A North Carolina Fox Hunt by Moonlight 55 



last litter of puppies from old Ginger — they were nearly six 

 months old — up drove Colonel Sacket. 



"Well," said that game old sportsman, "Colonel, I con- 

 gratulate you on having the best pack of hounds I ever saw. 

 Old Ginger is indeed a wonder. My importation of English 

 blood has proved a rank failure. I am thoroughly disgusted 

 with the whole lot." 



Not an allusion to the evening before did Colonel Thorpe 

 make, but leading his old neighbour to the kennels, they fell to 

 discussing the last litter. 



"Which do you think the best of the lot?" asked Colonel 

 Thorpe. 



"Well," said Colonel Sacket, after he had looked and han- 

 dled them all over carefully, "I think I like the white and tan 

 dog, but the Httle bitch is a beauty, and marked just like her 

 mother." 



"Jim, ho, Jim, fetch a basket from the kitchen " 



"Sir," said Colonel Thorpe, "may I have the pleasure of 

 presenting you with the pair of puppies you hke best from old 

 Ginger?" 



Colonel Sacket blushed like a school-girl. He could hardly 

 speak. When he did, he stretched out his hand, and said "Col- 

 onel Thorpe, you — you're a gentleman and a sportsman. I 

 take these dogs in the spirit they are given, and hope that in 

 the years to come, I shall be able to produce a pack of hounds 

 that will be a credit to the country, an honour to the state and 

 the very de\al to chase foxes." 



Then we went in and with a mint julep such as Jim only 

 can make, we drank to the health of Col. Sacket, and his success 

 in the breeding of American bred foxhounds, and once again 

 to Col. Thorpe, a genuine Southern sportsman of the old 

 school. 



