THE LIBRARY OF THE OF LOS UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA ANGELES THE CAMPING-OUT SERIES. VOLUME V. FOX-HUNTING, AS RECORDED BY RAED. EDITED BY C. A. STEPHENS. ILLUSTRATED. BOSTON : JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY, (LATE TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & co.) Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Boston : Stereotyped 'and Printed by Rand, A very, &* Co. 5 f NOTE. "TTTE are well aware that the title of our little * * narrative will have to brave public opinion. Our people generally despise fox-hunting : not with- out pretty good reason, it is to be feared ; for your local fox-hunter is often no saint. In. short, what the " impecunious Bohemian " is to the town, the fox-hunter is to the country, " poor, slack, and shiftless," in rustic phrase; "too lazy to work," the farmers say of him. Furthermore, fox-hunting, considered as a busi- ness, is notoriously unprofitable. This of itself would be stigma enough in any average Yankee community. Our people have a radical antipathy to unremimerative callings. They will neither engage in such, nor yet, so far as public sentiment goes, allow their fellow-citizens to do so. Hence LIBRARY 4 NOTE. a hound following at a man's heels, and claiming him as master, discounts his owner's character at a pretty heavy percentum. But, beyond these considerations, there is un- doubtedly another, and what may be termed an hereditary, antipathy to this sport. In England, the squires, even the lords and dukes, used to hunt the fox. It was a standard amusement with the landed gentry. The land was theirs, and they overrode it at will : fences and fields were no bar- riers to them. Now, the class of people who emigrated from Old England to New England were not of the fox-hunting class : they were of the class the fox-hunters had overridden. They brought with them well-defined objections to the sport. Our " institutions " were projected on a different plan. No troop of aristocrats would be allowed to ride down our fences, and poach our fields. The law would stop them promptly ; and, if the law did not, something else would, very quick. Our people have their rights, and the temper to sustain them. Nevertheless, an infusion of fox-hunting blood must have come over even in " The Mayflower." It crops out here and there. In every inland county NOTE. 5 there is always at least one whose instincts declare the fatherland, be it never so rudely. But we should not, methinks, deal too hardly with this hardy old Anglo-Norman sport. Much of the robust English health started here ; and we cannot but hope some good from fox-hunting on American soil. Our youth, our young ladies espe- cially, are lamentably destitute of healthy out-door sports. The ill effects of this lack are sad enough, Heaven knows, to fill us with well-grounded anxi- ety for the future, lest we see the delicately-beauti- ful Anglo-American fade utterly from the Western continent. Some such feeling as this has emboldened us to submit the account of an attempt to Americanize-, in a clumsy way, this grand old field-sport of our ancestors. J. W. E. Bosxox, May, 1873. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE. The Old "Curlew" to be turned into a Crack Yacht. Hamilton's "Metaphysics." We fall into Difficulties. Kit's Letter. A Gay Young Lady's Advice to a Youngster. The Fox-hunting Scheme . 11 CHAPTER H. The Trip to Maine. The Double Wagon. A Grand Old Fireplace. Some Scorched Overshoes. "The Freshman." The Latin Les- son. " Scribii, scribere, scratcheye, scrinktum." A Talk about Latin. Some Sweet Cider, and how it was made. A Good Tem- plar. The Thirteen-ineh Sponge-Russets. Some Music ... 18 CHAPTER HI. The Hounds, "Jim," "Nance," and " Ginx," with Some Account of Each. The ' ' Fox-Bait." " Whoa, ye kicking old Rep ! " A Four- dollar Horse 31 CHAPTER IV. Chilly Weather. The Frozen Lake. Skating. " The Fire-Eater on Skates." A Trip to the "Store." Roundwood Berries. Robins. We visit Mr. Graves's School. Some Pretty School-Girls. The Pearl of the Schoolroom. The Class in English Analysis. Intro- ductions. Miss Kate Edwards. The Pretty Misses Wilbur. Wash as a Ladies' Man 37 7 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE. The Ball on the Ice. The Beacon-Fires. The Supper-Table. Some Stunning Toilets. Wash Refulgent. Wade " Refulgenter." Miss "Jule." Some Rapid Skating. A Grand Rink. A Promenade with Miss Kate. The "Poetry of Motion." The Hemlock-Top. A Partridge. A Fox. What a Pretty Girl thought of Wash. A Race. Wash grows Audacious. A Chat with Miss Nell. Going Home with Jule. The " Ten-year-old." Rather a Joke ... 