History in Books the world's story, told by its literature

Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Summary

Augustus shelters Lorena at Adobe Walls, deserted and full of rattlesnakes two years after its famous fight. He finds an abandoned box of buttons, sorts them into stakes and deals cards — and Lorena speaks for the first time since her captivity, warning him not to cheat. He is so pleased that tears come to his eyes. She cannot bear him out of her sight, wakes crying, and does not want to go on where other men can see her. East along the Canadian they meet Wilbarger, who has four herds waiting on the flooded river and who lends them a tent, brings food, and shares a bottle. Augustus tells him Blue Duck killed July Johnson's whole party. Camped north of the river for a week with the tent, the buttons and the cards, Lorena's bruises heal. Bathing in the river, the sight of her own clean white skin sets her sobbing; afterwards she says only that they should not have taken her.

Analysis

Recovery staged as play: a box of abandoned buttons becomes money, and Lorena speaks her first words in weeks to accuse Gus of cheating. McMurtry heals her through games rather than declarations. The bath, and her shock at her own clean skin, is the turn.

Plates

The second day out, the rains strike, and Augustus and Lorena ride east through the cold downpour with Lorena wrapped in the crude poncho he cut for her out of a buffalo hunter's tarp.
00 The second day out, the rains strike, and Augustus and Lorena ride east through the cold downpour with Lorena wrapped in the crude poncho he cut for her out of a buffalo hunter's tarp.
They reach Adobe Walls and find it entirely deserted, most of the buildings in ruins — a place that saw a famous fight two years ago and now looks fifty years empty.
01 They reach Adobe Walls and find it entirely deserted, most of the buildings in ruins — a place that saw a famous fight two years ago and now looks fifty years empty.
The only signs of life in the fort are rattlesnakes, the mice that brought them, and the owls competing for the mice.
02 The only signs of life in the fort are rattlesnakes, the mice that brought them, and the owls competing for the mice.
In the one room with a roof, Augustus clears an owl's nest out of the fireplace and burns broken-up wagon timber, while Lorena — still not speaking — watches him from the corner and will not let him out of her sight.
03 In the one room with a roof, Augustus clears an owl's nest out of the fireplace and burns broken-up wagon timber, while Lorena — still not speaking — watches him from the corner and will not let him out of her sight.
Poking about the fort on the second wet day, Augustus turns up a large box of buttons left behind by the woman who was there during the fight.
04 Poking about the fort on the second wet day, Augustus turns up a large box of buttons left behind by the woman who was there during the fight.
Playing cards for buttons on a blanket by the fire, Lorena speaks for the first time since her captivity — "Don't you cheat, Gus" — and Augustus is so pleased that tears come into his eyes.
05 Playing cards for buttons on a blanket by the fire, Lorena speaks for the first time since her captivity — "Don't you cheat, Gus" — and Augustus is so pleased that tears come into his eyes.
After the venison supper she wakes in the night crying and shaking; Augustus holds her and croons to her like a child, but she does not go back to sleep and lies with her eyes wide open until the rain stops before dawn.
06 After the venison supper she wakes in the night crying and shaking; Augustus holds her and croons to her like a child, but she does not go back to sleep and lies with her eyes wide open until the rain stops before dawn.
Riding east along the flooded Canadian, they top a ridge toward evening and see four great herds of cattle spread as far as the eye can see, stopped by the river — and Lorena begins to shake at the sight of so many men.
07 Riding east along the flooded Canadian, they top a ridge toward evening and see four great herds of cattle spread as far as the eye can see, stopped by the river — and Lorena begins to shake at the sight of so many men.
At the camp on the open plain, Wilbarger's borrowed tent is up and Lorena watches from inside it while the two men sit outside with the bottle, Augustus telling him that Blue Duck killed July Johnson's whole crew.
08 At the camp on the open plain, Wilbarger's borrowed tent is up and Lorena watches from inside it while the two men sit outside with the bottle, Augustus telling him that Blue Duck killed July Johnson's whole crew.
Bathing in the Canadian at the end of the week, the sight of her own clean white skin sets Lorena sobbing, and she stands in the water up to her thighs while Augustus comes off his rock to help her out.
09 Bathing in the Canadian at the end of the week, the sight of her own clean white skin sets Lorena sobbing, and she stands in the water up to her thighs while Augustus comes off his rock to help her out.