The spring and summer of his ninth year were, he says, memorable in his history. When the ice was breaking up, at the end of the winter, he took his skates and his bat one day, uncertain which he should use, and going with both in his hands, to the river side, he leaned over from a wharf, to try the strength of the ice with his bat. The ice gave way, and he plunged head foremost into the river. The current was strong, and swept him twice under the ice, which was too rotten to bear up; until his head broke through a third time, when he was taken out by some bystanders, apparently lifeless, and carried home to be revived.