32 THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND 



know what it was to quit. For the first two or three days, on 

 the camp hunts with Mr. Plummer, Mr. Gosnell claimed that 

 his dogs had the best of the going, but after that, the honors 

 went to the brindle liounds, and the longer they hunted the 

 better they were. Mr. Gosnell called the Plummer dogs the 

 "whalebone hounds". He borrowed a pair of them once and 

 hunted with his friend, Mr. Hardey. For three days they had 

 splendid running, and all of the dogs were of a class, but on the 

 fourth day, when the Howard county hounds seemed tired and 

 ready to quit, the brindle fellows were just getting in good 

 shape; doing better work than ever, and would not listen to the 

 blowing of the horn when the hunters started home, and Mr 

 Gosnell frequently had to wait until night to get them out of 

 the woods. Mr. Hardey claims that he never saw such dogs; 

 they could take a trail that his dogs could not smell and carry 

 it. But Mr. Plummer guarded his stock closely, and would not 

 let anybody get it. By strategy, Mr. Napoleon Welch secured 

 the Sugar Loaf stock, and it was he who gave it out. There is a 

 little romance connected with the story. Old man Plummer had 

 two attractive daughters, one of whom was the avowed sweet- 

 heart of a friend of Mr. Welch ; that he might have his girl all 

 to himself the young gallant took Mr. Welch along to entertain 

 the sister. The kindness was appreciated by the young couple, 

 and when they had become husband and wife Mr. Welch ap- 

 pealed to tlie bride to fetch to him at Baltimore a pair of her 

 father's best young hounds, and she did. Therefore, Mr. Welcli 

 not only enjoyed the company of the accomplished sister for a 

 time but was rewarded in the end with something that no one 

 else had been able to get. He first gave breeding privileges on 

 the Sugar Loaf dog. 



Tlie Sugar Loaf hound had faults, lie was brindle, frequently 

 came with a glass eye and was ill-tempered ; these were bred out 

 while the good qualities, the keen nose, the strong constitution, 

 the bull -dog tenacity, and the everlasting bottom were retained. 

 The Sugar Loaf blood drifted into the hands of two Carroll 

 county men, namely Messrs. Henry M. Griifee and Charley 

 Crawford, a nephew of Nimrod Gosnell. Mr. Garrett, assisted 

 by Mr. Welch, located Mr. Crawford and drove twenty-six miles 

 to his home, through a snow storm, to see his dogs. Mr. 

 Crawford insisted that the best way to test hounds was to watch 

 them work in the field, and regardless of the unsatisfactory 



