Terms, Poor U 
olltu-a a Year, i 
Tea Cents a Copy. I 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1878. 
I Volume lO.-Ne. 17. 
INo. Ill Full* 
HI., N. Y. 
FOREST HAUNTS. 
Y E oldon oaks, deep clad In greenness vernal, 
with summer's sunlight un jour rugged brows, 
Methloks I hear the voice of the Eurnal 
Go out amid the swaying of your boughs. 
Oh, not the mythic fear-lnsplrlug Monarch 
t hat but with dread our doubting thoughts Invest, 
But lie who bears above Wrong's throned Anarch 
Earth's sorrowing children on Ills loving breast. 
And oft unto your solemn shades retiring, 
Of temple, altar, shrine, my heart to him 
Has poured the burdeu of Its high aspiring 
in measured cadence through your cloisters dim. 
As wayward child, touched by some anguished arrow 
From the full quiver of the earning years, 
On mother’s breast unbosoms wild Its sorrow, 
While loving kisses dry the brimming tears ; 
So turn I, yearning for your dear caressing ; 
World-worn and weary do I come again 
To win some measure of maternal blessing, 
If but a brief forgetfulness of pain. 
From Lite's Oe'ce conflict, from Its toll unending, 
Awhile to rest me whtre no care Intrudes, 
And feel my soul m quickened pulses blending 
With kindred souls that dwell In solitudes ; 
To lowly llBten to the mystic voices 
That through your boundless sanctuaries ring, 
And feel, while h a'ure In her heart rejoices, 
Some thrill of rapture In my own upsprlng. 
The mossy bank wears meek a smile of blessing ; 
There lives a gladness la each floral bell, 
A splrlt-heallDg In the mild caressing 
Of bulmy zephyrs In the woodland dell. 
And hark I a thousand tiny throats are wioging 
Joy 'sYil very songs amid the murmuring, trees; 
O happy choir 1 a cnoral anthem alDging— 
The blended music of the birds aud bees. 
These shall restore me to the pure and tender 
Of feelings gullied lu embittered strife ; 
Some faint ray kindle of llope’s morniug splendor, 
Thut shed a halo on each dream of life. 
O gentle spirit that afar Is hiding 
In unfnquented wilds of wood and glen, 
Couldst thou as In these tranquil haunts abiding 
Dwell In the homes and in the heaits of men, 
I had not need to medicine this longing 
With calm and quiet lu your green retreat ; 
Life’s stony paths, with weary pilgrims thronging, 
Were fair and flowery to these bleedtog feet. 
— Country Gentleman. 
For Forest mid Stream and Rod and Gun. 
J WHli the “ §ard=@oer.'j.” 
Suppose you challenge In a glass, 
And name the pretty doe ; 
I’ll prove your lass can't mine surpass— 
I’ll swallow hogsheads to my lass— 
Or my name's not Tally-ho 1 
Let me, as o'er life’s chase I pass, 
Crop pleasure as I go ; 
I'll take my g ass and toast my lass,* 
I'll ride and dance and sport my brass, 
For my name Is Tally-ho 1 
T HUS sang, or should, or would have sung the amateur 
minstrel at a Yule feast in old Virginia. And by St. 
Hubert 1 you may breed statesmen, merchants, lawyers and 
doctors, soldiers and priests in the North, but for a real 
“hard-goer," and a reckless, devil-may-care rider, you must 
have the strain of Celtic blood that flows in the veins of the 
Virginians ; and it comes from the far-off time of the Puritan 
and the cavalier, when the families in old England, who 
boasted that blood by their birthright of traditional aristo- 
cracy, irrespective of fortune, followed the rightful monarch. 
And while the business-like Puritan, wrecked by war, came 
to Plymouth, the careless, dashing cavalier settled in the 
Colony, which was, from the first settlement, characteristic of 
his element. The remarkable individuality of the Southern 
in society, politics and war still marks the strong antithesis to 
the North, which moves with the impetus of steady will and 
organization. The Highland Scotch, the Welsh and Irish 
have imparted to the South the fiery spirit that echoed over 
the historic fleldsof the late civil war with a fierce slogan that 
defied the deep toned shout of the blue battalions. And, if 
the impassioned disarray of the gray battalions reminded an 
acute observer of the Celtic cl ins, it is not less true that the 
Southern fox-hunter is highly suggestive of the character of 
the “hard-goers" who flourish in the glowing pages of Bar- 
rington and Lever. 
But to our tale. 
You are not likely to seo at a meet in the Old Dominion the 
picturesque scarlet coats and corduroy breeches that follow 
tlie Filz william pick, but the horsemanship may challenge 
comparison with the world, and the dogs, light aud wiry, are 
equal to the “ best of black St. Hubert’s breed"— not so long 
us the English dog, hut with a cross on the harrier which bus 
imparted a marvelous pertinacity and endurance, while the 
silken coat aud the black, tan and bluish black in colors, 
make a fine pack, a rare delight to the eye of a true sports- 
man. Aud then they run as if tippiDg tbe ground now aud 
then, in order to remember not to tty. Uncle Billy S., whom 
I shall presently describe, says, that for a good run afier an 
old red, you should be able to cover the puck in full cry with 
a blanket— which aphorism means that twelve good dogs, 
trained together to kuow the leader and the huntsman, arc- 
worth all the noisy, riotous pucks made up from all the 
neighborhoods in the county 
Were you to see Uncle Billy Hading the field, with his im- 
mense bora Supping at his side, and the red bandana round 
his neck waving in the wind like a b inner, you would pro- 
nounce it a sight at once beautiful and heroic. And then 
such a blast ! 
