Page:Laughing Boy-1929.djvu/138

Lo IS 1 LAUGHING BOY cs | L by his house, and those were mostly specimezs 1 like Yellow Singer. He did not want any oz: § there; that was a place apart, just as here hz f always had the feeling of a secret knowledge k= § could not share, something beyond the compre hension of the men he encountered. He listened to the gossip, jokes, and talk abou: women that was frank enough, seeing in it && that they had no idea of what he knew. He diz not try to speak of his wife, knowing that he cou!: : never tell them about her, nor yet make a pre- | tense of speaking as if she were just a wife, as § they did. Few ever asked after her, and then i= ! a tone of a certain constraint, though their worc: § were formal enough. He had expected something § of the sort, after what his uncle had said; sk= : broke the rules and upset things. If they knew i her, she was troublesome to them. Of course thes { resented the disturbance of their minds, an: ‘ called it bad, with tales that grew in telling. & 1 he sat, as it were, on the edge of their domestiz § discussions. When it was a matter of horses, k= § came to be listened to with respect. Every on: § agreed that he knew horses, and that he was az | excellent trader; when he was speaking about =z horse he was trying to sell at the moment, nothing | he said was believed. Trading was brisk and profitable. His ow= | [38]