an anchor for a leaning post, could never have experienced any of thy
vagrant propensities. He should have invested thee with the rainbow of
Iris, the winged feet of Mercury, and the upward pointing finger of
Faith; and as for thy footstool, it should be a fleecy white cloud,
changing its form with the changing breeze.

Yet this hope of mine, of one day seeing the Falls of Niagara, was,
after all, a very enduring hope; for though I began to fear that it
never would be realized, yet, for twenty years, I never gave it up
entirely; and Patience, who always sits at the feet of Hope, was at
length rewarded by her sister's consenting smile.

During the past summer I was confined, by severe indisposition, almost
entirely to the house. The obstinate nature of my disease baffled
the skill of a very clever medical attendant, and created alarm and
uneasiness in my family: and I entertained small hopes of my own
recovery.

Dr. L---, as a last resource, recommended change of air and scene; a
remedy far more to my taste than the odious drugs from which I had not
derived the least benefit. Ill and languid as I was, Niagara once more
rose before my mental vision, and I exclaimed, with a thrill of joy,
"The time is come at last--I shall yet see it before I die."

My dear husband was to be the companion of my long journey in search
of health. Our simple arrangements were soon made, and on the 7th of
September we left Belleville in the handsome new steam-boat, "The Bay of
Quinte," for Kingston.

The afternoon was cloudless, the woods just tinged with their first