely would freeze before the guide could return. He was dancing up and
+down on a rock and swinging his arms to keep warm."
+
+"He certainly was in a bad fix," interrupted Harding. "Was there no way
+to get at him?"
+
+"Absolutely none," continued Robinson. "The sun was sinking--when I had
+an idea. In the bottom of my golf bag were four badly hacked and split
+balls. I called to Powers to keep his nerve. The balls were
+rubber-cored, and I widened the crack in one of them and gouged out a
+space in the rubber. In this I put the heads of three matches, teed the
+ball on the beach, called to Powers what I had done and told him to keep
+his eye on the ball. I hit it clean and fair, but a trail of smoke told
+that the concussion had ignited the matches. The ball fell in the
+underbrush a few yards from Powers, and he almost cried when he took out
+the charred match heads."
+
+"How far was it?" asked Harding.
+
+"I paced it later and found it to be about one hundred and forty yards,"
+said Robinson.
+
+"You paced it?" exclaimed Harding. "You're a bit mixed on this story,
+Robinson, aren't you?"
+
+"Not at all," laughed that gentleman. "You wait and I'll explain. Then I
+fixed another ball and wrapped the match heads in surgeon's cotton. I
+popped that ball in the air. The next one was pulled, struck a rock and
+bounded into the water. One remained, and it was a critical moment. I
+was numbed with the cold, it was almost dark, and I had to make a shot
+for a man's life, but I made it. It went far and true and struck in the
+branches of a fir tree over Power's head. He did not see it, but he
+heard it. Then began a search for a lost ball. It was pitch dark half an
+hour later when Powers shouted that he had found it, and soon after we
+yelled like madmen when a tiny yellow flame curled up from the island.
+Powers asked me to drive a ham sandwich across, but I did not attempt
+it. The guide started back after another boat, and Powers and I spent
+the long hours over our respective bonfires in an effort to keep from
+freezing."
+
+"It dropped to twenty-five below zero before morning, and when daybreak
+came I went down to the beach. The water still flowed swift and black
+directly across, but when I looked to the north I found that the ice
+extended from the shore to the upper end of the island. I put several
+sandwiches in my pocket and carefully walked across. Powers was trying
+to cook some freshwater clams when I came upon his bonfire."
+
+"That is as much of the story as you will be interested in," concluded
+Robinson. "Powers kept the ball which saved his life, and in return gave
+me that oil painting depicting the scene at nightfall as I was driving
+that last ball."
+
+"It's a good thing for your friend Powers that it was not up to me to
+drive that last ball," declared Harding. "That story is all right,
+Robinson, and the picture proves it."
+
+As we were leaving the table Mrs. Chilvers called me aside.
+
+"Have you made up a game for this afternoon?" she asked, and I thought I
+discerned a mischievous glance in her eyes.
+
+"Why--why, yes," I hesitated, wondering if I were to be dragged into
+some wretched foursome. "I have arranged to play with Miss Harding."
+
+"What, again?" she asked.
+
+"This is only my third game with her," I declared.
+
+"Ah, Mr. Smith, do you remember how I warned you several weeks ago?"
+
+I remembered but did not admit it.
+
+"I told you then that some time you would meet a golfing Venus," she
+said triumphantly, and without waiting for me to make a defense left and
+joined Miss Dangerfield.
+
+Miss Harding and I waited until we had a clear field ahead of us before
+we began our game. It was one of the perfect early summer afternoons
+when it is a delight to live. Oak Cliff is famous for its scenery and
+for its velvet-like greens.
+
+"I'm going to play my best game this afternoon," announced Miss Harding
+when I had teed her ball.
+
+"I always play my best game; don't you?" I asked.
+
+"You shall judge of that when we finish this round," she declared.
+
+It was my first game with her since the day she won the touring car
+from her father, on which occasion she made Woodvale in 116. This was so
+marked an improvement over her former exhibition that I was at a loss to
+account for it. Since then Miss Harding had confined her golf to the
+practising of approach shots and putting, following the instructions
+given by Wallace. I have been so busy with Wall Street and other affairs
+that I have paid little attention to golf, and smiled at her enthusiasm.
+
+"How shall we play?" I asked. "You have improved so much and are so
+confident that I dare not offer you more than a stroke a hole."
+
+"I shall beat you at those odds," she said. "This is a short course, you
+know."
+
+"You will have to make it in a hundred to beat me," I replied.
+
+"Fore!" she called, and drove a beautiful ball with a true swing which
+was the perfection of grace. I made one which did not beat it enough to
+give me any advantage, and we started down the field together.
+
+"Mr. Wallace must be a wonderfully clever teacher," I said, "or else he
+has a most remarkably apt pupil. I wish I could improve that rapidly."
+
+Miss Harding smiled but declined to commit herself. Her second shot was
+a three-quarter midiron to the green and she made it like a veteran. She
+played the stroke--and it is one of the most difficult--in perfect form,
+and I was so astounded that I cut under a short approach shot and had to
+play the odd. She came within inches of going down in three, and I then
+missed a long putt and lost the hole outright, she not needing the
+stroke handicap.
+
+"One up, Jacques Henri!" she laughed.
+
+She drove another perfect ball on the next hole, but the green was three
+hundred and fifty yards away and I reached it in two against her three.
+My work on the green was abominable and we both were down in fives.
+
+"Two up, Jacques Henri!" she exclaimed, her eyes dancing with
+excitement. "Really, now, don't you think I've improved?"
+
+"Improved!" I gasped. "That's not the word for it! You have been
+translated into a golf magician! I cannot understand it!"
+
+I don't suppose I played my best game, but even if I had I could not
+have won at the odds stipulated. I never lose interest in a golf game,
+but I must confess that I paid far more attention to her play than to my
+own.
+
+It was not the first time that I had witnessed a fine exhibition of golf
+by a woman, but it was the first time I had been privileged to see a
+strikingly pretty girl execute shots as they should be made. All former
+experiences had led me to the belief that feminine beauty and
+proficiency in golf run in adverse ratio. But here was a superb creature
+who combined beauty with a skill which was surpassing.
+
+It was difficult to believe the testimony of my own eyes. Here was a
+girl who had taken fifteen to make the first hole of Woodvale only a few
+weeks preceding; who had driven eight of my new balls into a pond which
+demanded only an eighty-yard carry; who had told me that the one
+ambition of her golfing life was to drive a ball far enough so that she
+might have difficulty in finding it; who had repeatedly missed strokes
+entirely, had mutilated the turf, sliced, pulled and committed all the
+faults and crimes possible to a novice--here was this same young lady
+playing a game which was well-nigh perfect to the extent of her
+strength!
+
+When a woman is beautiful and plays a beautiful game of golf, then
+physical grace reaches its highest exemplification. Even an ugly woman
+becomes attractive when she swings a driving club with an evenly
+sustained sweep, picking the ball clean from the turf or tee. But when a
+supremely charming girl acquires this skill it is impossible to express
+in mere language the exquisite grace of it--and I am not going to
+attempt it.
+
+Miss Harding made that round in a flat ninety against my eighty-two, and
+with the odds I had given her defeated me by five up and four to play.
+She made the same score as Chilvers, and he is a good player when on his
+game.
+
+The game ended, we rested in the shade of an arbour where we could watch
+the players on many greens.
+
+"Come now; make your confession," I insisted, looking into her face
+through the blue haze of a cigar.
+
+"Confess what?" she innocently asked.
+
+"Confess why it is that you deliberately deceived me regarding your
+game," I demanded. "Don't you suppose I know that you were not trying to
+play that day when you first favoured me with a game at Woodvale?"
+
+"You know nothing about it," she laughed. "I have been taking lessons
+since then."
+
+"Tell that to someone who does not understand the difficulty of learning
+this game," I responded. "Your father for instance. Unless you confess
+the truth, I shall tell him that you deliberately lured him into a trap
+by which you won that touring car."
+
+"Tell him; I dare you!" she challenged me. "If he believes it he will
+think it a huge joke."
+
+"And you told me that you once made a nine-hole course in Paris in
+ninety-one," I accused her.
+
+"I did," she laughed. "It was in a competition with one club--a putter."
+
+"Was that when you won the gold cup?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"What score did you make when you won that gold cup in Paris?" I asked.
+
+
+
+"The witness declines to answer," she defiantly replied.
+
+"You are guilty of contempt of court. Tell me, Miss Harding, why you
+played so atrociously that day?"
+
+"Atrociously?" she exclaimed with mock indignation. "You told me that I
+was doing splendidly, and you said that with a little practice I would
+make a fine player. And now that I have verified your predictions you
+seem vastly surprised."
+
+"I was--I was trying to encourage you," I faltered.
+
+"In other words you were deceiving me, Jacques Henri. Confess that you
+were!"
+
+"I do confess," I laughed. "You were the worst player I ever saw. Now
+you confess why you did it."
+
+"I shall confess nothing," she declared, her eyes dropping as I gazed
+into them. "I shall confess nothing, Jacques Henri! Since when has it
+been decreed that a lady must confess to her chauffeur? Do not forget
+your place, Jacques Henri. Let's start for the club house; I see papa
+and others on the lawn."
+
+I have a theory of the truth, but it is too foolish to put in writing.
+We made a speedy run to Woodvale after a most delightful afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XVII
+
+THE PASSING OF PERCY
+
+
+During the forenoon of the day following our visit to Oak Cliff Mr.
+Harding, Carter and I were sitting under the big elm tree near the first
+tee. We had our clubs with us, but the railroad magnate wished to finish
+his cigar before starting to play.
+
+A farm wagon drove up the circular roadway which surrounds the club
+house, and the owner after glancing doubtfully about approached us. He
+was tall, angular, and whiskered.
+
+"Can any of you folks tell me if a man named Hardin' hangs out 'round
+this here place?" he said, squinting at a card which I instantly
+recognised.
+
+"I'm Harding," said that gentleman, walking toward him. "I reckon you're
+the man who owns the late deceased bull?"
+
+"I shurely am," said the farmer, stroking his whiskers nervously.
+
+"How much do you want for him?" demanded Harding, with characteristic
+promptness.
+
+"Stranger," began the man with the hoe, "if you'll tell me how in
+thunder you broke the neck of that critter with one of them there
+sticks," pointing to our golf clubs, "I won't charge you one doggoned
+cent for doin' it."
+
+We all roared, and then Harding briefly explained what had happened.
+
+"I reckon you couldn't do nothin' else under what the stump speakers
+call existin' sar-cumstances," slowly drawled the farmer, "but he was a
+mighty fine young bull, an' I hated like all sin tew lose him."
+
+"How much was he worth to you?" asked Harding.
+
+"He was a Holstein, Mister, and I wouldn't er sold him for two hundred
+and fifty the best day you ever saw. He took second prize as a yearlin'
+at our county fair, and I was plumb sure he'd have the blue ribbon hung
+on him this year, but instead of a ribbon I found this here on his
+horns," he concluded sorrowfully, looking at the card with its string
+still attached.
+
+"I'll give you three hundred and fifty dollars and call it square," said
+Harding.
+
+"Dew you mean it, Mister?" his watery blue eyes opening wide, his thin
+lips pursed and his leathery face curiously wrinkled. "Dew ye mean it?"
+
+"Of course I mean it, but I want his head. I'm going to have it
+mounted."
+
+Mr. Harding opened his wallet, stripped off the bills and handed them to
+the pleased farmer.
+
+"Mister," the latter said, "that's more than he was worth, and I feel
+kinder ashamed ter take all of it. Tell you what I'll do! I've got an
+old bull that's no good, but ugly as all get out, and if you'd like ter
+tackle him with that ortermobill of yours I'll turn him loose in that
+same medder, an' you can have it out with him an' it won't cost you a
+cent."
+
+[Illustration: "He was tall, angular, and whiskered"]
+
+"Much obliged," laughed Harding, "but nature evidently did not design me
+for a matador."
+
+If Miss Lawrence does not develop into a great player it will not be
+because of a lack of assiduity in taking lessons. Since Wallace has
+become professional at Woodmere she has taken one and sometimes two
+each day. She was starting to take one of these "lessons" when Harding
+returned.
+
+"See here, Wallace," he said with mock sternness, "I am becoming curious
+to know if you are professional to our charming young friend or to the
+club."
+
+"Why, Mr. Harding!" exclaimed Miss Lawrence, blushing furiously. "I have
+taken only six lessons, and you have no idea how I have improved."
+
+"Without doubt," observed the remorseless millionaire, "but when do I
+get a lesson? My game has steadily deteriorated since I hit my first
+ball. As Smith says, I am way off my game."
+
+"I shall be glad to give you a lesson any time to-morrow afternoon, Mr.
+Harding," said Wallace.
+
+"All right. You and I will play Smith and Carter, and you put me right
+as we go along."
+
+That was satisfactory all around and Wallace turned his attention to his
+fair pupil. I wonder if he is as exacting and she as interested at all
+times as during the few moments they were under our observation?
+
+"A little nearer the ball," he cautioned her. "Grip firmly but keep the
+wrists flexible. Let the club-head come back naturally. Be sure and keep
+the weight of your body on the heels and not on the toes. That's better.
+Try that back swing again. Do not go so far back. Be sure that at the
+top of the swing your entire weight is on the right leg, and that the
+knee is not bent. Do not pause at the top of the stroke. Keep the head
+perfectly still and your eyes on the ball; not on the top of it, but on
+the exact spot where you propose to hit it. Now make a practise swing."
+
+
+
+Miss Lawrence did so, and it seemed almost perfect to me, but Wallace's
+keen eyes detected faults.
+
+"That right shoulder dropped a little," he said. "That's a bad fault.
+Let the right shoulder go straight through. Ah, that was a decided
+improvement! Now swing and keep that right elbow at least four inches
+from the body. You let your wrists in too soon, Miss Lawrence. Do not
+start them to work until you are well down on your stroke. That shoulder
+dropped again! Don't look up as your club goes through; that is a fatal
+fault. Fall back on those heels! Keep the back straight, or curved back,
+if at all. Now we will try it with a ball."
+
+Wallace teed a ball and Miss Lawrence drove a very good one for her. It
+was straight and a trifle high, but it had a carry of fully 120 yards.
+
+"Didn't I tell you I was improving!" she exclaimed, smiling triumphantly
+at Mr. Harding. "Mr. Wallace is a splendid teacher."
+
+"Yes, and you are a splendid pupil," returned Mr. Harding, with a
+knowing smile, "but you give me a chance, or I'll lodge a protest with
+the board of management."
+
+She laughed, waved her hand mockingly at him, and away they went. I
+noticed that Wallace was not playing. He carried the clubs and they
+walked close to each other. He said something and she looked up to his
+face and smiled. It was evident they had much to talk of, and while I
+cannot prove it, I am inclined to doubt if their conversation was
+restricted to the details of the game.
+
+Harding watched them, a quiet smile on his strong, kindly, and rugged
+face. He was humming the air of an old love song.
+
+"Smith," he said after an interval of silence, "there are only two
+things in this life really worth having."
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"Youth and health."
+
+"How about love?" I asked.
+
+"Youth and health own love," he replied. "Love is their obedient
+servant. I thank God that I have not lost my youth or my health."
