worthy sister"--endeavor by all gentle means of
persuasion to deter me from my purpose, and finally try to frighten me
out of it. I was incorrigible.

Not long after, a gentleman who resided in the town with my aunt, came
to visit us, and being alone in a comfortable one-horse vehicle, was
glad enough to accept my offered company on his way home; so, gaining
the reluctant consent of my mother, I started, full of an indefinite
sort of pleasurable expectation, nourished by the changing diorama of
a summer afternoon's ride through a cultivated part of the country.

Arriving at the verge of a limpid stream, my companion turned the
horse to drink, so suddenly, that the wheels became cramped, and we
were precipitated into the water, the wagon turning a summerset
directly over our heads. Strange to say, neither of us were hurt, and
the stream was shallow, though deep enough to give us a thorough cold
bath, and to deluge the trunk containing my clothes, the lock of which
flew open in the fall. My mortified protector crept from under our
capsized ark as soon as he could, and let me out at the window; when I
felt myself to be in rather a worse condition than was Noah's dove,
who "found no rest for the sole of her foot;" for beside dripping from
all my garments, like a surcharged umbrella, my soul, too, found no
foothold of excuse on which to stand justified before my father for
exposing myself to such an _emergence_ without his knowledge. However,
_return_ we must. Nor was the situation of my conductor's body or mind
very enviable, being obliged to present me to my parents, drooping
like a water-lily. But if ill-luck had pursued us, good luck awaited
our return; for we found that my father had not yet arrived from his
business, and my mother's conscience kept our secret; so that
frustration in my first attempt to visit Aunt Polly, was all the evil
that came out of the adventure. Notwithstanding my ardor had been so
damped with cold water, it was yet warm enough for another effort;
though it must be confessed, that for a few days subsequent to the
accident, my animal spirits were something in the state of
over-night--uncorked champagne.

The first sign of their renewed vitality was the again expressed
desire to visit Aunt Polly. I, however, learned obedience by the
things I had suffered, and resolved not to venture on another
expedition without the approval and protection of my father, who,
because of my importunity, at length