bright open where all the distances under the tall sky showed with distinct prismatic outlines. They made a little group of seven – for Tietjens would not have a caddy – waiting on the flat, first teeing ground. Macmaster walked up to Tietjens and said under his voice:
‘You’ve really
sent
that wire?’
Tietjens said:
‘It’ll be in Germany by now!’
Mr. Sandbach hobbled from one to the other explaining the terms of his wager with Mr. Waterhouse. Mr. Waterhouse had backed one of the young men playing with him to drive into and hit twice in the eighteen holes the two city men who would be playing ahead of them. As the Minister had taken rather short odds, Mr. Sandbach considered him a good sport.
A long way down the first hole Mr. Waterhouse and his two companions were approaching the first green. They had high sandhills to the right and, to their left, a road that was fringed with rushes and a narrow dyke. Ahead of the Cabinet Minister the two city men and their two caddies stood on the edge of the dyke or poked downwards into the rushes. Two girls appeared and disappeared on the tops of the sandhills. The policeman was strolling along the road, level with Mr. Waterhouse. The General said:
‘I think we could go now.’
Sandbach said:
‘Waterslops will get a hit at them from the next tee. They’re in the dyke.’
The General drove a straight, goodish ball. Just as Macmaster was in his swing Sandbach shouted:
‘By God! He nearly did it. See that fellow jump!’
Macmaster looked round over his shoulder and hissed with vexation between his teeth:
‘Don’t you know that you don’t shout while a man is driving? Or haven’t you played golf?’ He hurried fussily after his ball.
Sandbach said to Tietjens:
‘Golly! That chap’s got a temper!’
Tietjens said:
‘Only over this game. You deserved what you got.’
Sandbach said:
‘I did… . But I didn’t spoil his shot. He’s outdriven the General twenty yards.’
Tietjens said:
‘It would have been sixty but for you.’
They loitered about on the tee waiting for the others to get their distance. Sandbach said:
‘By Jove, your friend is on with his second … You wouldn’t believe it of such a
little
beggar!’ He added: ‘He’s not much class, is he?’
Tietjens looked down his nose.
‘Oh, about
our
class!’ he said. ‘He wouldn’t take a bet about driving into the couple ahead.’
Sandbach hated Tietjens for being a Tietjens of Groby: Tietjens was enraged by the existence of Sandbach, who was the son of an ennobled mayor of Middlesbrough, seven miles or so from Groby. The feuds between the Cleveland landowners and the Cleveland plutocrats are very bitter. Sandbach said:
‘Ah, I suppose he gets you out of scrapes with girls and the Treasury, and you take him about in return. It’s a practical combination.’
‘Like Pottle Mills and Stanton,’ Tietjens said. The financial operations connected with the amalgamating of these two steelworks had earned Sandbach’s father a good deal of odium in the Cleveland district… . Sandbach said:
‘Look here, Tietjens… .’ But he changed his mind and said:
‘We’d better go now.’ He drove off with an awkward action but not without skill. He certainly outplayed Tietjens.
Playing very slowly, for both were desultory and Sandbach very lame, they lost sight of the others behind some coastguard cottages and dunes before they had left the third tee. Because of his game leg, Sandbach sliced a good deal. On this occasion he sliced right into the gardens of the cottages and went with his boy to look for his ball among potato-haulms, beyond a low wall. Tietjens patted his own ball lazily up the fairway and, dragging his bag behind him by the strap, he sauntered on.
Although Tietjens hated golf as he hated any occupation that was of a competitive nature, he could engross himself in the mathematics of trajectories when he accompanied Macmaster in one of his expeditions for practice. He
‘You’ve really
sent
that wire?’
Tietjens said:
‘It’ll be in Germany by now!’
Mr. Sandbach hobbled from one to the other explaining the terms of his wager with Mr. Waterhouse. Mr. Waterhouse had backed one of the young men playing with him to drive into and hit twice in the eighteen holes the two city men who would be playing ahead of them. As the Minister had taken rather short odds, Mr. Sandbach considered him a good sport.
A long way down the first hole Mr. Waterhouse and his two companions were approaching the first green. They had high sandhills to the right and, to their left, a road that was fringed with rushes and a narrow dyke. Ahead of the Cabinet Minister the two city men and their two caddies stood on the edge of the dyke or poked downwards into the rushes. Two girls appeared and disappeared on the tops of the sandhills. The policeman was strolling along the road, level with Mr. Waterhouse. The General said:
‘I think we could go now.’
Sandbach said:
‘Waterslops will get a hit at them from the next tee. They’re in the dyke.’
The General drove a straight, goodish ball. Just as Macmaster was in his swing Sandbach shouted:
‘By God! He nearly did it. See that fellow jump!’
Macmaster looked round over his shoulder and hissed with vexation between his teeth:
‘Don’t you know that you don’t shout while a man is driving? Or haven’t you played golf?’ He hurried fussily after his ball.
Sandbach said to Tietjens:
‘Golly! That chap’s got a temper!’
Tietjens said:
‘Only over this game. You deserved what you got.’
Sandbach said:
‘I did… . But I didn’t spoil his shot. He’s outdriven the General twenty yards.’
Tietjens said:
‘It would have been sixty but for you.’
They loitered about on the tee waiting for the others to get their distance. Sandbach said:
‘By Jove, your friend is on with his second … You wouldn’t believe it of such a
little
beggar!’ He added: ‘He’s not much class, is he?’
Tietjens looked down his nose.
‘Oh, about
our
class!’ he said. ‘He wouldn’t take a bet about driving into the couple ahead.’
Sandbach hated Tietjens for being a Tietjens of Groby: Tietjens was enraged by the existence of Sandbach, who was the son of an ennobled mayor of Middlesbrough, seven miles or so from Groby. The feuds between the Cleveland landowners and the Cleveland plutocrats are very bitter. Sandbach said:
‘Ah, I suppose he gets you out of scrapes with girls and the Treasury, and you take him about in return. It’s a practical combination.’
‘Like Pottle Mills and Stanton,’ Tietjens said. The financial operations connected with the amalgamating of these two steelworks had earned Sandbach’s father a good deal of odium in the Cleveland district… . Sandbach said:
‘Look here, Tietjens… .’ But he changed his mind and said:
‘We’d better go now.’ He drove off with an awkward action but not without skill. He certainly outplayed Tietjens.
Playing very slowly, for both were desultory and Sandbach very lame, they lost sight of the others behind some coastguard cottages and dunes before they had left the third tee. Because of his game leg, Sandbach sliced a good deal. On this occasion he sliced right into the gardens of the cottages and went with his boy to look for his ball among potato-haulms, beyond a low wall. Tietjens patted his own ball lazily up the fairway and, dragging his bag behind him by the strap, he sauntered on.
Although Tietjens hated golf as he hated any occupation that was of a competitive nature, he could engross himself in the mathematics of trajectories when he accompanied Macmaster in one of his expeditions for practice. He
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