Page:Laughing Boy-1929.djvu/142

130 LAucHING Boy I AA AAA AA AAA A AA emer enero © overnight, he did not like to come home. He trac { it once, and found that the house without her wz | a long song of emptiness. Usually he would s12% 1 with some friends on the reservation, feeling = § little patronizing towards their family life, sligh=v # disturbed only by the presence of their childre=. Those nights he missed his drink, finding hims=¥ with but a poor appetite for supper, and with lite | desire for talk. Their food seemed coarse to hix § nowadays. : Aside from all other things, going away was § worth while for the sake of coming back, wel § tired, to be greeted at the house. It was so c= | ferent from coming back to T'o Tlakai. The=| was a thrill in riding up to the door, particular when he came on a newly traded, yet finer hors: Or it was a real source of pleasure to bring in & string for the tourist company, whooping at thems § as they debouched from the narrow place betweer | the bluffs, herding and mastering them at a rur. § into the corral, conscious of Slim Girl leaning = { the doorway, delightfully aware of her admire tion. There would be news, talk, and all the magr: | when the sun began to set. Quite often he wa | first home. He would amuse himself by arranging | things for supper, piling wood, drawing wate. | He learned to handle the can-opener. Then she | would come through the opening; he would se