city. I'd die of lonesomeness. I like to be
where I know every stack and tree, and where
all the ground is friendly. I want to live and
die here. Father Kelly says everybody's put
into this world for something, and I know
what I've got to do. I'm going to see that
my little girl has a better chance than ever
I had. I'm going to take care of that girl,
Jim."

I told her I knew she would. "Do you
know, Antonia, since I've been away, I think
of you more often than of any one else in this
part of the world. I'd have liked to have
you for a sweetheart, or a wife, or my mother
or my sister -- anything that a woman can
be to a man. The idea of you is a part of my
mind; you influence my likes and dislikes, all
my tastes, hundreds of times when I don't
realize it. You really are a part of me."

She turned her bright, believing eyes to
me, and the tears came up in them slowly.
"How can it be like that, when you know so
many people, and when I've disappointed
you so? Ain't it wonderful, Jim, how much
people can mean to each other? I'm so glad
we had each other when we were little. I
can't wait till my little girl's old enough to

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p362 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p363w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p364

v?