+
+I was privileged to see this remarkable man for a moment in a new light,
+one which increased my respect and admiration for him.
+
+When we returned to the club house the veranda was buzzing with gossip.
+Miss Dangerfield was delighted when she found that I was not acquainted
+with the cause of the excitement. It gave her a chance to impart the
+news to one ready to listen, and she was not slow in taking advantage of
+it.
+
+"Miss Lawrence has refused Mr. LaHume!" she whispered, though she might
+as well have screamed it through a megaphone, since I was the only one
+on the veranda in ignorance of it.
+
+"How do you know?" I asked.
+
+"I dare not tell," she said, but I knew she would. "If you'll promise
+not to reveal it to a living soul I'll tell you."
+
+I promised.
+
+"Mr. LaHume told Mr. Chilvers, Mr. Chilvers told Mrs. Chilvers, Mrs.
+Chilvers told Miss Ross, and Miss Ross told me, so you see that I have
+it right from the original source."
+
+"And you told me," I said. "Why should the chain stop in so obscure a
+link. I am dying to tell somebody."
+
+"But you promised not to," Miss Dangerfield protested.
+
+"So did you," I replied.
+
+"It seems that Percy flatly asked her to marry him, and that she flatly
+refused him," she continued, ignoring my implied threat. "I understand
+that Mr. LaHume is going to resign from the club."
+
+"Why?" I asked. "Does he not find it effective as a matrimonial agency?"
+
+"I don't know," she said. "There he is now, and he's trying to catch
+your eye."
+
+I turned and saw LaHume, who signalled that he wished to speak to me. I
+saw at a glance that he had been drinking. He shoved a piece of paper
+into my hands.
+
+"There is my resignation from the Woodvale Club," he said, his voice
+husky, and sullen anger in his dark eyes. LaHume is a handsome fellow,
+but there is something amiss with him. Possibly his ego is
+over-developed.
+
+"I will present it to the board," I said, preferring to avoid discussion
+with him while in his then condition.
+
+"I don't care a blank whether they accept it or not," he declared with a
+rising voice. "From this day I shall never step foot in Woodvale."
+
+"Better think it over later on," I said.
+
+"If you think I care to have anything further to do with a club which
+shelters and encourages low adventurers like this fellow Wallace, you do
+not know Percy LaHume," he declared, working himself into a fury. "And
+you and Carter are to blame for it," he concluded.
+
+"I shall refuse to discuss that with you at this time," I calmly replied
+and abruptly left him.
+
+A few minutes later I saw him striding down the path on the way to the
+railway station. As luck would have it, Wallace and Miss Lawrence had
+just left the eighteenth green, and stood chatting near the path which
+leads to the station. If they saw the approaching LaHume they paid no
+attention to him. At this moment Carter and Miss Harding joined me and
+the latter asked what I found so diverting.
+
+"I hope that LaHume will have the sense not to pick a quarrel with
+Wallace," I said, pointing in his direction. "He is excited and--and
+nervous."
+
+"Why don't you say it--intoxicated," drawled Carter.
+
+LaHume had reached the professional and his pupil. We saw Wallace lift
+his cap as LaHume came within a few yards of them. The latter stopped,
+and though the trio was quite a distance away, we could plainly hear
+LaHume's voice, but could not make out the words. Wallace made a
+deprecatory gesture and Miss Lawrence drew herself up and faced LaHume
+in an attitude of scorn.
+
+I noted that LaHume was gesticulating with his left hand, and that his
+right arm was lowered and to his back. He kept edging closer to Wallace.
+
+Of a sudden LaHume's right hand swung out and he made a vicious lunge at
+Wallace. I saw the latter throw up his guard, but it was too far away to
+tell if the blow had landed. There was a struggle for a second or two,
+then Wallace pushed him clear, and like lightning I saw his left hand
+swing across to LaHume's stomach. LaHume was shot back several yards and
+fell heavily, his feet in the path and his head and shoulders on the
+turf.
+
+It all happened so quickly that we stood there, spellbound. We saw Miss
+Lawrence rush forward and half fall into Wallace's arms. We saw him
+stagger to a lawn settee, she still clinging to him and screaming.
+LaHume lay as if dead.
+
+These latter details I noticed as Carter and I were running toward them.
+
+Wallace was on his feet before we reached him. He was attempting to
+calm Miss Lawrence who was moaning, "He has killed him; he has killed
+him!" I knew she feared for Wallace, but I was much more apprehensive as
+to the fate of LaHume.
+
+Blood was trickling down the face of the young Scotchman, and its red
+had stained a handkerchief which Miss Lawrence had pressed to his scalp
+above his left temple. It was the sight of this which frightened her,
+but she comported herself with as much bravery as would most women under
+similar circumstances.
+
+"I'm not much hurt," declared Wallace with a reassuring smile. "It's
+only a scratch on the scalp. Miss Lawrence is more alarmed than I am
+injured. I assure you it is nothing."
+
+"LaHume struck him with a knife!" exclaimed Miss Lawrence, recovering
+her nerve as a wave of anger came to her. "He called Mr. Wallace a
+coward and a cad, and when Mr. Wallace tried to calm him he struck at
+him with a knife. Oh, I hope you have killed him!"
+
+[Illustration: "LaHume was shot back several yards"]
+
+"I'm afraid your hope is realised," said Carter, bending over the inert
+form of LaHume.
+
+"Small fear of that," said Wallace, but I detected a note of
+apprehension in his voice. "I aimed to disable without seriously
+injuring him."
+
+As he spoke LaHume moved, groaned and half raised himself. In the
+meantime a group had gathered, and in it was Doctor Barry, a member of
+the club. LaHume was conscious but completely dazed. We were much
+relieved when the doctor said that he was not permanently injured.
+Ordering two of the servants to take LaHume to the club house and put
+him to bed, Doctor Barry turned his attention to Wallace.
+
+Despite the spilling of blood the cut was a trifling one, and after
+giving it simple treatment, the doctor assured Wallace that he could
+attend to his duties as usual. An hour later the nervy Scotchman was out
+on the links giving Lawson a lesson.
+
+We picked the knife from the walk near the scene of the encounter. The
+blow had been aimed at the breast or neck, but Wallace parried it and
+received the scratch before he could grasp LaHume's wrist. The quick
+wrench which caused the knife to fly from LaHume's hand fractured one of
+the small bones in his forearm, as was learned when that desperate young
+man had more fully recovered.
+
+It was a disagreeable incident, and I take no pleasure in recording it.
+Wallace immediately tendered his resignation, but Carter and I told him
+it would not be considered, and I am sure the management will uphold us
+in that action.
+
+The conduct of Miss Lawrence convinces me that she is much attached to
+Wallace. Of course, nothing else was talked of during the afternoon and
+evening.
+
+In the cool of the day Miss Harding accepted my invitation to play "the
+brook holes," as we call them, and we climbed to the top of "The Eagle's
+Nest" to watch the sunset.
+
+I helped her up the steep rocks and finally we stood breathless, gazing
+down on our little world.
+
+"At last we are alone," I said.
+
+It was one of my usual brilliant remarks. There must have been a ring of
+tragedy or melodrama in my voice, but really I said it only because I
+could think of nothing else to say at that moment.
+
+Miss Harding looked up with a curious expression in her deep brown eyes
+and a rather timid smile on her lips. It was as if she were wondering if
+I meditated hurling myself to the depths below, or if I intended to take
+this opportunity to launch some tender declaration.
+
+I wish I had the command of language of the garrulous and ever
+entertaining hero of the popular novel. If I ever propose it will be in
+writing.
+
+I can see that look of startled curiosity on her pretty face as I write
+these lines, and the more I think of it, the more am I convinced that
+she expected something far different from what followed.
+
+I wonder what she would have said or done if I had thrown myself at her
+feet and passionately declared the love I bear to her? I wonder if those
+tender lips would have murmured the words which would have raised me to
+the seventh heaven of happiness, or if she would have firmly said--oh,
+what is the use of wondering?
+
+"No danger of being hit with a golf ball up here," I said, when she
+remained silent.
+
+And then she laughed. Since there was nothing witty in my remark she
+must have been laughing at something else. I have an idea what it was,
+but I had sense enough to laugh with her.
+
+"Do you know," I said, determined to frame a rational statement, "I
+believe Miss Lawrence is in love with Mr. Wallace."
+
+"Indeed?" she exclaimed. "And what of Mr. Wallace?"
+
+"I believe Mr. Wallace is in love with Miss Lawrence."
+
+"What a delightful state of affairs!" she laughed. "Nothing then remains
+but to set the date, celebrate the event and live happily ever
+afterward."
+
+"I do not say she will marry him," I ventured to qualify. "It probably
+started as a harmless flirtation on her part, but I really think she
+cares more for him than she would be willing to admit."
+
+"If she liked him well enough to encourage his attentions, which is a
+fairly good definition of a harmless flirtation," she said, quite
+seriously, "and later discovers that she loves him and that he loves
+her, why should they not marry?"
+
+I think my tactics at this point were rather clever. I saw a chance to
+obtain her views on a question most vital to me, and I proceeded to do
+so, but I hope I did not lower myself in her estimation. As I have said
+before, I think Wallace is good enough for any woman.
+
+"Consider the difference in their stations in life," I interposed. "She
+has wealth, family, and a high position in society. Of Wallace we know
+nothing except that he comports himself like a gentleman in reduced
+circumstances."
+
+"I should imagine that would be the most difficult time to play such a
+role," Miss Harding said. "We know those who cannot be gentlemen even
+under the most encouraging circumstances. The greatest happiness which
+can come to a good woman is to marry the man she loves, and if she
+allows wealth, position or any other selfish consideration to stand in
+the way she does not deserve happiness."
+
+"Right you are!" I declared with an enthusiasm which may have betrayed
+me. "I agree with every word you have said."
+
+"See those perfect yellows against that bar of vivid red," she said,
+pointing to the west, where the sky quivered with a naming sunset. "See
+how the light flashes from the windows of the club house! One would
+think it filled with molten metal. How sharp the old church belfry shows
+against that mass of golden cloud to the northwest!"
+
+We watched this glorious scene in silence until the upper rim of the sun
+sank beneath the rounded crest of "Old Baldy." Then I helped her down
+and we walked slowly back to the club house.
+
+Have I not the right to assume that Miss Harding "likes me well enough
+to encourage my attentions," which is her definition of a flirtation? I
+believe I have. I know that other young gentlemen belonging to the club
+have attempted in vain to compete with me for the favour of her society.
+All have failed--Carter alone excepted. But recently I have been with
+her more than has Carter. In fact I fear him less at the present moment
+than I have at any time. I shall soon know my fate.
+
+For the first time the strain of my stock operations is telling on me. I
+have now purchased 35,000 shares of N.O. & G., and the market for it
+closed to-night at 60. If I were forced to settle at this figure I would
+be about $345,000 loser. If the stock is valueless, as some of the
+experts are now declaring, I am liable for nearly $2,000,000 more.
+
+I have converted everything except my equity in Woodvale into money, and
+counting the margins in the hands of my brokers I find that I have
+nearly $3,000,000. I suppose I could get out with a loss of half a
+million, and there are moments when my cowardice struggles against me
+and when I am tempted to abandon this hazardous enterprise.
+
+I shall stick it out, however. I know the conspiracy which has been
+hatched, and I do not believe they will dare force the price down much
+lower. I am going to buy another block of ten thousand shares if it
+continues to decline, and then await developments. If it goes to zero I
+shall still have a little money left, and I shall have the income from
+the old farm--but I shall not have the hardihood to ask for the hand of
+Grace Harding.
+
+You may talk as much as you please but money is a commanding factor in
+love and marriage. It is all very well for a wealthy man to fall in love
+and marry a poor girl, but it is an entirely different thing for a poor
+man to aspire to the hand and heart of a wealthy woman.
+
+Honestly, I don't believe it right that women should be permitted under
+the law to inherit vast sums of money--at least marriageable women. No
+man of ordinary means who possesses a proper self-respect will espouse a
+woman whose income overshadows his own.
+
+I would limit the inheritances of marriageable women to a maximum amount
+of $100,000. I wish Miss Harding did not have a dollar.
+
+The contest for the Harding Trophy--I mean the bronze, and not the real
+Harding Trophy--has narrowed down to four of us, Carter, Boyd, Marshall
+and myself. I have a sort of a premonition that as that 'bronze gent'
+goes, so will go everything which I hold dear. I am making the fight of
+my life for it. I play Marshall to-morrow morning.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XVIII
+
+MR. HARDING'S STRUGGLE
+
+
+I won my match with Marshall after a contest which went to the twentieth
+hole. He had me dormie one coming to the eighteenth, but by perfect
+playing I won it in a five and halved the match. Nothing happened on the
+first extra hole, but on the following I held a fifteen putt for a three
+and won a beautifully contested match.
+
+Miss Harding went around with us and was my Mascot. I broke my record
+for the course, making a medal score of seventy-eight. Miss Harding
+congratulated me and I was so happy I could have yelled. Dear old
+Marshall did not take his defeat the least to heart, but he is not
+playing for the stakes that I am.
+
+I have dreamed twice that if I won the Harding Trophy I should win
+everything.
+
+Carter beat Boyd handily, and the prize will go to one of us. I must
+beat him; I shall beat him!
+
+After having declared innumerable times that he would master the secrets
+of golf without aid from anyone, Harding finally surrendered and took
+his first lesson this afternoon.
+
+"I take back everything I ever said about this being an easy game to
+play," he said. "I'm a pretty good 'rule of thumb' civil and mechanical
+engineer, I know a few things about the laws of resistances and all that
+sort of thing, I have watched you fellows hit that ball and have tried
+to imitate you, but it's no use. Now I'm going to do just what Wallace
+tells me, and if he can teach me to drive I'll pay him more than any
+professional ever made in the history of the game."
+
+Harding certainly has had a time of it. For weeks he has laboured with a
+patience worthy of better results, he has purchased every known variety
+and weight of club. He has a larger collection of drivers, brassies,
+cleeks, mashies, midirons, jiggers, niblicks, putters and other tools
+than Billy Moon, and Moon is a specialist in that direction.
+
+The surrounding woods, the ponds, brooks and swamps contain unnumbered
+balls which Harding has misdriven. He will not waste one minute looking
+for a ball which gets into difficulty, and since his arrival our orders
+to the manufacturers have more than doubled.
+
+One of his ambitions has been to drive a ball across the old mill pond.
+It is a long carry and beyond probability that he can accomplish it, but
+I have seen him drive box after box of balls and give them to the
+caddies who have recovered them.
+
+Wallace was on hand at the appointed time to give Harding his first
+lesson, and we had quite a gallery for our foursome, including Miss
+Harding and Miss Lawrence. Wallace was to play with Harding against
+Carter and me, but the chief interest centred in whether Wallace could
+effect any improvement in the playing of his ponderous pupil.
+
+He told Harding to make several practise swings Harding did so and
+Wallace studied them closely.
+
+"A man of your build should play with the left foot advanced," he said.
+"Bend the left knee but keep the other one more nearly rigid. Keep the
+weight of your body on your heels or you will fall on your ball when you
+swing through. Do not curve your back like a letter C. Keep the backbone
+straight but not rigid. It is the pivot on which your body and shoulders
+must turn, and how can it turn true if your vertebrae is bent?"
