102 
[Feb. II. rggg. 
In Old Virginia. 
Part Three. 
"The deer might well be called the emblem of peace 
in the South, as it came into the game list soon after 
the beginning of the calm that followed the great storm 
of the 60s. The negroes scattered, the plantations 
wrecked, the yonng men dead or discouraged, and the 
old men impoverished, it was soon the acre instead of the 
thousand that was cultivated, and much land that had 
been in a high state of cultivation before the war was 
given over to the field pine, scrub timber and sedge 
grass. Then the timid deer that in the days of peace and 
luxurious plenty had been hunted to the verge of exter- 
mination, and driven to the inaccessible swamps, ven- 
tured forth and found a goodly land, from their point of 
view, with few to rnolest or make afraid, and proceeded 
to possess it. 
So favorable have the conditions been in the matter 
of range, climate, etc., that notwithstanding the fact that 
hunting the deer has steadily increased for the past 
fifteen or twentj- years, the sportsnieit declare that each 
year sees an increase in their number in old Virginia. 
One not familiar with the present conditions existing 
there finds it hard to believe this statement, and finds it 
difficult to reconcile with his preconceived ideas regard- 
ing the oldest and most highly developed State in the 
Union, as Virginians invariably insist th^ir State to be. 
The fact is that the sporting blood of the old Dominion 
lay dormant for many years after the late unpleasantness, 
while the old men learned to starve p^itiently and use 
their crutches gracefully; and the surviving young men 
essayed the novel experience af earning their bread 
by the sweat of their brows. 
My hostess informed me one evening that she had ar- 
ranged a deer hunt for mb, through the kind courtesy 
of an old friend of the familv. Col. Greg, and we must be 
up with the lark the following morning in order that I 
might reach the rendezvous in time. The boy came in 
early next morning to make my fire. 
In response to my query as to the weather, present 
and pro.spective. he replied: '"Hit cl'ar. suh, cl'ar; an' 
a big fros'. Won't nothin' stop a deah if ole houn' git 
aftah him dis mawnin'." Going down after another arm- 
ful of wood, he returned in great excitement to say that 
Col. Greg's man had just passed by on -his Way to a 
neighboring plantation, to notify some of the Colonel's 
friends of the hunt that they participate, and. had' left 
word that he would return soon to actompany us. 
This information soon reached headquarters and re- 
sulted in general orders thus disseminated by Millie (the 
maid) : "Aunt Ellen, Mis' Lady say as how you bettah 
git up an' git 'bout dat brexfus, or how dey all goin' 
git of to de huntin'." This at the top of her voice, as 
negroes always transmit orders. 
Aunt Ellen (the cook)': "You, Govnah, you git 'long 
down to de wood pile, an' tell dem triflin' niggers to 
tote me in some wood des as sudden as dey kin 'lore 
T take an' t'ar dey haids off. Dat I got to git Mis' Lady's 
brexfus, and de odder gemmans too, dey gwine huntin'." 
Governor's voice, keyed to its liighest pitch, is soon 
heard piping all hands at the wood pile, and after much 
shouting back and forth among the boys the axe begins 
to ring out its merry song of the cord. 
You may classify speech as the baser metal, the sixteen 
to one, as it were; but when it comes to inaugurating 
the initial step to breakfast on an old Virginia plantation 
it is the coin current of the realm, and freely used, as 
jiist shown, would accomplish more in five minutes than 
the much-lauded golden silence could do in a year. 
. By the time Ave had finished breakfast and I had donned 
my "top clothing" the horses were at the old-fashioned 
stile, or horse block, or upping block, as it is variously 
called, in front of the house, and there my hostess, who 
had sacrificed her morning nap on the altar of hospitality, 
came to see me off and wish me success. It was to be 
a "drive," and the hunters were to be distributed on 
various stands where the deer were most likely to run 
when jumped by the dogs. Col. Greg, a famous driver, 
with his well-trained dogs, was master of ceremonies, and 
had appointed the several stands, giving me, as I after- 
ward learned, the best position. The six-mile ride through 
"brake and hrae" on a good horse was a most delight- 
ful beginning, in realit)^ to the day's sport, in antici- 
pation. The foliage hung thick on much of the timber 
in the lowlands along the water courses, and colors— 
from old gold to fiery red— ran riot over all. A heavy 
frost had fallen, and crisped the clay surface of the road 
till it rang to the echo under the shod hoofs of our eager 
horses: and on the high land, where the sun was coquet- 
ting with it, was a sheen of diamonds more gorgeous 
than ever graced the diadem of earthly monarch. 
