our combined forces. Some two or three miles from 

 our house one of the largest red foxes ever seen in 

 that locality had his habitation, and he was known far 

 and wide as "Old Spot," because he had a large white 

 spot on his right side, which was plainly visible to 

 hunters in the daytime. Old Spot was as game and 

 wily as any fox that ever led a pack of hounds a for- 

 lorn chase, and seemed to enjoy being pursued by 

 hounds better than stealing and eating a tender young 

 chicken from a farmer's hencoop ; and whenever Alfred 

 and I wanted some fun we would take the dogs down 

 to the domain of Old Spot, who seemed to anticipate 

 our coming and was always ready to mingle in the 

 sport. He had his regular runways, and had so 

 planned his course that it would describe the figure 8 

 and cross and recross his tracks, and when the hounds 

 would get tired of following him he would seek his 

 resting place and be ready for another chase. We had 

 chased him so much that we did not believe all the 

 hounds in the State could catch him, and so declared 

 to our friends ; and this declaration stirred up the 

 hunting blood of a number of sportsmen far and near, 

 who each claimed to have the best dogs in the world, 

 and ones that no fox could escape, and it was not long 

 before an organized effort was suggested to try and 

 catch Old Spot. The ones forming this sanguinary 

 syndicate were Mr. A., Mr. G., Mr. B., Mr. S., Alfred 

 and myself. Each of these gentlemen had a pack of 

 hounds, numbering about nine or ten, so that when 

 the hunters assembled there were more than fifty 

 hounds, each eager to get the first taste of blood from 

 Old Spot. At the head of Mr. A.'s pack was a hound 

 called " Ranger," that was celebrated for his fleetness 

 and staying qualities. The pack of Mr. G. was led by 



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