Page 974 - of-human-bondage-

CXIX

hilip had not a basket of his own, but sat with Sally. Jane
Pthought it monstrous that he should help her elder sister
rather than herself, and he had to promise to pick for her
when Sally’s basket was full. Sally was almost as quick as
her mother.
‘Won’t it hurt your hands for sewing?’ asked Philip.
‘Oh, no, it wants soft hands. That’s why women pick bet-
ter than men. If your hands are hard and your fingers all
stiff with a lot of rough work you can’t pick near so well.’
He liked to see her deft movements, and she watched him
too now and then with that maternal spirit of hers which
was so amusing and yet so charming. He was clumsy at first,
and she laughed at him. When she bent over and showed
him how best to deal with a whole line their hands met. He
was surprised to see her blush. He could not persuade him-
self that she was a woman; because he had known her as a
flapper, he could not help looking upon her as a child still;
yet the number of her admirers showed that she was a child
no longer; and though they had only been down a few days
one of Sally’s cousins was already so attentive that she had
to endure a lot of chaffing. His name was Peter Gann, and
he was the son of Mrs. Athelny’s sister, who had married a
farmer near Ferne. Everyone knew why he found it neces-
sary to walk through the hop-field every day.