Eager enthusiasm was the prevailing condition with 
all. Hunters, horses, hounds and even the negro mes- 
sengers sent to direct 11s to our positions, and running 
at our several stirrups, were filled with the excitement 
of the chase. Some of us were lacking in experience, 
but there was a full quota of enthusiasm. 
Mv conductor was an old darky, well informed regard- 
ing the habits of the deer. He exclaimed to me, ' Dat 
dey mos'ly did dey pickin' in de night time, an' endurm' 
of de day just lay 'roun' in de sedge grass and briar 
patch, and clos' thicket, jus' like ole haar." 
He gave me much more information on this and other 
subjects, talking all the time, when not out of breath, 
being apparently of the opinion that it was his duty to 
entertain me. He wound up by admitting in a confiden- 
tial manner that he "wa'n't a reel Vurginy niggah, but 
was bornd an' raised in Nawth K'liny, but dat nobody 
didn't know it 'ceptin' dern as was edicationed, like you, 
sah, an' dem I just tell 'bout it, 'cause dey fin' out every- 
thing de is to know. My ole woman say as how folks 
kin look at me an' tell I ain't reel Vurginy 
stock, but I tell her dat jus' 'cause she is edi- 
cationed herse'f. She kin read— my woman kin read 
'ritin', suh, an' figger like a rattlesnake; she km figger 
de whole crap out 'fore I kin git hit gathered an sold, 
an' .she kin figger whole passel moh den I kin git fo hit 
too She is sho edicationed a heap. I tell you, suh." _ 
JoMphing my Mm with tlW off .epW, I struck a mt 
that caused the old man to quit wasting his breath in 
talk and concentrate his entire energy on keeping up, 
and before he could recover sufficient breath to resume 
his discourse we reached my stand. 
It was on a flat about Soyds. wide, with rising ground 
on each side; one slope covered with corn in shock 
and the other heavily timbered. 
My man placed me at the edge of the timber, facing 
the opposite slope, and told me that the drive was 
from down the valley to my right, and that was the direc- 
tion I was to watch and li.stcn for the dogs. 
There was a fence across the flat a few rods away on 
my left, and \ asked the old man what the deer would 
do when he reached it. His reply was: "Sail over it 
just like a bud. suh, 'less you dun fill him full of buck- 
shot wid dat fin' gun, suh." He then lifted his old hat 
in a respectful manner and turned back to lead my horse 
back in the timber out of sight, telling me he would be' 
within sound of call if I wanted him. 
Slipping buckshot .shells into mv gun, 'and setting it 
against a tree within reach. I seated myself comforlablv 
On a tnoss-covered root and instituted a search through 
my nockets for the only needed accessories to perfect 
comfort. I had found my pipe and set it between my 
teeth, had my tobacco pouch in my hand, and was in the 
act of drawing mv match safe from an upper pocket, when 
there was a crash in the thicket to mv right. The pioe 
and tobacco were recovered later on af^er a long search, 
but the match safe remains among the "thincs that were" 
to this good day. I had thought it possible that close 
contact with a fine wild buck, rampant, might produce 
buck ague in even as old a campaigner as I, but to start 
every muscle in my anatomy and throw away my v;ilu- 
ables on. sn slight a foundation as a sound was rather 
extrenie. Fortunately my self-control wa'=; sufficient to 
prevent my investigating the noise with buckshot, and 
in a moinent the cause of the crash in the thicket ao- 
peared iu the person of Col. Greg, the masfer of the 
hunt. He was mounted on a big iron-grav horse, and 
rode forward to where T stood as soon as he discovered 
my presence^ 
Courteouslv ignoring the very evident fact that I was 
laboring under the excitement of a nervous shock, he 
introduced himself to me. and commended me on being 
on the qui A^ive. "Have you been here long?" he asked. 
"No; not over ten minutes," I replied. 
"Ah. I am sorry. A fine buck ran your stand not more 
than fifteen or twenty minutes ago. and my purpose in 
riding over was to see why you had not paid your 
respects to him. Come with me ■ here a few steps and 
I will show you where he passed." 
We found his tracks not OA'-er thirty steps from my 
pD-sition — so close that I might almost have knocked him 
over with a rock had I been in time. My regret was deep 
and sincere, but it was a case of spilled milk — cream in 
fact — and no amount of regret could avail. 
