Somewhere on the east coast of Scotland lie the famous Links of Eric. The district has not changed much, to all seeming, during the last thousand years—or ten thousand, for that matter. Then, as now, the links were a sandy waste, a wilderness1 of whin, sand, and bent2, the home of countless3 scuttling4 rabbits and plaintive5 peewits. Later, perhaps, when William the Conqueror6 was creating a disturbance7 in the southern parts of remote England, a tiny fishing town began to grow up round the little harbour reluctantly yielded by the tall red cliffs to the eternal industry of the ocean, and the adjoining strip of low-lying sand-dunes acquired the title that it now bears, derived8, it is said, from the name of the Norse king who once landed on this, the only piece of accessible shore for miles, and was there slain9, after a bloody10 battle with the neighbouring lord and his retainers. The town itself will have none of these barbaric titles, but exists smugly and contentedly11 as Port Allan.
But it was through her little-valued links [Pg 300] that Port Allan achieved fame. Two hundred years ago a new minister came from St. Andrew's, and introduced the men of Port Allan to a game called Golf. They took to it in their deliberate, methodical fashion, and laid out a little course on the hitherto neglected Links of Eric. Thither12 they repaired on fine summer evenings, carrying queer long-nosed wooden clubs and feather-stuffed balls. The golfing minister went the way of all flesh, and his compeers with him, but the golf endured. Generations of slow-moving fisher-folk, ecclesiastical luminaries13, and holiday-making scholars—for the fame of the links brought visitors from so great a distance as a hundred miles—all played round the links in their day, recking nothing of Medal Scores, Colonel Bogey14, the Schenectady putter, or other modern excrescences. They used their long-nosed wooden clubs to some purpose, and though they did not drive the feather-stuffed ball very far they drove it very straight. Once the great Allan Robertson visited Port Allan. He pronounced favourably15 on the course, and a word from Allan Robertson in those days was as good as a descriptive article in "Golf Illustrated16" in these. And so for many years the Links of Eric grew steadily17 in favour with golfers.
But one day—one momentous18 day—the men of England came to the conclusion that golf was [Pg 301] the one and only game worth playing, and Scotland the one and only place to play it in. Accordingly, with that spontaneous readiness to suit the action to the word that has ever been the characteristic of an Empire-making race, they migrated with their wives and families across the Border, and proceeded to hew19 divots from the face of Scotland with an eagerness and bonhomie which was equalled only by the unanimity20 with which they forbore to replace them. Golf, which had existed for centuries as a sort of religious ceremony, to be cultivated by its votaries21 in reverent22 silence and at a strictly23 processional pace, suddenly became a species of bank-holiday picnic; and those ancient and highly respectable burghs which fostered the game in especial purity were converted into rather recherché editions of Hampstead Heath.
However unpleasant this foray might be for the Scottish golfer, it presented certain compensating24 features to the Scottish railways and hotel-proprietors25. Of remote villages, which had formerly26 figured in the traffic returns as occasional yielders of a truck-load of fish, there now appeared highly-tinted pictures, with the Company's name at the top and a list of trains at the bottom. The hotel proprietors, on their part, quickly realising that to the average Englishman a golf-course consists of any tract27 of land in Scotland [Pg 302] plentifully28 endowed with rabbit-holes, hastily staked out a claim on the nearest collection of sand-hills, and advertised to all and sundry29 that visitors to their hotel would be permitted, for a consideration, to play golf over the celebrated30 links of so-and-so, "adjoining the hotel."
Port Allan was one of the places which benefited by reason of the boom. The nearest railway station was seven miles away, but the Company quickly remedied that defect, and advertised through bookings from King's Cross. A special time-table was published, decorated at the top with a coloured view of the Links of Eric, in the foreground of which a golf-match was in progress between a gentleman in a sky-blue Norfolk suit and a red cap, and a lady in a red dress and a sky-blue hat. The lady was depicted31 in the act of driving off from the tee (with a blue putter); while the gentleman, rather ungallantly, had gone forward a few yards, and was engaged in playing out of the first bunker (with a red brassie).
