The scent was delicious; and as we went past the women, whose busy
fingers were all hard at work, Old Brownsmith stopped where another man
kept taking up so many bunches of the roses in each hand and then diving
his head and shoulders into a great oblong basket, leaving the roses at
the bottom as he came out, and seized a piece of chalk and made a mark
upon a slate.
"Give him the slate, Ike," said Old Brownsmith. "He'll tally 'em off
for you now. Look here, Grant, you keep account on the slate how many
bunches are put in each barge, and how many barges are filled."
"Yes, sir," I said, taking the slate and chalk with trembling fingers,
for I felt flushed and excited.
"This is the way--you put down a stroke like that for every dozen, and
one like that for a barge. Do you see?"
"Yes, sir," I said, "I can do that; but when am I to put down a barge?"
"When it's full, of course, and covered in--lidded up."
"But shall we fill a barge to-night, sir?"
"Well, I hope so--a good many," said Old Brownsmith. "Will he go down
to the river with me to show me where, sir?"
"River!--show you what, my boy?"
"The barges we are to fill, sir."
"Whoo-oop!"
It was Ike made this peculiar noise. It answered in him for a laugh.
Then he dived down into the great oblong basket and stopped there.
"You don't know what a barge is," said Old Brownsmith kindly.
"Oh yes, sir, I do!" I replied.
"Not one of our barges, my lad," he said, laying his hand upon my
shoulder. "We call these large baskets barges. You'll soon pick up the
names. There, go on."
I at once began to keep count of the bunches, Old Brownsmith seeming to
take no farther notice of me, while Ike the packer kept on laying in
dozen after dozen, once or twice pretending to lay them in and bringing
the bunches out again, as if to balk me, but all in a grim serious way,
as if it was part of his work.
I was so busy and excited that I hardly had time to enjoy the sweet
scent of the flowers in that cool, soft pit; but in a short time I was
so far accustomed that I had an eye for the men bringing in fresh
supplies, just cut, and for the women who, working at rough benches,
were so cleverly laying the buds in a half-moon shape between their
fingers and thumbs, the flowers being laid flat upon the bench. Then a
second row was laid upon the first, a piece of wet matting was rapidly
twisted round, tied, and the stalks cut off regularly with one pressure
of the knife.