“ Like that which erit the Vlklcg blew." 
Tbe lash of his whip can reach more than twice the stride of 
his big gray gelding, Dick -Wildfire ; and once, when be bad 
tried to make a “ cutting dog" toare, lie fe'rcbed the unfortu- 
nate offender such a wipe that one-balf of the dog remained 
laugled in the lasU while the other half lay quivering on the 
ground. He has bean known to drink the best riders of three 
counties drunk tbe over-night, then blow up liis pack the next 
morning aud take a brush befora anybody else could get out 
of bed for the headaches. He made a forty-seven-mile run 
after a red, straight from the “Slashes” of Hanover to the 
Piedmont, and dug out reyDard stark and stiff at sunset, 
w;ile all along he had left the best men of his county ; and 
he swore that when he blew a “mort " aud tied the brush to 
his saddle-bow, all the people thought that the new railroad 
was finished, for nothing but a steam whistle could blow 
such a blast. He alto declared that Dick Wildfire was so 
fresh that be ran away twice on the way to the nearest farm- 
house, and he had to couple up his favorites, Hauler uud 
Whalebone, to keep them from going off on another trail. 
His rambling old cottage mansion, with twenty rooms, stands 
midway between Helltown aud Niggerfoot, twovillagea noted 
for their fighting and drinking in the country, that gave the 
name of “ The Mill Boy of tlie Slushes" to Henry Clay. 
Here is Uncle Billy’s letter from his house, " Kingwood,” 
to his “dear little Baron," meaning Munchausen : 
“ Come down Chrbtmas anJ I'll 1111 you to the muzzle with stone- 
fence the over Dlgnc so you won’t be tit to live the next mo nlnx, and 
won't be afiaiu to ride Madge v\ Udire. the pr.-nleni 111 y ever foa:ed 
at Buliheid. Her mouth u velvet, the rest of her liguinUig and red 
p-p -tr. 
*• Yours, to count on, Wm. 8. 
The Squire of Ringwood has three sons in the West, two in 
Texas and another sleeping under the tall cedars that shade 
the graves of his sires, with a stone over him marked wilh the 
historic name, Chancellorsville, and four married daughters. 
He has declared to me that he couldn’t remember the names of 
his grand children. Sitting before his great log fire, with a 
face that rivals its glow, he is a picture ae lie 6inok(3s his pipe 
of brier-root through a stem of “ seven bark,” so long thut a 
little darkey is always at hand to light it. A giant punch- 
bowl, surrounded with mugs and tumblers, gave token that a 
drinking bout was in progress. Tne sporting gentry of 
the vicinage were sitting around, with a fine background of 
foxes’ tails and other trophies of the chase, hunting horns, 
etc., hung on the walls to make a background to the picture. 
The four pictures, “The Meet," “The Breaking Cover,' 
“The Full Cry" and “Tbe Death,” ornamented the walls, 
and, though dingy, retained the fine characterization of the 
originals. How the evening progressed, and how we got to 
bed, were long to tell. As the young, unwary chanticleer 
saluted the rising moon I fell asleep with the impression of 
twenty bed-posts waltzing around me; the next thing was 
the sound of a steam whistle right in my ears, and, waking 
with a start, I beheld Uncle Billy’s great red face right over 
me, his great bunliDg-horn in his mouth, and his cheeks 
puffed out with the blast he was sounding. 
“Jump into your breeches, youngster; a fox-hunter 
should ba' been up long ago.” 
“Sione-feuce!” I muttered. 
“ Pshaw 1 you children can't drink. I can empty that bowl 
by myself, and then want a night-cap." 
There wus a hullabaloo already in the yard, and crawling to 
the window and throwing up the sash I saw eight groggy 
heads poked out of four windows, and every one calling 
stupidly tbe name of bis nag ; little and big "niggers’’ run- 
ning to and fro from house to stable and repeating the orders 
given from the windows. Barking of dogs and quacking of 
geese and ducks added to the effect of the chorus. Tlie varied 
break fast couldu’t tempt mo out of the “ remorse of a guilty 
stomach." but I got on my spurs and swaggered out on the 
long portico utterly reckless of nuv and all risks to life aud 
limb. Sure enough there was Madge Wildfire, a beauliful 
chesinut filly, plunging like wild, while the little nigger 
groom's eyes danced like saucers in a pool of ink. 
“ Look sharp now, youngster," sung out Uuclc Billy, who 
was already on his big geldiug beyond the gate, and surround- 
ed by twenty riders and thirty-five hounds, wilh their keen 
tails in the air, iust wailing the steam-whistle blast. 