The inhabitants of Port Allan soon realised that to play golf over their own links in summer was out of the question. They accordingly accepted the situation, and, relegating32 their own golfing efforts to the autumn, turned to the equally congenial task of spoiling the Egyptians. Elderly seafaring men, who had hitherto extracted [Pg 303] a precarious33 livelihood34 from the grudging35 ocean, abandoned their nets and took to carrying clubs, the fee of eighteenpence per round which they were permitted to charge being inclusive of a vast amount of caustic36 criticism, and priceless, if unintelligible37, advice.
Behold38, then, the Links of Eric one fine morning in early August. Observe the throng39 of golfers, male and female, young and old. Here you may see Youth, full of slashing40 drives and strange oaths, and Age, known for his sage41 counsel and long putts. Here is a schoolboy, with bare knees and head, and a supple42 swing that makes middle-aged43 golfers wriggle44 with envy. Here is a "golfing minister." His clubs are old-fashioned and his ball has been repainted; you will outdrive him over and over again, but unless you have at least a stroke in hand when it comes to approaching and putting, he will beat you. Those two men over there, playing in their shirt-sleeves, are Americans, of course. They are playing very keenly, but they are thinking, not of the game, but of some entirely45 new and original way of winning it. The fat gentleman is an Englishman. He originally took up golf by his doctor's orders, but by this time is badly bitten. He wears a red coat, adorned46 with the buttons of the Toadley-in-the-Hole Golf Club, and ekes47 out his want of skill by the help of patent clubs, [Pg 304] an india-rubber tee,—ye gods!—and a wealth of technical phraseology. The couple in the middle of the course, with a highly profane48 throng waiting behind them, are a honeymoon49, and as such ought not to be there at all. Their balls lie side by side in a rabbit-scrape; and they are disputing, not as to the right club to use, but whether Pussy50 can possibly love Sweetie more than Sweetie loves Pussy. Ah! an irascible couple have driven into them! Sweetie, at once putting a protecting arm round Pussy, turns and glares at them wrathfully, but Pussy, looking distinctly relieved, picks up both balls and impels51 her newly acquired lord over an adjacent sand-hill to a secluded52 spot that she knows of, where they can sit in peace till lunch-time.
But besides these anomalies and curiosities—common objects of all golf-links in summer—there are some real golfers to be seen. Here are two young men worth watching. Number One is addressing his ball for an approach shot. It will have to be a cunning stroke, for there is a yawning bunker in front of the green and a thick patch of whin beyond it. If he attempts to run the ball up, the bunker will catch it, and if he plays to carry the bunker, the chances are that he will overrun the green and find himself in the whins. He plays a fine lofted53 ball, which drops on to the hard green six yards from the pin, [Pg 305] and then, with that marvellous back-spin which only a master-hand can impart, gives a curious staggering rebound54, and after trickling55 forward for a few yards lies almost dead.
"Good shot!" remarks Number Two, and turns to play his own ball. It is lying very badly in some bents, half buried in sand. Number Two—he is a left-hander—rejects the proffered56 niblick and selects a ponderous57 driving-mashie. Then, with an opening of the shoulders and an upward lift that betray the cricketer in every movement, he gives a mighty58 slog, and propels a confused cloud of sand, bents, and ball into the bunker guarding the green sixty yards away.
"Too good that time, Pip," remarks his companion.
"Didn't think I could get so far," replied Pip. "However, I get a stroke from you this hole, so wait a bit."
He descended59 into the bunker, but the ball was reposing60 in a heel-mark, and it required two even of Pip's earth-compelling niblick shots to remove it. Colquhoun, plus one at St. Andrew's, consequently took the hole in four.
Pip was staying at the Station Hotel, by himself. The motive61 which had brought him to a distant part of Scotland, to play a game at which he was far from being first-class, will appear in [Pg 306] due course. Sufficient to say that it was a strong motive, and an exceedingly ancient one,—a motive which has brought about even more surprising events than the abandonment of first-class cricket, on the eve of a Test Match, by the finest amateur bowler62 in England.
They finished their match half an hour later, Pip, who was in receipt of a half, being one down. As they turned to leave the last green Pip found himself confronted by a large man in a Panama hat.
"Pip!" cried the stranger—"Pip! Bless my soul! What the blazes are you doing in Scotland in August?"
"Hallo, Raven63," replied Pip. "Fancy meeting you, old man!"
They turned and walked up the road together.
"Why aren't you playing for the County?" inquired Pip severely64.
