Where is the play of
Richard III to be given, Benjamin?"
"Mr. Hallam has obtained a great room in a house that is the property
of Rip Van Dam in Nassau Street. He has fitted it up in the fashion
of a stage, and his plays are always attended by a great concourse of
ladies and gentlemen. Boston and Philadelphia say New York is light
and frivolous, but I suspect that something of jealousy lies at the
core of the charge. We of New Amsterdam--again the name leaps to my
lips--have a certain freedom in our outlook upon life, a freedom which
I think produces strength and not weakness. Manners are not morals,
but I grow heavy and it does not become a seafaring man to be
didactic. What is it, Piet?"
The door of the dining-room opened, admitting a serving man who
produced a letter.
"It comes by the Boston post," he said, handing it to Master Hardy.
"Then it must have an importance which will not admit delay in the
reading," said Master Hardy. "Your pardon, friends, while I peruse
it."
He read it carefully, read it again with the same care, and then his
resonant laughter boomed forth with such volume and in such continuity
that he was compelled to take a huge red handkerchief and wipe the
tears from his eyes.
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