Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-10-24

to do except to stick my foot in the
stirrup leather and ride on.
We started out with only Mr.. AL
brittan's foxhounds. 1t seemed, how
ever, that we were joined en- route by
every dog in the vicinity of our line
of march-doss of every color, every
size, every age, every breed. We
seemed to be especially long on pups
This promiscuous and molly aggrega-
tion Of the canine tribe spent the night
in various pastimes, some playing,
some quarreling, some fighting, some
running imaginary rabbits. Except
the home team none of these dogs had
the slightest acquaintance, either nat
ural or acquired with any member of
the fox family. And like some people
as they could not, or would not do
anything themselves, they were deter
mined to hinder and obstruct others.
Some time before daylight my feet
become so intensely cold that / rode
up to a negro cabin and begged for
admittance in order to warm. After
ouSCCCuCu III Convincing MN tlldl
was not a Ku-klux nor an assassin,
but only a professional foxhunter, he
let me in, and I unraked a bushel of
red Goals and warmed my half-froze
feet. AS this took time I became sep
arated from the other hunters. This
was rather a serious matter, as we
knew nothing Of the topography or the
geography of the country-especially
by night.
AS again succeeded (by means Of
a fence and one stirrup) in mounting
my giraffe Of mule, I awoke the
echoes by a succession of regular fox
hunter yells. 1 could just hear the
answer Of my friends in the distance.
We didn't even strike the trail of
fox.
If there be truth in the old adage,
That there is more pleasure in pur-
suit than in possession" then our fox
hunt was a most successful failure, for
there was certainly not the slightest
element of pleasure in the pursuit, and
we utterly failed to secure or possess
anything whatever.
Daylight came at last. The world
was white with frost. We were far
from home. We were cold, hungry,
tired, lost and disgusted and we had
no foxes. We had Marched up the
hill and marched down again."
One little thing occurred on our way
back to break the monotony. AS two
of our boys were riding back towards
Snow Hill, they noticed negro beat
ing his wife. BY a swift move they
cut him off from his house, drew their
guns, compelled him to get into the
middle of the big road, marched him
to Snow Hill and turned him over to
the proper authorities.
This was done, not in the interest of
law and order, or conjugal felicity, but
for pure mischief. AS they happened
to leave town before the case was call
ed, and the woman swore that her
husband had never mistreated her in
his life, the negro was discharged for
want of evidence.
The boys said that as they could not
catch a fox they decided to catch
coon.
In conclusion: We struggled into
Snow Hill, by ones and twos, late I'm
the afternoon. Hadn't eaten a bite
since supper, Christmas eve.
AS for our kind host, while naturally
disappointed, yet he was fox hunter
and accepted failure philosophically.
Not so with the writer He knew
when he had enough. He decided that
he was not a sport-a foxhunter.
And at Snow Hill, Ala, on Christ
mas evening, 1891, with the weight Of
disappointment and defeat and hunger
and fatigue and loss of sleep heavy up
on him, he then and there registered
solemn VOW, that under no imagina-
BILE or conceivable circumstances would
he participate in, aid, or abet, or con-
nive at, or encourage either directly or
indirectly, or covertly, or remotely, or
suggestively engage in a foxhunt. And
he has kept his vow.
w. S. Gordon.