"Missis," replied Raven Innes laconically65. Then he added,—
"Said we must go away for August on account of the kiddies. I'm taking a holiday from cricket in consequence: golf isn't a bad substitute. But what are you doing here, young man? Aren't you about due at Old Trafford for the Test Match?"
"No," replied Pip, beginning to fill his pipe; "I'm not."
[Pg 307] Innes stopped short in his walk.
"You don't mean to tell me," he said, "that they have been such fools—"
"It's not that," said Pip.
"Oh! So you're chosen all right, then?"
"Yes, I'm chosen, but I'm not going to play."
"Great C?sar! Why?"
"Well, I'm a bit stale, and I'm rather off cricket, and—and I want to play golf."
Now Raven Innes was a man of the world. Moreover, he was a married man,—married to a young and pretty wife,—and married men know things that are not revealed to the ordinary unobservant bachelor. Constant female society sharpens their wits. A woman has only one explanation for all male eccentricities66, and Raven Innes had been married long enough to know that in nine cases out of ten this explanation is the correct one. He therefore pursued the conversation on the lines which he felt sure would have been adopted by Mrs. Raven had she been present.
"We have taken a cottage down the road—'Knocknaha,' it's called—so you must come and look us up. No time like the present, so come along now. By the way, my little sister is staying with us—Elsie. Have you seen her yet?"
The diplomat67 cocked an inquiring eye in the direction of his victim. Personally he had never [Pg 308] noticed anything unusual in Pip's relations with Elsie, but in matters of this kind Raven was guided entirely by his wife, and as that female Hawkshaw, whose feminine instincts were infallible in these cases, had long since informed him that there was something in the wind, he was now embarking68 upon this elephantine effort of cross-examination.
"No, really?" said Pip, who was lighting69 his pipe at the moment. "No, I haven't seen her yet."
He threw away the match and walked on, his features as immobile as usual. But his old weakness betrayed him, and he turned a dusky red.
Raven Innes noted70 this portent71, chuckled72, and inwardly dug himself in the ribs73, as we all do when we find that our natural acumen74 has unearthed75 a savoury secret.
Nearly a year had passed since Pip returned from "abroad," once more to take his place among his friends and in first-class cricket. During that time he had met Elsie only once—at Pipette's wedding; but he had gathered then, by dint76 of some artful cross-examination, that she would probably be the guest of the Ravens77 at Port Allan during August. Had Raven Innes realised that their chance meeting on the links that morning had been the result of a fortnight's planning, waiting, and scheming [Pg 309] on the part of the enigmatical young man beside him; that the said young man had abandoned first-class cricket in the height of the season, and taken the precaution of arriving at Port Allan a full week before he knew Elsie was due there, in order to avoid all appearance of having followed her, and had even endeavoured to give a casual appearance to their prospective78 and greatly desired meeting by withholding79 his presence for another three days,—Raven Innes would have realised that a superficial blush may conceal80 a greater depth of guile81 than the ordinary male intellect can fathom82.
II
There are many kinds of golfer, and there are many kinds of girl, but there are only two kinds of girl with whom it is possible to play golf. One is the beginner and the other is the expert.
The beginner is wholly irresponsible. Let us imagine that she is taken out in a "mixed" foursome. She refers to her clubs as "sticks," or even "poles." She declines the services of a caddie, with a little scream of apprehension83 at the very idea of such publicity84. For the same reason she refuses to drive her ball from the tee if any one is "looking." Indeed, she has been known to implore85 her partner to turn even his sympathetic back during that performance. [Pg 310] This excessive shyness is maintained all the way to the first hole, and, unless carefully watched, she will arrive at the green, ball in hand, having been unable to endure the critical gaze of two men at least a hundred and fifty yards away, who she feels convinced are laughing at her.
Presently she feels more comfortable. A long drive by her partner elicits86 a little shriek87 of astonished admiration88, which flatters his manly89 vanity, and goes far to mitigate90 the handicap of her assistance. She at once begins to imitate his stance and swing, straddles well over the ball, shuts both eyes, gives a mighty swipe, and usually falls down, the necessity of "tackety shoon" being as yet unrevealed to her. On she goes, perfectly91 at her ease now, though a little hot and flustered92, babbling93 incessantly94 during the stroke, regardless of the sinister95 frowns of the man who is endeavouring to play it. Should she miss the ball altogether, she is moved to unnecessary mirth; should she by any chance hit it out of sight, say over a sand-hill, she scampers96 up the slope after it at a run, and announces its discovery at the top of her voice, upsetting the nerves of all the old gentlemen within earshot. On the green her actions are as characteristic as ever. In running the ball up to the hole she either hits the ground behind it and sends it six inches, or plays a shot which necessitates97 the departure [Pg 311] of her long-suffering partner, niblick in hand and scarlet98 in the face, to an adjacent bunker. Short putts she invariably holes out by an ingenious and unblushing push-stroke, which no one has the heart to question or the courage to criticise99. So the game proceeds. It is not golf, but then you never expected it to be. It is another game, even older, and even better.
