Fox Hunting on Cape Cod. 
t the time of which I write the Old 
ony Railroad had its terminus at Yarmouth, 
ss. Now, under the name of the N. Y., N. 
& H., it extends to Provincetown. It was 
:ry cold day in the month of February when 
ent by appointment to Col. Ryder’s house. 
Colonel had an imported English fox- 
nd, and I have never seen a better one. We 
ved at Yarmouth in due season, and there 
c the stage for Orleans, some twenty miles 
int, which we reached in time for supper, 
mediately upon partaking of which I retired 
the night. As I had ridden all the way from 
mouth on the top of the stage, I was nearly 
en. My overcoat, which was provided with 
avy cape, was a perfect sheet of ice, owing 
le sleet, which froze as it fell, 
ter breakfast the next morning the Colonel 
myself again took the stage and went some 
m miles further down to the next hamlet, 
h boasted a hotel and post office; and there 
put up at our good friend, Horton’s. It 
i commenced to snow about the time we 
ed from Orleans, and continued until we 
ed at this hospitable resting place. Having 
1 our baggage safely deposited within the 
■dry, we at once made preparations for a 
notwithstanding the falling snow and 
fte the wind, which was blowing a ten-knot 
The Colonel knew the country well, and 
■ owed in his footsteps without a question, 
icommenced our march toward Wellfleet; 
t was well that I took the precaution of 
ing particularly the quarter from which 
i'ind blew, or I never should have got back 
fed. 
t further we went the worse the wind and 
icker the snow flakes. Finally the Colonel 
’“Well, young man, I don’t think this is a 
Igood day for you to take your first fox 
1 a °d you had better take your stand right 
1 and if you don’t hear the dog within a 
our, you just put for the house. It looks 
as if this storm was just beginning, and 
st the day out at least.” 
right, Colonel, I will do as you say,” and 
ied my back to the blast, determined to 
'it the stand until satisfied there was no 
' in remaining. The Colonel was soon out 
■ht, and I waited patiently for upward of 
quarters of an hour without hearing a 
from the dog to indicate the presence, 
r remote, of the fox we sought. Finally, 
i tamping my feet and thrashing my arms 
I tb arms and feet as well as the man were 
frozen, and the snow was falling so 
could not see ten feet before me, 1 
' about and made for the house. 
■ have stated, it was lucky that I knew 
arter from which the wind set, so that 
’d at least go in the right direction, f 
'd back through field after field until I 
'° a ^ ence which I recognized as the one 
^ordered the highway. Then I knew that 
: in near proximity to Horton’s house, 
and jumping over the fence, I made straight 
across the road, got over another fence and 
landed in an orchard just at the rear of the 
house. Thence I found my way to the side door 
and entered the domicile like a snow man, 
white from head to foot, for the snow was very 
moist and clinging. There by the cozy fire¬ 
place I threw off my outer garments, and 
under the careful ministrations of Mother 
Horton, was soon made as comfortable as man 
could wish to be under such circumstances. And 
I may here say en passant that many a day for 
years thereafter I spent under that good lady’s 
hospitable roof. 
It was not long before the Colonel made his 
appearance, and through the snow on his vener¬ 
able hair and beard, he said: 
“Well, young man, how do you like fox-hunt¬ 
ing r 
“Well, Colonel,” said I, “I had rather be 
down South than here to-day.” 
Oh! you wait; we shall have some pleasant 
weather; but it won’t be to-day.” 
“So I thought.” 
The fact was that the storm turned into a 
blizzard, and it snowed all that day and night 
and for the next two days. We were forced to 
keep to the house, but made the best of it, as 
sportsmen always do. We played cards with 
the landlady and her daughter, and we smoked 
and told stories and passed the time pleasantly 
enough, yet every once in a while we scanned 
the outer prospect, in hopes of seeing some 
abatement in the force of the blizzard. 