+
+"I had not thought of that," admitted Harding, making a much better
+stroke.
+
+"Unless the back is straight the right shoulder will drop, and that is
+fatal," cautioned Wallace. "Grip firmly and evenly with the fingers--not
+the palms--of both hands, but let the wrists be flexible until the
+club-head comes to the ball."
+
+Wallace corrected other errors, and after fifteen minutes of instruction
+Harding teed a ball and for the first time in his life cleared the lane.
+He was as delighted as a boy who unexpectedly comes into possession of
+his first gun.
+
+"Wallace," he declared, "if you will stick to me until I get so I can do
+that well half of the time I'll give you a hundred shares of the L.M. &
+K. and a job which beats this one all hollow."
+
+"I think you will be able to do even better than that," said Wallace
+confidently.
+
+As the game progressed Harding's play steadily improved and his face
+took on an expression of supreme satisfaction delightful to contemplate.
+
+His crowning triumph came on the thirteenth hole, in which he drove the
+green and found his ball laying within a foot of the cup, from which
+distance he easily negotiated a two which won the hole, and, as it
+subsequently developed, the match, Wallace holding the best ball of
+Carter and myself even.
+
+Harding made the round in 106, which is ten strokes better than any of
+his previous records. He tried in vain to induce Wallace to take some
+large sum of money, but this strange young Scotchman positively refused
+to accept more than the regular rate for a lesson.
+
+LaHume left, bag and baggage, early this morning, and I doubt if
+Woodvale will see him again. His membership is for sale, and at a
+special meeting of the board his resignation was accepted. He seems to
+have been the villain of this diary, but really he is not a bad sort of
+fellow, save for a strain of tactless selfishness. I presume that his
+good looks eventually will win for him some unfortunate heiress.
+
+Had he remained here until this evening he would have been treated to
+another surprise. Wallace took Miss Lawrence's high-powered automobile
+from the garage, and, after a preliminary run of several miles in which
+to become familiar with certain new devices, swung it around the club
+house and up to the landing steps with the easy skill in which he
+handles a mashie.
+
+As Bishop says, he certainly is "a most remarkable hired man."
+
+Miss Lawrence, Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield soon appeared and, with
+Wallace, started on a trip which was to include a call at Bishops, and
+later a spin down the old post road and back by some circuitous route.
+
+It is only a week from to-day until the meeting of the directors of the
+N.O. & G. I shall then know whether I am to be comparatively a financial
+nonentity or a man of affairs. And then I shall know something of vastly
+more importance!
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XIX
+
+THE TORNADO
+
+
+Early Monday morning Mr. Harding took a train for Oak Cliff, where he
+had an appointment with Mr. Wilson. He made a remark to the effect that
+his mission pertained more to business than golf. Mr. Wilson is
+president of the bank through which the "Harding System" transacts most
+of its financial operations.
+
+"You can do me a favour, if you will, Smith," he said. "I shall stay
+over night in Oak Cliff. We have visitors coming to Woodvale to-morrow
+evening, and I should be back here to dine with them by six o'clock.
+There is no train from Oak Cliff within hours of that time, and it has
+occurred to me that the folks might come for me in the red machine. Of
+course the Kid thinks she can handle it, but I hate to trust her on so
+long and hilly a route. Could you come with them?"
+
+An invitation was never accepted with more cheerful willingness. It was
+arranged that Mrs. Harding, Miss Harding and I should arrive at Oak
+Cliff with the auto at about four o'clock Tuesday afternoon.
+
+We were to start from Woodvale at half after one o'clock, so as to have
+plenty of time. That Fate, which is always prying into and disarranging
+the plans of us poor mortals, interfered with our arrangements an hour
+before the time fixed for our departure. The visitors who were to arrive
+in the evening came shortly after noon. It was exasperating.
+
+I pictured myself making that long trip alone, and cursed the chattering
+arrivals who had the bad form to anticipate the hour set for their
+welcome. There were three of them, and I noticed that they were of
+mature years.
+
+I sat glumly watching them and heartily wishing that the train which
+brought them had been blocked for an hour or two, when Miss Harding came
+smilingly towards me.
+
+"Mamma cannot go," she said.
+
+"And you?" I asked, hardly daring to hope for the best.
+
+"They seemed glad to excuse me, Jacques Henri," she laughed.
+
+I have no doubt I grinned like a Cheshire cat. I refrained from telling
+the abominable falsehood that I was sorry Mrs. Harding could not go with
+us, and an hour later the huge touring car rolled smoothly away from the
+Woodvale club house, its front seat occupied by a supremely happy
+gentleman of the name of Smith, and by his side a supremely pretty young
+lady who waved her hand to the elderly group on the veranda.
+
+I had been so absorbed in the unfolding of the incidents just narrated
+that I took no note of the weather or of anything else. For a month or
+more the weather has been so uniformly fine that we had come to accept
+the succession of warm but cloudless days as a matter of course.
+
+When I was a boy my father drilled into me a knowledge of the visible
+signs of impending changes in meteorological conditions. As I became
+older the study of the warnings displayed in the sky and in the
+indescribable variations in the feel of the air possessed a fascination
+for me. During the early years after the formation of the club the
+members jested me on account of my predilection for weather forecasting,
+but the uniform accuracy of these guesses commanded their surprise and
+subsequently won their respect.
+
+Chilvers and others sometimes call me "Old Prog. Smith," and I am more
+proud of that pleasantry than of some others.
+
+There was not a breath of air stirring. The atmosphere seemed stagnant,
+like a pool on which the sun has beat during rainless weeks. The dried
+tops of the swamp grass and reeds pointed motionless to the
+heat-quivering sky. The dust cast up by our car hung over the road like
+a ribbon of fog.
+
+The forest to our left shut off a view of the western sky, but I felt
+sure that the clouds of an approaching storm were already marshalled
+along its horizon. Then we shot out into a clearing and I took one swift
+look.
+
+From north to south was spanned the sweeping curve of a gray cloud with
+just a tinge of yellow blended into it. The ordinary observer would have
+seen in it no premonition of a storm. It was smooth, light in tone and
+restful to the eye as compared with the angry blue from out of which the
+sun blazed.
+
+The upper edges of this mass were unbroken save at one point near the
+zenith of its curve. From this there protruded the sharper edges of a
+"thunder-head," as if some titanic and unseen hand were lifting to the
+firmament a colossal head of cauliflower, its shaded portions
+beautifully toned with blue. This description may be homely, but it has
+the merit of accuracy.
+
+I said no word of my certainty of the oncoming tempest, but threw on
+full speed and dashed ahead at a rate which startled my fair companion.
+From the turn in the road just beyond the clearing we headed directly
+into the line of march of the storm. If it were slow-moving I calculated
+we would reach Oak Cliff before it broke, but I realised it would be
+close work.
+
+Miss Harding leaned over and said something to me. The whirr of the
+machinery and the swaying of the car made conversation difficult. I
+presume she thought I was determined to show my nerve and skill as a
+driver.
+
+"Why this mad haste, Jacques Henri?" she again cried, her head so close
+to mine that her hair brushed my cheek.
+
+I returned a non-committal smile and fixed my eyes on the road which
+slipped toward us like a huge belt propelled by invisible pulleys.
+
+The miles kept pace with the minutes. Of a sudden the sun was blotted
+out. When I lifted my eyes from the road I saw birds circling high in
+the sky. The cattle in adjacent fields lifted their heads and moved
+uneasily as if some instinct sounded a warning in their dull brains.
+Above the trees I saw the skirmish line of the storm.
+
+In after hours Miss Harding told me that she had quickly solved the
+secret of my wild dash. For a quarter of an hour she hung to the swaying
+seat and said no word. Once I looked into her eyes and read in them that
+she understood.
+
+We dashed through a little village and paid no heed to the angry shouts
+and menacing gestures of a man who wore a huge star on his chest. Oak
+Cliff was only ten miles away. Could we make it?
+
+The restful grays of the cloud had disappeared; and low down on the
+horizon I saw a belt of bluish black, and as I looked, a bolt of
+lightning jabbed through it. We were now running parallel to the storm,
+and I believed I could beat it to Oak Cliff. I felt certain I could
+reach the little hamlet of Pine Top, and from there on it would be easy
+to get to shelter. Between us and Pine Top was practically an unbroken
+wilderness, a part of the country reserved as a source of water supply
+for the great city far to the south of us.
+
+Into that wilderness we dashed.
+
+We were taking a hill with the second speed clutch on when a grating
+sound came to my alert ears, and with it an unnatural shudder of the
+machinery. I threw off power and applied the brakes. As the car stopped
+the deep rolling bass of the thunder rumbled over the hills.
+
+"We are caught," declared Miss Harding, but there was no fear in her
+voice.
+
+"Not yet!" I asserted, springing from the car and making a frenzied
+examination of the cause of our breakdown. I knew it was not serious,
+and when I located it I joyously proclaimed it a mere trifle. But
+automobile trifles demand minutes, and nature did not postpone the
+resistless march of its storm battalions. As I toiled with wrench and
+screw-driver I cursed the folly which induced me to plunge into that
+desolate stretch of forest and marsh.
+
+The roar of the tempest's artillery became continuous. The low scud
+clouds travelling with incredible velocity blotted out the blue sky to
+the east and darkness fell like a black shroud. I could not see to work
+beneath the floor of the car, and lost another minute searching for and
+lighting a candle.
+
+In the uncanny gloom I saw the fair face of the one whose safety now was
+menaced by my bold folly. I saw her form silhouetted against the black
+of a fir tree in the almost blinding glare of a flame of lightning.
+
+"Just one minute and I will have it fixed!" I said, and she smiled
+bravely but said nothing.
+
+Still not a breath of air! The spires of the pine trees stood rigid as
+if cast in bronze!
+
+This is the time when a storm strikes terror to my soul. With the first
+patter of the rain and the onrushing of the wind I experience a
+sensation of relief, but it is nerve-racking to stand in that frightful
+calm and await the mighty charge of unknown forces.
+
+As I bolted the displaced part into its proper adjustment I reflected
+that had it not been for the ten minutes thus lost we would have been in
+Oak Cliff. My calculations had been accurate, but again Fate had
+introduced an unexpected factor. I started the engine and leaped into
+the car.
+
+"Only a mile to shelter!" I exclaimed. "I think we can make it. Where
+are the storm aprons?"
+
+"We forgot them," she said.
+
+"I forgot them, you mean," I declared. "Hold fast! It is a rough road!"
+
+The red car leaped forward. I remembered that there was a farmhouse a
+mile or so ahead.
+
+Never have I witnessed anything like the vivid continuity of that
+lightning. With a crash which sounded as if the gods had shattered the
+vault of the heavens a bolt streamed into a tree not a hundred yards
+ahead, and one of its limbs fell to the roadway. It was impossible to
+stop. She saw it and crouched behind the shield. With a lurch and a leap
+we passed over it.
+
+I felt a drop of rain on my face. The trees swayed with the first gust
+of the tempest. We were going down hill with full speed on. A few
+hundred yards ahead was a stone culvert spanning the bed of a creek
+whose waters years before had been diverted to a reservoir a mile or so
+to the east. Save at rare intervals, the bed of this creek was dry.
+
+As the recollection of this old culvert came to me I raised my eyes and
+saw something which drove the blood from my heart! A quarter of a mile
+ahead was a gray wall of rain, and dim through it I saw huge trees mount
+into the air and twist and gyrate like leaves caught up in an air eddy.
+
+Holding our speed for a few seconds, which seemed like minutes, we
+surged toward the old culvert. Jamming on the brakes, I swung to one
+side of the embankment and stopped almost on the edge of the dry bed of
+the creek.
+
+Miss Harding leaped to the ground and stood for an instant dazed. I
+stumbled as I jumped, but was on my feet like a flash. The arch of the
+culvert was not thirty feet away, but had we not been protected by the
+embankment we should have been beaten down and killed ere we reached its
+shelter.
+
+The stones and gravel from the roadway above were dashed into our faces
+by the outer circle of the tornado. Grasping Miss Harding by the arm I
+dragged or carried her, I know not which, to the yawning but welcome
+opening of the old stone archway.
+
+I cannot describe what followed. It was as if the earth were in its
+death throes. We were tossed back and forth in this tunnel, a resistless
+suction pulling us first toward one entrance and then to the other, only
+to be hurled back by buffeting blows.
+
+There was a sense of suffocation as if the lightning had burned the air.
+Our nostrils were filled with the fumes of sulphur, and we looked into
+each other's frightened eyes only when some near flash penetrated the
+awful blackness of what seemed our living tomb.
+
+A tree fell across the west opening, one twisted limb projecting well
+into the tunnel of the culvert. We could not distinguish the crashes of
+thunder from that of hurtling trees or the demoniac roar of the tornado.
+All of our senses were assailed by the unleashed furies of the tempest;
+crazed with rage that we were just beyond their reach.
+
+I cannot say how long this lasted. Observers of the tornado in other
+places state that it was not more than three minutes in passing. Its
+path was less than half a mile in width, but I am convinced that its
+onward speed was comparatively slow else we would not have reached the
+culvert from the time I first saw it until its edge struck us.
+
+Then came a moment of appalling silence. The tornado had passed. With
+this strange calm the darkness lifted and we knew that the crisis was
+over.
+
+[Illustration: "Grasping her by the arm I dragged her"]
+
+We were near the centre of the tunnel. I became aware that I was holding
+her hands and that her head was resting on my shoulder.
+
+As the silence came like a shock, she raised her head and our eyes met.
+
+"God has been very good to us," she said, gently releasing her hands.
+"Let us thank Him."
+
+Standing there in the rising waters we silently offered up our thanks to
+the One who rides on the wings of the storm and Who had guided two of
+His children to a haven of refuge.
+
+The rain was still falling in sheets and the water had risen to our
+shoe-tops. In the growing light I discovered a projecting ledge near the
+centre of our shelter and helped Miss Harding to obtain a footing.
+
+"If the water keeps on rising," she said, "we must get out of here. I am
+sure the rain will not kill us."
+
+"That's true," I admitted, "but I hope the rain will cease before the
+flood reaches your ledge. It's coming down good and hard now."
+
+It was pouring torrents. Though the crippled stream drained only a small
+territory the current had already reached my knees. I waded to the east
+opening and took one glance at the sky. The outlook was not encouraging,
+but we could stand another eighteen-inch rise without serious discomfort
+or danger. I realised that it would not do to be swept against the tree
+which partially clogged the further opening.
+
+Half an hour passed and the rain still fell and the water rose inch by
+inch. We laughed and joked and were not in the least alarmed. Then the
+water lapped over the ledge on which she stood. She declared that her
+feet were wet as they possibly could get.
+
+"I can stand it a few more minutes if you can," she said. "The rain is
+ceasing. You poor Jacques Henri! It's all you can do to keep your feet!"
+
+I stoutly denied it.
+
+"I'm having a jolly time!" I declared. "I see a light in the west. The
+rain will cease in a few minutes."
+
+Even as I spoke the water rose several inches in one wave. I surmised
+what had happened. A dam had formed below us and the water was backing
+up. In less than a minute it had risen six inches, and was at her
+shoe-tops.
