A Colonial Wooing
others to be sent to the back-country settlements. One such communication, larger than the ordinary folded sheet, and impressively sealed with an abundance of red wax, bore this direction: Matthew Watson, in Chesterfield, Co. Burlington, Province of West New Jarsie. After some trouble safe conveyance was found for this official-looking document, and on the day following the arrival of the "Bristol" a stout shallop spread its dingy sail, and at sunrise, taking advantage of both wind and tide, started up the river, bound for Crosswicks Creek. The outlook then was favorable for a quick trip, but before noon the wind had died away, and when the tide turned there was nothing to do but to cast anchor and wait.
The crew of four men were not troubled at this turn of affairs. Their business was to ply between the two points mentioned, and the world was not then in such haste that letters or merchandise lost significance or value if received a day or a week later than was possible, but never probable. This early November day, rich with a golden haze that
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