After a few such rounds as this the dread100 seriousness of the game descends101 upon her, and she loses some of her charm. She never speaks, for she knows now that there is a rule on the subject. Her irresponsible gaiety is gone; she is actually nervous; and after missing an easy stroke (which she does quite as frequently as before), she looks piteously at her partner, and even sighs enviously102 as the lady on the other side, whom she has hitherto regarded as a mere103 example of how clothes should not be worn, plays a perfect approach out of a bad lie. In short, she has reverted104 to the status of the ordinary duffer, and as such she ceases to be anything but a common nuisance—unless, of course, sir, you take a special interest in her, in which case you will find her quite as attractive, and infinitely105 less exhausting, over a quiet game of croquet or spilikins.
But when—or rather if—she attains106 to the degree of a real golfer; if she can drive off before [Pg 312] a crowd without giggling107 or blushing, and can be trusted not to shut her eyes when taking a full swing,—then she is indeed a pearl of price, for she is now a congenial companion, from the golfing as well as the other point of view. She is neither childishly frivolous108 nor grimly determined109. She looks upon golf neither as a glorified110 form of croquet nor as woman's one mission in life. Behold her as she walks across the links to begin her morning round. She calls up her favourite caddie with a little nod of her head, and gives you a cheery good-morning when she finds you waiting at the first tee. (A pretty girl-golfer is about as nearly perfect as a woman can be, but even that cannot make her punctual.) She is neatly111 turned out: she has abandoned kid boots with high heels, and wears trim shoes with plenty of nails in them. Her head is usually bare, or perhaps she wears a motor-veil tied under her chin; at any rate, the unstable112 edifice113 of former days no longer flaps in the breeze and obscures her vision. She is independent too. She does not take the first club the caddie offers: she chooses her own, and rates the boy for not having cleaned it better. No longer does she put her ball in her pocket for fear of keeping back the green; on the contrary, she drives repeatedly (and I am afraid purposely) into a steady-going foursome in front. It is useless to remind [Pg 313] her of a by-law which says that ladies must invariably give way to gentlemen and allow them to pass.
"Real gentlemen," she remarks, "would invariably give way to ladies and allow them to pass." And her iron-shot bumps past the head of an octogenarian who is trying to hole out a long putt on the distant green.
To look at her now you would never guess that she was once a shrinking débutante, a hewer of turf, and a drawer of water from the eyes of the green-keeper. Her putting is still erratic114, and she is rather helpless in heavy sand; but, given a clean lie and a fair stance, she will handle her light clubs to some purpose, and her swing is a "sicht for sair een." If you are at all off your game she will beat you; therefore it is advisable to offer her points before beginning the match, not so much because she needs them as to preserve your masculine self-respect in the event of a "regrettable incident."
Miss Elsie Innes combined all the virtues116 of the girl-golfer in her own graceful117 young body. Though she had "filled out" considerably118 since we last saw her, she was anything but a hobnailed, masculine woman. She was neither heavily built nor muscular; she looked almost too fragile to play at all. But she handled her light clubs with a suppleness119 and dexterity120 usually [Pg 314] given only to a schoolboy of fourteen, and the length of her drive was amazing. She was always graceful, always cool, and, as Pip once noted to himself, "never got either hot or hairy."
