The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-04-02
A HORSE TALKS
ON FOX HUNTING

safety Of the stable. and Moxe, the sad
die horse.
Say, Moxie, you seem bit done up
said Buster as he rubbed himself against
an apparent aching front leg of the sad
die horse.
Not Bit" replied Moxle as he pressed
his nose against the head of the bull pup.
i just stuck that foot In a hole in landing
from jump and strained a tendon when
Is little sore for a moment, but 1t VIII
be o. k. this afternoon. Say Buster that
fox chase this morning puts me In good
humor again. Old fellow. you know am
sport by nature. l love the saddle ana
occasionally am willing to- do my duty ~
the harness of buggy. but II Unfair OLD
| chap, TO make me do duty beside tfottef
| In carriage team. | don't mind WORK
and am willing to do my fart. but | m mol
fitted for 1t and don't show mp we'll and
Its Calling to play second fiddle in car
rage. But say, old boy. that was great
sport this morning. l didn't know what
was up when the old gent came down him
self in riding toys and called for me to
get up at daylight. He saddled and bridlec
me In fifty and remarked: Well Moxie,
| the old man is In for It this morning like
he was in his young days-you'll have to
brace UP and pull him through. ] didn't
know what he meant ! was bit stin
| from carriage work-trottlng along beside
a work horse-but out to the road We
went and there was Colonel and Prince
nd "a IoIn tn ttru h.F
| Kirkpatrick and Mrs Kirkpatrick and
Miss Kirkpatrick, and Medley ridden by
Mrs Roberts, and there was a country
claybank, bi. gawky but nervy and
swift, ridden by young Mr.. Chenoweth.
| Well, we cantered a mile and were halted
to join a company like cavalry There
was my old sorrel friend Frenzy, ridden
by a strapping and likely looking fellow
named Carpenter. who wore English leg
gins and a knowing smile, and Kaiser
Wilhelm who answered to the bell cord
signals of Pete Lallande bit heavy to
carry, but bearing a fox horn and having
the title OF Master of the Hounds; and
! Princess Louise, a trim youngster ridden
by Mrs. Lallande. And then there were
bays and browns and greys, some strang-
ers and some old friends, ridden by Jim
Smith and Jim's brother, Colonel Messer.
| Ed Crawford, Charlie Stilman, J. w.
Sweet and others.
1T was good lot of horses and one
gent from the rural section rode a brown
mule. But l didn't draw the color line.
He was polite and when l bowed to him
he said, good morning, boss. Hope Wen
have a good chase That made it all right.
He had a couple of likely-loolSing hounds
at his heels and the gent who held the
| pillow line on him knew his business and
was too old to trust himself on anything
but an old slave-time animal SO | said,
Yes, Sambo, glad to see you out. Hope
your dogs are good
"'They are youngsters, replied Sanbo,
the mule. but they come of good stock
and if they are like their ma and pa
they'll sure be in at the finish
"And did you have fox chase sure
enough?" asked Buster Brown standing
on his hind legs and putting his feet on
the trough that he might be near Moxie's
head to catch the full story.
1T was a chase sure enough-a gallant
one. too--though [ was not first In. But
that's all right for the first time here
The old gent was a bit timid about my
knowledge of the music and the direc-
ton of the dogs and held me in through
the woods where Colonel, of Kirkpatrick
and Claybanl with that devillsh Cheno-
weth chap were sprintlng in and out the
brush. But next time he'll let me out.
But, say, Buster, you should have been
there. We all went over the mountain
into Shades Valley. There we found 4
pack of "a dogs-all good natured fellows,
eager for the chase. They live over
there in a village of their own, walled
In by a wire fence enclosing an acre or
two. Each hound has his own little house
in the enclosure.
Al old grey fox, captured two days
before in a Negroes hen house. had been
turned loose at daylight. He had full
hour the start. Then the dogs--twenty-
six OF them-were taken across the trail.
Wild Goose. a trim roam and white Ten
nessee dog of English ancestry. caught
the trail and was off through the woods
like a flash. General Lee. Joe Wheeler.
Queen Bess and score of others dogs
of melodious voice followed; and within
five hundred yards, when an open field
was reached, the full pack was running In
a bunch. l was right up with them and
you could almost have covered the pack
with a blanket. The melody of an opera
down here at the Jefferson theatre was
nothing to it. There was both action and
music. The voice of every dog was at
what they call concert pitch The scent
was hot and the speed terrific Over a big
ditch we went; up a hlf and then into
thick woods. 1t was lots OF fun lodging
between trees; but limbs were low an6
we lost a bit. Here was an old road
Down 1t we went. cutting off the pack
which had circed. Then into big creek
Here the dogs lost the trail for a moment
All twenty of the hunters and huntresses
were on the spot in thirty second, though
the race from the start had covered a
mile or more. Then up the creek two hun
ored yards young dog opened up The
old fellows went to investigate, found him
true to his breeding. and off again in full
| cry the pack went. l took a big log,
ditch, then a pile of brush. dashed out of
| the woods into a field of gulleys, piled
over and in and out of them and kept
we'll in hearing and often in sight of the
dogs; but that Colonel of Kirkpatricks
ord Tho horses of I,allanda and farna,tar