+
+"We are drowned out!" I said. "Let's get out before we have to swim for
+it. Now be steady and remember your training as an equestrienne. Grab me
+by the neck and hang on and we'll be out of here in a minute."
+
+I lifted her to my left shoulder and with my free right hand steadied
+myself against the wall of the tunnel. The bed of the brook was of soft
+sand and formed a fairly good footing. Luckily the same cause which so
+suddenly flooded us out materially lessened the force of the current,
+but it still struggled fiercely against me, and a false movement on the
+part of my fair burden might have led to distressing and even serious
+circumstances.
+
+The water was almost to my waist but her skirts were clear of it. I
+slipped once and thought we were in trouble, but we safely reached the
+opening and it was a happy moment when I placed her on solid ground. Not
+that I was tired of my burden--not at all. I cheerfully would have
+attempted the task of carrying her the three miles between us and Pine
+Top.
+
+A light mist was falling, but we did not notice that. We stood
+spellbound, gazing on a scene of unspeakable devastation!
+
+To the north, west and southeast the forest lay prone like a field of
+wind-swept corn. Huge oaks and pines were tossed in grotesque windrows.
+Here and there gnarled roots projected above the prostrate foliage. The
+once proud trees lay like brave soldiers; their limbs rigid in the
+contorted attitudes of death.
+
+The line of wreck was clearly marked along its northern line but the
+hills shut off our view to the west. The road to Pine Top was one mass
+of trunks and twisted limbs. For some distance in the other direction
+there was no forest to the right, and so far as we could see the road
+was clear.
+
+At first glance I thought the touring car a total wreck. It had been
+lifted and hurled on its side against a partially dismantled stone wall.
+It was half hidden by a large branch of a tree, and its rear wheels were
+buried in mud and debris.
+
+As we stood silent and awe-stricken amid this manifestation of the
+insignificance of man, the sun blazed forth from behind a laggard cloud.
+The effect was theatrical. It was like throwing the limelight on the
+scene which marks the climax of some tense situation. Instinctively we
+lifted our arms and cheered for sheer joy.
+
+"What care we for wrecked automobiles and wet clothes?" I shouted. "We
+live, we live!"
+
+"It is good to live," she cried; "it is splendid to live!"
+
+We smilingly saluted His Majesty the sun once again, and then returned
+to earth.
+
+"What shall we do?" Miss Harding asked.
+
+My most vivid impression of this charming young woman at that instant
+was that her shoes gave forth a "chugging" sound as she walked,
+convincing aural evidence that their spare spaces were occupied with
+water. I also recall that her hat was a limp and bedraggled wreck from
+being jammed for an hour or more against the roof of the culvert.
+
+"I don't know," I frankly admitted. "It is certain we cannot take this
+road to Pine Top. I have an idea that our back track is clear. I suggest
+that I proceed to ascertain if this machine is dead beyond hope of
+resurrection. If it isn't we'll take it back to civilisation. If it is
+we'll abandon it and walk."
+
+"It is now half past three o'clock," she said, looking at her watch.
+"Even if we are late in getting to Oak Cliff we must go there if
+possible, for I know papa will wait for us and be worried if we do not
+come."
+
+"I'll do the best I can," I said, hesitating a moment and vainly
+attempting to think of some discreet way in which to express what was on
+my mind.
+
+"It will take some time," I finally said, "and in the meanwhile you had
+better--you had better--"
+
+"Oh, I'm going to," she laughed, and before I could look up she was on
+her way to the sunny side of the embankment on the further approach of
+the culvert. Ten minutes later I turned and saw her a few paces away
+silently watching me, and the same glance revealed a pair of dainty
+shoes on the top rail of the old bridge, and I presume that in some
+place was a pair of stockings so disposed as to give Sol's rays a fair
+chance to do their most effective work.
+
+"I think I can fix it inside of an hour," I said.
+
+"That will be splendid!" she exclaimed.
+
+The sun was blistering hot and I worked like a Trojan, but again was it
+my fate to disappoint her. The working parts were clogged with sand and
+mud, and I had underestimated the magnitude of my task. I know now that
+our best course would have been to abandon the machine and to walk to
+Pine Top, but perhaps what happened was just as well.
+
+It was 5:45 before the machine gave its first sure signs of returning
+consciousness. Miss Harding gave a glad cry and a quarter of an hour
+later when the red monster stood coughing in the muddy roadway those dry
+shoes were where they belonged.
+
+With light hearts we waved farewell to the kindly old culvert and set
+our pace toward Woodvale. It was our plan to take the first crossroad
+leading from the path of the tornado, and if possible make our way to
+Oak Cliff. We passed a small hut which nestled in the shelter of the
+rocks. In our mad rush I had not noticed it, but it seemed vacant.
+
+A little farther on the road turns sharply to the right and re-enters
+the forest. As we came to the top of a knoll I looked ahead and saw at a
+glance that we were again nearing the path of the tornado. But I went on
+until the trunks of the stricken trees brought us to a halt.
+
+"We are trapped, Miss Harding," I said, after an examination which
+proved that even foot travel was well-nigh impossible. "We are in the
+segment of a circle closed at its ends by fallen trees, and the worst of
+it is this: there remains to us positively no outlet to the road."
+
+It was an exasperating situation. We decided to return to the hut in the
+hope that its occupant--if it had one--might be able to show us a trail
+through the woods to the west. As we came near the hut we saw smoke
+coming from its stove-pipe chimney. It looked mighty cheerful.
+
+I knocked on the door and a big, good-natured Norwegian opened it. He is
+one of the watchmen employed by the Water Commissioners to keep
+trespassers off the lands reserved for water supply.
+
+I briefly explained our predicament. He informed me that there was no
+wagon road leading to the east or the west, and said, with a wide grin,
+that our auto could not possibly get out until the road was cleared.
+Miss Harding joined us and made a despairing gesture when told the
+situation.
+
+This man Peterson said that the tornado had missed his hut by a few
+hundred yards. He was in Pine Top when it swept through the edge of that
+village, killing several persons.
+
+"Where is the nearest railway station?" asked Miss Harding.
+
+"Pine Top."
+
+"How far is it?" I asked.
+
+Peterson scratched his head and said that to go around the fallen timber
+meant a journey of fully five miles.
+
+"Will you guide us?" I asked. "I will pay you," I added, naming a
+liberal sum.
+
+Peterson said he would when he had cooked and eaten his supper. It was
+then after seven o'clock, and the thought occurred to us that we were
+hungry. Peterson agreed to do the best he could for us in the way of a
+meal, and he did very well.
+
+We were lamentably shy on dishes and knives and forks. We had bacon and
+eggs, fried potatoes, bread and butter and some really excellent coffee.
+There was only a single room in the hut, but it was clean and fairly
+tidy. Peterson explained that he never had company, and apologised for
+his lack of tableware.
+
+Miss Harding was given the only regulation knife and fork, and I had the
+pleasure of beholding her eating from my plate. There was only one
+plate, Peterson using the frying pan and a carving knife.
+
+What fun we had over that humble but wholesome meal! Miss Harding
+praised our host's cooking, and his honest blue eyes glistened at the
+compliment. Miss Harding and I sat on a board which rested on two nail
+kegs, while Peterson, against his protest, had the one chair in the
+house.
+
+It was growing dark ere the meal was ended. I ran the touring car into
+the little yard and sheltered it as best I could under the projecting
+ledge of a rock. Peterson produced a big strip of heavy canvas which I
+put to good service by protecting the vital parts of the mechanism.
+Peterson assured us that the car would be safe, and with a parting look
+at it we entered the forest.
+
+It was a long, tortuous and in places dangerous journey. While we were
+not in the track of the tornado, the storm had been severe over a wide
+territory. Fallen trees lay across our rocky trail and at times we had
+to make wide detours, forcing our way through thick underbrush and
+scaling slippery rocks.
+
+Miss Harding proved a good woodswoman.
+
+"If I did not know that papa is worried I would enjoy every moment of
+this," she declared, as we paused to rest after a climb of fully five
+hundred feet out of the valley.
+
+The lightning was again flickering in the west and we pressed on. There
+were intervals of cleared spaces now and then. We climbed fences, jumped
+ditches and seemingly walked scores of miles, but still the flickering
+yellow light of that lantern led us remorselessly on. At last when it
+appeared as if our quest were interminable we surmounted a rail fence
+and found ourselves in a road.
+
+"Pine Top half a mile," was the cheering announcement made by Peterson
+as he held the lantern so that Miss Harding could examine the extent of
+a rent just made in her gown.
+
+Ten minutes later we stood on the platform of the little red station in
+Pine Top, and the spasmodic clatter of a telegraph instrument was music
+in our ears.
+
+Down came the rain, but what cared we! The steel rails which gleamed and
+glistened in the signal lights led to Woodvale. We entered the room and
+waited patiently until the operator looked up from the jabbering
+receiver.
+
+"When is the next train to Woodvale?" was my ungrammatical query.
+
+"I wish I could tell you," he answered, rather sullenly. He had been on
+duty hours over time. "They've nearly cleared the track between here and
+Woodvale, but the Lord only knows when a train can get through from Oak
+Cliff."
+
+"No train from Oak Cliff since the storm?" I asked.
+
+"Well, I should guess not!" he gruffly laughed. "Oak Cliff's wiped off
+the map."
+
+Miss Harding clutched my arm. There was startled agony in her eyes, her
+lips trembled but she bore the shock bravely.
+
+"Did you get a message to that effect?" I demanded in a voice which
+must have surprised him.
+
+"No, the wires are down between here and Oak Cliff, but a man came by
+here an hour ago who said it went through the village."
+
+"Did it strike the Oak Cliff club house?" I asked.
+
+"He didn't say," replied the operator, and then the instrument demanded
+his attention.
+
+"These reports are always exaggerated," I assured Miss Harding. "Besides
+the club house is of stone, and it is protected by a hill to the west.
+Do not be in the least alarmed."
+
+"We can only hope and wait," she softly said.
+
+We heartily thanked Peterson and watched him as he disappeared in the
+darkness, tramping stolidly in the face of a driving rain.
+
+Despite the rain it was warm and we sat on a bench under the broad roof
+of the platform. I did my best to take her mind away from the dread
+which possessed her, but it was a wretched hour for both of us. Then we
+saw the flicker of lights down the track, and toward us came a small
+army of labourers who had been clearing the roadbed between us and
+Woodvale.
+
+They stopped a minute in front of the station. These hardy Italians
+stood in the drenching rain, axes in their hands or over their
+shoulders, their clothes smeared with mud, water running in streams from
+the rims of their broad hats; there they stood and laughed, chattered,
+jested and indulged in rough play while their foreman received his
+instructions from the telegraph operator. And then with a cheer and a
+song they started on their way to Oak Cliff. Happiness and contentment
+are gifts; they cannot be purchased.
+
+Something to the south burned a widening circle in the mist and rain,
+and from its centre we made out the headlight of a locomotive. It was a
+passenger train, and as it crawled cautiously to the platform two men
+leaped from it and came toward us.
+
+I recognised Carter and Chilvers.
+
+They had heard of the tornado and had constituted themselves a searching
+party.
+
+"Naturally your mother is alarmed," said Carter "but I assured her that
+it was nothing more serious than delayed trains. She knows nothing of
+the tornado."
+
+We were informed that the up train would be held on a sidetrack until
+the one from Oak Cliff got through. There was nothing to do but wait. It
+was past midnight when we heard the blast of a whistle to the north, and
+when the train from Oak Cliff pulled in Mr. Harding was the first one to
+swing to the station platform.
+
+"Well, well, well!" he exclaimed, releasing his daughter's arms from his
+neck, holding her at arm's length and then kissing her again. "Is this
+the way you call for me at four o'clock? Where's Smith? Hello, Smith!
+Where's the red buzz wagon?"
+
+"Over there," I said.
+
+And then we all talked at once. Chilvers danced a clog-step to the
+delight of the grinning trainmen, Carter removed his monocle and
+polished it innumerable times, Miss Harding laughed and cried by turns,
+Mr. Harding dug cigars from pockets which seemed inexhaustible, and gave
+them to the railroad men, and I furiously smoked a pipe and put in a
+word whenever I had a chance. It was an informal and glorious reunion.
+
+The wires were working to Woodvale, communication having been made while
+we stood there, and the conductor was honoured that he had the privilege
+to hold the train while the famous Robert L. Harding sent a reassuring
+telegram to his wife.
+
+It was nearly two o'clock when we arrived in Woodvale. I asked Mr.
+Harding how near the tornado came to the Oak Cliff club house.
+
+"Smith," he said, laying his hand on my arm, "it passed so close that I
+could have driven a golf ball into it, and I was tempted to try. That's
+the best chance I'll have to get a long carry."
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XX
+
+FAT EWES AND SHARP KNIVES
+
+
+At last I have the spare time in which to bring this diary up to date,
+but where shall I begin?
+
+One romance is ended. It was very pretty and interesting while it
+lasted, but all things must have an end, especially flirtations.
+
+Miss Olive Lawrence has left Woodvale. The season has only started, but
+she confided to Miss Dangerfield that she was wearied with golf and
+Woodvale. So with a smile to all, and having settled in full with
+Wallace for a dozen or more lessons she left for the south with an
+assortment of trunks which tested the capacity of the baggage car.
+
+I feel rather sorry for Wallace, though I give him credit for enough
+sense to have realised that her interest in him could amount to nothing
+more than a desire to amuse herself. It does not speak well for
+fascinating qualities for our Woodvale gallants that Miss Lawrence
+selected this unknown outsider even as a target on which to practise
+flirtation archery, but, in common with most men, it is beyond my ken to
+fathom the caprices of a pretty woman.
+
+[Illustration: "She left for the South"]
+
+Wallace says nothing, but I can see that he takes it to heart. He spends
+most of his spare time at Bishop's, but attends strictly to his
+business. He is the best professional we have ever had, and it is
+fortunate for the club that he did not gain the fair prize which many of
+us thought was within his grasp.
+
+I have won the "Harding Trophy!"
+
+Carter and I played for it last Thursday. I had absolute confidence that
+I should win, and when Miss Harding smilingly told me that she was
+"pulling for me," I had no more doubt that I could win than I had that I
+was alive. We had the largest gallery that ever has followed a match in
+Woodvale. The betting was two to one against me.
+
+I beat Carter four up and three to play, and made a medal score of
+seventy-six, breaking the amateur record for the course. That statement
+is quite sufficient to tell the story of the game.
+
+I gave a dinner in honour of my victory, and at its conclusion Miss
+Harding presented the "Bronze Gent," as Chilvers calls this beautiful
+statuette. She made a graceful speech and we cheered her wildly. How
+charming she looked as she stood beside the huge bulk of her proud
+father! I tried to say something in reply, but the light in her eyes
+seemed to hypnotise me, and after a few incoherent sentences Chilvers
+came to my relief by striking up our club song, to the tune of a
+familiar hymn:
+
+   "Oh, why can't I drive like other men do?
+   How on earth can you drive if you don't follow through?"
+
+   CHORUS
+
+   "Hallelulia; watch that shoulder
+   Hallelulia, my men;
+   Hallelulia; get your wrists in!
+   Must I tell you again?"
