or pantaloons, trots away with an old lady’s basket, drops it, springs up and tumbles down, yelping and barking with delight. When he is tired he leaves off, lies down, lolling out his tongue as though he wanted it to be examined by a doctor, and pants as though his heart was trying to break through his ribs. One crusty old gentleman with weak nerves starts a theory that the dog is mad. Some take the alarm, and the poor brute is cuffed and hunted from under tables and chairs and sofas and at last is inveigled out upon the deck under false pretences--deluded by the idea of “rats”--and is tied to a rail, where he remains a prisoner till our journey’s end. We carry out a couple of rocking-chairs and keep him company, cheering him with a kind word and occasional pat, which he perfectly understands, and in his mute, pathetic way shows us that he quite appreciates our sympathy. Meanwhile the bell has rung, and we are cast off from the shore and started on our brief water trip. The river stretches its slow length lazily before and behind us in a state of dreamy calm, as though it wanted to lie still and enjoy one brief, undisturbed holiday; it has no freight ships to bear on its breast to-day, and resents the intrusion of our pleasure steamer; it turns its tide away and will give us no help whatever, but runs after us now and then in light, foamy flashes as our paddle-wheel irritates it into action. This delightful water drive from Jacksonville to Tocoi is not perhaps the most picturesque portion of the St. John’s river, yet is full of interest and has many points of attraction for strangers. We glide between low-lying shores fringed with branching reeds and waving grasses, closed in the distance by serried ranks of fine old forest trees and stretches of evergreen shrubs; it is full of primitive simplicity, peace, and delicious quietude. We feel at peace with ourselves and all the world as we glide along this placid river, its tranquil surface only broken by the reflection of the floating clouds above it, which are mirrored therein as in a looking-glass; here and there we pass a tiny vessel with white sails set and the stars and stripes fluttering from its masthead. Presently we come to Orange Park, a neat little village wreathed with beautiful gardens and sentinelled by fine old forest trees, which stand in rank and file along the water’s edge. There is a fine hotel here standing a short distance from, but in full view of, the river, for the accommodation of winter visitors, to whom it furnishes most comfortable quarters.