the spring term of school was over I could
fight, play "keeps," tease the little girls, and
use forbidden words as well as any boy in my
class. I was restrained from utter savagery
only by the fact that Mrs. Harling, our near-
est neighbor, kept an eye on me, and if my
behavior went beyond certain bounds I was
not permitted to come into her yard or to
play with her jolly children.

We saw more of our country neighbors now
than when we lived on the farm. Our house
was a convenient stopping-place for them.
We had a big barn where the farmers could
put up their teams, and their women-folk
more often accompanied them, now that they
could stay with us for dinner, and rest and
set their bonnets right before they went shop-
ping. The more our house was like a coun-
try hotel, the better I liked it. I was glad,
when I came home from school at noon, to
see a farm wagon standing in the back yard,
and I was always ready to run downtown to
get beefsteak or baker's bread for unexpected
company. All through that first spring and
summer I kept hoping that Ambrosch would
bring Antonia and Yulka to see our new
house. I wanted to show them our red plush

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