steal them, The had taken my pantaloons pocket and put the watch in it with the purse cut off the pocket and tied a string round the top; it was in this position when brought home. My family however were not a little startled to find that my watch had been struck with a ball. I sent for my vest and upon examination it was found that there was a cut, as if with a knife, in the vest pocket, which had contained my watch. In the pocket the fragments of the glass were found literally ground to powder. It then occurred to me that a ball had struck me, at the time that I felt myself falling out of the window, and that it was this force that threw me inside. I had often remarked to Mrs. Taylor the singular fact of finding myself inside the room when I felt a moment before, after being shot, that I was falling out, and I never could account for it untill then; but here the thing was fully accounted for elucidated & was rendered plain to my mind. I was indeed, falling out when some villain aimed at my heart. The ball struck my watch and forced me back, if I had fallen out I should assuredly have been killed, if not by the fall, by those around, and this ball, intended to dispatch me, was turned by an overruling providence into a messenger of mercy, and saved my life. I shall never forget the feeling of gratitude that I then experienced toward my heavenly Father, the whole scene was vividly pourtrayed before me, and my heart melted before the Lord. I felt the Lord had preserved me by [p. 68]