66 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



must climb the loftiest of the hoary trees, and that with a 

 lithe daring that would have curdled soberer blood. 



With the winter came new sports, more hardy still the 

 long night hunts by stealth with the younger darkies and 

 their little cur dogs, for the sulky " 'Possum. " That was 

 great sport to begin with for we seldom ventured far from 

 the skirts of the plantation for fear of getting lost, and we 

 were not yet old enough to be promoted to sharing the dan- 

 gerous honors of the Coon hunt with the grown negroes, 

 because we could not keep up with their weary tramps. 



But the 'Possum hunt was our own affair, and well we 

 knew to manage it among ourselves. It all had to be done 

 very quietly ; and if a dog barked before we got clear out of 

 ear-shot of the " Big House," he got well kicked for it by all 

 in reach black or white. We dreaded betrayal in the least 

 sound ; and even the chunk of fire carried by the biggest 

 darkie, was carefully sheltered by our hats and bodies, lest 

 its tell-tale gleam might be seen. Once round the turn and 

 fairly in the woods, we breathed freely, and might venture to 

 raise our voices from the eager whispers of consultation to 

 the more decided tones of decision and command encouraging 

 each other and the dogs: for "outer-darkness" is a great 

 damper upon both boys and dogs! 



Now we may cheer, and even whoop, as we are beginning 

 to enter the old field, where the persimmons grow, and wild 

 grapes mat, with their strong tendrils, the scrubby thickets. 

 Here the " 'possums" resort to feast upon the fruits, and the 

 " old har" keeps his form, too, in the long grass and briar 

 patches ; and every now and then, with a sudden burst of 

 screeching yelps, the little curs break away after a bounding 

 fellow, which they soon lose in the thickets. We do not care 

 for these interruptions, for the little dogs cannot trail them 

 far, and soon lose them in doubling through the briars. We 

 have no fear that the noise they make will spoil our sport a 



