The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-15

when the whole country IS storc-housc,
and there Is game, leisure and good COM
pany I'm plenty All ages and conditions
turn out for the joys OF the chase.
Raccoon up de gum tree.
'Possum en- de hollcr;
Partridge trablin cross de road,
Ketch 'em all tomorrow.
This Is what the lusty young negro
shouts In a series of ecstatic caiis, but
he doesn't wait until the morrow, he
goes that very night, and congeniai
spirits. bearing axes, torches, and sticks,
20 with him. The planter slips out OF MS
house In the gray OF the morning TO get
"a shot at the wild ducks before they
leave the pond. Early as he j., one or ms
negro tenants is there before him, hid
ing stealthiy in the thicket that edges the
marsi.
Seen anything YETI whispers the white
man as he draws near.
NO. But there's Il flock over behind
the scrub myr,les yOnder. seen EN- come
in when | was 10 the mill at SHUTDOWN last
night"
The black man forgets to touch his hat,
aud the white man Is too engrossed 10
notice the omission. For the moment
they are man and man bound together
their common heritage. The morning air
is frosty The white mans thick shoot
ing coat is buttoned up 10 the chin and
his feet and legs are cased up TO the chin
and his feet and legs are cased in water
proof boots. The hand that grasps The
negros gun and his wrist where the tat
tered shirt sleeve leaves It bare. are gray
with cold lie has been standing there
a half hour, and his broken shoes are
deep sunk in the sodden earth. The white
man draws a plug Of tobacco and flask
from his pocket.
Just drink left" he says. The ne
gros white teeth glisten. but he demurs
at the seeming liberty.
Keep the flask" says the superior. and
then he moves a yard or 50 away 10
watch intenty the thicket where the
ducks swooped down the evening before.
The whole country catches the hunting
fever Small boys who have not yet at
tanned the dignity Of owning gun build
traps OF twigs and sticks as near the
color OF the ground as possible and set
them in the long broom grass Of field and
fence corner stealing off 10 some hidden
point OF vantage whence they can watch
the unwary game walk into the snare.
That's the best dead-fall a fellow can
have" says one
What you talkn' bout, man? This
kind is a heap more surer,' asserts an
inky-faced playmate, and so the argu-
ment goes.
Girls Turkish up their riding habits. try
all the possible and impossible mounts on
the place. and accompany their brothers,
cousins, and even their grandfathers on
a days expedition across country
Amt you going Miss Nellic?' calls
youth at the impromptu morning meet.
The girl looking down at him from an
upper piazza, shakes her head despond-
emily.
Not thing 10 ride" she says, 'un-
less / take Egypt, that little black mule,
and they say she'll break my neck. Be
sides. there isn't the ghost or a habit
left in the house and the visiting girls
have all the saddles.
In a few minutes the motley caval-
cade ride out Of the yard the negro lunch
be lrer bringing up the rear The physi-
cian goes 70 see patient out In the coun-
try and plants both rife and shotgun be-
side him i'm his buggy He takes his dog
along. stopping more than once on the
road 10 kill a brace Of doves, go after the
covey that few up almost under his horses
feet. or try for the big hawk out
lined so tempungly on the tip-top or an
isolated pine
"Stav for the ducks this evening" urges
sional visit being over and not needing
a second invitation, the two trudge OF
10 bag a partridge or two while walt
ing for the sun TO decline.
Better 20 i'm the boat. the banks up
at the head Of the pond are nearly mac
cessible." ~ is advised and, with the adj
ditional freight Of small boy or two,
whose eagerness TO go is so pronounced
that the hunters have not the heart To
refuse them. the batteau starts on its
way up stream Two dogs 30 along, two
intelligent settlers, with their shaggy hair
and wistful eyes, but the bullet-headed
black man I'm the leaky boat that eides
out from the willows is a better retriever
than the dogs and a better pilot than
the sport-loving master Of the plantation.
There Is nothing that this negro does not
know about the habits OF ducks, and the
habits OF all other sentient creatures
that winter I'm that pond. lie has pillaged
the secret haunt OF bird and beast in those
thickly grown places ever since he was
big enough to go alone slept on the pine
straw by his light-wood fire until mid
night. so as TO be early on the ground;
discovered the fish beds hidden among the
bonnet leaves, and stolen up in the pale
light of dawn on some befuddled Owl or
willy hawk. roosting confidently in the
thicket. That impenetrable place known
as the "head OF the pond IS open 10
him and his conhdants.
Fox-huntng. through pine barren. oak
thioket and swamp. over bitches. fences
and fallen logs, now bending low 10 AVOID
the dangling moose OF "A grapevine now
swerving suddenly 10 evade the giant
trunk that looms up in the path That's
the sport that keeps the young men out
Of their beds until the small hours anu
tempts the old men 20 get up and fol-
low when they hear the clamor OF mounds
and the challenge Of the horn.
six men to supper. Kinda, and they
don't want 10 wait a minute. They're
going on a hunt" says the mistress of
a country house to the warden or the
ovens and pans.
Law sakes. Miss Goorgiel And my
slipper all done cook, jist now ready 10
tote in de house.
Then the redoubtable Kinda rises 20
the emergency. and broils bakes. fries,
and stews. cuts the cat and the dog out
Of her way. and clears the kitchen OF pick
aninnies at one and the same time.
when dis time o. de year come de men
folks is crazy" she mutters. It's dear
huntin' to-day and duck huntin' to-mor-
rer. and dove huntin' the day after that
Never home TO meals, and the gales fol-
lowin' right behind 'em, trapesin' through
the brar and de cane brake, every which
way Il. kitn' round arter de men. and
then they'll be hollerin' for Kinda 10
wait on 'em and tend 10 'em. All Of
them 'tnnglOus roots and muscadine vine
amt no place for gals in the night time"
The cracker listens at the door OF
HIS shanty TO the horn. the hounds. and
the galloping hoofs of the hunt
"I calculate there Amt much game TO