After their first meeting at Raven's cottage Pip and Elsie saw each other constantly. They played a round of golf every day, usually between tea and dinner, the hour when the ardent121 male golfer relaxes from his noonday strenuousness122 and turns to thoughts of mixed foursomes. Usually Pip and Elsie played Mr. and Mrs. Raven. Raven was a far better golfer than Pip, but then Elsie was very much the superior of Mrs. Raven, which made matters even. Many were the battles that raged between the two couples. At first victory favoured the married pair. Raven, besides being a scratch golfer, was a good general, and his unruffled coolness and unerring advice made the most of his wife's limited powers. Pip and Elsie, on the other hand, did not "combine" well. Elsie, who (strictly between ourselves) fancied her golf not a little, insisted on dictating123 the line of action to be followed on each occasion, and more than once told Pip what club to use. Pip, though relatively124 her inferior, declined at first to be trampled125 upon by a female, even a high-spirited goddess with fair hair and a swing like an archangel. But few men in Pip's condition argue the point long: after a brief struggle [Pg 315] to assert the predominance of man he subsided126 completely, and, as he thought, rather diplomatically. There he was wrong. The sage of antiquity127 who composed the uncomplimentary proverb about "a woman, a dog, and a walnut128 tree" knew something of life, and the course of Pip's true love might have run a good deal smoother if he had put down his masculine foot a little more frequently. However, there is no doubt that after his capitulation their golfing efforts reached a higher level than before. After a series of matches extending over a week, each side stood with three games to its credit, Pip and Elsie just managing to draw level by winning a match on the last green on Saturday evening.
Sunday golf is not encouraged in Scotland. Consequently next morning Elsie accompanied her relatives to one of the numerous places of worship in Port Allan, which ancient township possessed129 its full complement130 of Auld131 Licht, Established, United, and Wee Free kirks, and other homes of religious controversy132. Pip stayed on the hotel veranda133 and smoked, watching them pass but lacking nerve to join them. He summoned up sufficient courage, however, to put in an appearance at Knocknaha during the afternoon. He was even more silent than usual, though he made a hearty134 tea.
After that meal he invited Elsie to come for a [Pg 316] walk with him. She consented, and they set off together, followed by the amused glances of Mr. and Mrs. Raven.
It was a glorious August afternoon. The North Sea, blue and placid135, lapped gently against the red cliffs, or ran with a slow hiss136 up the slope of yellow sand which bordered the Links of Eric. There was hardly any wind—just enough, in fact, to keep the air clear; and Pip and Elsie, as they lounged luxuriously137 in a hollow at the top of a sand-hill,—their walk had been strictly limited to a Sabbath day's journey,—could see the smoke of a steam-trawler on the horizon though they could not see the ship herself.
"This is nice," murmured Elsie luxuriantly, as she arranged her holland skirt to cover up as much of her tan boots as possible—her Sunday frock had found its way back to her wardrobe soon after church. "Sunday really does feel like a day of rest if one plays golf all the week."
"Talking of golf," said Pip, "you haven't played me yet."
"I've played with you all the week," replied Elsie.
"With me, not against me," said Pip.
"Oh, I see. All right; I'll play with Raven to-morrow against you and Ethel. We shall beat you horribly, though."
Elsie was in a very perverse138 mood.
[Pg 317] "Yes, but I want a single—a match," explained Pip.
"Oh!" said Elsie.
There was a pause. Pip lit his pipe, which had somehow gone out, and continued,—
"Shall we say to-morrow morning?"
"Afraid not," said Elsie. "I rather think I promised to play one of the men in the hotel."
This was not strictly true, but Elsie was in a curious frame of mind that evening. There was no reason why she should not have played Pip his match, nor was she particularly averse139 to doing so. But some flash of feminine intuition, infallible as ever, was unconsciously keeping her in the defensive140 attitude natural to women in such cases.
"Is it Anstruther?" inquired Pip.
"Yes," said Elsie rashly.
"In that case your match is off, for he has had a wire, and must go to-morrow morning."
"It's not Mr. Anstruther," said Elsie. "I had forgotten he was going away." (This was strictly true.)
"Is it Gaythorne?" asked Pip.
Elsie regarded him covertly141, through conveniently long lashes142. She suspected another trap.
"No," she said at last.
"That's queer," remarked Pip meditatively143. "He was saying only last night that he expected to play you to-morrow morning."
[Pg 318] Elsie, who had fallen into the not uncommon144 error of underrating her adversary145, was for the moment quite flabbergasted by this bold stroke. Then, quickly noting the joint146 in her opponent's harness, she interposed swiftly,—
"Why did you ask me to play with you, then?"
"I didn't think you ought to play with him," said Pip coolly. "He's an utter outsider."
