“I don’t want your money,” the woman answered shortly. “Just see to it that the youngsters don’t tear up the place.”
Neither Penny nor Jerry wished to accept such a favor, but Mrs. Davis firmly refused to take pay.
“You know, I think the old girl has a tender heart beneath a hard exterior,” the reporter remarked after the woman had gone back to the patch. “Down under she’s a pretty decent sort.”
For a time Penny and Jerry watched the laborers at their work. Heaping baskets of melons were brought from the patch to the barn. There they were sorted, stamped, and packed into crates which were loaded into a truck.
“Nice looking melons,” the reporter remarked. “Mrs. Davis should make a pretty fair profit.”
An elderly workman, who was sorting melons, glanced sideways at Jerry, grinning in a knowing way.
“Maybe,” he said.
“What do you mean by that?” Jerry questioned him.
“Sellin’ melons is a speculative business,” the old fellow shrugged. “You ain’t sure o’ anything until your harvest is sold and you get the money in your fist.”
Penny and Jerry watched the sorting work for a few minutes longer and then returned to the car.