51 CHAPTER VI. Snow. Wash Ungrateful; Wade Regretful. Ho for Fox-Hunting! A Dull Day. A New Project on Foot. A New Sort of Latin Lesson 70 CHAPTER Vn. TheFox-Hunt 76 CHAPTER VHL Trapping Foxes. The Fox-Bait. Shooting Foxes by Moonlight. Cunning Rogues. Tenderer Scenes. Miss Kate's Admirer. Where were Kit's Eyes? 110 CHAPTER IX. Latin in the Background. Charades and Fair Charaders. A Geo- graphical Game. Wash and Mr. Graves. Wash spends an Even- ing with Miss Kate, and afterwards has a Little Confidential Chat with the Bed-Post. Wash talks of leaving Town. A "Cross Gray " Fox. Miss Kate has a New Admirer. Somewhat of Mys- tery 115. CHAPTER X. Wash defers hearing Nilsson. Wade shines. Wash presumes to give him a Word of Advice, which is not well received. Kit gives an Opinion. Jule. What "Granny" Sylvester thought of it as reported by the " Ten-year-old." The Usual Reward doubled. A " Martyr in a Good Cause " 125 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER XI. t PAGE. A Thaw. Coasting. Downing Hill. Some Description of the same. Four Hundred Feet through Space. Nervous. Mr. Graves very Nervous. The Old Pung. Wilkins's Bend. Some fearfully Rapid Coasting 131 CHAPTER Xn. More Coasting. The Old Pung comes to Grief. Long "Trains." Toiling up with Jule. Rather Late. On behind. Snapped at Wilkins's Bend. Jule snaps me. A Quarrel 143 CHAPTER XTTT. Another " Crisis." Wade in Trouble : he waxes Vehement, and talks of risiting his Mother in Baltimore. Meanwhile I catch Sight of a Desirable Vacancy, and become a Humorist. " Queerie Days." Something like a " Glamour." The Fox-hunters' Soiree . . . 149 CHAPTER XIV. Wash has the Impudence to offer me Advice, which I reject with Merit- ed Scorn. Out in the Barge again. A Strange Track. Kit's Story. The Lumbermen. Dan. " Gee, Buck ! " A Wild Ride along a " Logging Road." "Treed." Smoked out. A Scare. Holding the Horses. Felling the Hemlock. The Game shows Fight. A Lively Scrimmage. Our Fair Companions show the " White-Feather." A Fisher. The Ladies refuse to ride with the Game . 155 CHAPTER XV. I am betrayed into contradicting St. Paul, and suffer Amatory Decapi- tation ; but am constrained to vindicate Miss Kate. I also feel the Need of a Change of Air. Wash and Wade console me with Worldly-minded Philosophy. We congratulate Mr. Graves, who eec-ms much confused 173 CHAPTER XVI. We go on a Moose-Hunt. A Thirteen-mile Tramp. A Logger's Camp. The Party from Mattawamkeag. Monson, Jake, and "Louis." A " Moose -Yard." "Driving in a Moose." We buy instead of capturing a Moose. " Breaking " the Animal. A Novel Sled. Harnessing a Moose. We ride Home. The very Abrupt Departure of the Freshman 180 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. PACE. We give our Fair Companions an Invitation to ride behind a " Tame Moose." We meet the "Morning Stage." A Mutual Panic. "Dagon"runs away with us. A Smash-up. " Dagon " escapes, after shedding his Antlers. All Four of us arrested. "Trial- Justice " Hobbs. Twenty Dollars and Gouts 194 CHAPTER XVni. High Times at the Edwards's. Carpe Diem. We start an Opera. " Romeo and Juliet." Private Buffoonery. A Masquerade. " Hide-and-Seek." The Old Chest. Kit and Kate. Somewhat of a Revelation. Capt. Mazard's Letter. The Yacht done. Adieu to our Lady Friends 200 NOTES ON THE RED Fox ( Vulpes fulvus) 206 NOTES ON THE MOOSE (Alces Americanus) 219 THE UHAY WOLVES OF MAINE 248 FOX-HUNTING. CHAPTER I. The Old " Curlew " to be turned into a Crack Yacht. Hamilton's "Metaphysics." We fall into Difficulties. Kit's Letter. A Gay Young Lady's Advice to a Youngster. The Fox-hunting Scheme. IT had been our intention to sail for Europe in October, after our return from the Geysers in August. But a matter of party pride came up. We did not care to present ourselves in Old -World waters in our roughly- appointed schooner. "The Curlew" was a stanch, new, finely-modelled craft, rakish and fleet enough : but she was not very stylish ; decidedly too homely for European ports. The more we thought of it, the more we grew sure of this. Something stylish and "nobby," and, withal, fleet, like the old " America," was our dream. We could not think of so far demeaning our national yacht-reputation as to present ourselves in the English Channel on the present rough vessel. 