The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1881-05-27
What Came of a Dream.

SStttiS VI " ~ SSaitl
Hans Getter was a wealthy old Dutch
man, whose broad acres of field, wood.
land and meadow are now partly covered
by the compact blocks of Brooklyn OF
the village lots of Flatbush, L. I, They
had descended to him, in the third OF
fourth remove, from the ancestor who
first cleared and titled them, and there
he was living in all the rude and sump-
tuous plenty of the thrifty Hollanders
IN and around New York and along the
Hudson, whom Irving has so pleasantly
ITmortalized. His numerous barns
were bursting with the products of his
golden harvest; his stalls and she'd
ranges housed the choicest breeds of
cattle, sheep and horses then known
while his house, broad like its master,
rather than lofty, was stuffed from attic
to cellar with every commodity that
could contribute to the comfort and
responsibility of the portly and ease
loving proprietor, Servants, stewards
and helpers he had in abundance, so
that his personal participation in the
management of his affairs was mostly
confined to their general supervision
and the care of his income. This afford
ed him abundant leisure for the indulg-
ence of his pipe and that dreamy mac
tion which is the paradise of all fat
Dutchmen. Besides his wife-a fair,
rotund, fresh-looliing woman-two
children, son and a daughter, both
adults, aided in the business of farm and
household; while their position and
prospects thrust them into prominence
as specimens of the rustic nobility OF
the times. In the squat old mansion,
with its broad verandas, hospitality
reigned supreme; all the festivals and
holidays of the old country were duly
observed; the dominic and the school
master were often and ever welcome
guests and during the autumn and
winter months, at the harvest home and
husking-bees, the premises were the
focus of luxuriant cheer and good times
generally.
Our story takes us to the opening of
the American Revolution. Bunker Hill
had been fought, and the British, driven
from Boston, were concentrating their
forces to capture and occupy New York
and its vicinity. AS the quarrel with
the mother country progressed, men
were compelled to ayow partiality for
one party or the other with more pro-
nounced distinctness. Hans Getter's
leaning, during the preliminary troubles,
had been toward the colonial side; but
being constitutionally sluggish and
timid, he would have greatly preferred
to remain non-combatant and to have
his territory considered neutral ground,
supplying either belligerant, or both,
for proper consideration. The pros
pect of trouble which threatened his
quiet annoyed him extremely, and as the
cloud of war neared his own locality,
the incident confusion made q chaos of
his restful ideas and threw him into q
condition noticeable in some persons
over burning dwelling. Compelled
to think and act rapidly, he became
bewildered, lost all presence of mind,
and finally tottered on the verge Of
insanity. But we are anticipating q
little.
While the Continental army lay in his
neighborhood, and in partial occupancy
of his farm, Hans, though sorely grieved
ut the unavoidable disturbance of his
ease, had passed as sympathizer with
the colonial cause and had contributed
to the commisary stores, not so much for
the love of the paper currency rendered
in exchange, as because he could not
help it. No military rules could prevent
countless petty vexations by an armed
host encamped on and around him. But
he was not treated as an enemy, nor was
the sanctity of his household openly vio-
lated. His paramount concern was for
the safety Of a ceatain earthen crock
the treasury of his annual revenues
when turned into gold coin which had
always been kept in secret nook in his
cellar, accessible only to himself, There