wing for sure just how elaborate Larry's plans for the
evening might be.

I learned a lot, and was startled to find that I enjoyed myself
tremendously. But I couldn't make up my mind, and bought three dresses
instead of one. It was after that, emboldened by pleasure and success,
that I went back to that first drugstore. The Encyclopedia volume I
had taken from the library, besides containing the information I
wanted on Colorado, had an article on Cosmetics. I decided powder was
unnecessary, although I could understand easily enough how important
it must be to the native women, with their thick skin and large pores
and patchy coloring; that accounted for the fact that the men were
mostly so much uglier ... and I wondered if Larry used it, and if that
was why his skin looked so much better than the others'.

Most of the perfumes made me literally ill; a few were inoffensive or
mildly pleasant, if you thought of them just as smells, and not as
something to be mistaken for one's _own_ smell. Apparently, though,
from the amount of space given over to them on the counter, and the
number of advertisements I had seen or heard for one brand or another,
they were an essential item. I picked out a faint lavender scent, and
then bought some lipstick, mascara, and eyebrow pencil. On these last
purchases, it was a relief to find that I had no opportunity to
display my ignorance about nuances of coloring, or the merits of one
brand over another. The woman behind the counter knew exactly what I
should have, and was not interested in hearing any of my opinions. She
even told me how to apply the mascara, which was helpful, since the
other two were obvious, and anyhow I'd seen them used on television,
and the lipstick especially I had seen women use since I'd been here.

It turned out to be a little more difficult than it looked, when I
tried it. Cosmetics apparently take a good deal more experience than
clothing, if you want to have it look _right_. Right by _their_
standards, I mean, so that your face becomes a formal design, and will
register only a minimum of actual emotion or response.

I was supposed to meet Larry in the cocktail lounge of a hotel in
Manitou Springs, the smaller town I'd passed through the day before on
my way down from the mountain. I drove back that way now, with all my
possessions in my new car, including the purse that held not only my
remaining diamonds and birth certificate, but also a car registration,
dr