"I shall play with whom I like," said Elsie hotly.
"All right," said Pip; "I'll tell him. What time do you want him to be down at the tee?"
Elsie, though not inexperienced in the management of young men, fairly gasped147 for breath. This slow-speaking, serious youth would, unless she could speedily extricate148 herself, either compel her to acknowledge herself defeated or else force her into an unpremeditated golf-match with a comparative stranger.
"I—I tell you I don't want to play with Mr. Gaythorne," she said.
"Oh, sorry!" replied Pip; "I thought you said you did. Very well, I'll tell him not to come, and you can play me instead."
Now, it is obviously unwise to continue to assert to a second party that you have a previous engagement with a third party when you have not, especially when your knowledge is shared [Pg 319] by the second party. So Elsie did the only possible thing, and laughed.
"All right, Pip," she said; "I'll play you. Be down at the tee early and we'll get off before the rush begins. As it is, I shall be driven into all the time, playing with a duffer!"
Pip, quite unmoved, parried this insult with another.
"Right-o," he said. "What shall I give you—a half?"
Elsie smiled indulgently.
"As a favour," she replied, "and to preserve your masculine pride, I will play you level. Otherwise——"
Pip interrupted. He was not looking quite so serene149 as usual, and he puffed150 almost nervously151 at his pipe.
"What shall we play for?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"In a match," he explained, "it is usual to play for some small stake—a ball, or a bottle of——"
"Nonsense!" said Elsie decidedly.
"Not a bit; it's often done," said Pip. "What shall we play for?"
"We shall play for love."
"Love? Right!"
There was an awkward pause. Technical terms lead one into such pitfalls152. Elsie felt herself [Pg 320] beginning to turn pink. Pip, who might have smoothed the situation over, made it worse by saying,—
"So it's to be a love-match?"
There was no mistaking Elsie's colour now. A blush ran flaming over her face in a great scarlet wave. But Pip proceeded quite calmly,—
"That's just what I want it to be. I'm glad you said that, though of course you didn't mean it in that way. You are a good golfer. On your day you can get round in, say, ninety. I am a rotter. I have only twice got round under a hundred. If I play you level to-morrow and beat you, will you—marry me?"
"Pip!"
Elsie was sincere enough now. She was genuinely astounded153. She knew Pip for a man of blunt speech and direct methods, but she had hardly been prepared for this. She merely turned from red to white, and repeated her astonished cry,—
"Pip!"
Pip continued, quite coolly now,—
"Yes, I mean it. I have been in love with you from the first moment I saw you, the afternoon that I took you to the Blanes' garden-party. You remember?" The girl nodded gravely. "I was bowled over then, and I've worshipped you ever since. I suppose you knew that? Women [Pg 321] are always said to know these things. Did you know?"
This was a long speech for Pip, but it drew no answer from Elsie.
"Did you know?" he repeated gently.
Elsie plucked a few bents from the sand around her and began to plait them with great care.
"Did you know?" asked Pip for the third time.
Elsie answered, without raising her eyes—
"Yes—at least, lately. But you never gave yourself away, Pip."
"I know that. I rather prided myself on it. I should have asked you long ago, only after the Governor's death I had to—work for a living. It's only recently I have become a man with money. Besides, I think these things ought to be kept sacred, just between—between the two, you know. I haven't a very high opinion of myself, but I do think I can keep a secret. I wasn't going to have you talked about, even by friends. However"—he brought his gaze back from the distant horizon with an effort—"we are wandering from the point. Will you play me a match, Elsie,—a love-match?"
Elsie raised her eyes for the first time.
"Pip, don't be absurd!"
"Absurd? Not a bit. I think it's a jolly sensible notion. I simply can't talk the sort of rot that men in love are supposed to talk—it isn't [Pg 322] in me. All I can do is to make you a fair offer like this—a sort of challenge to single combat, you know. If I win, you give in to me; if you win, well, I shall have to chuck it, that's all."
"But Pip," said Elsie, "supposing I...."
Then she checked herself suddenly, leaving Pip to wonder what she had meant to say. He himself could see no flaw in the scheme. His own natural modesty154 prevented him from believing that Elsie, glorious creature, could ever desire to take him of her own free will, and consequently his simple mind had reverted to the primitive155 notion, inherent in most men, of marriage by conquest. His challenge to a golf-match struck him as an eminently156 sporting offer.
