in search of Meta Beggs; perhaps, after all, she had
decided not to come; he might easily miss her in
that mob. It was not clear in his mind what he
would do if he saw her. She would be with Buckley
Simmons, and there was a well recognized course of
propriety for such occasions: he would be expected
merely to greet in passing a girl accompanying
another man. Any other proceeding would be met
with instant resentment. And Buckley Simmons,
Gordon knew, must still nurse a secret antagonism
toward him. However, he had disposed of Buckley
in the past... if necessary he could do so again.

At the entrance to the service tent the organist,
his countenance still livid in the sunlight, blew a
throaty summons on a cornet, and the crowd slowly
trailed back within. In the thinning groups Gordon
saw the school-teacher, clad in a bright blue
skirt and a hat with a stiff, blue feather. She was
at Buckley's side, consuming a slice of cake with
delicate, precise motions of her hand, and greeting
with patent abstraction his solicitous attentions.

[[190]]

p189 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p190w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p191

v?