All the domestics looked hearty and happy; and when
the table was set for the evening repast, the variety and abundance of
good household luxuries bore testimony to the openhanded liberality of
the Heer, and the notable housewifery of his daughter.
In the evening there dropped in several of the worthies of the place,
the Van Rennsellaers, and the Gansevoorts, and the Rosebooms, and
others of Antony Vander Heyden's intimates, to hear an account of his
expedition; for he was the Sindbad of Albany, and his exploits and
adventures were favourite topics of conversation among the
inhabitants. While these sat gossiping together about the door of the
hall, and telling long twilight stories, Dolph was cozily seated,
entertaining the daughter on a window-bench. He had already got on
intimate terms; for those were not times of false reserve and idle
ceremony; and, besides, there is something wonderfully propitious to a
lover's suit, in the delightful dusk of a long summer evening; it
gives courage to the most timid tongue, and hides the blushes of the
bashful. The stars alone twinkled brightly; and now and then a
fire-fly streamed his transient light before the window, or, wandering
into the room, flew gleaming about the ceiling.
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