The girl, watching him closely, saw the light die out in his face, saw
the shadows come, as when a thunder-cloud passes between the sun and a
smiling valley. His chin dropped a little on his breast, and for
perhaps ten seconds he was silent; by the far-away gleam in his eyes,
Kay knew he was seeing visions, and that they were not happy ones.
Instinctively her hand crept round the corner of the table and touched
his arm lightly. Her action was the result of impulse; almost as soon
as she had touched him, she withdrew her hand in confusion.
But her mother had noticed the movement, and a swift glance toward her
husband drew from him the briefest of nods, the most imperceptible of
shrugs.
"Come, Johnny dear," she urged, and her voice had lost its accustomed
shrillness now; "let us go forth and see what has happened to the
Little Old Man of the Spuds."
He followed her outside obediently, and arm in arm they walked around
the patio toward the rear gate.
"Hello!" he murmured suddenly, and, with a firm hand under her chin, he
tilted her handsome face upward. There were tears in her eyes. "What
now?" he demanded tenderly. "How come, old girl?"
"Nothing, John, I'm just an old fool--laughing when I'm not weeping and
weeping when I ought to be laughing."
XVIII
Don Mike's assumption that Pablo would seek balm for his injured
feelings at the expense of the potato baron was one born of a very
intimate knowledge of the mental processes of Pablo and those of his
breed.
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