autumn noon
THE WORKHOUSE XII . CONFIDENT MORNING XIII . THE CITY PART I -- THE DREAM That windy autumn noon the young girls of the hat factory darted out of the loft building and came running back with cans of coffee , and bags of candy , and packages of sandwiches and cakes . They frisked hilariously before the wind , with flying hair and sparkling eyes , and crowded into the narrow entrance with the grimy pressmen of the eighth floor . Over and over again the one frail elevator was jammed with the laughing crowd and shot up to the hat factory on the ninth floor and back . The men smoked cigarettes as the girls chattered and flirted with them , and the talk was fast and free .