Fox Hunting in New England 61 



load enough for the Daisy's small dingey. The Daisy was a 

 "cat" rigged yacht, about sixteen feet water line and twenty 

 feet over all and seven feet beam. Removing the sail cover 

 and setting the mainsail was the work of five minutes, and by 

 the time the hounds were alongside everything was ready for 

 letting go our mooring. 



Uncle Abner had taken his seat in the stern, with tiller and 

 main sheet in hand, Nelson had removed the couplings, and no 

 sooner did the dingey touch alongside than the hounds began 

 springing aboard. "Let go forward," said Uncle Abner, as by 

 a quick turn of the rudder, he caused the Daisy's mainsail to 

 fill. Nelson crawled aboard, making the dingey fast as he came. 



What a delightful sail! What a perfect autumn day! the 

 sun had but lately risen ; the first gentle breeze of the morning 

 was stirring and came to us loaded with savoury odors of a 

 piny birchen flavour. 



With one short tack, we presently arrive under the lee of a 

 projecting headland. The Daisy is brought up into the wind, 

 down comes the mainsail, and as her headway is nearly gone. 

 Nelson lets go the anchor. 



Hounds had been put in couples and the leash made fast to 

 a cleat in the centreboard. Nelson puts Uncle Abner and his 

 guest ashore and returns for the hounds. Meanwhile, Uncle 

 Abner stations the writer some way up the liill ahd moves off 

 to take up a similar position for himself some forty rods away. 

 What a beautiful wood, free from underbrush, the great 

 spreading tree tops in the flood tide of autumn, forming a 

 glorious canopy of yellow and gold ! The leaves were still wet 

 with the dews of the morning, so we came to our station without 

 disturbing a single resident of the wood. "What an ideal day 

 for gunning," the squirrels were chattering, like gossiping 

 fish wives on a market day. The crows were collecting in a 

 portion of the wood farther on. We tried the sights of our 

 guns on a circling hawk. Several honey bees went past, all in 



