long rifle
were sure to be on my trail. An additional ounce of calomel
hardly sufficed to neutralize the effect of these raw-head
and bloody-bones adventures. I was advised to plunge
immediately into a course of fashionable novels. It was a
great relief to me; but as my head was by no means very clear,
I sometimes jumbled strangely together the civilized rogues
and assassins of Mr. Bulwer, and the wild men, women, and
children slayers of Mr. Cooper; and, truly, between them, I
passed my dreams in very bad company.

Still I could not stand, nor even sit upright. What was I to
read next? A happy thought struck me. I determined upon
beginning with Waverley, and reading through (not for the first
time certainly) the whole series. And what a world did I enter
upon! The wholesome vigour of every page seemed to communicate
itself to my nerves; I ceased to be languid and fretful, and
though still a cripple, I certainly enjoyed myself most
completely, as long as my treat lasted; but this was a shorter
time than any one would believe, who has not found how such
volumes melt, before the constant reading of a long idle day.
When it was over, however, I had the pleasure of finding that I
could walk half a dozen yards at a time, and take short airings
in an open carriage; and better still, could sleep quietly.

It was no very agreeable conviction which greeted my recovery,
that our Cincinnati speculation for my son would in no way answer
our expectation; and very soon after, he was again seized with
the bilious fever of the country, which terminated in that most
distressing of all maladies, an ague. I never witnessed is
effects before, and therefore made my self extremely miserable at
what those around me considered of no consequence.

I believe this frightful complaint is not immediately dangerous;
but I never can believe that the violent and sudden prostration
of strength, the dreadfully convulsive movements which distort
the limbs, the livid hue that spreads itself over the complexion,
can take place without shaking the seat of health and life.
Repeatedly we thought the malady cured, and for a few days the
poor sufferer believed himself restored to health and strength;
but again and again it returned upon him, and he began to give
himself up as the victim of ill health. My own health was still
very infirm, and it took but little time to decide that we must
leave Cincinnati. The only impediment to this was, the fea