I was drowned seven times after that before I learned to swim--once in Bear Creek and six times in the Mississippi.

I do not now know who the people were who interfered with the intentions of a Providence wiser than themselves, but I hold a grudge against them yet.

When I told the tale of these remarkable happenings to Rev.Dr.Burton of Hartford, he said he did not believe it.

_He slipped on the ice the very next year and sprained his ankle._ Will Bowen was another schoolmate, and so was his brother, Sam, who was his junior by a couple of years.

Before the Civil War broke out, both became St.Louis and New Orleans pilots.