11 12 FOX-HUNTING. But " The Curlew " had " good points." Capt. Hazard declared her hull couldn't be bettered. To finish, refur- nish, and, in a word, turn the schooner into a gay, crack yacht, with " grand saloon " and state-rooms, and perhaps rechristen her as "The Rambler," or something of that sort, all to the tiine of fifteen hundred or two thousand, was our scheme. Capt. Mazard undertook to superin- tend the job. But we could not count on her being ready for sea again before March or April. We set our- selves, therefore, to pass the winter in study ; and, in order to make a brave beginning, we entered on the month of November with Hamilton's " Metaphysics." In explanation, I should say that we had feared that perhaps so much Tyndall and Darwin might be too physical. A well-meaning but utterly deluded elderly friend had recommended Hamilton's " Metaphysics " as a work well calculated to restore the proper intellectual equipoise. We immediately invested in four volumes of Bowen's American edition, and fell to work. Kit, mean- while, had to return to Maine ; but he took his " Hamil- ton," and agreed to keep pace with us, and report every week. Our programme was to thoroughly master twelve pages per diem, five days in a week. Never was there a better- laid or a more conscientious plan. But, to my chagrin, I can but record that the result achieved during the next fortnight is best typified by an utter hiatus, perfectly void of any thing definite or tangible. Nothing disrespectful to the learned author or editor is for a moment to be inferred. Of so respectable a work as Hamilton's " Metaphysics " I always feel to speak guard- FOX-HUNTING. 13 edly, if at all. I have no sort of doubt that Sir William Hamilton was a great man, a transcendent philosopher. It was Wash who first headed an insurrection against him, in which Wade perversely joined. They both burned their books, and started for Cambridge to hunt up the Alford professor. I believe they wanted to ask him a few civil questions. That night there came a letter from Kit. His first weekly letter had not come as promised. He wrote, "DEAR FELLOWS, How goes it? and how get you on with Hamilton ? What lively stuff this metaphysics is ! I dare say you're progressing famously. But, fellows, to tell the truth, I can't say as much for my- self. I, in short, have given it up, the whole thing, and burnt the book; for I don't mean to have it lying round to remind me of defeat. I suppose Eaed will think this is an evidence of mental weakness ; and I expect it is : but I can't help it. Money wouldn't tempt me to begin on that volume again. Somehow it doesn't agree with my infirmities at all ; aggravates 'era. But really, Raed, I begun on the thing with all honesty and good will. I went over almost a hundred pages. I meant and expected to get some idea as to what the mind is, and how it thinks ; and, all through the first seventy-five pages, I kept thinking I should shortly come out to something definite, till I got utterly confounded. " It's my private opinion that the old fellow didn't know what he was talking about. Yes, sir ; I got so tremen- dously muddled, that I didn't actually know enough to undress myself nights. Fact. I actually got into bed 14 FOX-HUNTING. with my hat on two nights in succession. When it came to that, I thought I had better take off Hamilton. You see, perception, apperception, sub-apperception, super-apperception, super-sub-apperception, got so twist- ed up in my head, that I couldn't think straight. " Grandmother did really suspect that I had ' taken to drink ' at first. Then she got alarmed, and gave Wealthy private instructions to watch me on the sly, and find out where I got it ; for I used to take the book in my pocket, and walk off along the road to read and reflect. Evenings, the old lady eyed me anxiously over her knit- ting. I don't know what she thought ailed me ; I wasn't in a state to consider : but I know she has seemed greatly relieved since I burned the book. Probably the symptoms are less alarming. "Really, Raed, I've not half so good an idea of what the mind is as I had before I began Hamilton. The learned philosopher has led me a most confusing chase. Reminds me forcibly of the way I got served half a dozen years ago, when I was at school at W. I was nothing but a boy then, you know. One day we had visitors, a whole bevy of pretty girls (strictly speaking, I suppose I ought to say a gal-axy). 'Twas a full term. Myself, and the fellow that sat with me, had to give up our seat to the company, and take a front-seat on the other side of the room. " I well remember one of the girls. She was a black - eyed little Jezebel. She glued my eyes, first thing. I was just such a little Nimshi then as to sit and ogle. She caught me at it, and kept catching me all the afternoon. By and by I saw her writing in my Reader, FOX-HUNTING. 