about a mile from the town, which my husband
liked to visit every morning. It was possible to go thither by the
beach, but he preferred to take a narrow bridle path on the side of a
very steep hill. I had never been a bold rider, and I must confess that
I suffered agonies of fear in following him on these expeditions. If I
lagged behind, he would cry, "Come on! it's as bad as going to a funeral
to ride with you." And so, I suppose, it was. I remember one day when a
great palm branch had fallen across our path. I thought that my horse
would certainly slip on it, sending me to depths below. Fortunately he
did not. That very day, while Dr. Howe was taking his siesta, I went to
the place where this impediment lay, and with a great effort threw it
over the steep mountain-side. The whole neighborhood of Samana is very
mountainous, and I sometimes found it impossible to obey the word of
command. One day my husband spurred his horse and made a gallant dash at
a very steep ascent, ordering me to follow him. I tried my best, but
only got far enough to find myself awkwardly at a standstill, and unable
to go either backward or forward. The Doctor was obliged to dismount and
to lead my horse down to the level ground. This, he assured me, was a
severe mortification for him.

Dr. Howe desired at this time to make a journey on horseback to a part
of the interior which he had not visited. He engaged as a guide a man
familiar with the region and able on foot to keep pace with any ordinary
horse. I remember that this man asked for a warning of some days, in
order that he might purchase his _combustibles_, meaning comestibles.
This journey, often talked of, was never undertaken. We sometimes varied
the even tenor of our days in Samana by a sail in the pretty steam
launch belonging to the Samana Bay Company. On one occasion we took a
rowboat and went to visit an English carpenter who had built himself a
hut in the forest not far from the shore. We found his wife surrounded
by her young family. The cabin was provided with berths for sleeping
accommodation. The household work was done mostly in the open air. On a
rude table I found some Greek books. "Whose are those?" I asked. "Oh,
they belong to my husband. He studies Greek in order to understand the
New Testament." Yet this man was so illiterate as to allow some pupils
of his to use a small i for our personal pronoun. In spite of my
husband's permission, I did not preach very much during th