Again I found myself wondering how the money would be obtained, and I
thought that Old Brownsmith would be sure to be cheated; but Ike looked
quite easy, and instead of there being so many things in the market that
ours would not sell, I found that the men around bought them up eagerly,
and the baskets grew less in number than ever.
I glanced round once or twice on that busy summer morning, to see the
street as far as I could grasp packed with carts, and to these a regular
throng of men were carrying baskets, while every here and there barrows
were being piled up with flowers.
All about us too, as far as I could see by climbing up to the ladder
over Basket's back, men were shouting away as they sold the contents of
other carts, whose baskets were being handed down to the hungry crowds,
who were pushing and struggling and making way for the porters with the
heavy baskets on their heads.
By degrees I began to understand that all this enormous quantity of
garden produce was being bought up by the greengrocers and
barrow-dealers from all over London, and that they would soon be driving
off east, west, north, and south, to their shops and places of business.
I should have liked to sit perched up there and watching all that went
on, but I had to move to let Ike drag back the baskets; then I had to
help handing out bunches, till at last the crowd melted away, and the
busy man closed his book with a snap.
"Very good this morning," he shouted to Ike; and then climbing down he
went off with his red-nosed clerk, and the people who were about
followed him.
"Getting warm, mate?" said Ike, grinning at me.
"Yes," I said; "the sun's so hot, and there's no wind here."
"No, my lad; they builds houses to shut it out. Soon be done now. You
and Shock get down and hand up them baskets."
He pointed to a pile that some men had been making, and these I found
all had "Brownsmith, Isleworth," painted upon them, and it dawned upon
me now that those which had been carried away would not be returned till
next journey.
"That's it," said Ike. "Market-gardeners has to give a lot o' trust
that way."
"But do they get the baskets all back again, Ike?" I said.
"To be sure they do, my lad--Oh yes, pretty well."
"But shall we get paid the money for all that's been sold this morning?"
"Why, of course, my lad. That gentleman as sold for us, he's our
salesman; and he pays for it all, and they pay him. Don't you see?"
I said "Yes," but my mind was not very clear about it.