15 and turning over the leaves. Better believe I felt curious enough ! " As soon as they- had gone, I pounced on the Reader, and opened it near the first part, where she had turned down a leaf. There I saw, ' If my name you wish to see, Turn to page 403.' " I instantly turned, and found on the margin, ' Saucy boy with the little pig-eye, What makes you look so awful shy ? Turn to page 308 : Something there doth thee await.' " Sheepish, but eager still, I shuffled over, and dis- covered, 'Pretty boy with loppy ears, Calm your silly, childish fears : Hie to page 402 ; Something there I've writ for you.' " Beginning to get indignant, but with unabated curi- osity, I looked over to the page indicated, and espied, ' Boy, it will be many a year Before your mustache will appear. Wait with patience : I may sign My full name on 29.' " Mad as a hen, I whirled back, and found, 'Changed my mind. But don't you fret : You're nothing but a shaver yet. Don't you think I'm rather pretty ? Look on page 130.' 10 FOX-HUNTING. " This was awful ; but I turned with vindictive haste, to find, ' Bubby-boy, this never'll do : You must learn a thing or two. Take my advice, you little cub : Never stare at ladies, bub.' "Metaphysically speaking, Hamilton has given me just about such a chase. Only Black-Eyes did me neatly and completely, besides giving me one of the most use- ful lessons I ever learned ; whereas Hamilton has bored me half to death, and, withal, got me into a hopeless muddle. If I could only wipe all this metaphysical con- fusion out of my mind as easily as I rubbed Black-Eyes' pencillings out of my Reader, I should be well satisfied. " Candidly, Raed, I don't believe it pays to torture one's reasoning powers with the tortuous platitudes of these old philosophers. It's plain enough that they know next to nothing about the mind. Mental action and consciousness doubtless proceed from certain simple con- ditions of matter and motion thus far inscrutable. These old fellows make the mind out to be a fear- fully complex thing in their utter ignorance of vital physics. I repeat, I don't believe it pays to confound one's self with their long-spun lucubrations. If one was shut up in a monastery, it might pay to study Hamilton by way of killing time ; though I submit that time would die hard. So I shall go back to Tyndall and Huxley and Youman and Darwin. Those scien- tific fellows, at least, do know something of what they are talking about: the metaphysician don't, the way FOX-HUNTING. 17 I look at it. They are a mere set of guessers, and dull ones at that. Any Yankee could outguess them on their own grounds ; and would, if it were a paying business. I don't know, fellows, that your experience has heen any thing like mine. But, by way of getting back to my former life, I'm going into fox-hunting ; and I wisli you would come down. I'll show you some sport. I've got hounds and a famous fox-bait; also snow-shoes, and every thing necessary for a jolly burst at it. Now, don't disappoint me. Let's have a dash at Nature to brush away these metaphysical cobwebs." " Hurrah ! " Wash shouted as I read off this invita- tion. " Bless the fellow ! Of course we will go ! " a CHAPTER II. The Trip to Maine. The Douhle Wagon. A Grand Old Fire- place. Some Scorched Overshoes. " The Freshman." The Latin Lesson. " Scribo, scribere, scratcheye, scrinktum." A Talk about Latin. Some Sweet Cider, and how it was made. A Good Templar. The Thirteen-inch Sponge-Russets. Some Music. ~TT"7~E went down to Portland Monday afternoon. V V Tuesday was a bitter day, a stinging day, cold and leaden as the realm of Dis. Late in the afternoon, we arrived, chilled to the marrow, at the memorable " forks " of the road, and stumbled out of the stage in a state of torpor. Kit was there with a double wagon, waiting, muffled up in buffaloes. His purple-red, cheery face was welcome enough in itself. We were all too benumbed to say much after a wintry " How are ye ? " and " Pile in ! " Kit threw in our guns, trunks, &c. ; then tucked the buffaloes round us, and drove off at a great rate, both horses on a gallop, along the hulbly road. Before our teeth had bad-time to fairly chatter out another tattoo, the wagon rumbled into the yard, and pulled up with a jerk that came near robbing ine of the tip of my tongue. 18 FOX-HUNTING. 