l60 SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



them, warned by an occasional drop of rain to seek the 

 vicinity of the house. Having reached the grassy slope 

 beneath the pines in the rear of the dwelhng, we turned to 

 note the pretty scene. A branch of Tanner's Creek came 

 up almost to our feet, and on either side of it stretched 

 away long rows of strawberries as far as the eye could reach. 

 Toward these the throng of pickers now drifted, " seeking 

 fresh fields and pastures new." The motley crowd was 

 streaming down on either side of the creek, while across a 

 little causeway came a counter current, the majority of them 

 having trays full of berries. The buyers, like the traders 

 with the nomad Indians, open traffic anywhere, and at the 

 shortest notice. A mule-cart was stopped, a few empty 

 crates taken off and placed under the pines at our feet, and 

 soon the grass was covered v/ith full quart baskets, for which 

 the pickers received tickets and then passed on, or, as was 

 often the case, threw themselves down in the shade. The 

 itinerant venders came flocking in like so many buzzards. 

 There was at once chaffering and chaffing, eating and drink- 

 ing. All were merry. Looking on the groups before us, 

 one would imagine that the sky was serene. And yet, 

 frowTiing upon this scene of careless security, this improvident 

 disregard of a swiftly coming emergency, was one of the 

 blackest of clouds. Every moment the thunder was jarring 

 and rolling nearer, and yet this jolly people, who " take no 

 thought," heeded not the warning. Even the buyers and 

 packers seemed infected with a like spirit, and were leisurely 

 packing in crates the baskets of berries scattered on the 

 grass, when suddenly Mr. Young, with his fleet, black horse, 

 came flying do\vn upon us. Standing up in his buggy he 

 gave a dozen rapid orders, like an officer on the field in a 

 critical moment. The women, who had been lounging with 

 their hands on their hips, shuffle off with their trays ; half- 



