BUYING IRON IN NEW YORK CITY
BUT for the fact that it was not easy to get iron, we
would have believed ourselves in a fair way to become
rich. Before we had been running our nail factory
[116] a month, the supply of raw material gave out entirely,
and for a time it looked as if we would be forced to
remain idle until more metal could be brought from
England.
Strange as it may seem, it was through William
Penn that we were able to keep our factory running.
He had let it be known that it was his purpose to
visit New York city with the intention of conferring
with the governor of that colony, and the ship Ranger
was made ready to convey him.
Now it so happened that one of the seamen belonging
to the ship was an old friend of ours, he having been
on board the John and Sarah when we came over from
England. One day,
just before the Ranger
sailed, he heard us
bewailing our ill fortune in not having a
plentiful supply of
iron, and proposed
that he buy for us in
New York as much
as we could pay for
in gold or silver coin.
And he kept his
word, for when our
governor returned from
[117] his visiting, we had iron bars enough to keep us
busy at the forge a good three months, and you may
be certain we did not spend any idle time, for it stood
us in hand to work to the utmost of our strength
while there was a possibility of selling all we could
make.
I am not trying to make it appear that Jethro and I
were so in love with hard work that it pleased us to
stand at the forge, in stormy weather as well as pleasant,
instead of going here or there with other lads in search
of sport; but it seemed to us that we could better take
our pleasure after the town was built, and in the
meantime be making a little money.
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