"I figured it out this way," he went on after a pause. "I said to myself, 'She will never marry me simply for the asking, of course'; so—what did you say?"
"Nothing." Elsie had suddenly ceased plaiting and parted her lips.
"So," continued Pip, "I said, 'The only way to make her give in will be to get the better of her in something—to show superiority over her in some way. It will be no use my trying to persuade her by arguments. I'm slow of speech, especially with women, and Elsie would simply talk me downstairs and into the street in about two minutes. A girl like her won't [Pg 323] surrender without a struggle. Quite right too. I shall have to try something else. It mustn't be too one-sided either way, for if it's in her favour I shall lose, and if it's in mine she won't accept. It must be a fair match.'"
And so he continued, simply, honestly, laying bare to her all the mighty scheme whereby he proposed to overcome her stubborn resistance. He had first thought, he told her, of a single-wicket cricket-match, but had abandoned the project as being too greatly in his favour. "You keep a very straight bat for a girl," he said, "but you can never resist my slow curly one, that looks as if it were going to pitch outside the off stump157, and doesn't. I know your weaknesses, you see," he added with a friendly smile.
"Yes, Pip," said Elsie, in a rather subdued158 tone, "some of them."
Pip then proceeded to enumerate159 the other tests of skill that had occurred to him. "I thought of croquet," he said, "but really croquet is such d—Well, anyhow, I don't think croquet would have done. Billiards160 is too fluky. Chess is piffle. There are lots of other games, but you are so—so weak!" (Elsie's slight frame stiffened161 indignantly at this.) "Then I thought of the golf-match, and I saw at once that that was the ticket. So I packed up my bag and wired for rooms at the hotel here, and have been [Pg 324] waiting for you to arrive ever since the first of August."
There was a pause—a long pause. Elsie was thinking—of what, she hardly knew. Pip was watching her, anxious to see how she received his great idea. Presently he continued,—
"Of course the golf-match is all in your favour. The chances are about three to one on your winning."
Suddenly Elsie flared162 up with a curious little spirit of anger. Her mind, highly trained though it was in these matters, could not quite appreciate Pip's Quixotic consideration for an opponent.
"Pip," she said, "I don't believe you want to win! The whole thing is simply a joke on your part—your idea of a joke. I don't think it's a very nice one: you know you can't beat me. If you really want to marry me you wouldn't—"
"I shall beat you all right," said Pip simply.
"Why?"
"I know I shall, that's all."
"Why?"
"Because I know."
A new idea occurred to Elsie.
"You dare to insinuate," she said, "that I would—would purposely let you—"
"Should I want to marry a girl of that sort?" asked Pip gravely.
[Pg 325] Elsie softened163 again at this genuine compliment, but she still felt rather doubtful as to whether this extraordinary young man really and truly believed that she was to be won, and won only, by being beaten in a golf-match. In any case the situation was becoming difficult. She began to dust the sand from her skirt and to make other preparations for departure. Pip regarded her with some concern.
"You're not going yet, are you?" he said.
"Yes. It's getting late."
"Well, will you play me?"
"On those terms?"
"Yes."
"Of course not, Pip. You're not serious."
Pip leaned forward, and put his hand on her arm. She had half risen, but she now found herself sitting down again, rather astonished and rebellious164, listening to what he was saying.
"Elsie, what is the date to-morrow?"
"I don't know," petulantly165. "Girls never know dates."
"I forgot that. Well, it is the fourteenth of August. Do you know what is going to happen at Old Trafford to-morrow?"
"Why—the Australians! Fancy forgetting a Test Match! That comes of playing golf all day. But, Pip,"—she stared at him in dismayed surprise,—"why aren't you there? Surely you were chosen?"
[Pg 326] "Yes, I was chosen."
"Then, why aren't you there?"
"Because I'm here."
"But, Pip, you ought to be playing cricket."
"I prefer to play golf."
"But it's a Test Match."
"I'm going to play in a Test Match of my own—here."
Elsie was silent again, and gazed at him, open-eyed. Pip saw that he had struck the right note.
"I gave up the cricket-match to play with you," he said. "Will you play with me?"
Elsie was defenceless against this appeal. She knew, better than most girls, perhaps, what it must cost a man to decline an invitation to play for England.
