Twenty-six MAINLY ABOUT GOLF

Twenty-six MAINLY ABOUT GOLF

“That friend of yours is a nice girl, Bundle,” said Lord Caterham.
Loraine had been at Chimneys for nearly a week, and had earned thehigh opinion of her host—mainly because of the charming readiness shehad shown to be instructed in the science of the mashie shot.
Bored by his winter abroad, Lord Caterham had taken up golf. He wasan execrable player and in consequence was profoundly enthusiastic overthe game. He spent most of his mornings lifting mashie shots over variousshrubs and bushes—or, rather, essaying to loft² them, hacking³ large bitsout of the velvety⁴ turf and generally reducing MacDonald to despair.
“We must lay out a little course,” said Lord Caterham, addressing adaisy. “A sporting little course. Now then, just watch this one, Bundle. Offthe right knee, slow back, keep the head still and use the wrists.”
The ball, heavily topped, scudded⁵ across the lawn and disappeared intothe unfathomed depths of a great bank of rhododendrons.
“Curious,” said Lord Caterham. “What did I do then, I wonder? As I wassaying, Bundle, that friend of yours is a very nice girl. I really think I aminducing her to take quite an interest in the game. She hit some excellentshots this morning—really quite as good as I could do myself.”
Lord Caterham took another careless swing and removed an immensechunk of turf. MacDonald, who was passing retrieved⁶ it and stamped itfirmly back. The look he gave Lord Caterham would have caused anyonebut an ardent⁷ golfer to sink through the earth.
“If MacDonald has been guilty of cruelty to Cootes, which I strongly sus-pect,” said Bundle, “he’s being punished now.”
“Why shouldn’t I do as I like in my own garden?” demanded her father.
“MacDonald ought to be interested in the way my game is coming on—theScotch are a great golfing nation.”
“You poor old man,” said Bundle. “You’ll never be a golfer—but at anyrate it keeps you out of mischief⁸.”
“Not at all,” said Lord Caterham. “I did the long sixth in five the otherday. The pro¹ was very surprised when I told him about it.”
“He would be,” said Bundle.
“Talking of Cootes, Sir Oswald plays a fair game—a very fair game. Not apretty style—too stiff. But straight down the middle every time. But curi-ous how the cloven hoof⁹ shows—won’t give you a six inch putt! Makes youput it in every time. Now I don’t like that.”
“I suppose he’s a man who likes to be sure,” said Bundle.
“It’s contrary to the spirit of the game,” said her father. “And he’s not in-terested in the theory of the thing either. Now, that secretary chap, Bate-man, is quite different. It’s the theory interests him. I was slicing badlywith my spoon; and he said it all came from too much right arm; and heevolved a very interesting theory. It’s all left arm in golf—the left arm isthe arm that counts. He says he plays tennis left-handed but golf with or-dinary clubs because there his superiority with the left arm tells.”
“And did he play very marvellously?” inquired Bundle.
“No, he didn’t,” confessed Lord Caterham. “But then he may have beenoff his game. I see the theory all right and I think there’s a lot in it. Ah! Didyou see that one, Bundle? Right over the rhododendrons. A perfect shot.
Ah! If one could be sure of doing that every time—Yes, Tredwell, what isit?”
Tredwell addressed Bundle.
“Mr. Thesiger would like to speak to you on the telephone, my lady.”
Bundle set off at full speed for the house, yelling “Loraine, Loraine,” asshe did so. Loraine joined her just as she was lifting the receiver.
“Hallo, is that you, Jimmy?”
“Hallo. How are you?”
“Very fit, but a bit bored.”
“How’s Loraine?”
“She’s all right. She’s here. Do you want to speak to her?”
“In a minute. I’ve got a lot to say. To begin with, I’m going down to theCootes for the weekend,” he said significantly. “Now, look here, Bundle,you don’t know how one gets hold of skeleton keys, do you?”
“Haven’t the foggiest. Is it really necessary to take skeleton keys to theCootes?”
“Well, I had a sort of idea they’d come in handy. You don’t know the sortof shop one gets them at?”
“What you want is a kindly¹⁰ burglar friend to show you the ropes.”
“I do, Bundle, I do. And unfortunately I haven’t got one. I thought per-haps your bright brain might grapple successfully with the problem. But Isuppose I shall have to fall back upon Stevens as usual. He’ll be gettingsome funny ideas in his head soon about me—first a bluenosed automatic—and now skeleton keys. He’ll think I’ve joined the criminal classes.”
“Jimmy?” said Bundle.
“Yes?”
“Look here—be careful, won’t you? I mean if Sir Oswald finds you nos-ing around with skeleton keys—well, I should think he could be very un-pleasant when he likes.”
“Young man of pleasing appearance in the dock! All right, I’ll be careful.
Pongo’s the fellow I’m really frightened of. He sneaks¹¹ around so on thoseflat feet of his. You never hear him coming. And he always did have agenius for poking¹² his nose in where he wasn’t wanted. But trust to the boyhero.”
“Well, I wish Loraine and I were going to be there to look after you.”
“Thank you, nurse. As a matter of fact, though, I have a scheme.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think you and Loraine might have a convenient car breakdownnear Letherbury tomorrow morning? It’s not so very far from you, is it?”
“Forty miles. That’s nothing.”
“I thought it wouldn’t be—to you! Don’t kill Loraine though. I’m ratherfond of Loraine. All right, then—somewhere round about quarter to halfpast twelve.”
“So that they invite us to lunch?”
“That’s the idea. I say, Bundle, I ran into that girl Socks yesterday, andwhat do you think — Terence O’Rourke is going to be down there thisweekend!”
“Jimmy, do you think he—?”
“Well—suspect everyone, you know. That’s what they say. He’s a wildlad, and daring as they make them. I wouldn’t put it past him to run asecret society. He and the Countess might be in this together. He was outin Hungary last year.”
“But he could pinch the formula any time.”
“That’s just what he couldn’t. He’d have to do it under circumstanceswhere he couldn’t be suspected. But the retreat up the ivy¹³ and into hisown bed—well, that would be rather neat. Now for instructions. After afew polite nothings to Lady Coote, you and Loraine are to get hold ofPongo and O’Rourke by hook or by crook¹⁴ and keep them occupied tilllunch time. See? It oughtn’t to be difficult for a couple of beautiful girlslike you.”
“You’re using the best butter, I see.”
“A plain statement of fact.”
“Well, at any rate, your instructions are duly noted¹⁵. Do you want to talkto Loraine now?”
Bundle passed over the receiver and tactfully left the room.

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

3 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

4 velvety   

adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的

参考例句：

• a velvety red wine 醇厚的红葡萄酒
• Her skin was admired for its velvety softness. 她的皮肤如天鹅绒般柔软，令人赞叹。

5 scudded   

v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• White clouds scudded across the sky. 白云在天空疾驰而过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Clouds scudded across the sky driven by high winds. 劲风吹着飞云掠过天空。 来自辞典例句

6 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

7 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

8 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

9 hoof   

n.(马，牛等的)蹄

参考例句：

• Suddenly he heard the quick,short click of a horse's hoof behind him.突然间，他听见背后响起一阵急骤的马蹄的得得声。
• I was kicked by a hoof.我被一只蹄子踢到了。

10 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

11 sneaks   

abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• Typhoid fever sneaks in when sanitation fails. 环境卫生搞不好，伤寒就会乘虚而入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Honest boys scorn sneaks and liars. 诚实的人看不起狡诈和撒谎的人。 来自辞典例句

12 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

13 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

14 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。