you play a ball into it
you send a blasphemous caddie in after it and count one stroke.

A young moon was struggling up over the trees, dismally illuminating
the scene. On the slimy shores of the pond we beheld a small moving
object.

A yard behind it was another object, a little smaller, moving at exactly
the same pace. One of the objects was emitting sounds of distress.

Abandoning my quaking consort I advanced to the edge of the pond and
leaned down to investigate the mystery.

The leading object proved to be a small, wet, shivering, whimpering
puppy. The satellite was a brick. The two were connected by a string.
The puppy had just emerged from the depths of the pond, towing the brick
behind it.

"What is it, dear?" repeated Stella fearfully.

"Your dog!" I replied, and cut the string.

III

WE spent three days deciding on a name for him. Stella suggested
Tiny, on account of his size. I pointed out that time might stultify
this selection of a title.

"I don't think so," said Eileen, supporting her sister. "That kind of
dog does not grow very big."

"What kind of dog is he?" I inquired swiftly.

Eileen said no more. There are problems that even girls of twenty cannot
solve.

A warm bath had revealed to us the fact that the puppy was of a dingy
yellow hue. I suggested that we should call him Mustard. Our son John,
on being consulted--against my advice--by his mother, addressed the
animal as Pussy. Stella continued to favor Tiny. Finally Eileen, who was
at the romantic age, produced a copy of Tennyson and suggested
Excalibur, alleging in support of her preposterous proposition that

It rose from out the bosom of the lake.

"The darling rose from out the bosom of the lake, too, just like the
sword Excalibur," she said; "so I think it would make a lovely name for
him."

"The little brute waded out of a muddy pond towing a brick," I replied.
"I see no parallel. He was not the product of the pond. Some one must
have thrown him in, and he came out."

"That is just what some one must have done with the sword," retorted
Eileen. "So we'll call you Excalibur, won't we, darling little Scally?"

She embraced the puppy warmly and the unsuspecting animal replied by
frantically licking her face.

However, the name stuck, with variations. When the puppy was big enough
he was presented with a collar, engraved with the name Excalibur,
together with my name and address. Among ourselves we usuall