And here the narrative, which might have been much longer, stopped, for the cross old lady near the elevator sent word that that "talkin' must stop," because while it was "goin' on" she "couldn't hear what tune it was the trumpeter was blowin'." THE GAME OF CHOLE. BY W. G. VAN TASSEL SUTPHEN. Chole (pronounced sh[=o]l) is a capital game for the enthusiastic golfer at this time of year, when the fields are brown and bare, and the careful green-keeper has closed the regular golf course for fear of harm to his precious putting greens. It is golf, and yet it is not golf, the essential difference being that but one ball is used, one player striving to advance it towards a certain agreed-upon goal, and his opponent as strenuously endeavoring to thwart him in the attempt. But, on the other hand, it is not hockey or anything resembling it. Each player has for the time being absolute possession of the ball, and cannot be interfered with while he is making his stroke. It is an old Belgian game, and undoubtedly one of the ancestors of our modern golf. As a matter of fact, it is still played in the Low Countries with rude iron clubs and an egg-shaped ball of birchwood. The following extract from a historical paper on the beginnings of golf explains very clearly the purpose and method of the play at chole: If Tom Morris and Hugh Kircaldy were going to play a match at _chole_, they would first fix on an object which was to be hit. A church door at some five miles distance, cross country, seems to have been a favorite goal. This settled on, match-making began--a kind of game of brag: "I will back myself to hit the thing in five innings," Tom might say. (We will explain in a moment what an "innings" meant.) "Oh, I'll back myself to hit it in four," Hugh might answer. "Well, I'll say three, then," Tom might perhaps say, and that might be the finish of the bragging, for Hugh might not feel it in his power to do it in two, so he must let Tom try. Then Tom would hit off, and when he came to the ball he would tee it and hit it again, and so a third time. But when they reached the ball this third time, it would be no longer Tom's turn to hit, but Hugh's. He would be allowed to tee the ball up and _dechole_, as it was called--that is to say, to hit it _back_ again as far as he could. Then Tom would begin again and have three more shots towards the object; after which Hugh would again have one shot back. Then if in the course of his third innings of three shots Tom were to hit the church door, he would win the match; if he failed, he would lose it.