It
was a good big scow, big enough, indeed, to carry two teams at once if
due care was taken in getting on and off over the swinging platform. It
was steered by a great oar in the competent hands of Myndert Van Alstyne
who navigated the craft, while his brother Wynant collected the fares
and kept the machinery in motion with the aid of a hickory gad.
We arrived at Springfield toward evening and took rooms for the night at
the Massasoit House. It was here we found the first evidences of being
strangers in a strange land, which my Dutch relatives predicted would of
necessity prove annoying. We were hungry, and the hotel supper was
anything but satisfying. As everyone knows, the New Netherlanders are
hearty good trencher-folk. At our house, we always had a full table, and
at Grandpa Van Der Zee's there had to be more on the board than could
possibly be consumed or there was not enough to please the Baas. At the
Massasoit, there was a fair show in the dining-room, but on trial the
things provided were not acceptable.
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