the little trees for bases. Lena was Pussy so
often that she finally said she wouldn't play
any more. We threw ourselves down on the
grass, out of breath.

"Jim," Antonia said dreamily, "I want you
to tell the girls about how the Spanish first
came here, like you and Charley Harling used
to talk about. I've tried to tell them, but I
leave out so much."

They sat under a little oak, Tony resting
against the trunk and the other girls leaning
against her and each other, and listened to the
little I was able to tell them about Coronado
and his search for the Seven Golden Cities.
At school we were taught that he had not got
so far north as Nebraska, but had given up his
quest and turned back somewhere in Kansas.
But Charley Harling and I had a strong be-
lief that he had been along this very river. A
farmer in the county north of ours, when he
was breaking sod, had turned up a metal stir-
rup of fine workmanship, and a sword with a
Spanish inscription on the blade. He lent
these relics to Mr. Harling, who brought
them home with him. Charley and I scoured
them, and they were on exhibition in the Har-
ling office all summer. Father Kelly, the

[[277]]

p276 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p277w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p278

v?