Everyone began to pick very fast, not wanting to be a tail-ender.
Soon Connie was ready to have her fruit weighed. Jane’s pail next was filled. Both girls were proud to have done so well.
After that, Eileen and Sunny finished their picking in rapid order.
“Veve’s the tail-ender!” teased Jane. She whirled around fast and her jeans caught on a strand of wire attached to the fence.
As the little girl pulled away, she heard a tearing sound. A long jagged hole had been torn in the leg of her almost-new jeans.
“Oh, now see what I’ve done!” she exclaimed. “My knee shows right through!”
“That comes from picking so fast,” declared Veve. Actually, Jane had not been stripping the tree at the moment of the accident.
Near tears, Jane hastened to the shed to show Miss Gordon the torn place. Veve followed her, although her pail was not quite filled.
In the shed, Pa Hooper had just finished weighing in the cherries and noting down the amount on cards.
When he saw Veve’s pail, he shook his head. “Only three-quarters filled?” he asked. “Now, it’s a waste of time to weigh in less than a full pail.”