II-X

It was at the Vannis' tent that Antonia was
discovered. Hitherto she had been looked
upon more as a ward of the Harlings than as
one of the "hired girls." She had lived in their
house and yard and garden; her thoughts
never seemed to stray outside that little king-
dom. But after the tent came to town she
began to go about with Tiny and Lena and
their friends. The Vannis often said that An-
tonia was the best dancer of them all. I some-
times heard murmurs in the crowd outside the
pavilion that Mrs. Harling would soon have
her hands full with that girl. The young men
began to joke with each other about "the
Harlings' Tony" as they did about "the Mar-
shalls' Anna" or "the Gardeners' Tiny."

Antonia talked and thought of nothing but
the tent. She hummed the dance tunes all day.
When supper was late, she hurried with her
dishes, dropped and smashed them in her ex-
citement. At the first call of the music, she
became irresponsible. If she hadn't time to
dress, she merely flung off her apron and shot

[[233]]

p232 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p233w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p234

v?