The Nevada County picayune., 1907-11-14
BILLS FOX HUNT AS DESCRIBED BY A MAN WHO
 RODE WITH HIM
By NORMAN K. cRowELL

the prune barrel into which the upper third of Boggs had disappeared. At the query the prune chaser stralSht' sned up and dusted the mold off his vest front.
 "Eh? Ride two hounds?" he repeat ed in mild surprise. T should hope not, son; I'm no juggler.
 q heard you were quite a fox hunt CT once. Just thought I'd ask, you know" said the clerk, as he put handful of desiccated cabbage leaf into the free tobacco box.
 Fox hunter, Well, calk'late same that I was, Why son, was chasin' the animals years before you was born,
 'I 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 a regular ringmaster at hossback ridin Even went so far as to let on he'd been refusin' big offers once a month for tn past ten years from circuses all over tn country just to ride hosses. I never seen m straddle a hoss, though, till We went down to Squire Eaton's fox hunt. Bill had to go, seen' he was some maple sugafy on tn squire's daughter, an tn daughter had egged tn squire on to 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:
 II hear Bills an old circus eques- trian, an I'm dunn glad of it. I've got a regular devil of hoss for i'm to ride, an an ordinary man couldn't manage i'm
 Is that so9' says l. Well. I guess my pardner Is tn one to make tha hoss feel is oats if anyone can. You'll enjoy watchin Bill ride that hoss, squire, l says.
 When the 1abIe bridegroom led out Bills noble s,eed my poor pardner nearly fell down. So did I, after one look at that nag. 1 zee 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' nn al tn Masonic temple Away up on tn roof of in he had q backbone that looked like th map of th' Rocky noun tains done up in bone. Bill run is hand loyin1y over tn critters spine an said he'd seen worse, but couldn't recollect jest where.
 Tn first thing Bills hoss done was to jump tn pump an then hurcle 9 TOW O beehives. In doin' this half dozen beeue-browed honey.producers anchored to Bill an th' hoss an done a lively business. Bill took tn lead jest like I'd said he would he held it. He showed LIS some ridin' that you don't often see even in cir GUS rings, too. l never see a feller ride so far away from is nag an' still stay with i'm. Most O tn time Bill 'pearsd to be sailin' along in tn sun shine jest like butterfly, toAchin, is hoss occasionally to give i'm a pointer where he wanted to go.
 Some O tn boys who got uF near Bill said th remarks he was caStin' off was ekal to any Spartacus to the GLadiators' they'd ever listened to- About every third time Bill'd come down he'd meet th hoss coin' up on th' next jump, an tn sound was sim liar to man poundin' hollow s.ump with a sledge hammer.
 Tn about 20 minutes Bills hoss had overlook tn dogs an wadcd through th' bunch, puttin' two of them on tn hospital list with onjointed backs. In a minute or so more he'd caught up with th fox, an, after runnin' i'm neck an neck for half 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.
 "Th' squire bloWed a few toots on is feghorn to advise Bill 10 come back an be sociable but we see that hoss just tuck in his tail good an careful an stretch out like homesick jack rabbit. Bill was hangin on like porous plaster to a tramp's back.
 "Th' last we saw O my pardner he was just toppin' q rise in tn far dis tance with tn hose skippin' along like scairt catamount bout five feet be- low. Tn squire was sort O melan- eholy for awhile. thinkn' he was hoss out, but l told i'm to bear up brave an begin preparin to get boot ed clear across Catawba county if poor Bill never showed mp again.
 But next day Bill sent word from town 20 miles off that he was alive an hungry, but that tn hoss was in difficulty through breakin an enterin' a hotel office an attemptin' to regis ter. l forget what it cost tn squire to settle for tn bric-a-brac that ami nal had maltreated. but it was noth-
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