t had an exposure toward the north and the west. A number of witnesses
in the vicinity of Nineveh remember that the prophet set a day for that
village to sink, but that he afterward repented and withdrew his curse.
He did, however, announce that on a certain evening, about twilight, he
would walk on the water. The place of his selection was watched by
Gentile boys until one of Smith's followers was seen to construct a
bridge of planks just under the surface. Watching their opportunity, the
boys removed the outer planks. Before the prophet made the attempt to
walk he exhorted his followers to have strong faith. When his bridge
suddenly gave way he swam ashore and said, "Woe unto you of little
faith! Your faith would not hold me up."

There were other boys in the neighborhood who thought it rare sport to
annoy the Mormons. The same Joseph Knight who has already figured in
this narrative owned a small farm on which he had built a combined
grist- and carding-mill. The power was obtained by means of a small
stream, the outlet of Perch Pond to the Susquehanna River, opposite
Harpersville. This stream was dammed, so that the Mormon converts might
be baptized by immersion. The day for the ceremony was fixed, but the
boys so persistently destroyed the dam that the Mormons did not attempt
to rebuild it till the night before, and then they were obliged to stand
guard until the hour for the baptism had arrived. Knight's barn was a
rude structure of about forty by thirty feet, but it served the purpose
of a tabernacle in the wilderness for a number of months. The prophet
himself was not a very successful preacher, but the versatile Sidney
Rigdon more than made up for his defects. Smith Baker gives Rigdon the
credit of being "a decent speaker, as preachers averaged in those days."

A semblance of persecution having strengthened the Church, the Gentile
inhabitants of the Susquehanna Valley were glad when a "revelation"
caused the sixty Mormons to pack their traps and move westward. Some of
the followers were moved by a spirit of adventure, while others placed
their property in the common lot and determined to accompany the prophet
to his earthly as well as to his heavenly kingdom. Smith Baker was one of
the teamsters, and reports that the train consisted of three baggage- and
eleven passenger-wagons. The exodus was along the old State road, north of
Binghamton, to Ithaca, and thence, across Cayuga Lake, to Palmyra.

The Saints in the