SHE WAS FOUR YEARS OLDER THAN I TO BE SURE AND HAD SEEN MORE OF THE WORLD BUT I WAS A BOY AND SHE WAS A GIRL AND I RESENTED HER PROTECTING MANNER THIS CHANGE CAME ABOUT FROM AN ADVENTURE WE HAD TOGETHER ONE DAY WHEN I RODE OVER TO THE SHIMERDAS I FOUND ANTONIA STARTING OFF ON FOOT FOR RUSSIAN PETER'S HOUSE TO BORROW A SPADE AMBROSCH NEEDED THERE HAD BEEN ANOTHER BLACK FROST THE NIGHT BEFORE AND THE AIR WAS CLEAR AND HEADY AS WINE IT WAS ON ONE OF THESE GRAVEL BEDS THAT I MET MY ADVENTURE I WHIRLED ROUND AND THERE ON ONE OF THOSE DRY GRAVEL BEDS WAS THE BIGGEST SNAKE I HAD EVER SEEN