On the morning of the fourth day we woke 
to find the sun shining, and the snow had 
ceased to fall. We knew there would now be 
sport for us, and anticipated the capture of sly 
Reynard before the day was over. Accordingly 
after breakfast we at once set out. 
The Colonel, with his dog, Sport, took the 
lead, and away we tramped through the snow, 
which was fully knee-deep and very soft. Our 
course took us in the direction of the beach; 
and the Colonel leaving me at a stand near the 
old Methodist camp ground, went on with the 
dog to see what he could discover, and was 
soon lost to view amid the intervening trees. 
I waited on my stand for fully half an hour be¬ 
fore I heard anything to indicate that game was 
a-foot. And then, far in the distance to the 
north I heard a faint sound that gave me notice 
that Sport was coming my way; and this con¬ 
tinued for several minutes until I expected, as 
the sound grew louder, that the fox would soon 
come into view. But to my disappointment, 
the fox took a sudden turn to the left before 
he came near enough to be seen, and went over 
a number of open fields into another patch of 
woods, where there was a wood-chopper busily 
at work, and there he made three good circles 
around the wood-chopper, twice coming so near 
that the man saw him within easy shot, but he 
had no gun. Before I could get there the fox 
had changed his venue and went off to the south 
toward the Nauset Beach, and there he was 
lost. 
I had barely got over to the spot where the 
woodman was at work and had learned from 
him what I have written above, when the 
Colonel put in an appearance; and said, “Young 
man, you were working in the right direction, 
but you came too late. We shall have to give 
him up to-day. Whenever I beckon to you, I 
want you to follow me.” Now, the fact was 
the Colonel, just before he left, had beckoned 
to me, intending to have me follow him; but I 
mistook his signal to mean for me to remain 
where I was. Hence I probably lost the shot 
at the fox. 
The Colonel went on and got his dog, while 
I returned to the house inwardly vowing that I 
would follow close on the heels of the Colonel 
the next trip if it took me to Provincetown. 
When the Colonel returned with his dog, we 
had a hearty repast, followed by a good smoke 
and a look at the papers. We retired early that 
night, in order to be up bright and early the 
next morning. During the night, however, a 
heavy rain set in and the downpour continued 
for the next three days. There was nothing to 
do but remain indoors and make the best of it. 
On the morning of the fourth day we awoke 
to find the rain had ceased, the sun again shin¬ 
ing from a clear sky and the conditions favor¬ 
able for a good day’s hunt. We partook of a 
hasty breakfast and set out at once; pursuing 
practically the same course as we had the first 
day. The Colonel knew the ground well, having 
hunted it for years; and in fact at a time when 
deer were quite plentiful, and he thought little 
of taking a tramp of twenty or thirty miles a 
day. He was one of the most patient and per¬ 
sistent hunters I ever knew. It is related of 
him, that one day, while he was outside the 
house looking at some six or eight fox skins 
which were stretched out upon the barn doors, 
a dealer in furs drove along, and observing the 
skins, called out: “What will you sell those 
furs for?” Ryder replied: “For cost, I guess.” 
“How much is that?” “About one hundred 
dollars apiece.” The would-be purchaser ap¬ 
plied the whip to his horse and drove off with¬ 
out further parley. 
We pursued our course without striking a 
track until we were well within the confines of 
Wellfleet, and then Sport sung out on a start. 
The Colonel was quite a distance to the north 
of me and called to me to run toward the beach 
as fast as I could, while he hastened to a sand 
dune, from the summit of which he could see 
for a long distance both up and down the beach 
and the bluffs, being within gunshot of anything 
that should pass beyond the limits of the woods 
—and the foxes usually ran along the beach or 
the bluffs instead of in the woods. 
I saw the Colonel take his position; and while 
I was still running for the beach, he raised his 
gun and fired twice, and so I knew the fox, if 
he got by the Colonel, would soon give me a 
shot. I ran as hard as I could, and just as 1 
got to the verge of the bluff, the fox rushed up 
from the beach, through a little ravine and ran 
full upon me. He was so near I was afraid I 