"All right, Pip," she said gently, getting up and shaking her skirt, "I'll play you. Nine o'clock to-morrow morning. I shall beat you, though," she added.
Pip said nothing. It is always politic166 to make a virtue115 of necessity. That is why one allows a woman the last word.
They were very silent as they walked home in the twilight167. Pip, having achieved the object with which he had set out, had no further remarks to make. Elsie seemed less at ease, and kept shooting half-amused, half-angry glances [Pg 327] at the obtuse168 young man beside her. She objected to being treated as something between a Prehistoric169 Peep and a Scratch Medal.
Presently they came to Raven Innes's cottage.
"Are you coming in, Pip?" inquired Elsie as she stood at the door.
"No, thanks. Raven would keep me up all hours, and I'm going to bed very early. Good-night."
"Pip—" began Elsie rather unsteadily.
Pip turned quickly, and beheld170 her standing171 on the step, framed by the open doorway172. The setting sun glinted on her hair, and there was a curious and unfamiliar173 note in her voice as she addressed him.
"Pip," she said, "I don't like the idea of this match. It's—it's contrary to Nature, somehow. Golf wasn't intended to settle such questions."
Pip made no reply, but gazed upon her. In matters of this kind he was not very "quick in the uptake," as they say in Scotland. Elsie made a curious little grimace174 to herself, and continued—
"Pip, supposing you wanted, very much, to get something that lay across a stream which looked rather deep, would you make a jump and risk a ducking, or would you walk miles on the off-chance of finding a bridge?"
[Pg 328] They looked at each other steadily for a minute, while Pip worked out the answer to this conundrum175.
"I should probably jump," he replied,—"that is, if—"
And then at last light seemed to break upon him. The blood surged to his brain, and he stepped forward impetuously.
"Elsie!" he cried.
But the door was shut.
"Serve him right, too!" you say. Well, perhaps; but lack of presumption176 is a rare and not unmanly virtue.
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收听单词发音
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1
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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scuttling
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| n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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luminaries
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| n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式） | |
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bogey
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| n.令人谈之变色之物；妖怪，幽灵 | |
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favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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16
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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17
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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19
hew
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| v.砍；伐；削 | |
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unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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21
votaries
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| n.信徒( votary的名词复数 )；追随者；（天主教）修士；修女 | |
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reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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23
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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compensating
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| 补偿，补助，修正 | |
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25
proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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26
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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27
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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28
plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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29
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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30
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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31
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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32
relegating
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| v.使降级( relegate的现在分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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33
precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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34
livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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35
grudging
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| adj.勉强的，吝啬的 | |
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36
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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37
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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38
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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39
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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40
slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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41
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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42
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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43
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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44
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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45
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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46
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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47
ekes
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| v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的第三人称单数 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日 | |
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48
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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49
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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50
pussy
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| n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪 | |
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51
impels
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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52
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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53
lofted
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| 击、踢、掷高弧球( loft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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55
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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56
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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58
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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59
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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60
reposing
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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61
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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62
bowler
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| n.打保龄球的人，（板球的）投（球）手 | |
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63
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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64
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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65
laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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66
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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67
diplomat
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| n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人 | |
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68
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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69
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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70
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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71
portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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72
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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74
acumen
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| n.敏锐，聪明 | |
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75
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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76
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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77
ravens
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| n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 ) | |
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78
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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79
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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80
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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81
guile
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| n.诈术 | |
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82
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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83
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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84
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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85
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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86
elicits
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| 引出，探出( elicit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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87
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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88
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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89
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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90
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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91
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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92
flustered
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| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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93
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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94
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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95
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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96
scampers
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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97
necessitates
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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98
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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99
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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100
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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101
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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102
enviously
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| adv.满怀嫉妒地 | |
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103
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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104
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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105
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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106
attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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107
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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108
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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109
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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110
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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111
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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112
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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113
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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116
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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117
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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119
suppleness
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| 柔软； 灵活； 易弯曲； 顺从 | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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122
strenuousness
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123
dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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125
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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127
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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covertly
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| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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extricate
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| v.拯救，救出；解脱 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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pitfalls
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| （捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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enumerate
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| v.列举，计算，枚举，数 | |
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160
billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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161
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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petulantly
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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obtuse
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| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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prehistoric
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| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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173
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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174
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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175
conundrum
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| n.谜语；难题 | |
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176
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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