Cash Markham's past could not have been a blank; more likely it held too much of sorrow for the salve of speech to lighten its hurt.

There might have been a child....
"Aw, come back here!" Bud commanded Lovin Child gruffly.
But Lovin Child was too busy.

He had discovered in his circling of Cash, the fanny buckles on Cash's high overshoes.

He was investigating them as he had investigated the line, with fingers and with pink tongue, like a puppy.

From the lowest buckle he went on to the top one, where Cash's khaki trousers were tucked inside with a deep fold on top.