Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-01-29
FOX AND GEESE.
Chase that EctiPses the Perform.
ances OF our Local Huntsmen.
=, From the 81. Louis RspiIoltcd,a.l

trToHi me ~. Louis RsDltOitcuT1
Inc remarkable exploits of the New York
Fox-huHting club, details OF which nave
peen widely published, naturally bring up
r n1scences of American fox hunting In
other Belds than New Jersey and Staten Is
land. There was q meet in Kentucky once
which wasn't bad, and the account here
given comes from one of the hunters. He
isn't so enthusiastic an admirer of field
sports as he was at the time the meet took
place, but his veracity is as unquestione1 as
ever. 1t Is not worth while to give the na ne
OF the town which furnished the cavaliers.
put the history OF the affair from the start
Ing is as follows: The club, composed OF
gentlemen whose ancestors were very blue
Dlooded indeed, was provided with all the
necessary accoutrements of a high toned
fox hunt. The coats were resplendent and
the horses thoroughbred, while the hounds
had noses as keen as that OF a maiden lady
after sopastor speccadilloes aud voices asdeep
as VOL. The hunters sf,er horses AMI dogs
were out early In the morning and at cover
where fox warranted to run with the ut
most grace and celebrity was certain to be
found. The dogs were sent in and the hun
tiers waited on the outside. They didn't wait
long. One old hound, the veteran OF the
pack, gave voice in the most approved style,
just as the veteran hound of a dukes pack
does in an English novel, and the rest of the
dogs piped in like q country choir after the
deacon with the tuning fork. One of the
cavaliers thought he heard rustic in the
bushes me ar him, took II to be the fox, and
gave shrieking view halloo, and the next
minute the dogs were all yelling on the tran.
and started, andthere was an awful race for
about 900 yaIds to another dense mass of
brush. where the hounds again disappeared.
The hunters couldn't get in, and pauSel
again on the edge of the copse but the dogs
scooted about in the underbrush and lust
woke The echoes until IL seemed unlikely the
echo5s could ever sleep again untrouoled by
a nightmare. Somehow the fox couldn't get
out OF mat bit of underbrush; he seemed to
De oOdglng abOutnear the centre, but he was
Invisible 10 all save the dogs, and they didn't
InlNr "A
IN concentrlc circles and lift up their voices
ana wnO0p, but they couldn't diSlOige the
thlef OF the barnyard from the pushes. The
men, sitting upon their horses outside, could
determine almost to q certainty lust where
the fox was He appeared To be under a par
lcniar bush and some one suggested that he
G lao, hladen In hole, but this couldn't be
from The excited manner of the dogs. The
veteran OF the pack, alread Y alluded to, was
especially exercised in mind. His voice
went up ana down the scale worse than any
pmad d0hfds, and from that one bush, he
never wandered more than thirty feet. FL
naily, the man In charge of the pack con-
cIuded 10 encourage the old veteran a little
ana shouted 10 him with "SieZe 'em, gOoi
DOG! Sic EN-, old fellow" The Old dog was
braced up by this encouragement, and the
next minute his yell was heard as he dashed
under The dangerous bush. There was heard
the sound OF a struggle for moment or two
the other dogs rallied about the veteran and
Iben there was short silence Then the old
u ut aashed out OF the brush on the further
me PACK went yelling at his heels, and away
went the hunters in pursuit. The fox wasn't
Vls1ole-he had evidently got away from the
uOgs ana secured good start-but the
hounds ran all in a bunch most beautIfuIIy
The chase led toward town. too, a capital
thlp FOR the hunters. Away they went, and
naTu WORK IL was for the horses. That old
dog at the head ran as he had never been
known TO run before. 1t was apparent Ihat
he must nave the fox in sight, though the
hunters failed To discern the animal. He
ScOrnnH nj of
ABOUT every third jumph emit a yelp that
nad as much feeling IN it as a fiye-act d rama
! was al the hunters could do to keep the
mounds In sight, but they managed to accom-
pllsh the thing. still the chase led toward
Tue toWm ana finally IL led directly into
Town. The brave cavaliers on horseback
were ueliSnted; they would have an Oppor-
tunlty 10 display their bold equestrianShiD
10 the ladies and to every body else. Down
the prlnclpal street went that yelling old
veteran hound aud after this came the res of
the dogs and the cayaicade Strangely
enough the fox wasn't visible. even down ihG,
long vista OF the street. Still the procession
Mhlrled on anu ali the town came OJt ID sea.
Inc ar was full of shouts AMI waving hand
kerchlelS, when suddenly the hea of the
chase turned at right angles, and the mex [
minute the head of the chase, consisting OF
Tee oid Mound, was safely ensconced in its
kennel. The hunt terminated at once. They
nand't been chasing anything and the whole
a al was a humlliating mystery TO the
nuhLsmen. The cratic old dog was dragged
from his lair and then the mystery vanished.
lie smelled awful bad. '.All the perfumes of
Arabia would not sweeten that little hand''
OF the fellow who pulled him out. The other
dogs smelled badly, too, 1t was painfully
evident what kind of an animal the dogs had
been urged on To attack in the uuderbrush
and perfectly apparent why the old dog who
LOOK the lead in the encounter had subse-
Quently wanted TO get home as soon as posi-
Die 1t was discOurasing fox-hunt A
farmers boy who came into town next day
reported that the dogs had really killed the
SKUNK, put none OF the hunters ever claimep
the brush.