The Colonel told me that the dogs had jumped the 
deer \thile some distance away, and had run him right 
by where he sat on his horse with his gun in hand, but 
seeing that he was running for my stand he had re- 
frained from shooting him, in order that I might enjoy 
the privilege. A rare and beautiful exhibition of unselfish 
con.sideration was this, and that it failed in effect was all 
owing to my tardiness. We sat down to await the re- 
turn of the dogs, as the Colonel assured me that they 
would not run more than six or eight miles before turn- 
ing back under the guidance o! old Lee, who had been 
trained to quit a chase after the stands were all passed, 
and seldom failed to bring the pack back for a fresh 
start after passing the point where the hunters were sta- 
tioned, unless they should be pushing the deer very close- 
ly., While we waited and smoked the Colonel told me of 
the remarkable experience of a friend of his, a physician', 
on the same stand we were occupying, that occurred 
the season before, when he and several neighbors hunted 
regularly. This is the story in his own words, as well 
as I remember it: 
"We hunted at least once, and often twice, each week 
the season through. Every one of us had several chances 
excepting the Doctor; liis luck never varied, and was al- 
ways the very hardest kind. We did everything possible 
to get him a shot, changing his stand each time, and 
invariably putting him in the most favorable position. 
But he was a veritable Jonah. ' _ 
"Deer jumped in line with his stand again and again, 
but they would cross to other routes never before taken 
by them, or do some other unusual and unexpected 
thing; in fact, we finally agreed that one would certainly 
turn and run' over the dogs if pressed hard and headed 
for his stand. 
"The Doctor alternately swore and laughed at his 
hard luck, but utterly refused to give up. He vowed 
that he would keep on until he got a deer if he had to put 
in every day of his life for the next ten 3^ears on a deer 
.stand. 
"Everv time we met for a drive the Doctor was on 
hand, and at the end of the season he had not seen a 
live deer. 
"The next autumn he rode over to my place several days 
before the opening of the hunting season to inquire about 
the date of the first hunt, and he was on hand as usual 
when it came off. Declining the choice of stands, he 
was assigned the stand you are on to-day. and I was 
on the next from him, just over that little rise of 'ground 
beyond the cornfield. 
"We had waited but a short time, when w-e heard thfe 
dogs coming in full cry. They were running in our di- 
rection, arid the Doctor, being a confirmed 'hoodoo, 
I thought I was to open the season with the first deer 
to bag. Standing at ready, and listening to the music 
of the dogs, I waited for the expected appearance of the 
deer within range. They seemed headed right, and were 
coming fast my way until the dogs were near enough 
for me to distinguish their individual voices, and then, 
just as my expectation had all but^reached the point of 
assurance, they swung off to the left and made straight 
for the Doctor's stand in full and eager cry. Under 
any other circumstances I should have felt greatly dis- 
appointed, but as it was my unlucky friend, the Doctor, 
who was to gain by my loss, I was glad that it was so. 
On they went, straight up the stretch that you see 
leading to this point, and T waited in a much greater 
state of excitement for the report of his big old lo-bore 
than I would have felt had the deer nm on by my st^od, 
I was just wondering what would happen to prevent the 
Jonah from getting his deer, when bang! bang! his big 
gun roared with a regular broadside. A moment later 
and I heard his old rebel yell of exultation, louder than 
the report of anything less than a gun on wheels, and I 
quickly replied with a similar shout of honest congratu- 
lation, and started in a run for the old fellow's stand 
to^be the first to witness his supreme delight. 
"The distance was about one-quarter of a aiile over 
rough ground, and I don't strip light for a sprinter, but 
it was little more than ten minutes after I heard his 
shout till I reached his stand here. 
"Instead of turning handsprings or trying to stand on 
•his head in pure delight, as I expected, the Doctor was 
standing out there in the open about 5oftr from where 
we sit— and such an attitude of dejection as he had 
assumed I had never in my life seen before. 
"'You got him, Doctor, didn't you?' I shouted, as 
I ran up out of breath. 
"It was nearly a minute before he answered my eager 
q_uestion; and then, with his eyes still fixed on' the ground, 
as when first I saw him, he replied, 'Yes, I got him— ^ 
temoorarily.' ■ . 
"I looked all around, but could see no deer. 'Where 
is he?' I finally said. 
''Without moving so much as his eyes, he replied very 
deliberately: 'I don't know just about where the internal 
thing is now, sir.' 