+
+"Everybody come in strong on the second verse," ordered Chilvers, and we
+obeyed as best we could, also on the third. They run like this:
+
+   "I can't understand; understand it at all,
+   Why I can't keep my eye on that little white ball."
+
+   CHORUS
+
+   "Hallelulia; keep a-looking;
+   Hallelulia, my men;
+   Hallelulia; keep a-watching!
+   Must I tell you again?"
+
+   "Oh, why can't I hole out on each green in two?
+   Because we all find that a hard thing to do."
+
+   CHORUS
+
+   "Hallelulia; grasp your putter
+   Hallelulia, again,
+   Hallelulia; hit it harder!
+   Never up, never in!"
+
+It was a great occasion, but I have things to narrate which are of much
+more import. The board of directors of the N.O. & G. railroad met on
+Friday!
+
+Mr. Harding and I went to the city together. He was very busy looking
+over papers, and noticing his preoccupation I did not attempt to engage
+in conversation with him.
+
+I had plenty to think of. This was the day big with my future. This was
+the day when the conspirators proposed to pass the dividend on the stock
+of the N.O. & G. Would they dare to do it? What would result if they
+did?
+
+Knowing as I did that the earnings of the property had increased and
+that its prospects never were more favourable, I could not believe it
+possible that responsible officials would dare take so unwarranted a
+step for the purpose of influencing stock quotations. But while I kept
+my head and appeared outwardly calm, I was nervous, and I frankly
+confess it.
+
+I was weighing the situation in its various lights when Mr. Harding
+spoke to me.
+
+"Are you good at figures, Smith?" he asked.
+
+"I can add, subtract, multiply and divide," I said with some confidence.
+
+"Good!" he growled. "You've got nothing else to do, so you may as well
+help me on multiplication and addition. Multiply these by those and add
+'em up--right quick, won't you?"
+
+He passed to me a piece of paper containing the following memorandum:
+
+       500................................68-1/2
+
+      1100................................67-3/4
+
+      4000................................67-1/2
+
+       300................................66-7/8
+
+       600................................66-1/2
+
+      1700................................65-1/2
+
+       200................................64
+
+      2300................................63-1/2
+
+      1000................................62-3/4
+
+       500................................61-1/4
+
+      3000................................60-1/2
+
+      1200................................59
+
+       300................................59-1/4
+
+       100................................58-7/8
+
+       400................................58-1/2
+
+       250................................59
+
+      1000....... ........................58-3/8
+
+There were dates opposite the larger numerals, but these, of course, did
+not enter into the computation.
+
+Harding handed me a blank pad and resumed his study of other papers
+which from time to time he produced from a large black-covered folio. It
+took me some time to finish this calculation, but at last my task was
+ended and I gave the slip to him.
+
+"Sure that's right, Smith?" he asked, looking at the footing.
+
+"Your 18,450 shares of N.O. & G. stock cost you exactly $1,174,815, Mr.
+Harding, not including the commissions to your brokers," I said, calmly
+as possible.
+
+His big head swung quickly and he gazed at me with an expression of
+abject surprise.
+
+"Well I'll be--well--say, Smith, how in thunder did you get the idea
+into your head that those figures stood for N.O. & G. stock?" he
+demanded, after glancing at the slip to make sure that it contained no
+tell-tale initials.
+
+"Because the dates of purchase correspond with the quotations," I
+responded, enjoying his amazement and wondering to what it would lead.
+"I am only guessing that you bought, but of course it's possible you
+sold or went short. Please do not imagine I'm attempting to pry into
+your affairs, Mr. Harding," I added.
+
+He sank back into his seat and for several seconds said nothing.
+
+"Do you mind answering a few questions, Smith?" he said.
+
+"That depends," I smiled. "Go ahead and ask them."
+
+"Have you been dealing in N.O. & G.?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Buying or selling?"
+
+"Buying."
+
+"Outright or on margin?"
+
+"On margin."
+
+"How many shares have you an option on?"
+
+I hesitated.
+
+"Mr. Harding," I said, "in answering that question I assume that the
+information is confidential and that it will not be used to my
+disadvantage. Up to now it has been a secret known only to my brokers."
+
+"You will lose nothing by telling me," Mr. Harding said, and I knew that
+promise was as good as his note at hand.
+
+"My brokers have contracted for 45,000 shares of N.O. & G.," I said,
+handing him a list of my purchases with dates, amounts, and quotations.
+
+He studied it for a while in silence.
+
+"I thought you did nothing but play golf," he said. "Tell me; how did
+you happen to go into a deal of this magnitude?"
+
+I gave him the details of the conspiracy as I had discovered them. It is
+not safe at this time to disclose them even in this diary. Mr. Harding
+listened with growing wonder on his face.
+
+"My boy," he said, when I had ended, "if there is anyone in the country
+who should have discovered and taken advantage of the facts you have
+just told me, it is myself, but I never dreamed of them until you had
+purchased more than 30,000 shares of that stock. These dogs think I'm in
+Europe! They were told so. They think they have sold me out, and perhaps
+they have. I did not watch it as I should have done."
+
+For a minute the train roared on past suburban stations, under viaducts,
+through echoing rows of freight cars, and over clattering switches. We
+were nearing the metropolis.
+
+"Do you mind telling me if you are alone in this transaction?" he
+suddenly asked.
+
+"I am."
+
+"Do you wish to go in with me in this deal?"
+
+"I do!" I replied without hesitation.
+
+"Good!" he said, offering his hand. "We'll talk no more of this here.
+It's not safe. Come with me to my office."
+
+We reached his private office half an hour before the opening of the
+Stock Exchange. In five minutes the machinery of his wonderful system
+was in operation. Notes were dictated, messengers hurried away with
+them, men called, who listened to curt orders and vanished.
+
+An hour passed and he gave orders that no one should be admitted until
+further notice.
+
+"N.O. & G. is stationary around 59," he said, offering a cigar. "The
+directors meet at noon. They will pass the dividend. They think to shake
+out your 45,000 shares and a lot more in small holdings. In all I own
+35,000 shares, so that together we control 80,000 out of 200,000. I now
+propose to show these honourable gentlemen a trick which will give them
+something to think about for several weeks to come. I know a _gentleman_
+who owns outright 25,000 shares. He is one of the heads of which you
+term "the conspiracy". It is not a conspiracy, Smith; it is business. He
+tried to sell me out and has failed as he will learn in a few minutes.
+He will then sell out the men who implicitly trust him, as they would
+sell him out if they could see a chance to make money out of it. Do not
+talk of conspiracies, Smith! These honourable business _gentlemen_ down
+here are extremely sensitive, and you should be careful not to hurt
+their feelings."
+
+We quickly came to an agreement by which our holdings were pooled. It
+was stipulated that he should have entire control of the operations from
+that time on, and after settling important details I suggested that I go
+to my broker's office and await developments.
+
+"There's nothing you can do here," he said, as I arose. "Yes, there is,
+too," he added. "The folks are going to drop in here at about two
+o'clock. I'm going to be too busy to bother with them, and I foolishly
+promised to take them to the gallery of the Stock Exchange. You'll be
+worth more money then than you are now," he said with a grim smile.
+"Take them over and show them how a real sheep-killing looks when the
+ewes are fat and the knives sharp."
+
+I promised to call for them at two o'clock, and then went to the office
+of my brokers.
+
+Carelessly glancing at the quotation opposite the letters N.O. & G., I
+saw that it had dropped to 56. The head of the firm approached me and
+asked me to step into his private office.
+
+[Illustration: "Business is business"]
+
+"The rumour is strong that the dividend will be passed," he said.
+
+"Which is preparatory to saying that you would like me to put up more
+margins, I presume?"
+
+"Business is business, you know, Mr. Smith," he said, softly rubbing his
+hands.
+
+"I have, anticipated your caution," I remarked. Mr. Harding had warned
+me that an unwarranted demand for margins would be made, but confident
+of the integrity of my brokers I had doubted it. "I presume an extra
+ten points will satisfy you?"
+
+He seemed surprised but said it would. I gave him a certified check for
+$450,000.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Smith. You will excuse me for requesting this, but
+business is business."
+
+"So I am learning," I coldly observed, and this closed our interview. I
+was convinced that "the conspirators" had gotten into communication with
+my brokers, but of course I could not prove it.
+
+As the noon hour approached, N.O. & G. sagged off to 53 on comparatively
+heavy transactions. It stuck there until over the various mechanisms for
+sending information came this simple announcement, "The directors of the
+N.O. & G. have passed the regular semi-annual dividend."
+
+The card boy of the stock board became busy. N.O. & G. dropped a point
+or more between sales, until it struck 47. I had small doubt of the
+outcome, but it is not pleasant to sit and watch the figures go up which
+hint at a loss of $45,000 every minute or so. I tried to look
+unconcerned, but doubt if I succeeded.
+
+I knew that not far away a strong man was at the wheel, but the best of
+ships go down. What if his plans had miscarried? I dared not think of
+it!
+
+"Two thousand N.O. & G. at 48," called the watcher at the ticker. "Five
+hundred at 47-1/2; 1,000 at 47; 2,000, 400, I,500, 3,000, at 47. Looks
+as if someone has pegged it at 47!"
+
+The entire market was declining in sympathy with the disturbing news
+concerning this standard property. "Twelve hundred N.O. & G. at 47-1/4,"
+called the man at the ticker. "Three thousand at 48; 1,500 at 49; 5,000
+at 50! Someone's after that non-dividend paying stock!"
+
+Like a man in a dream I watched that stock start on its dizzy climb. In
+five minutes it had reached 55, and by leaps and bounds it soared to 70.
+My brokers rushed to me with their congratulations. Did I wish to place
+any orders? Some strong interest undoubtedly was back of the rise?
+
+I informed them I had purchased all I desired.
+
+I am not indifferent in the matter of money. I am ambitious to possess
+it for the prestige it gives and the power it grants, but it is the
+simple truth to say that in those triumphant moments and in the
+subsequent hours the thought which held possession of me and which made
+me superlatively happy was the consciousness that so far as material
+assets were concerned I had a right to aspire to the hand of Grace
+Harding!
+
+For some time the quotations vibrated nervously about the seventy mark.
+I was about to start for Mr. Harding's office when a man with a loud
+voice read a bulletin just received.
+
+"_One forty-five p.m._," he began. "_Robert L. Harding authorises the
+announcement that in conjunction with John Henry Smith he has purchased
+a majority of the stock of the N.O. & G. railroad, and that it will be
+operated as a part of the system with which Mr. Harding is identified_."
+
+"Who in thunder is John Henry Smith?" asked a veteran stock gambler.
+
+I hurriedly left the room.
+
+In the inner offices of Mr. Harding's headquarters I found Mrs. and Miss
+Harding.
+
+"We have heard the news!" exclaimed Miss Harding. "Isn't it splendid? I
+congratulate you, Mr. Smith!"
+
+Mr. Harding appeared at this moment, a broad smile on his face.
+
+"Not so bad, eh Smith!" he said, shaking hands. The fierce light of
+battle was in his eyes. "They're headed for the tall timber, but we
+still have their range! Did you hear the last quotation?"
+
+"The last figure I saw was seventy-three," I said.
+
+"Seventy-three?" he laughed. "I just bought a thousand shares for
+ninety-one. Take the folks over to the visitor's gallery and let them
+watch the animals. I'm going to begin to feed them raw meat in about
+half an hour."
+
+As we walked toward the Exchange, Mrs. Harding said to me: "I think it's
+perfectly wicked the way you men gamble!"
+
+Bless her dear heart, so do I, but what could I say except to utter some
+commonplace?
+
+The huge box of marble and gold where this gambling is done already was
+seething with maniacs who had reached a stage of delirium pitiful to
+those who witness such scenes for the first time. It was as if a
+thousand human rats had been hurled into a pit, with heaven and earth
+offered as prizes to those who survived.
+
+The swaying forms, the tossing arms, the frantic uplifted faces of aged
+men, the football rush of impetuous youths, the shrieks, howlings and
+bellowings of the combatants, the tramp of feet on the paper-strewn
+floor, the clatter of innumerable instruments, the tinkle of myriads of
+bells; and through the opened windows God's pure sunlight illumining
+this hell on earth--such was the scene they looked down upon.
+
+I knew the signs which told when Harding threw the first bits of "raw
+meat" into this gilded corral. I knew that he long since had cornered
+N.O. & G., and that he would whet the appetites of his victims as only
+he knew how, but I did not know that it was his day of reckoning for
+other "conspirators" equally as grasping as those with whom I had
+measured my puny sword.
+
+As the hands of the clock slowly crawled to the hour of three the frenzy
+of the mob in the centre of the pit became maddening. I had no way of
+knowing from where we stood whether prices were moving up or down, but
+it was evident that Harding was "feeding the animals."
+
+Then the gong boomed the signal that the session was ended. The tumult
+rose to one resounding crash, hesitated, subsided and died away. The
+struggling groups dissolved and partial sanity resumed its sway.
+
+I was ushered into Mr. Harding's private office immediately on our
+return. The magnate was in his shirt sleeves. His mouth was set in stern
+lines and his dark hair tousled as if he had just emerged from deadly
+physical combat. As I entered the room his features relaxed and then he
+laughed. It was the roar of the lion who raises his head for a moment
+from his stricken quarry.
+
+"We won this foursome, Smith, ten up and eight to play," he said. "Sit
+down and I'll tell you how we stand. I put the market up to 175. Could
+have put it to a thousand if it had been necessary, but what's the use?
+There is a short interest of 60,000 shares. Most of them are in the
+outer offices waiting to come in and settle. I'm going to let 'em off
+easy, Smith. Those who were extra dirty will settle at 200, and I've
+made a sliding scale down to 150, which is about what N.O. & G. is
+actually worth as an investment. Outside of your original 45,000 shares
+you have profits coming to you on about 20,000 shares which I bought for
+you at various figures on the way up. Roughly speaking it will net you
+somewhere between a million and a half and two millions, depending on
+how merciful we are to your 'conspirators.' How much will it cost you to
+take up your 45,000 shares?"
+
+[Illustration: "Ten up and eight to play"]
+
+I consulted the statement of my account with Morse & Davis, my brokers
+in these transactions.
+
+"I have paid them $1,525,000, which margined it down to 30," I said.
+"In order to take the stock up I must pay them about $1,375,000 more,
+making my investment in N.O. & G. a total of $2,900,000."
+
+"Tell you what I'll do, Smith," said Mr. Harding. "If you care to get
+out of this deal I'll take that block of 45,000 shares off your hands at
+$150 a share. That's $6,750,000," he concluded after making a rapid
+calculation.
+
+"Thank you," I said, "but I've decided to hold it as an investment and
+go into the railroad business."
+
+"Good for you, Smith!" he heartily exclaimed. "Mark my prediction; N.O.
+& G. will go to 200 before the first of the year. You've done fairly
+well for a beginner, my boy. Your investment and the contributions of
+the wicked 'conspirators' net you between five and six millions. That's
+better than sweating over that 'Bronze Gent,' now isn't it?"
+
+The magnitude of my winnings nearly took my breath, and I fear that my
+expression and words showed it.
