out of the kitchen door. Sometimes I went
with her; the moment the lighted tent came
into view she would break into a run, like a
boy. There were always partners waiting for
her; she began to dance before she got her
breath.

Antonia's success at the tent had its conse-
quences. The iceman lingered too long now,
when he came into the covered porch to fill the
refrigerator. The delivery boys hung about
the kitchen when they brought the groceries.
Young farmers who were in town for Saturday
came tramping through the yard to the back
door to engage dances, or to invite Tony to
parties and picnics. Lena and Norwegian
Anna dropped in to help her with her work, so
that she could get away early. The boys who
brought her home after the dances sometimes
laughed at the back gate and wakened Mr.
Harling from his first sleep. A crisis was
inevitable.

One Saturday night Mr. Harling had gone
down to the cellar for beer. As he came up the
stairs in the dark, he heard scuffling on the
back porch, and then the sound of a vigor-
ous slap. He looked out through the side door
in time to see a pair of long legs vaulting over

[[234]]

p233 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p234w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p235

v?