“Hello,” called he, in his loud voice. “Come get this, some one. I can’t leave these critters. If I did, they’d try to climb over the barn.”
Ben arose and hurried to the fence.
“Something for us, Tom?” he asked.
“Something for you,” replied the pockmarked man. “Was given to me at the City Tavern last night.”
As he spoke the carter tossed the letter to Ben, who deftly caught it; then he went on:
“I stopped there to get some things which came in on the Baltimore coach for Mr. Pendergast, above here. There’s a lot of Massachusetts Bay people stopping there; and one young fellow comes up to me:
“‘I hear you carry goods up Germantown way,’ says he.
“‘I do,’ says I.
“‘Do you know the Cooper place?’ says he.
“‘As well as I do my own,’ I says.