All the Sad Young MenFitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott)
General
All the Sad Young Men
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott)
American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories, American
It was a small laundry when he went into it but Dexter made a specialty
of learning how the English washed fine woollen golf-stockings without
shrinking them, and within a year he was catering to the trade that wore
knickerbockers. Men were insisting that their Shetland hose and sweaters
go to his laundry just as they had insisted on a caddy who could find
golf-balls. A little later he was doing their wives' lingerie as
well--and running five branches in different parts of the city. Before
he was twenty-seven he owned the largest string of laundries in his
section of the country. It was then that he sold out and went to New
York. But the part of his story that concerns us goes back to the days
when he was making his first big success.
When he was twenty-three Mr. Hart--one of the gray-haired men who like
to say "Now there's a boy"--gave him a guest card to the Sherry Island
Golf Club for a week-end. So he signed his name one day on the register,
and that afternoon played golf in a foursome with Mr. Hart and Mr.
Sandwood and Mr. T. A. Hedrick. He did not consider it necessary to
remark that he had once carried Mr. Hart's bag over this same links, and
that he knew every trap and gully with his eyes shut--but he found
himself glancing at the four caddies who trailed them, trying to catch a
gleam or gesture that would remind him of himself, that would lessen the
gap which lay between his present and his past.
It was a curious day, slashed abruptly with fleeting, familiar
impressions. One minute he had the sense of being a trespasser--in the
next he was impressed by the tremendous superiority he felt toward Mr.
T. A. Hedrick, who was a bore and not even a good golfer any more.
Then, because of a ball Mr. Hart lost near the fifteenth green, an
enormous thing happened. While they were searching the stiff grasses of
the rough there was a clear call of "Fore!" from behind a hill in their
rear. And as they all turned abruptly from their search a bright new
ball sliced abruptly over the hill and caught Mr. T. A. Hedrick in the
abdomen.
"By Gad!" cried Mr. T. A. Hedrick, "they ought to put some of these
crazy women off the course. It's getting to be outrageous."
A head and a voice came up together over the hill:
"Do you mind if we go through?"
"You hit me in the stomach!" declared Mr. Hedrick wildly.
"Did I?" The girl approached the group of men. "I'm sorry. I yelled
'Fore!'"
Her glance fell casually on each of the men--then scanned the fairway
for her ball.
"Did I bounce into the rough?"
It was impossible to determine whether this question was ingenuous or
malicious. In a moment, however, she left no doubt, for as her partner
came up over the hill she called cheerfully:
"Here I am! I'd have gone on the green except that I hit something."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account