Often he did not return the day he left.

When he did get back he smelled of rum and appeared heavy from need of sleep.
His horses were always dust and sweat covered.

During his absences Ellen fell victim to anxious dread until he returned.

Daily he grew darker and more haggard of face, more obsessed by some impending fate.
Often he stayed up late, haranguing with the men in the dim-lit cabin, where they drank and smoked, but seldom gambled any more.

When the men did not gamble something immediate and perturbing was on their minds.
Ellen had not yet lowered herself to the deceit and suspicion of eavesdropping, but she realized that there was a climax approaching in which she would deliberately do so.
In those closing May days Ellen learned the significance of many things that previously she had taken as a matter of course.