I-V

We knew that things were hard for our Bohe-
mian neighbors, but the two girls were light-
hearted and never complained. They were
always ready to forget their troubles at home,
and to run away with me over the prairie,
scaring rabbits or starting up flocks of quail.

I remember Antonia's excitement when she
came into our kitchen one afternoon and an-
nounced: "My papa find friends up north,
with Russian mans. Last night he take me for
see, and I can understand very much talk.
Nice mans, Mrs. Burden. One is fat and all
the time laugh. Everybody laugh. The first
time I see my papa laugh in this kawn-tree.
Oh, very nice!"

I asked her if she meant the two Russians
who lived up by the big dog-town. I had often
been tempted to go to see them when I was
riding in that direction, but one of them was a
wild-looking fellow and I was a little afraid
of him. Russia seemed to me more remote
than any other country -- farther away than
China, almost as far as the North Pole. Of

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v?