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"What'll you take to drink?" asked Shank, drawing a large flask from the pocket in which he had concealed it up to that moment with the express purpose of giving his companion a pleasant surprise. It may be well to add that the variety of dunks implied in his question was imaginary.
The settlement at Dunks' Cove has been mentioned, and nothing need be said of it, beyond the fact that its agriculture had improved and been extended, its trees had grown, and its population increased.
A long-headed emigrant, of the name of Dunks, had foreseen the probable, future, importance of this outer harbour, and had made such an arrangement with the council, as to obtain leave for himself and three or four of his connections to exchange the land they had drawn, against an equal quantity in this part of the group.
The first thing she did was to disappoint her friends, and shock the decencies of Hendrik; for it had been agreed on all sides that "the poor dear thing would take on dreadfully, or else fret herself into fits, or perhaps fall into one of them clay-cold, corpsy swoons, like old Miss Dunks has regular every 'revival." But when they came, with all their tedious commonplaces of a stupid condolence not wholly innocent of curiosity, Sally thanked them with dry eyes and prudent lips and quiet nerves, and only said she thought she should do very well after she had set the house to rights and slept awhile.
Dunks was there, however, to prevent it from drinking too much, when it made its way up to the grass, which it began to eat ravenously. All the rest went through the same process, and in a couple of hours the poor things were relieved from their misery, and the brig, which smelled like a stable, was well quit of them.
John Peter was fourth of a family of seven children, all males, and hard at the bottle early in life: 'for want of proper occupation, he says in his Memoirs, and applauds his brother Stanson, the clergyman, for being ahead of him in renouncing strong dunks, because he found that he 'cursed better upon water. Water, however, helped Stanson Kirby to outlive his brothers and inherit the Lincolnshire property, and at the period of the great scandal in London he was palsied, and waited on by his grandson and heir Ralph Thorkill Kirby, the hero of an adventure celebrated in our Law courts and on the English stage; for he took possession of his coachman's wife, and was accused of compassing the death of the husband.
"Nine for sixpence," is Benson's desperate challenge, the cakes of course shrinking somewhat in size. The baker does not live who can afford to give ten for sixpence. Benson has now to create new signs. "No second-class flour used in the cakes of this establishment," is one of his efforts. Dunks caps it. "No miserable counting out of currants in cakes baked here. Visitors are invited to sample."
The plan proposed was, that General Greene should embark two thousand men at Dunks' ferry, and descending the Delaware in the night, land in the town just before day, attack the enemy in the rear, and take possession of the bridge over the Schuylkill.
A bargain was soon made with Dunks; and the two crews, that of the Rancocus, as well as that of the brig, were set to work without delay to hoist out every creature having a hoof, that was on board the Henlopen. As slings were all ready, little delay was necessary, but a mare soon rose through the hatchway, was swung over the vessel's side, and was lowered into the water.
Brooms and water were set to work immediately, but it was a month before the Henlopen lost the peculiar odour of the cattle. Nor were the human beings much less rejoiced to go ashore than the brutes. Dunks gave them all a hearty welcome, and though he had little fruit to offer, he had plenty of vegetables, for which they were quite as thankful.
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