+
+"You'll have to get out of here now, Smith," said Mr. Harding, glancing
+at his watch. "Take the folks for a ride or something to entertain them,
+and come back here at 5:30. Then we'll all go to dinner somewhere and
+take the nine o'clock train for Woodvale."
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XXI
+
+I AM ENTIRELY SATISFIED
+
+
+For an hour I have been seated at a table on the veranda of the Woodvale
+club house looking over the pages of this diary.
+
+Certainly I am entitled to a new sobriquet. As a youngster I was called
+"Socks Smith." In more recent years I have been hailed as "Foxy Old
+Smith," and by a few friends as "Old Prog. Smith," but as I review my
+record for the past two months it seems to me that I am fairly entitled
+to be called "Lucky Smith."
+
+Of least importance, but none the less satisfying has been the wonderful
+improvement in my golf game. I am driving as long a ball as any club
+member. I have won the club championship and the Harding Trophy. I hold
+the low amateur score for the course, and only yesterday came within a
+stroke of defeating Wallace. I must admit that the poor chap was off his
+game. He is still thinking of Miss Lawrence. It's a shame the way she
+led him on, but he is young and will get over it.
+
+It was my privilege to be instrumental in saving Mr. Harding's life from
+the mad rush of that bull. I showed a little judgment and nerve,
+perhaps, but luck gave me the opportunity.
+
+Every incident preceding, during and after that tornado was in my
+favour. Even my mistakes resulted to my advantage. Fate smiled on me
+through the awful fury of that tempest.
+
+These fortuitous happenings and incidents are nothing compared with one
+consideration which makes me the happiest man in the world. It is not
+that I made a lucky venture in stocks and acquired more millions than
+all of my ancestors ever possessed. That is something, of course, but I
+had enough money for any rational human being before this flood of
+wealth poured into my lucky hands.
+
+These are not the things which steep my soul in joy ineffable!
+
+I know that I possess the love of Grace Harding!
+
+She has not told me; it is not necessary that she shall say the words to
+confirm the truth which has come to me. I know that she loves me; is not
+that enough?
+
+Chilvers passed while I was sitting here and caught me smiling. I was
+reading the sixteenth entry in this diary.
+
+"What are you grinning at, Smith?" he demanded.
+
+I did not tell him. I had been reading my soliloquy to the effect that
+the knowledge of love is conveyed without verbal expression between
+those who love. I had written: "The man who fails to avail himself of
+this silent but eloquent language, and who stupidly assaults a woman
+with an open avowal of an alleged love deserves to be coldly rejected."
+
+Then I wrote that these voiceless messages to the one you love would be
+considered and finally answered, and that there might come a day "when
+over the throbbing unseen wire there comes a telepagram sounding the
+letters 'Y-E-S,' then proceed with the sweet formality of a verbal
+confession and avowal of your love, and you will not be disappointed."
+
+I have received that glorious message! Grace Harding has told me that
+she loves me!
+
+The message was transmitted from the depths of her beautiful eyes! It
+has been confirmed by the gentle pressure of her hand as it rested on my
+arm! It has been echoed in the accents of her sweet voice! I have read
+it in the blush which mantles her check as I draw near, and I know it
+from a thousand little tokens which my heart understands and which my
+feeble words cannot express.
+
+I am
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XXII
+
+I AM UTTERLY MISERABLE
+
+_On Board "Oceanic," East-bound._
+
+
+I may as well finish the sentence which ends brokenly in the preceding
+entry. "I am _an ass_."
+
+Three weeks have passed since I finished that entry with the most
+appropriate words, "I am." They fittingly express the consummate egoism
+with which I was then afflicted. I have recovered--partially, at least.
+
+I am--there goes that "I am" again--I am on the "Oceanic" pointed for
+London. Unless we sink--and I care little whether we do or not--I should
+be in that city inside of forty-eight hours.
+
+In looking over my luggage I found this diary. I gave it to my room
+steward and told him to throw it overboard. Then it occurred to me that
+it would be my luck that it would be picked up and published as the
+mental meanderings of an idiot, so I called him back and took it away
+from him.
+
+This steward of mine discovered my mental unbalance the first day out,
+but considers me harmless and treats me accordingly.
+
+I have decided to bring this diary up to date, retain possession of it
+pending certain developments, and then incinerate it with appropriate
+ceremonies. So I will begin at the beginning, which is the ending of the
+last entry with its immortal declaration, "I am."
+
+I have forgotten what I intended to write when I started that sentence,
+and what it was cuts no figure. I only know that just at that instant
+Chilvers, Marshall, and Carter appeared, dragged me from my chair and
+insisted that I join them in a foursome. There was no escape, so I got
+ready and in a few minutes was with them at the first tee.
+
+On my way there I met Miss Harding, Miss Ross and Miss Dangerfield. I
+chatted with them for a moment and went on. I remember--oh, do I not
+remember!--that I called Miss Harding aside and reminded her that we
+were to take a moonlight spin in my new automobile. She smilingly
+replied that she had not forgotten it, and with a look into each
+other's eyes which thrilled my very being I turned to join those
+golfers.
+
+How can I write this? It is like pouring a burning acid into a wound!
+
+I have forgotten who won the game. I know I played vilely for I was not
+thinking of golf. I was counting the minutes which must elapse before I
+could be by her side and tell her that I loved her.
+
+I was rehearsing the words I should whisper to her as we paused on the
+smooth crest of "Old Baldy." I was picturing the fairy landscape
+shimmering in the moonlight, its rays falling on her fair face as I took
+her hand in mine. I saw it all as plain as I see this page in front of
+me. I felt it vividly as I feel the heaving of this great ship and the
+vibrations of its engines.
+
+How could I play a decent game of golf under such circumstances?
+
+On returning to the club house one of the attendants handed me a
+telegram which had just been received. I opened it carelessly and read:
+
+   Albuquerque, New Mexico.
+   To JOHN HENRY SMITH, Woodvale:
+
+   If you wish to see your Uncle Henry alive come at once.
+
+   DR. L.L. CLARK.
+
+I had an hour in which to get ready to catch the last train to the city
+and make the proper connections. I called my man and gave him the
+necessary instructions.
+
+Then I began a search for Miss Harding. I suddenly resolved to declare
+my love that day if the opportunity presented. I was delighted when I
+found her alone in the library.
+
+She did not hear me as I softly entered the room. She was seated near a
+window, an opened book in her lap but her gaze was not on its print and
+it was evident her thoughts were far away.
+
+I gently touched her shoulder, thinking to surprise her. I shall never
+forget the changing expressions in her eyes as they met mine.
+
+"I beg pardon, Miss Harding," I began. "I am--"
+
+She rose to her feet, the book falling to the floor. Her pretty head was
+erect, her shoulders thrown back, her eyes flashing and her face deadly
+pale.
+
+"Do not address me, sir!" she exclaimed, drawing away from me as if I
+were some repulsive animal.
+
+I stood transfixed! I knew she was not dissembling. I could not think; I
+could not speak! The floor seemed flying beneath my feet, and I must
+have reeled.
+
+"Leave me, sir! Leave me, sir, and never speak to me again!"
+
+My voice came back to me.
+
+"But, Miss Harding, there must be some mistake!" I stammered. "I beg of
+you--"
+
+"There is no mistake!" she cried with intense bitterness, pushing past
+me. "If you were a gentleman you would grant the last request I shall
+ever ask of you!"
+
+I stood as in a trance and watched her sweep proudly from out the room.
+I fell back into the chair she had vacated. I do not know how long I
+remained there or what tumultuous thoughts crashed against me like
+breakers storm-lashed on a rock-girt shore; I only know that my man
+found me there and told me that my train was due in fifteen minutes.
+
+I went to my room and changed my golf for a travelling suit. The next I
+remember is that I was on the train rushing toward the city.
+
+[Illustration: "She rose to her feet"]
+
+No sleep came to my eyes that long and awful night as the miles spun out
+which separated me from the one I loved so madly. Yes, I loved her then,
+and I love her now!
+
+Like a caged and wounded animal I paced the narrow confines of my
+stateroom. Ten thousand times I asked for the disclosing of this pitiful
+mystery, and ten thousand times a mocking laugh came back in the roar
+and shriekings of the train. The car wheels chuckled in rhythm, the
+airbrakes hissed in derision and the engine whistle hooted in scorn.
+
+It was daybreak when I threw myself on the couch and closed my eyes. I
+think I slept for an hour or so. To my surprise and disgust I found
+when I awoke that I was hungry. I had thought I should never care to
+eat again.
+
+It was necessary to wait several hours when a thousand miles of my
+journey had been made, and I employed them in writing a letter to her.
+It was a long letter, and I poured my heart into it. I told her I loved
+her, and that I was innocent of offense toward her by thought, word or
+deed.
+
+I could think of only one thing over which she might have taken offense,
+and this was so absurd that I regretted later to have dignified it by
+mentioning and apologising for it.
+
+I recalled that I had touched her on the shoulder--the left shoulder. It
+was an ill-bred and thoughtless act, but as I knew, when I had pondered
+the matter more calmly, Miss Harding has too much sense and poise to
+exhibit such anger at what at its worst was merely a boorish
+indiscretion. It was the only straw on which I could float an apology
+for a concrete act, but I thought later on I did not help my case by
+mentioning it.
+
+Imploring her to enlighten me as to my offending, and assuring her of my
+undying love and abject misery I closed an appeal which exhausted the
+persuasion, eloquence and rhetoric at my command.
+
+I may as well say now as at any other time that I received no answer to
+it.
+
+Uncle Henry died on the fourth day after my arrival. Before he passed
+away he expressed a wish that he be buried in the little Eastern town
+where he was born. He had forgiven me for turning the old farm into golf
+links, and aside from a few small bequests, I was his heir. Thus by the
+death of this good man I come into possession of money, estates, stocks
+and other property for which I have no use.
+
+Of what special use is property to me? It does not help secure the one
+thing on earth I desire. I would rather--oh, what's the use of writing
+that?
+
+As soon as my uncle was put under ground, I hastened to Woodvale. I
+arrived there nineteen days after my hurried departure. It seemed years,
+and I was surprised when I searched in vain for gray hairs in my head.
+
+I gazed anxiously out of the car window for a glimpse of the club house,
+and my heart gave a bound when its tower came in sight. She was there!
+Would not the knowledge of my bereavement soften her heart toward me?
+Surely she did not know all that I had suffered.
+
+As the train crossed the road over which we had sped on our way to Oak
+Cliff, I recalled that it was at this exact spot where she first had
+called me "Jacques Henri." How happy I was that day! I thought of the
+terrors of the tornado and would have given all that I possessed to live
+through it again with her.
+
+Handing my bags to the porter I hastened toward the club house. I was
+hurrying across the edge of the eighteenth green when someone shouted to
+me.
+
+"Hello, Smith!"
+
+I turned and saw Marshall and Chilvers. Marshall pitched his ball to the
+green with more than his usual deliberation, and then they came toward
+me and I advanced to meet them.
+
+"Where in thunder have you been?" asked Chilvers, and it suddenly
+occurred to me that I had told no one of my mission, neither had I left
+my address. The next instant I realised that Miss Harding had not told
+of the receipt of my letter. This might mean much or little.
+
+"My Uncle Henry died out in New Mexico," I said.
+
+"Too bad," said the sympathetic Chilvers. "Unless one of my uncles dies
+pretty soon I'll have to go to work. But why didn't you let us know
+where you were."
+
+"I had just time to catch a train," I said. "What's the news?"
+
+"News? Let's see?" reflected Chilvers. "Grandma Marshall, here, won the
+July cup, and our team won the match with South Meadows by a score of
+twenty-three to five. Say, we didn't do a thing to those boys. Moon has
+bought two new clubs, Boyd made the sixth hole in two, Duff won four
+dozen balls from Monahan, Lawson has a new stance which he claims will
+lengthen out his drive twenty yards--and speaking about Lawson, he
+discovers something every week which lengthens his drive at least twenty
+yards. I've figured out that he should be driving at least five hundred
+yards from improvements alone. That's all the news I can think of; do
+you know any, Marshall?"
+
+"They have moved the tee back on the seventh hole," volunteered
+Marshall, "and--oh, yes; Wallace has gone."
+
+"Where's he gone?" I asked, exasperated at the character of their
+information.
+
+"Someone died over in Scotland and left him money," said Chilvers. "Just
+as soon as we get a good professional, his rich relatives pass away and
+we lose him."
+
+"How is Mr. Harding?" I asked.
+
+I saw Chilvers wink at Marshall.
+
+"Did you say Mr. Harding or Miss Harding?" asked Chilvers.
+
+"I said Mr. Harding. What's the matter; are you deaf?"
+
+"I'm a little hard of hearing at times," he grinned. "Let's see; when
+did Mr. Harding leave here, Marshall?"
+
+"It was the day that you and I beat Boyd and Lawson," said Marshall,
+after a long pause. "That was a week ago."
+
+"I presume he's in the city," I carelessly remarked.
+
+"I presume he is not," laughed Chilvers. "He's probably rolling around
+in the English Channel right this minute."
+
+"Gone abroad?"
+
+"That's what."
+
+"And Mrs. Harding?" I inquired.
+
+"Gone with him, of course. Also Miss Harding."
+
+"And Carter," added Marshall. "They all went on the same boat."
+
+"At the same time," laughed Chilvers. "You see that lots of things have
+happened since you went away. What are you looking so white and glum
+about, Smith? Brace up, man; it may not be true. Come up to the club
+house. We've got a new brand of Scotch, and it's great."
+
+I don't know whether my laugh sounded natural or not, but I cheerfully
+could have murdered both of them.
+
+In those brief minutes I learned practically all I now know concerning
+the departure and the whereabouts of the Hardings and Carter. There was
+a lot of mail awaiting me, and I opened letter after letter hoping
+against hope that there might be one from Miss Harding. There was none.
+
+I discreetly questioned Miss Ross, Miss Dangerfield and others whom I
+met, and all that I learned was this: A few days after my departure the
+Hardings suddenly decided to go to England, or France or Germany or
+somewhere. Carter was with them much of the time, but none of them
+talked of their plans, and all the hints dropped to me by the married
+and unmarried ladies of Woodvale were unproductive of information. They
+had been here; they were abroad--and that was all there was to it.
+
+It was yet early in the day and I took the first train for the city and
+went straight to Mr. Harding's office. I am known to his representatives
+there. They told me that all they knew was that Mr. Harding had gone
+abroad to remain for a time.
+
+"I assure you, Mr. Smith," said his private secretary, "that I do not
+know where he is. He said that his family was going with him, and that
+nothing possibly could happen here which would warrant bothering him. I
+am sure he would be glad to see you, and I can only advise you to call
+on his London bankers, who may have his address."
+
+"Do you think the family are in England?" I asked, willing to accept the
+faintest clue.
+
+"I have no more idea than have you," he replied and I am convinced he
+was telling the truth.
+
+The "Oceanic" was the first boat to sail, and here I am. I doubt if a
+sane man ever went on so absurd and hopeless a quest. I have had nothing
+to do for several days but think over this situation, and the mystery of
+the sudden departure resolves itself into these two possibilities;
+first, that they have gone abroad to keep away from me; and, second,
+that they have gone to England for the purpose of celebrating the
+marriage of Carter and Miss Harding.
