The suburban citizen., 1902-12-06
AY, Mollie," said Nolan, in
on off fband unannnr

anu tue SnaOOWS were beginning TO
fall on Nolan's side The hop-feld code
of courtesy demands that when a man
is picking with a lady he give her
always the shady side. But Nolan, in
his perturbation of mind, forgot his
manners.
"Nothin'," came indifferently from
Mollie, feeling the rays pelting down
upon her head, and remembering the
thoughtfulness of the fellow in the
leggings in pulling the fullest vines
down on her side.
"Say, Mollie," asked Nolan, persua-
sively, after a half-hour's silence, DUR
ing which time several couples had
changed sides so that the girl might
have the benefit of tne shade, what
was he hangin' round you all mornin'
for?"
"Nothin'" The black eyes were
stubbornly glued to their work, while
beads Of perspiration stood out on the
round, tanned cheeks
Thereafter, vine after vine was
reached and stripped in oppressive
silence. At length, after having de-
cided to adopt a course of moody
silence, which should break the
naughty spirit of this girl, and make
her hang upon his slightest word,
Nolan heard himself say, before he
knew it, in tender, coaxing tones:
Say, Mollie, what was he talkin' to
you about, anyway"
'Nothin'l" Mollie's chin went into
the air and her lips snapped together
like the blades of a 1ack-knife. The
beads Of perspiration had grown into
riyulets that trickled from nose to
chin, and splashed into the basket.
The foreman of the field rode by sew
eral times, and noticed gratefully there
was less talking and more work being
done between the two than usual.
and when at last the shadows grew so
long it did not matter which side OF
the row she was on, and the sun began
to redden behind n bank Of smoke and
dust, the joyful sound of the quitting
bell pealed over the fields.
Arms just lifted to reach a vine.
hands in the act of stripping a branch.
fingers just crooked to pick last
hop stopped and fell empty at the
sound of that first tap. The unhappy
Nolan could not stop his thoughts SO
quickly. nor resist a last appealing.
Say, Mollie, what's the matter with
you, anyway"
But the maid only threw q defiant
"NOthin'w over her shoulder as she
was Joined at the end of the row by a
tall fellow in leggings, The black eyes
lost their defiance, the lips lippled into
smiles as she pushed her sun-bonnet
back and looked up into the laughing
face under the sombrero.
Great place. isn't itT' the tall fell
low said, half to himself, as he
watched the pickers filing by-China-
men, Indians, Japs, and whites of ev-
cry brand, and all sorts of conditions.
There was the Objectionable element
of "hobos," Of course, in plentitude,
but the majority of the pickers, were
the men who, after harvesting their
own meagre little hay crops, packed
their wagons. loaded in their families,
whistled to their dogs and started off
for three or four weeks camp in the
hop-fields. With these families it is
regular institution, and the one in
teresting occasion of the year. Here
new acquaintances are made, foot-hill
gossip exchanged for tule district scan
dals, fiirtations and romances spring
up, flourish, and die, with the hops,
and most Of the back country bellies
date their social debut from the Sat
urday night dances.
Mollie stole n One-slded glance at
the fellow in the leggings and took
in every detail as his eyes followed the
crowd. She held her head just trihe
higher than usual when familiar faces
looked up and saw her chatting with
this stylish looking fellow in the cor.
duroy knickers. In fact, when some
of her Coon Greek friends came along
she found it incOnvenient to look their
way, for she felt that in refined society
their Hello Molv' would not be con-
sidered good form.
How long have you worked here?'
the tall fellow asked her. shortening his
stride to fail in with her little trip.
Mollie, delighted TO be called upon
for information. gurgled out everything
she knew about the hop-fields; the ad-
vantage Of being paid by the piece
instead Of the day. the amount the
] average picker could make a day, the
weighing in the baskets, the processing
in the kiln, the pressing and baling,
and the joys Of the dance given every
Saturday night. Adding. for she could
scarcely believe this distinguished-loo
ing parsonage could be common
picker, like Mike Nolan and Pinny
Smith, and the rest Of them: "Are
you visiting at Hoptown"
mo" the fellow laughed, "Im a cit.
izen, If l can stand these beastly
hours. For the next few weeks I'm
a son Of the soil in order to fill up my
Golfers for the next semester" This
fellow relished the dllating power of
the black eyes beside him, and Mollie,
having studied Short Primer of Chem.
istry, felt herself on an intellectual