"He stood with his arms hanging straight down; there 
was no sign of his gun anywhere, and I really began to 
feel very uneasy about him, fearing that he had suffered 
some serious injury from the bursting of his gun or other 
accident. In order to get time to collect mv wits and 
think what was best to do, I stepped over here to this 
tree and set down my gun and walked back to where the 
Doctor stood, still in the same position. He turned his 
head round as I came up, looked at me a moment, and 
then proceeded to explain the puzzle to me in this wise: 
" 'Colonel, if you never before saw an all-round, egreg- 
ious, unmitigated, star spangled, stub and twist, rebound- 
ing locks, choke-bored, old, four-ply ass, just look at me; 
take a good look, a good, long, satisfying look, for I am 
the only one there is, an original package, and put up 
one in each box,' his voice rising as he' rolled out this 
string of self-vituperation, and ending in a shout. 'Yes, 
look at me,' he continued. 'You think I'm crazy, don't 
you? Well, I ain't. I'm only just a post-graduate, first 
honor fool, pure and simple; and I will give my pro- 
fessional services for one year to any athletic individual 
that will diligently kick me for ten minutes; I will, honest- 
ly.' 
"I begged hirn to control himself, and explain the 
cause of his excitement, which he finally proceeded to 
do to this effect: 
" 'When I heard the dogs coming in our direction I 
supposed of course the deer would run your stand, but 
proceeded to prepare for the unexpected, examining my 
shells and getting in position. When the deer changed 
his course, as shown by the dogs, and made for my stand, 
I was well nigh overcome with surprise and delight. I 
saw him when he rounded that point 300 or 400yds. 
below the thicket, and a more Ijeautiful sight never 
greeted my eyes. He was a noble buck, and was going 
at a gait that was fast leaving the dogs, which seemed 
alread}' more than half-mile behind and were apparently 
bothered by his sudden turn from the line he had been 
running toward your stand. 
" 'When not more than 25yds. from me, I stepped out. 
tbfew up my hand and Spoke sharply, just as you had 
instructed me to do if ever a deer should come my way, 
and as he tried to stop himself with two or three .short 
buck-jumps I poured in my right barrel, and as he 
stumbled and faltered, to make assurance doubly sure, fol- 
lowed it at once with the left, and had the exquisite 
pleasure of seeing him pitch in a heap jtist there' — indi- 
cating the place on the ground at which I had found him 
gazing — ^'give one slight quiver and then stretch out, 
apparently stone dead. 
" "Then it was that I proceeded to send forth that 
idiotic yell that nearly split my throat. No words can 
express the delight I felt at haA'ing finally succeeded in 
bagging a deer, and the finest one I had ever seen at 
that. 
" 'Running up to him, I walked around to view him 
from all sides, stooped down and felt the firmness of his 
magnificent antlers. Then noticing that he had fallen with 
the fatal wounds exposed, proceeded to count and pro- 
fessionally diagnose them. One, two, three, four, five, 
six, seven buckshot wounds, any one of three of which. 
I argued, would have been instantaneously fatal. Then no- 
ticing a faint quiver of the eyes. I stepped back and 
scuffled my feet in the dry leaves to see if he could show 
any signs of life. A faint tremor passed through his 
body, which I concluded to be the relaxing of the mus- 
cles immediately preceding ''rigor mortis." 
" 'Just then the dogs came in sight, and I again raised 
my voice in an exultant yell, glad even to have the dogs 
witness my triumph. They all broke into full cry when 
they heard my shout, and came sweeping up on the trail 
of the deer. Hearing a noise near, I turned just in time 
to see my dead deer scramble to his feet and make off 
fat a rate of speed that utterly defied the swiftest dog in 
the pack. 
" 'It's the cold truth, Colonel, just as I tell you; and 
in two minutes dogs and deer had run clear .out of sight 
and hearing, and I will bet a horse to a hen that that 
dead deer can run across the State of Virginia and half- 
across Tennessee without stopping for so much as a drop 
of water.' 
" 'But why in the name of common sense didn't you 
shoot him again when he jumped up, Doctor?' I asked. 
"'Why didn't I?' he almost shouted. "I thought that 
matter sufficiently explained by what I said to you when 
you first came up, sir. I didn't shoot him again because 
there was no one by to tell me that any fool with sense 
enough to bell a buzzard ought to know better than to 
stand around in the field when hunting so full of admira- 
tion for himself that he could not reload his gun. My 
gun was not loaded, sir; and furthermore my shells were 
carefully buttoned up in an inside coat pocket. 
" 'You will observe that I tore most of the buttons 
off or buttonholes out of my coat, trying to get my 
shells after it was too late; but th§ ^P&l was put pf sjght 
before I ^ver m^h^i W?/ 
