before a hulk of an adobe. It was a long, rambling
structure, somehow forbidding, and he blinked as
he stared with faint apprehension at the lamplight
streaming out of two windows. Directly the man
dismounted and, making the reins fast to a post,
walked toward the house. For a moment Pat saw
his tall figure silhouetted in the doorway, to the
accompaniment of a quiet chorus of greetings from
within, then he saw the door close upon him, and
immediately afterward a hand appear at the
windows and draw down the shades. And now
he felt a great loneliness creep over him, slowly at
first, then somehow faster as he heard voices within
sink from a cheerful note of greeting to a low
rumble of discord.

He began to take heed of objects close around
him. He discovered, now that all light was shut
off, that he was not alone. To his left stood two
horses, with heads drooping, legs slightly spread,
reins dangling, quiet and patient in their mute
waiting. Promptly with the discovery he took
a step in their direction, intent upon establishing
friendship. But he found himself checked with
a jerk. For an instant he did not understand this.
Then he remembered that his reins were tied, and
because his mistress never had deemed this
neccessary he came to feel a kind of irritation,
though he made no attempt to force his freedom.
Yet, keeping his eyes upon the other horses, he
saw that they themselves were free to come and
go, that their reins were dangling on the ground.
And now he realized that he was under suspicion.

[[161]]

p160 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p161w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p162

v?