A WILD-CAT HUNT IN CAROLINA. 167 



by leaping from tree to tree, until, having threaded 

 out the thicket, he had again ventured on terra 

 firma, to gain the shelter in the wood. We had 

 hardly plunged into the wood, to follow the direc- 

 tion taken by the hounds, when a shot from the old 

 field in the rear told us that the cat had again 

 doubled, to regain the thicket. A neighboring 

 planter, who had been called out by the unusual 

 din of our sport, had stumbled on him while exe- 

 cuting his retreat, and saluted him with a load of 

 bird shot. Two terriers, which had followed him 

 into the field, now fifed in, to the louder clamor of 

 the hounds ; the pointers, obedient to evil example, 

 were no longer content to leave the sport to the 

 regular practitioners, but chimed in likewise with 

 their sharp and shrill notes; and the uproar was 

 delicious ! 



Look at Dash ! he is pushing for the margin as 

 fast as spur can drive him he reins in his horse, 

 and cracks away with duck-shot " your distance 

 is too great, that shot won't tell!" There is the cat, 

 leaping from tree to tree, repeating the manoeuvre 

 by which he has already foiled us ; but not unseen, 

 as then. What ! young cousin to a tiger, would 

 you play the same game twice on practised sports- 

 men, too ? Dash starts to gain a nearer position. 



