Once in a while he had broken out, "If ever my luck changes, if it comes all at once—"
But he never ended the sentence, ashamed, as it were, to have indulged in such a childish fancy. Yet, as Providence moves in a mysterious way its wonders to perform, it was just this invincible pessimism that alone could have permitted Booverman to accomplish the incredible experience that befell him.
[a/]
II
Topics of engrossing mental interests are bad form on the golf-links, since they leave a disturbing memory in the mind to divert it from that absolute intellectual concentration which the game demands. Therefore Pickings and Booverman, as they started toward the crowded first tee, remarked de rigueur:
"Good weather."
"A bit of a breeze."
"Not strong enough to affect the drives."
"The greens have baked out."