Chance? Of course, there was some luck
in it. But it was mostly his everlasting ability to keep his attention
focused. Jim almost collapsed. 'First time I ever saw a beginner that
didn't top,' says he. 'You'll make a golfer, Mr. Banneker.'
"'Not me,' says Ban. 'This game is too easy. It doesn't interest me.' He
hands Jim a twenty-dollar bill, thanks him, goes in and has his bath,
and has never touched a golf-stick since."
Gardner had been listening with a kindling eye. He brought his fist down
on his knee. "You've told me something!" he exclaimed.
"Going to try it out on your own game?"
"Not about golf. About Banneker. I've been wondering how he managed to
establish himself as an individual figure in this big town. Now I begin
to see it. It's publicity; that's what it is. He's got the sense of how
to make himself talked about. He's picturesque. I'll bet Banneker's
first and last golf shot is a legend in the clubs yet, isn't it?"
"It certainly is," confirmed Mallory. "But do you really think that he
reasoned it all out on the spur of the moment?"
"Oh, reasoned; probably not. It's instinctive, I tell you. And the
twenty to the professional was a touch of genius. Tamson will never stop
talking about it. Can't you hear him, telling it to his fellow pros?
'Golf's too easy for me,' he says, 'and hands me a double sawbuck! Did
ye ever hear the like!' And so the legend is built up.
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