ound them. I took no thought of price, nor of where or how
they were produced, as that branch of horticulture had never engaged my
attention. But now the case was different. I remembered that most of
these stands had been attended by women, and that one in particular had
been famous for the quantity of its daily supply of fruit, as well as
for the crowd of customers that collected about it.

I lost no time in calling on the occupant. Though the strawberries had
long since disappeared, yet she sat surrounded with a profusion of
vegetables,--one kind succeeding another as the seasons changed. In all
the public markets of Philadelphia, this business of retailing what is
popularly known as "truck" has become an inheritance of the poor women
ever abounding in a great city. It is a hard and exacting business.
Whether well or ill, the earliest daybreak finds them at their posts.
There they stand or sit until the evening shadows begin to lengthen.
Through all weathers they observe the same compulsory routine. No
morning rain is too drenching, no snow too blinding, no cold too bitter,
to keep from their stands these heroic toilers for a bare subsistence.
Multitudes of them are mothers of families, whom they are thus obliged
to leave half-uncared-for at home. Many are poor widows, burdened also
with the care of children. Every other avenue to employment being
closed, they are forced into this public exposure of the open air, in
many cases with a mere shed to shelter them from the inclement weather.
But while thus dispensing food to others, they earn it honestly for
themselves. They live, and sometimes accumulate money. The shrewd
managing ones have been known to become independent. Some of them begin
upon a capital of a few dollars wherewith to furnish their stands, but
not succeeding, they retire from the crowd and drop out of sight. Talent
is necessary even for the sale of truck: not possessing it, they are
driven to some employment of a humbler description. These women are not
producers of the fruits and vegetables they have to sell. Most of these
are grown by truckers in the suburbs, who supply the market-stands with
a daily assortment during the season. But the business of thus
trafficking in the open thoroughfare is a hard one for females. Custom
has reconciled the public eye to it, but necessity alone has made it
tolerable for women.

When I called at the strawberry-stand referred to, and entered into
conversation with th