Page:Peterruggmissing00austrich.djvu/56

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50
PETER RUGG,

Instantly the six horses began to move the boat. The Hudson was a sea of glass, without a ripple. The horses from a smart trot soon pressed into a gallop; water now run over the gunwale, and the ferry boat was buried in an ocean of foam. When we arrived at New York, you might see the beautiful white wake of the boat across the Hudson.

Though Rugg refused to pay toll at turnpikes, when Mr. Hardy reached his hand for the ferriage, Rugg readily put his hand into one of his many pockets and took out a piece of silver which he handed to Hardy. "What is this?" said Mr. Hardy. "It is thirty shillings," said Rugg. "It might have once been thirty shillings, old tenor," said Mr. Hardy, "but it is not at present." "The money is good English coin," said Rugg, "my grandfather brought a bag of them from England, and he had them hot from the mint." Hearing this, I approached near to Rugg and asked permission to see the coin. It was a half crown coined by the English Parliament dated in the year 1649. On one side "The Commonwealth of England," and St. George's