Free press., 1907-11-30
bILL'S FOX HUNT
As DESCRIBED BY A MAN Wn0
RODE WITH HIN
By NORMAN Il. CRoWELL


in an attempt to draw attention from
the prune barrel into which the upper
third of Boggs had disappeared At
the query the prune chaser straight
ened up and busted the mold off his
vest front
''Eh? Ride two hounds?" he repeat
ed in mild surprise. 4 should hope
not, son; I'm no juggler.'
Il heard you were quite fox hunt
er once. Just thought Id ask, you
know" said the clerk, as he put
handful OF desiccated cabbage leaf
into the free tobacco box.
Fox hunter, Well. | calkIate
same that | was. Why, son, I wa
chasin the animals years before you
was born
Il suppose you've hunted foxes with
! Bill Fikes?' asked jim Hallett, as he
peered around the stove
Hunted with Bill? Yes, once, l re-
member that time very particular-it
finished poor Bill for fox huntin
You see. Bill had always swore he
was regular ringmaster at hossbaCk
ridin'. Even went so far as TO let O.
he'd been refusin' big offers once
month for tn past ten years from
circuses all over tn country just 10
ride hosses. | never seen m straddle
a hOss, though, till we went down to
Squire EatOn's fox hunt. Bill had to
go, seem he waszsome maple sugaTy
on tn squire's daughter an tn
daughter had egged tn squire on t.
invite Bill SOS she could see how he
looked in highwater pants
After we'd got down there tn
squire pulled me off to one side an
says, in a whisper:
81 hear BilFs an old circus eques-
trian, an I'm dunn glad OF it, I've
| got a regular devil of a hoss for i'm
to ride, an an ordinary man couldn't
manage i'm
Z" is that SOP says l. Well, 1 guess
my pardner is In one to make that
hOss feel is oats if anyone can You'll
| enjoy watchin Bill ride that hoss,
squire l says.
When the stable bridegroom led out
Bills noble steed my poor pardner
nearly fell down. So did I, after one
look at that nag. 1 see then that
Squire Eaton was professional
| Joker with capital letters a foot high
That animal was so high up from
| tn earth it was jest like lookin' up at
! tn Masonic temple. Away up on tn
! roof of i'm he had a backbone that
looked like tn map of IN Rocky noun
! tains done up in bone. Bill run is
hand lovinly over tn critters spine
! an said he'd seen worse, but couldn't t
recollect jest where.
1 rct hiv7er
to jump tn pump an then hurdle a
! row o beehives. In doin this a half
dozen beetle-browed honey producers
anchored to Bill, an tn boss an done
a lively business. Bill took h lead
| jest like I'd said he would-an' he
held it. He showed us some ridin'
that you don't often see even in cir
Gus rings, too 1 never see a feller
ride so far away from is nag an still
stay with i'm. Most O tn time Bill
| 'peared to be sailin' along in tn sun
shine jest like a butterfly, touchin'
is hoss occasionally to give i'm a
pointer where he wanted to so.
Some o tn boys who got up near
Bill said tn remarks he was castin' off
was ekal to any 'Spartacus to the
About every third time Bill'd come
down he'd meet tn boss goin' up on
tn next jump, an In sound was sim
liar TO a man poundin' a hollow stump
with a sledge hammer.
In about 20 minutes Bits boss had
overlook tn dogs an waded through
tn bunch, putin two of them on tn
hospital list with onjointed backs In
a minute Or SO more he'd caught up
with III fox, an. after runnin' i'm
neck an neck for half a mile passed
i'm easy. Tn fox was so disgusted
he tried to bite Bill in tn leg as he
went by, but Bill was too high up to
| be reached.
TIL squire blowed d few tocts on
is foghorn 10 advise Bill to come bach
an be sociable, but we see that hoss
just tuck in his tail good an careful
an stretch out like Il homesick jacb
rabbit Bill was hangin on like q
porous plaster to a tramp's back
"Th last We saw o my pardner he
w&s just toppin' rise in tn far dis
tance with tn hose skippin' along like
a scairt catamount bout five feet be
low. TIL squire was sort o melan
choly for awhile, thinkin' he was {
hoss out, but told i'm to bear VI
brave an begin preparin TO get boot
ed clear across Catawba county il
poor Bill never showed up again.
But next day Bill sent word from
. a town 20 miles of that he was alive
! an hungry, but that tn boss was ii
, difficulty through breakin' an enterin
hotel Office an attemptin' to regis
ter. | forget what it cost tn squire
10 settle for III bric-a-brac that ami
mai haG maltreateG. but it was moth
in small Bill walked like a pair o
carpenter calirers for six weeks an
threatened 10 sue tn squire FOR per
manent injuries TO is beauty
..rTNat was III last fnN hnnr [ eve