moment, then gripped her plough-handles,
clucked to her team, and waded on down the
furrow, making me feel that she was now
grown up and had no time for me. On Sun-
days she helped her mother make garden or
sewed all day. Grandfather was pleased with
Antonia. When we complained of her, he only
smiled and said, "She will help some fellow
get ahead in the world."

Nowadays Tony could talk of nothing but
the prices of things, or how much she could
lift and endure. She was too proud of her
strength. I knew, too, that Ambrosch put
upon her some chores a girl ought not to do,
and that the farmhands around the country
joked in a nasty way about it. Whenever I
saw her come up the furrow, shouting to her
beasts, sunburned, sweaty, her dress open at
the neck, and her throat and chest dust-
plastered, I used to think of the tone in
which poor Mr. Shimerda, who could say so
little, yet managed to say so much when he
exclaimed, "My An-tonia!"

[[144]]

p143 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p144w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p145

v?