originally intended. He had remained a bachelor, not a very usual state
of life for an Irishman; but, somehow or other he had not met the girl
he "wished to marry," as he used to say. He was, notwithstanding, a
merry, good-natured, kind-hearted man, and I remember that we always
enjoyed his brief visits whenever he rode over on his fast-trotting cob
to see us. Uncle Denis had not come for some time, when my father
received a message from a doctor who was attending him, stating that if
his sister wished to see him alive, she must come over immediately. My
mother did not hesitate a moment, and my father agreed to drive her over
in the waggon. I was to accompany them. Preparations were at once made
for our departure, and as the Shawanees, long the foes of the white man
in those regions, had buried the war-hatchet, and were not likely to
come that way, the rest of the children were left without any
apprehensions of danger, under the charge of our old black nurse, Rose.

The waggon was a long, light vehicle, with little or no iron-work about
it, having benches across, and rails on either side. It had four wheels
of equal size, and was drawn by a couple of horses harnessed to a pole;
owing to the height and position of the two front wheels, we could not
turn without making a long sweep.

My father sat on the box to drive. My mother and I occupied the front
bench, and behind was stowed our luggage, provisions for the journey,
and various other articles, Although I was very young at the time, I
have nevertheless a clear recollection of some of the incidents of the
journey.

Descending by a thickly wooded valley to the level of the Ohio, we
crossed that river in a large ferry-boat, which conveyed our horses and
waggon at the same time, while my mother and I sat in the vehicle and my
father stood at the head of the animals to keep them quiet. The stream
carried us down for some distance, and I remember my mother holding me
tight in her arms, and looking with terrified glances at the water as it
whirled by, apparently about to sweep the lumbering boat far down below
the point the rowers were endeavouring to gain. They exerted
themselves, however, to the utmost. The boat's head was turned partly
up the stream, and an eddy taking her, we at length reached the
landing-place. My father then mounting the box, with voice and whip
urged the horses up the steep bank, and once more the waggon rolled over
tolerably even grou