I got as wet as could be, but the horse carried me safely across at the proper place.

After I got out a mile or so from the river, I came into a large prairie, which I think must have been twenty or thirty miles in width, and the road run across it about in the direction that I wanted to go.

I laid whip to the horse, and I think he must have carried me not less than forty miles that night, or before sun rise the next morning.

I then stopped him in a spot of high grass in an old field, and took off the bridle.

I thanked God, and thanked the horse for what he had done for me, and wished him a safe journey back home.
I know the poor horse must have felt stiff, and tired from his speedy jaunt, and I felt very bad myself, riding at that rate all night without a saddle; but I felt as if I had too much at stake to favor either horse flesh or man flesh.