Part 25 (1/2)
”Now, if my plan does not miscarry, we are safe!” cried de Marigny exultantly.
”But, papa, dear one, they will follow us across the river and stop our landing!” cried Rosette anxiously.
De Marigny chuckled. ”Providentially the river flows too fast, little one, for man or horse to ford it. The bridge yonder in the field is the only way to cross the river for many miles. And I do not think they will try the bridge, for I was not so foolish as not to prepare for a surprise visit many days ago. Look, little one!” he added suddenly.
Rosette held her breath as away up the river a great flame streamed up through the darkness, followed by a loud explosion, and she saw fragments of wood hurled like playthings high into the air. Some, as they fell again to earth, turned into blazing torches. For far around trees and hedges showed distinctly; the gleaming river, the garden, and the chateau stood out clear in the flaming light.
Round the chateau tore two or three frightened, plunging horses, and the desperate gestures of their riders could easily be seen by Rosette for a moment before their craft was hidden by a turn in the river bank.
Monsieur de Marigny rejoined the loyalists across the river, and, animated by his presence, the struggle against the republic was resumed with great firmness.
Whenever de Marigny rode among his peasant soldiers, he, their idol, was greeted with many a lively cheer, which yet grew louder and more joyful when he carried before him on his horse Rosette, the brave child who had saved their leader's life at the risk of her own.
[Sidenote: A few plain hints to the teachable.]
Golf for Girls
BY
AN OLD STAGER
I veil my ident.i.ty because I am not a girl--old or young. Being, indeed, a mere man, it becomes me to offer advice with modesty.
And, of course, in the matter of golf, women--many of them no more than girls--play so well that men cannot affect any a.s.surance of superiority.
On my own course I sometimes come upon a middle-aged married couple playing with great contentment a friendly game. The wife always drives the longer ball, and upon most occasions manages to give her husband a few strokes and a beating.
However, I did not start out to write a disquisition on women as golfers, but only to offer some hints on golf for girls.
And first, as to making a start.
The best way is the way that is not possible to everybody. No girl plays golf so naturally or so well as the girl who learned it young; who, armed with a light cleek or an iron, wandered around the links in company with her small brothers almost as soon as she was big enough to swing a club. Such a girl probably had the advantage of seeing the game played well by her elders, and she would readily learn to imitate their methods. Of course, very young learners may and do pick up bad habits; but a little good advice will soon correct these if the learner is at all keen on the game.
A girl who grows up under these conditions--and many do in Scotland--does not need any hints from me. She starts under ideal conditions, and ought to make the most of them. Others begin at a later age, with fewer advantages, and perhaps without much help to be got at home.
How, then, to begin. Be sure of one thing: you cannot learn to play golf out of your own head, or even by an intelligent study of books on the subject. For, if you try, you will do wrong and yet be unable to say _what_ you are doing wrong. In that you will not be peculiar. Many an experienced golfer will suddenly pick up a fault. After a few bad strokes he knows he is wrong somewhere, but may not be able to spot the particular defect. Perhaps a kindly disposed opponent--who knows his disposition, for not everybody will welcome or take advice--tells him; and then in a stroke or two he puts the thing right. So you need a teacher.
Generally speaking, a professional is the best teacher, because he has had the most experience in instruction. But professionals vary greatly in teaching capacity, and cannot be expected in every case to take the same interest in a pupil's progress that a friend may. If you are to have the help of a relative or friend, try to get competent help. There _are_ well-meaning persons whose instruction had better be shunned as the plague.
Let your teacher choose your clubs for you, and, in any case, do not make the mistake of fitting yourself up at first either with too many clubs or with clubs too heavy for you.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A BREEZY MORNING]
As to first steps in learning, I am disposed to think that an old-time method, by which young people learned first to use _one_ club with some skill and confidence before going on to another, was a good one. In that case they would begin with a cleek or an iron before using the driver.
The learner should give great attention to some first principles. Let her note the _grip_ she is told to use. Very likely it will seem to her uncomfortable, and not at all the most convenient way of holding a club in order to hit a ball; but it is the result of much experience, and has not been arbitrarily chosen for her especial discomfort.