Fifteen miles a day was the outside distance they could persuade the
oxen to travel, consequently, they were compelled to camp out two
nights out of the six in which they were on the road. Luckily, the
weather was dry and warm. At night the musquitoes were dreadfully
annoying, as my poor little Maria's neck and arms too plainly showed.

During the afternoon of the second day, when within six miles of
Trifogle's tavern, their intended resting-place for the night, they
were overtaken by a man who was going in the same direction, who very
politely--as my wife thought--offered to carry her baby part of the
way. She was, of course, very glad to avail herself of his kind offer;
nor did she perceive, till after he had got possession of the bairn,
that he was intoxicated. She immediately demanded back her little
treasure, but no inducement could persuade him to relinquish it, and he
set off with the infant as fast as he could. In vain the poor mother
besought him to stop--in vain she sobbed and cried. On he went,
followed by my Mary, who found great difficulty in keeping up with him,
which she did at first, till, at length, exhausted by the unusual
fatigue, maternal anxiety, and the roughness of the road, she lost
sight of him when about a mile from the tavern. He had walked off with
his little burden.

She was now dreadfully alarmed, for night was fast coming on, and she
did not know whether she was on the right track or not. Fortunately, a
light through the trees extricated her from this dilemma: her only
uneasiness was now for her child. She was soon, however, relieved from
this uncertainty; for, on entering the house, there sat the man with
the baby on his knee. The child appeared to be on very friendly terms
with him, and had, no doubt, enjoyed herself amazingly while her bearer
was running away with her.