II-XII

After Antonia went to live with the Cutters,
she seemed to care about nothing but picnics
and parties and having a good time. When
she was not going to a dance, she sewed un-
til midnight. Her new clothes were the sub-
ject of caustic comment. Under Lena's direc-
tion she copied Mrs. Gardener's new party
dress and Mrs. Smith's street costume so in-
geniously in cheap materials that those ladies
were greatly annoyed, and Mrs. Cutter, who
was jealous of them, was secretly pleased.

Tony wore gloves now, and high-heeled
shoes and feathered bonnets, and she went
downtown nearly every afternoon with Tiny
and Lena and the Marshalls' Norwegian Anna.
We High-School boys used to linger on the
playground at the afternoon recess to watch
them as they came tripping down the hill
along the board sidewalk, two and two. They
were growing prettier every day, but as they
passed us, I used to think with pride that An-
tonia, like Snow-White in the fairy tale, was
still "fairest of them all."

[[244]]

p243 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p244w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p245

v?