Page:Laughing Boy-1929.djvu/140

128 ~- LAvcHING Boy | OVST OVS UTCUUNUSISUS TSU SUSU and watch the animals feed. One never sees z horse so well as when he is grazing close by, i=- { tent upon the grass, oblivious of the man. Ther one sees how he moves his ears, how he blo=z through his soft nostrils, how his casual mov=- J ments are made. He moves from clump to clumz | making his selections by standards of his ow- © never still, yet entirely free of the restlessness o- = stalled horse. It is the essence of pastoral [iz § Cigarette smoke rises lazily in the hot air, the su is comfortable upon one's bones, the gently mc § ing animals make peace. He did his thinking then, detached from ki emotions, mildly introspective, reflective. E-= | would weigh each thing and value it, go back | retrace, and balance. It was one thing to hav: made up his mind, another to know exactly whe | he was — the difference between setting out on z= new trail and marking down all the landmarks <: § the discovered country. The horse shifted froz= clump to clump, making soft noises, hooves i= § sand, and crunching. Cigarette smoke wavere: | and turned with breezes too soft to feel, the mov:- | ment of the heat in the air. Thoughts becar:: § pictures, changing slowly. He had accepted Slim Girl’s difference and y-- conventionality, but for some time still she occa- | sionally startled him. He wanted to understan-