workmen thought he would die on the spot.
They hauled him home and put him into his
bed, and there he lay, very ill indeed. Mis-
fortune seemed to settle like an evil bird on
the roof of the log house, and to flap its wings
there, warning human beings away. The Rus-
sians had such bad luck that people were
afraid of them and liked to put them out of
mind.

One afternoon Antonia and her father came
over to our house to get buttermilk, and lin-
gered, as they usually did, until the sun was
low. Just as they were leaving, Russian Peter
drove up. Pavel was very bad, he said, and
wanted to talk to Mr. Shimerda and his
daughter; he had come to fetch them. When
Antonia and her father got into the wagon, I
entreated grandmother to let me go with them:
I would gladly go without my supper, I would
sleep in the Shimerdas' barn and run home in
the morning. My plan must have seemed very
foolish to her, but she was often large-minded
about humoring the desires of other people.
She asked Peter to wait a moment, and when
she came back from the kitchen she brought a
bag of sandwiches and doughnuts for us.

Mr. Shimerda and Peter were on the front

[[58]]

p057 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p058w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p059

v?