The work's nothing; I can have every evening,
and be out a lot in the afternoons."

"I thought you liked children. Tony,
what's come over you?"

"I don't know, something has." Antonia
tossed her head and set her jaw. "A girl like
me has got to take her good times when she
can. Maybe there won't be any tent next
year. I guess I want to have my fling, like the
other girls."

Mrs. Harling gave a short, harsh laugh. "If
you go to work for the Cutters, you're likely
to have a fling that you won't get up from in a
hurry."

Frances said, when she told grandmother
and me about this scene, that every pan and
plate and cup on the shelves trembled when
her mother walked out of the kitchen. Mrs.
Harling declared bitterly that she wished she
had never let herself get fond of Antonia.

[[237]]

p236 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p237w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p238

v?