+
+I do not see how I shall be of much use in either event. But this good
+ship is cleaving the water toward England at the rate of twenty-five
+knots an hour and I cannot turn back if I would.
+
+I do not see how I am to stop the wedding. I remember that Carter once
+told me that if he ever married it would be in London. I suppose they
+are married before this time. Perhaps they will assume that I came
+across on purpose to congratulate them.
+
+I cannot understand why Mr. Harding did not leave some word for me.
+Surely I have not offended him?
+
+[Illustration: "I cannot turn back if I would"]
+
+I met and chatted with him a few minutes before Miss Harding said the
+words which have made me the most miserable of human beings.
+
+This thing is past my solving. I only know that whatever she has done or
+whatever she may do I love her and ever shall love her.
+
+
+
+
+ENTRY NO. XXIII
+
+A FEW CLOSING CONFESSIONS
+
+
+On my arrival in London I lost no time in presenting myself to Mr.
+Harding's bankers. I also presented a letter of introduction from that
+gentleman's private secretary, and I presume these London financiers
+called a meeting of the board of directors to consider this weighty
+matter. I waited for hours, and was finally ushered into a private
+office. It was as dingy and inadequate as are most London offices, and I
+was properly impressed with its age, traditions and smells.
+
+An old gentleman looked at me for a minute or two, and then took my
+letter of introduction from his desk. He read it carefully again, wiped
+his glasses and asked me if I were John Henry Smith. I assured him that
+to the best of my knowledge and belief I was.
+
+He looked doubtfully at me, hesitated as if determined to make no
+mistake, sighed and then informed me that Mr. Harding had not left his
+address in their care. I was tempted to express the opinion that Mr.
+Harding showed rare judgment in declining to leave it with them, since
+it doubtless would require an action at law to recover it in the event
+he should have use for it, but I thanked the aged man for all that they
+had done for me, and emerged from this gloomy den into the street.
+
+[Illustration: "He looked doubtfully at me"]
+
+This reed had broken. I never had much faith in it.
+
+I had more confidence in a plan I then set in motion. I have a friend in
+London of the name of Flynn. He is an American newspaper man. Flynn says
+he would like to be a "journalist," but needs the money; therefore he
+continues to be a newspaper man, and he is a good one.
+
+Flynn is connected with one of the big news associations and after
+drifting with the tide of cab and omnibus traffic which gorges on Fleet
+Street, I finally located him in an office in New Bridge Street. I had
+not seen him in five years.
+
+"Hello, Smith!" he exclaimed, placidly as if we had spent the preceding
+evening together. "When did you strike town?"
+
+"Last night," I said, heartily shaking hands.
+
+"I see that you recently put a crimp in that Wall Street gang," he
+observed, lighting a cigarette and leaning back in his chair. "You were
+in with Harding on that deal, weren't you?"
+
+"Yes," I said, "and I'm looking for him."
+
+I briefly told him of the death of my uncle, and explained that Harding
+had left suddenly and that it was necessary I should locate him without
+delay.
+
+"He was in London stopping at the Savoy a week ago," said Flynn, after
+consulting a record book. "I sent a man to see him and he wouldn't be
+seen. No use for you to go there; they won't tell you where he went."
+
+"But can you help me locate him?" I eagerly asked.
+
+"Certainly I can, provided you stand the tolls," he said. "Electricity
+is as rapid here as in the United States, and if this magnate is on one
+of these islands we can get his address in four or five hours, if we
+have any kind of luck. Suppose we wire the twenty larger cities and
+towns, about the same number of summer resorts, and the leading golf
+centres?"
+
+"Great scheme, Flynn!" I declared, "you're a natural detective."
+
+"Natural nothing," growled that clever individual, "it's a part of the
+regular grind. It should be no great trick to find a man worth thirty
+millions in an area not much bigger than Illinois."
+
+He wrote a telegram, dictated the list of places to his stenographer and
+turned to me.
+
+"Any engagement for dinner?" he asked, and when I said I had none he
+suggested we go to the Savage Club. We did so, and that dinner was the
+first enjoyable episode in many dismal weeks. The quiet charm of the old
+club, together with its famous ale, had a soothing effect on my nerves,
+and after several pleasant hours we took a cab back to his office.
+
+Flynn disappeared for a minute and when he returned he handed me a stack
+of telegrams.
+
+"There are some reports already in," he said. "Look them over while I
+attend to the work for which I'm supposed to draw salary."
+
+I read them hurriedly. There was no news of the Hardings from
+Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Brighton,
+Blackpool, and a score of other places. Then I opened one from Glasgow.
+They had been in Glasgow, but had left. I was on the trail, and
+announced the news to Flynn. He smiled and again bent over his work.
+
+In a few minutes a boy came in with more telegrams. They had been in
+Edinburgh on the day following their visit to Glasgow, but were not
+there now.
+
+"They were in Edinburgh four days ago," I declared.
+
+"Probably headed for St. Andrews," said Flynn, stopping in the middle
+of a sentence he was dictating. "Don't bother me, Smith, I'm busy."
+
+I spent the next half hour studying a map of Great Britain on which I
+mentally traced _Her_ course from London to Glasgow and from there to
+Edinburgh. Another batch of telegrams from Plymouth, Hull, Dublin,
+Southampton, Newcastle, York, Hastings, and lesser places was silent
+concerning the missing Hardings.
+
+It was ten o'clock in the evening when the boy handed me three
+envelopes. I read the first two and threw them on the floor. Without
+glancing at the date line I read the third one. It ran:
+
+"Robert L. Harding, wife and daughter at the Caledonia.--Jones."
+
+It was dated St. Andrews.
+
+"I've found them!" I declared. Flynn was just closing his desk. His
+day's work was ended and he was in better humour.
+
+"Where are they?" he asked, throwing a mass of stuff into a waste
+basket.
+
+"St. Andrews."
+
+"Of course. Every American golf crank heads for St. Andrews from the
+same fanatical instinct which impels a Mohammedan to steer for Mecca."
+
+A study of the time tables showed that I could take a late night train
+which would place me in Edinburgh early in the morning.
+
+"I'm indebted to you for this more than you realise," I said to him.
+
+"Don't mention it."
+
+"How much do I owe your concern for this service?"
+
+"Couldn't tell you," asserted Flynn. "Won't know until the bills come
+in, and that will take a month or more. I'll have them tabbed up and
+send you a statement, you send a cheque and that will end it."
+
+"If there is anything I can do for you I--"
+
+"Nothing," interrupted Flynn, "unless you should happen to run across
+the New York plutocrat who hires me. You might tell him that unless he
+tilts my salary he is likely to lose the most valuable man who ever
+produced dividends for him."
+
+"I'll do that!" I declared, and I meant it.
+
+Two hours later my train rumbled out of the station and headed for
+Scotland. I had been supremely satisfied with my progress during the
+day, but when I began to analyse the situation I was unable to discover
+any sound basis for self-congratulation.
+
+I merely had ascertained her probable location. That did not improve my
+prospects. I had not the slightest reason to believe that she had
+changed her attitude toward me, and I had no right to assume that she
+would receive, much less listen to me. She might be married, and
+probably was. I thought of these things and fell from the fool's heaven
+to which I had climbed.
+
+But on I went toward Scotland. I would drink the cup to its lees. I
+foil into a troubled sleep, and after a miserable night did not know
+whether to be pleased or scared that I had finished the longer stage of
+my journey.
+
+The early morning train from out Edinburgh's dingy station carried one
+passenger who paid small attention to the scenery between the beautiful
+capital of Scotland and its famous university town. My one thought when
+we crossed over the great bridge which spans the Firth of Forth was that
+it was unconscionably long, and that the train slackened its speed in
+taking it.
+
+Then we came to a junction within sight of St. Andrews, and when I was
+informed by the railway agent that I would have to wait half an hour for
+a connection I told him that I would walk down the track. He informed me
+that this was against the law. Having some familiarity with the monotony
+with which the laws are enforced in Scotland, I smoked and waited.
+
+The railroad skirts the links of St. Andrews, and from its pictures I
+recognised the club house. Disdaining to ask questions or take a
+carriage, I ordered my luggage to a hotel and started on a brisk walk,
+hoping thus to brace myself for the ordeal ahead of me.
+
+_She_ was here. Somewhere in this picturesque old town _she_
+was living and breathing that very moment. _She_ had passed through
+the street which then resounded with my brisk footsteps. Her name had
+been Grace Harding. Was it yet Grace Harding?
+
+I ran square into Carter!
+
+"Why, my dear Smith!" he exclaimed, clutching at his monocle which came
+as near falling as it well could and remain in place. "Why don't you
+call 'Fore!' when you drive ahead like this? You're in Scotland, my dear
+fellow!"
+
+I begged his pardon, though of course it was not necessary. We heartily
+shook hands--at least he did.
+
+We were on a corner of a crooked and cobblestoned street which twists
+around the side of a hill. There is a small store on this corner, and
+its neatly pointed red bricks and shining plate glass are sharp in
+contrast to the ancient and somewhat dilapidated structures which
+surround it. I recall these facts distinctly, and I can see even now
+every attitude and expression on the part of Carter.
+
+During our brief interview his eyes frequently wandered from mine to
+those plate-glass windows, as if something within were of vast interest
+to him.
+
+"You're looking fine, Carter," I said, and he was; "St. Andrews must
+agree with you."
+
+He smiled placidly and his eye twinkled merrily through that monocle.
+
+"I'm feeling fine! Congratulate me, old fellow!"
+
+The blow had fallen--but I stood it better than I had dreamed would be
+possible!
+
+A swarm of thoughts came to me in that instant, but I maintained my
+outward serenity. I knew that he was a clean, honourable man and worthy
+in every way of the hand and heart of Grace Harding. Possibly they had
+been long engaged. All of my alleged rights and wrongs faded into thin
+air. Besides, what was the use of whimpering? It was a stunning blow,
+but I would stand it like a man.
+
+"I do congratulate you, Carter!" I exclaimed, clasping his hand and
+looking him frankly in the eyes. "You have won the most glorious woman
+on earth, and I esteem it an honour that I have had the privilege of
+meeting her and of enjoying her society! I am--"
+
+"Confound it, man, you never met my wife!" said Carter. "What on earth
+are you talking of, my dear Smith? Ah, excuse me!"
+
+He pushed past me to meet a radiant creature with laughing blue eyes who
+came from out that little store. He smiled and took a tiny parcel from
+her hands. Then he said something to her and they turned to me.
+
+"Stella, my dear," he said, her hand in his as they confronted the most
+dazed human on the face of the earth, "you have heard me talk so much of
+my dear friend, 'Foxy Old Smith'; well, here he is! Permit me to present
+Mr. John Henry Smith, champion of Woodvale, winner of the Harding
+Trophy, also Wizard of Finance!"
+
+I assured Mrs. Carter that I was delighted to meet her, and if ever a
+man told the truth I did at that moment. I said a lot of things, laughed
+so boisterously that Carter looked shocked; I told of the death of my
+uncle and grinned all the time. I certainly must have made an
+impression on that lovely bride.
+
+They compelled me to listen while they told of their marriage in London,
+nearly a week before. She is an English girl, and Carter kept his word
+that he would be married in London. Since she has never been in America,
+and since this was my first visit to Great Britain, it was evident I had
+not met her.
+
+I do not know what Carter thought of my wild outburst. He has not
+mentioned the subject, and I shall not bring it up.
+
+"Where are the Hardings?" I asked, when I no longer could restrain my
+impatience.
+
+"They are stopping at the Caledonia," said Carter. "You probably will
+find the Governor out on the links. He has struck up a great friendship
+with 'Old Tom' Morris, and doubtless is playing with him right now."
+
+"I think I will go and look him up," I said, as we came to a cross
+street. "I have an important business matter in which he is interested.
+I'll see you at dinner."
+
+"The club house is yonder," said Carter, pointing down the hill. With a
+bow and my uncontrollable grin, I parted from them and armed with a card
+which Carter had given me, hastened toward the headquarters of the Royal
+and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
+
+The sedate gentlemen who were lounging about, waiting for the
+prearranged times when they are privileged to drive from the first tee,
+must have identified me as the typical American from the manner in which
+I hastened from one room to another. I explored the locker rooms, the
+cafes, reception hall, library, billiard room, the verandas, and every
+nook and corner of the structure.
+
+There is one sacred retreat called the "Room of Silence." Here are
+displayed the famous relics and historical curios of the game, including
+clubs used by King James, also strange irons once wielded by champions
+whose bones have been mouldering for generations. In this awesome place
+one must enter with sealed lips, and sit and silently ponder over his
+golf and other crimes. It is sacrilege to utter a word, and not in good
+form to breathe too rapidly.
+
+An elderly gentleman who looked as if he might be a mine of information
+was seated in a comfortable chair. He was the sole occupant of the room.
+I had not asked a question since I had entered the building, and here
+was my chance.
+
+"Do you happen to know an American gentleman named Harding--Robert L.
+Harding?" I asked, deferentially.
+
+He did not move an eyelash. I pondered that it was just my luck that the
+first gentleman I had addressed was deaf and dumb. As I crossed the
+threshold, I caught an indignant mumble: "Talkative chap, that; he must
+be an American."
+
+I fled the club house and started down the course. There are three
+links, but I was certain that Harding would be playing on the "regular"
+one, and since it is rather narrow I had no difficulty in following it.
+For the first time I was possessed of no ambition to play. Several
+indignant golfers shouted "Fore!" but I pursued my way, keeping a sharp
+lookout to right and left.
+
+When about a mile from the first tee, I saw Harding. His head and
+shoulders showed above the dreaded trap of "Strath's Bunker," and not
+far from him was a white-bearded old gentleman with twinkling blue eyes
+who was smiling at Harding's desperate efforts to loft his ball out of
+the sand.
+
+[Illustration: "This takes the cake!"]
+
+"Thot weel not do-o, mon!" I heard him say as I neared the scene of this
+tragedy. "Take yeer niblick, mon, an' coom richt doon on it!"
+
+Out of a cascade of flying sand I saw his ball lob over the bunker, and
+with various comments Mr. Harding scrambled out of this pit, brushed the
+sand off his clothes, and then turned and saw me.
+
+"Of all the damned places to get in trouble, Smith, this takes the
+cake!" he exclaimed, mopping the perspiration from his face. "Do you
+know," he added, looking about for his ball, "that it took me five
+strokes to get out of that cursed sand pit!"
+
+He looked in his bag for another club, played his shot, and made a
+fairly good one, and then appeared to recall for the first time that he
+had not recently seen me.
+
+"Hello, Smith; when did you strike town?" he said, a welcoming smile on
+his face as he offered his hand.
+
+"About an hour ago," I said.
+
+"Well, well! I'm glad to see you! Why didn't you wire you were coming?
+We'd have come for you in our new machine. Bought a new one since we
+came over here and have been travelling around in it. It's more
+comfortable than these confounded English trains. They're the limit,
+aren't they? Well, how are you? Seems to me you look a bit peaked?"
+
+"I'm all right," I insisted. "How is--how is Mrs. Harding?"
+
+"Never better in her life!"
+
+"And how is--how is Miss Harding?"
+
+We were on the edge of the green, and Harding had played his ball so
+that we passed near the old gentleman who was Harding's opponent.