“Never mind, old man; l cau ride a streak of lightulug if 
It 8 got a bridle on.” And before the filly knew It 1 bail the 
reins, then canted my head down anil heel* up and was in the 
sudille. But before I could got a stirrup I'ncle Billy hud 
slummed the gate, aud his fluttering red Imuilaim vanished 
down the hill, while the curly Agricolu, four miles away, 
heard that trumpet-like voice. 
‘*T°. cover; hurkl Hauler, Whalebone." Then I felt 
like Hying through the air us the filly went over the gate with 
her feet gathered under her like a deer's ; and then pulliDg on 
the curb I came up abreast of the big raw boued gray gelding. 
The p ick were scouring through a brushy lowland, when old 
Uutiler gave a short yelp, sotto voce, then another louder and 
prolonged, aud in a second more the startled echoes rang with 
tlie magnificent chorus of thh ty-live hounds, and the younger 
riders screeching themselves hoarse. 
lteyuard was picking the feathers of bis Christmas goose 
out of his teeth and was loth for a long run, bo ho took the 
chase, tearing down the slash, run up the branch, thencuuing- 
ly doubled back aud sneukul up into a plowed field. But 
Uncle Billy's two favorites bail too often “ made it good at a 
cold fault “ lobe easily lmflled, and it was a sight to seo old 
Haller anil Whalebone flying around that field with noses to 
the ground, “ but not saying a word." The wary old hunts- 
man then took the two hounds carefully over the plowed field 
aud in ten minutes jumped the object of search , and Ihon, 
ineD, horses aud hounds took him a “sight chase " for a 
quarter of a mile with 6uch a chorus as is rarely heard. Hel- 
ter-skelter, pell-mell, through swamp nod brushwood leaving 
three gullaul sports floundering on the ground, while two of 
the riderless horses pushed wildly up to the puck with the 
stirrups flylug a*, every leap ; over uu old rotten worm fence 
that broke under some of the horses as wo scrambled over; 
then in full cry along a level ridge for a mile, driving like u 
whirlwind over the sedge and little stunted pim-s. Every- 
body is drunk with the excitement and the music of thut in- 
toxicating chorus as it wakes field and woodluud and sends 
the chase as if on the wings of the wind. Uucle Billy never 
draws his rein, but keeps right up to the hounds, though his 
red bandana is in tatters and the blood streaming from more 
than one wound indicted on bis rubicund face by the brush 
uud briers. But ho Bits bis gallunt nag ns if lie were in a 
rocking chair, and ever aud anou us the filly comes tearing up 
to his side, Dick Wildfire shakes his crest, gives a plunge 
forward, aud settling again to his work still leads the field 
with his untiring stride. 
Over the height of a ridge we came, and down a slope to a 
broad ditch, beyond which waB a half-mile of smooth, beauti- 
ful wlieaifiuld rising to the next low ridge — a scrap of exquisite 
rich green, making an Arcadiau picture set in the gruy Copse 
and woodland which enclosed it. Wc hud already lost six 
stout and bold riders, and now as through that wheatfleld the 
puck in full view sent forth the full cry of thirty-four 
lull-tongued hounds, and the dislant echoes just caught and 
gave buck tbe magnificent refrain, no wonder that a ringing 
whoop hurst from each huntsman as ho pushed his nag down 
the hill aud Just look one look at the broad, dangerous ditch 
iu the little valley. Tin* filly was pressing up once more to 
the big gelding, when Uncle Billy said quietly: 
“Steady now, youngster; pull hard on the snBfllc till 
you're right up to it, then give her her head and over she 
goes " 
As well have spoken to the wild wind that whistled past 
our ears. I was fairly drunk with the lightning speed and 
the maddening music of the pack. 'I he hoofs rung sharp uud 
clear on the frosty ground, the horses, flecked with foain and 
mad as the riders, sent forth smoke on the keen winter air ; 
and as for me, my blood tingled uud my hair seemed to rise 
anil lift my hut. As Uncle Billy Bloodied hia splendid nag 
for the fearful leap the filly shot three lengths ahead of him, 
down the bill like mad, and with a despera'e rush drove at the 
ditch, her rider, crazy, but silling well down in the narrow 
can tied English saddle, and Idling curb and bridoori l*oth free. 
There was a long gleaming streak of ice enclosed in two stiff 
ridges of briers- twenty-three feet, if an inch. I utmost felt my. 
sell on the other side, when the sun's face flushed from the 
frozen rairrow full in the filly's fuce, and she fullered at the 
very second that she left the ground wiib her four feet 
gathered under her. A cr-r-r ash, and the rider wus down 
in tbe ice, mud and water, and the filly falling backwards 
with her feet in the air ; the gray gi lding and the red banda- 
na Hashed overhead, tbeu tnere was u momentary scramble, 
and the first thing lkncw the flllv wus Dying across I be wbeat- 
field, Btfrrups iu tbe air aud I running after, hatless and 
covered with ruud and water. 
Uncle Billy caught her rein, ami, as I scramhl -d into the 
saddle, said impatiently : “You durned fool, can’t you stop 
hollerin’ and get on your horse?" Then away we swept 
again, the keen tails of the last of the pack ju9t vanishing over 
