Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-01

fore. Mrs, Csrrill took bis hand. he
soon started Of, taking no notice OF me
laurel bush, bat away through the
wood. We must have walking for ssvs.
| rel minutss, ssd at apretty quick pace,
! when. like an evil omen, . fox (probA-
Div the one We hsd seen on the previous
night, sprang out Of clump Of UNDER
wood and vanished among the trees.
II was the same story over again.
Our leaders pace slscksned; then he
stopped. Could It be that fox was,
as Il we're, q remembering agent? !
out the question to the Professor nay,
| further limited that perhaps when in
mesmeric state the sense of smell might
be SO heightened that he had been fol-
lowing like foxhound for two nights
in succession this evil denizeu OF the
woods. lie put the suggestion aside
with scorn /; but the more | thought the
more felt there might be something in
it, and Harold SO far agreed with me as
TO question the learned Professor next
day rs to whether he had ever been
fond Of hunting.
We had gone home, as before, non
plussed; we had retired to our rooms,
Numbered late, and met for fresh dis
cussion, all to no pirpose. Mrs. Car.
gill wished to give up the attempt aud
call in the detectives. Harold and ]
were inclined somewhat ANONYMOUSLY
10 agree. But We had forgotten the
Professor. His blood was up; our
tsunts on the subject Of fox-hunting
had aggravated him more than we had
fancied. Prove himself right he
would his honor, he insisted,
was at stake u; he must be sue
cessful in the end. He appealed to
Mrs. Cargill to stand by him, and the
long and short of it was that she agreed
to make third and last trial, the Pro-
lessor, on his side, promising that it
should be the very last.
1t rained hard all the evening, and
at day break when We met it was so
damp, dreary, and misty that we all
felt relieved when the Professor asked
us to leave matters alone for day and
give his last attempt every possible
chance.
All this time things in the household
had been going on quietly enough, and
it seemed as though the servants had
quite made up their minds that no fur
Their search was intended. The only
fresh circumstance that came to light
was that the gardeners kennel, formerly
occupied by tame fox for which be had
q great affection, was observed to be
empty. The man affirmed that the
animal had slipped its collar the day be-
fore. We could only question him
casually on the subject, but 1t seemed
likely that the animal, whose scent had
proved too strong for the Professor, was
the one which the gardener affirmed only
to have escaped on the previous day.
The animal, he said, was bound to come
back for its meals sooner or later, but
we did not altogether agree with him on
that point.
Daybreak next morning saw US again
assembled in the dining.room, and we
left the house to recommence business
in the wood where we had last stopped.
1t was fine, clear morning and gave
promise of glorious day. The Pro-
fessor was on his mettle. He had said
to us, 81 will succeed Tomorrow"
and to succeed he evidently intended.
lie stood for a few minutes blind
folded as usual, before he took Mrs.
Cargill's hand, and then commenced to
move forward, but in an opposite direc-
ton to that we had been taking when
be had lost the clue before. On he
went, and on, right through the wood,
till the affair began to grow tiresome.
He was going well to-day certainly he
had kept US at it good long time
hut if We were only going to get few
hundred yards every night and perhaps
NOT. find the stone after all, we might as
we'll give the matter up entirely. Harold
appeared, from the frown upon his face,
to have begun to consider matters in
this light, too, when the Professor, who
had been going at fair pace, suddenly
stopped. 1t seemed to me only
natural that, as he had gone
further than he had ever gone
before, he should stop. His imbecile
mind could stand the strain no longer.
After considerable hesitation, however,
he turned slowly to the left, bent over
some thick brushwood, and gradually
stretched out his hand. "It's that fox
again to certainty" whispered Harold
to me "the Professors as mad as
March hare" No signs Of the fox,
though, and the Professor was we'll into
the bush; if the diamond was there,
surely sudden flash of thought would
assist him but it was not likely to be
there any more than our friend the fox,
who would certainly have made off long
before now.
Ere my ideas were completed the
fash Of thought did come. A sudden
dart downward on the part Of the Pro.
iessor was simultaneously succeeded
by a frightful yell that rang through
the woods. Mrs. Cargill's hand was
dropped in second, and it seemed as
though the Professor was engaging
blindfolded in some awful struggle with
a foe whom none Of US had as yet seen.
1t was the fox after all. The Pro-
fessor had tracked him down this time,
if not to his den, at least to tho trap in
which the animal was struggling.
Certes, he was pretty severely pun
isbed for his hunting propensities
Foxes don't usually attack until driven
to the last extremity, and the Professor
must have forced the animal to the fur.
thcst point it could go with the trap on
its forepaw ere he made that sudden
dive which was so disastrous for him.
Had it not been that the learned mans
hand was most terribly bitten we should
have been struck with the absurdity of
the scene. Mrs. Cargill had had great
fright; the Professor was in towering
rage, not merely at the injury done
to his hand, but that he should, after all,
have sgain tracked down his fox; so
Harold and | alone were in any condi-
ton for action. The Professor sRors
he must kill the fox that had so bitten
him, and so great was his wrath aud
haste that he would scarcely wait till
We had staunched his wound with
handkerchief.