PEPACTON 



as the fox-tracks were very thick on and about it, 

 we concluded that a couple of males had had an 

 encounter there, and a pretty sharp one. Reynard 

 goes a-wooing in February, and it is to be presumed 

 that, like other dogs, he is a jealous lover. A crow 

 had alighted and examined the blood-stains, and 

 now, if he will look a little farther along, upon a 

 flat rock he will find the flesh he was looking for. 

 Our hound's nose was so blunted now, speaking 

 without metaphor, that he would not look at another 

 trail, but hurried home to rest upon his laurels. 



A POTOMAC SKETCH 



While on a visit to Washington in January, 1878, 

 I went on an expedition down the Potomac with 

 a couple of friends to shoot ducks. We left on the 

 morning boat that makes daily trips to and from 

 Mount Vernon. The weather was chilly and the 

 sky threatening. The clouds had a singular appear- 

 ance; they were boat-shaped, with well-defined keels. 

 I have seldom known such clouds to bring rain ; 

 they are simply the fleet of JSolus, and so it proved 

 on this occasion, for they gradually dispersed or 

 faded out and before noon the sun was shining. 



We saw numerous flocks of ducks on the passage 

 down, and saw a gun (the man was concealed) 

 shoot some from a " blind " near Fort Washington. 

 Opposite Mount Vernon, on the flats, there was a 

 large " bed " of ducks. I thought the word a good 

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