BOSTON AND BALDY. 



Following it a mile or so, still keep- 

 ing to the bluffs, we came to a large 

 gully clown which the pack turned into 

 the low grounds. As they reached a 

 piece of corn stubble they broke into 

 full chorus. " He is up and gone ! He 

 is up and gone! " was the cry. What 

 a moment of excitement! What a 

 picture was unfolded to our eyes as 

 from the bluffs we could see the pack 

 straightening out along the false 

 bank! A few hundred yards ahead 

 of them, a flock of crows were darting 

 at something which we concluded was 

 the fox. 



The spell was broken by Capt. D. 

 Putting spurs to his horse, and yelling, 

 " Ride like the Devil, boys, he will 

 cross at the Point! " And ride we did. 

 We cut a swath through the sassafras 

 brush, that looked like the track of a 

 tornado. At the edge of an opening, 

 we paused to listen. The pack was 

 almost out of hearing, still going up 

 the river; but in a few moments, the 

 fox having doubled, we heard them re- 

 turning. The word was passed, 

 " Keep still, and we will see him." 

 When the pack was about opposite, 

 and but half a mile away, out popped 

 the fox within 50 yards of us. We 

 were in luck. It was Old Baldy him- 

 self, patch and all. Away he went, his 

 brush standing straight to the wind. 



Now all was commotion. Whose 

 dog was leading? we queried. What 

 a chorus came up the hill! Is there 

 any music to be compared with that of 

 a pack of dogs in full cry? 



The first dog to appear in sight was 

 Boston, his head up and running like 

 the wind. He was at least a minute in 

 advance of the others, and was only 

 opening once in each hundred yards. 

 The rest of the pack was well 

 bunched. They were led by my dogs 

 Tempest and Colonel, who were run- 

 ning neck and neck. We swung in be- 

 hind them, cheering like mad. After 6 

 or 8 miles of very rough riding, we 

 heard the dogs stop. There were only 

 4 of us up then; the rest having 

 been thrown out. We rode up to 

 where we expected to find Old Baldy's 

 torn and mangled remains, but found 



instead that the dogs had lost his 

 trail. 



Here we circled for a while without 

 a strike, but at last Forest, an old coon 

 dog of mine, " hit it off." That darned 

 fox had taken to fence-running. 

 Forest followed him along the fence 

 for at least half a mile. Then we again 

 lost the scent in a field where Old 

 Baldy had run through a flock of 

 sheep. In vain we circled the enclos- 

 ure. We thought we had lost him for 

 the day, and decided to call the dogs 

 off and return home. As we reached 

 the main road we met an old negro, 

 who said he had seen a fox cross the 

 road about a mile above. We rode up 

 there, and some of the dogs opened; 

 but the scent was cold. We kept up a 

 constant cheering to encourage the 

 pack. After 10 or 15 minutes spent in 

 this way, and just as we were about to 

 give up, we heard a series of squeals. 

 Looking up we saw Old Baldy flying 

 along the road, with Tyrant, Boston 

 and Black close behind him. " He is 

 ours," I yelled. " He can never get 

 away from those dogs in a sight race." 

 But I did not know Old Baldy yet, for 

 he simply faded away before the dogs. 



In a moment we had the pack all in. 

 Away we went again as fast as our 

 tired horses could take us. We kept 

 with the dogs for nearly an hour, but 

 at last, they ran out of hearing. Fol- 

 lowing more slowly we met a friend 

 who asked us into his house to partake 

 of refreshments. He also had the 

 kindness to stable our horses, and gen- 

 erously lent us fresh mounts. 



After resting half an hour, we again 

 moved up the river, hoping to meet 

 the pack returning. We kept on, mile 

 after mile, but did not get within hear- 

 ing again. We met 8 or 10 of the old- 

 est and youngest dogs, wdio had quit 

 and were coming back. 



About sundown we rode to a large 

 plantation, and inquired if the pack 

 had been seen. We were told that 

 both the fox and dogs had passed an 

 hour before. The fox had a long lead, 

 and was running well, with his brush 

 still to the wind. We were nearly 35 

 miles from home; so we decided to 



