MISCELLANEOUS. 253 



mongrel gave him. Sometimes the ground-hog would get the 

 dog by the lip, the cheek, the ear, or jaw, and hang there 

 until nearly every bone in his body was chewed up before he 

 would let go. Sometimes the dog would be on top and 

 sometimes the ground-hog, and when the fight was over the 

 ground for a space a rod square would be strewn with blood 

 and hair. It was rough on both the animals, but fun for the 

 boys, besides, I knew it would be the " making of the pup," 

 so I always let them fight it out to the death. The boys used 

 to gather in from the whole neighborhood on Sunda to go 

 out and have a woodchuck hunt. 



Here, as I look around, I can find several of the fissures in 

 the rocks from which I have pulled my victims, and I fancy 

 I can almost see traces on the ground yet of some of these 

 fights. Just here by this ravine used to lie a large hollow log, 

 from which I have dragged several of them at different times ; 

 but it has rotted down, and it is only by the closest scrutiny 

 that I can find traces of the bed of old decayed wood, where 

 it once rested. 



And poor old Ring ! Dear, faithful old companion of 

 my boyhood where art thou now? Oh, thou hast passed 

 away long years ago, and I trust, to the happy hunting 

 ground. Couldst thou see the bitter tears that course down 

 my cheeks as I write these lines, thou wouldst know that thou 



art still 



" Though lost to sight, 

 To memory dear." 



And now I come at last to the old house, the old home- 

 stead, 



" The little old log cabin by the lane." 



But alas ! how changed it and all its surroundings ! True, 

 the house itself still stands, but it looks not as it did when 

 last I saw it. The logs are far gone with decay, and it, too, 



