The water rose to Rachel's feet, but that seemed its greatest depth, and in a few more yards she would gain the opposite bank, when suddenly the mare stepped upon a slippery steep, her feet went from under her instantly, and steed and rider rolled in the sweeping flood of ice-cold water.

Rachel's first thought was that she should surely drown, but hope came back as she caught a limb swinging from a tree on the bank.

With this she held her head above water until she could collect herself a little, and then with great difficulty pulled herself up the muddy, slippery bank.

The weight of her soaked clothes added greatly to the difficulty and the fatigue, and she lay for some little time prone upon her face across the furrows of a cotton field, before she could stand erect.

At last she was able to stand up, and she relieved herself somewhat by taking off her calico riding skirt and wringing the water from it.