Montyremovedhissombrero——somethinghehadneverdonebefore——
andthesingleinstantwhenitwasoffwaslongenoughtoshowhisheadentirelybald。Thiswasoneofthehall-marksofthatterribleMontanaprairiefirethroughwhichhehadfoughttosavethelifeofachild。Madelinedidnotforgetit，andallatonceshewantedtotakeMonty\'sside。RememberingStillwell\'swisdom，however，sheforeboreyieldingtosentiment，andcalleduponherwits。
\"Miss——MissHammond，\"beganMonty，stammering，\"I\'mextendin\'
admirin\'greetin\'stoyouan\'yourfriends。Linkan\'mearerightdownproudtoplaythematchgamewithyouwatchin\'。ButBillsaysyou\'regoin\'tocaddieforhisteaman\'coach\'emonthefinepoints。An\'Iwanttoask，allrespectful，ifthet\'sfairan\'square？\"
\"Monty，thatisforyoutosay，\"repliedMadeline。\"Itwasmysuggestion。Butifyouobjectintheleast，ofcourseweshallwithdraw。Itseemsfairtome，becauseyouhavelearnedthegame；youareexpert，andIunderstandtheotherboyshavenochancewithyou。ThenyouhavecoachedLink。Ithinkitwouldbesportsmanlikeofyoutoacceptthehandicap。\"