j/' 



The lVilder7iess Htmter. 



jumpers can possibly follow the pack. Most of the horses 

 used are bred by the farmers in the neighborhood, or are 

 from Canada, and they usually have thoroughbred or 

 trottincr-stock blood in them. 



One of the pleasantest days I ever passed in the saddle 

 was after Mr. Wadsworth's hounds. I was staying with 

 him at the time, in company with my friend Senator Cabot 

 Lodge, of Boston. The meet was about twelve miles distant 

 from the house. It was only a small field of some twenty- 

 five riders, but there was not one who did not mean going. 

 I was mounted on a young horse, a powerful, big-boned 

 black, a great jumper, though perhaps a trifle hot-headed. 

 Lodge was on a fine bay, which could both run and jump. 

 There were two or three other New Yorkers and Bostoni- 

 ans present, several men who had come up from Buffalo 

 for the run, a couple of retired army officers, a number of 

 farmers from the neighborhood ; and finally several 

 members of a noted local family of hard riders, who 

 formed a class by themselves, all having taken naturally 

 to every variety of horsemanship from earliest infancy. 



It was a thoroughly democratic assemblage ; every one 

 was there for sport, and nobody cared an ounce how he or 

 anybody else was dressed. Slouch hats, brown coats, 

 corduroy breeches, and leggings, or boots, were the order 

 of the day. We cast off in a thick wood. The dogs 

 struck a trail almost immediately and were off with clam- 

 orous yelping, while the hunt thundered after them like a 

 herd of buffaloes. We went headlong down the hill-side 

 into and across a brook. Here the trail led straight up 

 a sheer bank. Most of the riders struck off to the left for 



