firmly attach myself to the plump lady, and cling to her through
fire and water; for I feel that my old enemy, the cramp, will
seize me by the foot, if I attempt to swim; and, though I can
hardly expect to reach Jersey City with myself and my baggage in
as good condition as I hoped, I might manage to get picked up by
holding to my fat friend; if not it will be a comfort to feel
that I've made an effort and shall die in good society. Poor dear
woman! how little she dreamed, as she read and rocked, with her
cap in a high state of starch, and her feet comfortably cooking
at the register, what fell designs were hovering about her, and
how intently a small but determined eye watched her, till it
suddenly closed.

Sleep got the better of fear to such an extent that my boots
appeared to gape, and my bonnet nodded on its peg, before I gave
in. Having piled my cloak, bag, rubbers, books and umbrella on
the lower shelf, I drowsily swarmed onto the upper one, tumbling
down a few times, and excoriating the knobby portions
of my frame in the act. A very brief nap on the upper roost was
enough to set me gasping as if a dozen feather beds and the whole
boat were laid over me. Out I turned; and after a series of
convulsions, which caused my neighbor to ask if I wanted the
stewardess, I managed to get my luggage up and myself down. But
even in the lower berth, my rest was not unbroken, for various
articles kept dropping off the little shelf at the bottom of the
bed, and every time I flew up, thinking my hour had come, I
bumped my head severely against the little shelf at the top,
evidently put there for that express purpose. At last, after
listening to the swash of the waves outside, wondering if the
machinery usually creaked in that way, and watching a knot-hole