+
+"Smith," said that gentleman, "I want you to know Old Tom Morris! Of
+course, you have heard of him--every golfer has--and all that I ask is
+that I may be able to play as good a game and be as good a fellow when I
+am eighty-five years old. Mr. Morris, this is my young friend, John
+Henry Smith, of America."
+
+I greeted this famous character with some commonplace remarks, and
+remained silent while they putted out. I made no further attempt in the
+conversational line until they had driven the next tee.
+
+"How is your daughter, Mr. Harding?" I asked.
+
+"Grace? The Kid?" he hesitated. "She's pretty well, but this climate
+don't seem exactly to agree with her. We must get her started on golf
+again. She hasn't played a game since she has been here."
+
+My heart gave a bound when he said that little word "we." Surely he knew
+nothing of the trouble which had come between us. If she were married,
+he surely would have said something about it, and up to that minute I
+had a lingering fear that I might have lost her to some suitor other
+than Carter.
+
+"And she has never played the course?" I asked, not knowing what else to
+say.
+
+"Not once," he declared. "As a matter of fact, Smith, women are not very
+popular around here. They herd them off on a third course which is set
+aside for them. I looked it over, and it's a scrubby sort of a place."
+
+"That's an outrage!" I declared.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," he returned. "They can hack around over there and do
+no great damage. Between you and me, Smith, I think women are more or
+less of a nuisance on a course frequented by good players."
+
+I recalled that I once held the same opinion, and in looking back to the
+opening pages of this diary I find that I expressed it even more
+brutally than did Mr. Harding. But I was in no mood to argue the matter
+with him.
+
+"I presume Mrs. and Miss Harding are at the hotel?" I carelessly
+remarked. "I should like to pay my respects to them."
+
+"They're about the hotel, I reckon," he said, taking his stance for a
+brassie shot. He made a very good one.
+
+"How's that, Smith?" he exclaimed. "My boy, I'm getting this game down
+fine! Old Tom has put me onto some new wrinkles. See that old cock line
+out that ball! Isn't he a wonder?"
+
+"I think I will go and call on them," I said.
+
+"Call on who? Oh, yes!" he said, as I started away.
+
+"By the way, you won't find Grace there, come to think of it. Let's see;
+where did she say she was going? She's painting the ruins, and has
+finished the old cathedral and the monastery. What's that other famous
+wreck around here? Oh, yes; the castle! I remember now that she said she
+was going to paint the castle to-day. Somebody ought to paint it. I
+understand it hasn't been painted for more than eight hundred years."
+
+His roar of laughter sounded like old Woodvale days.
+
+"What's your hurry?" he asked. "Tell you what let's do! I'll fit you out
+with a set of clubs and we'll play a few holes on the second course.
+Then we'll go to the hotel, talk over the news with the women folks, and
+this afternoon we'll drag Carter away from his bride, and you and he can
+play Tom Morris and me a foursome! How does that strike you?"
+
+"I cannot play this forenoon," I promptly said. "I must attend to my
+luggage, shave, write some letters, send telegrams and--and do a lot of
+things."
+
+"How about this afternoon?" he asked. "We start at three o'clock."
+
+"I'll be on hand," I promised, desperately.
+
+"All right, and don't fail," he cautioned me. "You would not believe it,
+Smith, but I have got so that I can line 'em out from one hundred and--"
+
+I turned and left him with those unknown yards poised on his lips. When
+at a safe distance I looked back and saw him gazing at me with an
+attitude and expression of dumb wonder.
+
+I retained the services of a red-headed and freckled-faced boy who was
+confident he could direct me to the ruins of the old castle. It was not
+a long walk, and when he pointed them out in the distance I gladdened
+his heart and brought a grin to his tanned face by giving him a
+half-crown as I dismissed him.
+
+I was within sight of my fate! My steps faltered as I neared the grim
+arches, and once I stopped and tried to plan how I should act and what I
+should say. But I could think of nothing, and mustering all my courage
+and invoking the god of luck, I went on.
+
+In a few minutes I stood within the shadow of the gray and crumbling
+walls, undecided which way to turn. Picking my way over fallen masonry,
+I turned the corner of a huge pile which seemed as if it might crash to
+earth at any moment.
+
+And then I saw her!
+
+She was seated at an easel, a small canvas in front of her. Her hat was
+lying on a rock near by, and the breeze had toyingiy disarranged the
+dark tresses of her hair.
+
+She was looking out over the ocean, a brush idly poised in her hand. I
+saw the profile of her sweet face as I stood motionless for an instant,
+not five yards away.
+
+"Grace!" I softly said.
+
+That easel with its unfinished canvas was tipped to the rocks as with a
+startled cry she sprang to her feet. For one agonising moment I gazed
+into her startled eyes and saw her quivering lips.
+
+[Illustration: "And then I saw her!"]
+
+"Jack!" she cried, and we were in each other's arms.
+
+I cannot write what we did or said during the first sweet minutes which
+followed, for I do not know. I only know that we told each other the
+most rapturous news which comes to mortal ears. Oh, the wonder of it!
+
+We lived and we loved! This great earth with its blue-domed sky, its
+fields, its flowers and its heaving seas became ours to enjoy "till
+death us do part!"
+
+There we sat amid the ruins where kings and queens had been born; where
+they had lived, loved and died centuries agone. Their ashes mingled with
+the dust from which they sprang; of their pomp and splendour naught
+remained save the walls which crumbled over our heads; since their time
+the world had been born anew, but the god of Love who came to them now
+smiled on us, his heart as youthful, his figure as beautiful and his
+ardour as strong as when he whispered sweet words into the ears of the
+lovers who dwelt in Eden.
+
+I had forgotten that we ever had quarrelled. As we sat there looking out
+on the sea it seemed as if we had always known of each other's love.
+
+"Sweetheart," I asked, "when did you first know that I loved you?"
+
+"When I became angry at you," she replied.
+
+"When you became angry at me?" I repeated, and then the thought of the
+anguish through which I had passed recalled itself.
+
+"Darling!" I exclaimed, "why did you treat me so? What had I done?
+Sweetheart, you do not know how I have suffered!"
+
+"But you must have known all the time that I loved you," she said, a
+strange smile on her lips.
+
+"How could I know?" I faltered.
+
+"Could you not tell?" she asked, lifting her dancing eyes to mine. "Who
+was the inspired author of lines which run like this: 'I have received
+that glorious message! Grace Harding loves me! The message was
+transmitted from the depths of her beautiful eyes! It has been confirmed
+by the gentle pressure of her hand as it rested on my arm! It has been
+echoed in the accents of her sweet voice! I have read it in the blush
+which mantles her cheek as I draw near, and I know it from a thousand
+little tokens which my heart understands and which my feeble words
+cannot express. I am--'"
+
+'"I am an ass,' is the amended and proper ending of that sentence," I
+humbly said. "I beg of you, tell me how you ever came to see those
+words from my miserable diary!"
+
+"It makes me mad even now when I think of it!" she declared, vainly
+attempting to release her hand. "You great big stupid; do you not know
+what you did?"
+
+"I only know that I wrote those vain-glorious lines and that you must
+have read them," I said.
+
+"I did not read them! Oh, I could box your ears! While you were
+composing that rhapsody Mr. Chilvers and others came along and asked you
+to play golf with them. Golf being more important than anything else on
+earth, you rushed up stairs for your clubs and left that diary on the
+table. Do you remember that on your way to the first-tee you met Miss
+Ross, Miss Dangerfield and me?"
+
+I remember it.
+
+"When we arrived on the veranda," she continued with rising indignation,
+"Miss Dangerfield picked up that literary treasure of yours and of
+course opened it to the page from which I have been quoting. And then
+she read it to us! I never was so mortified and angry in my life. I
+rushed away from them, and when you found me I was so angry that I
+could have killed you. It was not a declaration of your love for me; it
+was a declaration of my love for you!"
+
+I could not help laughing, and then she did box my ears.
+
+"That little minx of a Miss Dangerfield busied herself until your return
+from your golf game in copying from your diary its choicest extracts,"
+continued Grace, after we had "made up," "but I managed to get them away
+from her, and I have them yet. Some of them were--well, they were nicer
+than the one Miss Dangerfield read."
+
+"Which one, for instance?"
+
+"I won't flatter your vanity by repeating them. But when I received your
+letter and had thought it over several days I decided to forgive you,
+Jack, and so I wrote you that letter."
+
+"But I never received a letter from you!" I exclaimed.
+
+On comparing dates we found that I had left Albuquerque before the
+letter could arrive there, and that it probably had not been forwarded
+to Woodvale in time so that I would get it prior to my sailing.
+
+"It was a cold and formal letter," she said, trying to look severe.
+
+"I don't care anything about the old letter, sweetheart," I declared,
+"now that I have found you."
+
+And then we laughed and cried and were very happy. It seems that Miss
+Dangerfield gave the diary to the steward, who must have sent it to my
+rooms, for I have no recollection of missing it at any time.
+
+We talked of many, many things as we sat there within the shadows of the
+old castle.
+
+"Oh, Jack!" she suddenly exclaimed, "we must secure an invitation for
+you to the wedding."
+
+"Ours, dearest?" I innocently asked. "Do I need an invitation?"
+
+"You are so stupid I'm afraid you will--if it ever takes place," she
+added, looking down. "Be good, Jack, and don't tease me. I meant to Lord
+Marwick's wedding."
+
+"Lord Marwick? Who is Lord Marwick?"
+
+"Lord Wallace Marwick, of Perth!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands in
+delight at being the custodian of some great secret.
+
+"My knowledge of the peerage is so slight, dearest, that I confess I
+have never heard of, much less met, Lord Wallace Marwick of Perth," I
+declared, smiling in sympathy with her enthusiasm.
+
+"Oh, yes you have! You know him very well!"
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, you; you dear old stupid!"
+
+"Who on earth is Lord Wallace Marwick, or whatever his name is?"
+
+"Bishop's hired man!"
+
+"Wallace?"
+
+"Wallace, our club professional!"
+
+"And his bride is--?"
+
+"Can you not guess?" she exclaimed.
+
+"Miss Olive Lawrence," I hazarded.
+
+"Really, Jack, you are improving. Two weeks from this noon Bishop's
+hired man, Lord Wallace Marwick, will be united in marriage with Olive
+Lawrence!"
+
+If she had told me that her father had bought the English throne and was
+about to be crowned I should not have been more surprised.
+
+"What was he doing at Bishop's?" I gasped.
+
+"He was studying farming," she explained. "It seems that his father
+invested heavily in farming lands in the abandoned districts of New
+England. Upon his death Wallace determined to acquire a practical
+knowledge of the methods of American farming, and this was the way in
+which he went about it. He had already worked on two farms before he
+applied to Mr. Bishop. He was about to return to Scotland when he met
+Miss Lawrence. The reasons for his subsequent course you certainly must
+understand."
+
+"How soon did Miss Lawrence learn that he was--that he was what he is?"
+
+"Shortly after he became our professional." she replied. "That
+disclosure, and certain other disclosures constituted one of her
+'lessons.' Olive confided the secret to me, and this is the principal
+reason we are here."
+
+"Sweetheart," I said, after an interval of silence, "would it not be
+splendid to have our wedding at the same time? I have always been--been
+partial to double weddings."
+
+"I do not know," she whispered, looking intently at the tip of her
+dainty shoe. "Perhaps--perhaps--I don't know what papa and mamma would
+think about it."
+
+I heard the crunching of gravel.
+
+"Don't you folks ever eat?" demanded a familiar voice, and Mr. Harding
+bore down upon us. We said nothing.
+
+"Do you know what time it is?" he added, with an impatience which
+puzzled me.
+
+"I have not the slightest idea," I truthfully replied.
+
+"Well, it's nearly two o'clock," he declared, looking at his watch.
+"I've been looking everywhere for you, Smith, and then I began to be
+worried about you," turning to his daughter. "Why, Kid, you've had time
+to paint this old stone shack two coats."
+
+"I imagine I'm to blame," I interposed.
+
+"Have you forgotten, Smith, that you have an engagement to play a
+foursome with old Tom Morris, Carter and myself this afternoon?" he
+said, looking at us rather suspiciously, I thought.
+
+"I have another engagement," I returned, mustering all my courage.
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"I have an engagement with Grace for life, and we wish to know if you
+will give your consent to our marriage two weeks from to-day!"
+
+He gazed at us for a moment, a grave look on his rugged and honest face.
+He dropped his cane, took our hands in his and said:
+
+"Children, you didn't fool your old dad for one minute! Take her, my
+boy, and God bless both of you! Your mother knows it, Grace, and she
+sends her blessing."
+
+We almost overcame him with our expressions of gratitude. As we started
+back to the hotel he glanced at us and chuckled.
+
+"I suppose you two have not quit eating?" he suggested.
+
+We promptly admitted we were hungry.
+
+"And I presume you will play golf once in a while?"
+
+We assured him that we certainly should.
+
+"Well, suppose we go to the hotel, get a bite to eat and then go out and
+play that foursome with old Tom Morris and Carter," he pleaded. "There
+is one green out there which is called 'The Garden of Eden,' and I want
+to show it to you. You, Grace, and mother and Mrs. Carter can go along
+and be the gallery. I'll promise not to say a word or give a hint about
+what has happened."
+
+Oh, that happy, happy afternoon on the turf, sand dunes, braes and
+greens of Old St. Andrews! The sea gulls circled over our heads, the
+foam-flecked surf crooned its song of love, the River Eden wound about
+our pathway, and the blue sky smiled down upon us.
+
+"Sweetheart," I said, "there is one confession you have not made to me."
+
+"What is it, Jack?"
+
+"Why did you play so wretchedly that first game in Woodvale?"
+
+Old Tom Morris looked back and smiled in sympathy with her joyous laugh.
+
+"They told me that you were a confirmed woman hater, and that nothing so
+exasperated you as to be compelled to play with a girl who was a novice.
+I wished to see if it were true. You are not a woman hater; are you,
+Jacques Henri?"
+
+"No longer!" I declared.
+
+"And you take back all the mean things you wrote about us in your
+diary?"
+
+"Every word of it, Sweetheart!"
+
+"Oh, Jack; I thought I should die of laughter when I drove those eight
+new balls in the pond. And when you never said a cross word, and smiled
+and tried to encourage me, then I suspected that you loved me."
+
+"I wouldn't have cared if you had driven me into the pond," I said, and
+then I missed my fourth brassie.
+
+Two weeks from that day there was a double wedding in the fine old
+drawing room of Marwick Mansion. From the wedding feast which followed
+cablegrams went to our friends in Woodvale, also one to Mr. James
+Bishop, farmer near Woodvale, informing him that sometime next season
+all of us, including the "hired man," would be with him for dinner and
+another dance in the new red barn.
+
+We have been cruising in the Mediterranean, and now are anchored in the
+beautiful Bay of Naples. Mr. Harding has been pacing the deck and gazing
+at the smoke-wreathed crest of Vesuvius.
+
+[Illustration: "I believe I can carry it"]
+
+"Jack," he has just remarked, "that is quite a bunker, but with a little
+more practice I believe I can carry it."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's John Henry Smith, by Frederick Upham Adams
+
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