19 "Grandmother^" fair, broad, pleasant countenance was in the door. To do her justice, she pretty nearly filled it, as I dimly perceived through frosty eye-lashes. " Grandfather," with white hair, but blue eyes, came sturdily out to take the team. Kit led the way ; and we all made a rush through to the sitting-room, where, in a fireplace that might have sufficed for Valhalla, there flamed and roared a bonfire fit to celebrate the presidential election. We charged up to it; but the hot blast against our faces arrested us. " You'll burn yourselves ! " Kit exclaimed, and uncere- moniously pulled us back by the coat-tails. But, with a half-frozen person's infatuation, we kept crowding up for some seconds, and, in truth, kept Kit dragging us back. " Man alive ! " he shouted, catching Wade around the waist from behind. " You'll burn your boots to a cin- der, and your pants too ! Get back to these chairs I've set. You'll be hot enough there, I promise you, in three minutes. Whew ! " for Wash's overshoes had begun to smoke with a terrific stench of caoutchouc. Finally, but not till were all more or less yellowed, we were bullied, and pulled back about ten feet to the ring of chairs. And, indeed, that was as near as prudence would allow of, as we soon perceived. I never saw such a fire in-doors. It was absolutely dangerous. Such a roar of devouring flames ! In front, on a pair of gigan- tic " dogs," lay a rock-maple fore-stick as big round as a barrel; while behind was piled in four-foot wood, not quite half a cord, perhaps, but certainly as much as we could all four have carried at once. 20 FOX-HUNTING. When we rushed in, all this mass of heat-emitting maple was well under way. " But where are the girls, Miss Nell and Miss Weal- thy?" Wade asked. Surely I had missed Sunshine. "At school," said Kit. "Be at home soon, though. Winter school is in session now." Grandmother came in with a pitcher of ginger-tea, her standard antidote for chills of all sorts. We all drank of it on general principles. Kit grinned encour- agingly- While this was going on, talking and laugh- ing were heard from without. The door opened ; and a tall young man with a very handsome countenance passed through the sitting-room into the front hall. I noticed that he wore a black overcoat of not very modern cut, and had on dark pants. I have rarely seen a better face, or a prettier dark hazel eye. He had not removed his hat. Evidently our presence there was a surprise to him ; for he glanced rather astonishedly at us, but at once assumed a dignified mien, which assured me that he had seen comparatively little of the world. " Who was that ? " asked Wash. " Oh ! that's the schoolmaster, Mr. Graves," said Kit. " He boards here. I'll introduce you this evening. He's a freshman from Bowdoin ; teaching to help out his education, I believe. Quite a retiring, modest sort of a fellow. Still he doesn't think small-beer of him- self: I promise you that much. Counts a good deal on being a college-student; more on that than on his own abilities, I sometimes fancy. Look at the two big lexicons on the table there ! Studies evenings ; and he FOX-HUNTING. 21 gives the girls Latin lessons too. Oh, he's great on Latin and geometry ! Can give every theorem in the first four books of ' Davies's Legendre ' verbatim, he told me. But it surprised him considerably to see me use the theodolite, as we did last September. He won- dered where I had learned so much. 'Why/ said he, 'we don't have that till the sophomore-year down at Bowdoin !' I told him we had it the freshman-year on our yacht. Since that, he's been a little shy ; doesn't expatiate on the wonders of geometry so much as he did ; and he eyes that theodolite up in my room as if it were Jack in a box. "But he is a good fellow," Kit concluded a little hastily. Nevertheless, I detected just the least bit of despite in this description, at which I wondered a little ; for Kit is rarely or never malicious in this way. It puzzled me, and kept recurring a score of times within the next fortnight. Afterwards I got a glimpse of the reason. At supper we had the pleasure of making Mr. Graves's acquaintance. He was rather reserved; and his style of conversation was decidedly bookish. Latin-derived adjectives of three and even four syllables encumbered his talk. Worse still, he evidently plumed himself on their use, and introduced a more than usual number for our benefit. This would have made him a bore of the " first water," had he not displayed quite uncon- sciously glimpses of original thought, and, unless I mistook, a sterling character at bottom. I drew him into some talk about the studies pursued at Bowdoin. He made mention of them with a mixture of pride and 22 POX-HUNTING. waggisbness ; wliicli is, I believe, peculiar to college-stu- dents of the first and second years. I referred to the custom of "hazing" freshmen. This at length set his tongue running. He let go his Latin adjectives, and related "hazing tricks "with a gusto which set us all a-laughing, more at his relish of them than of the pranks themselves ; for these latter struck me as being rather stale : and I could but wonder at the enthusiasm with which this Latinized young fellow recounted the emp- tying of slop-buckets on the heads of his fellow-students. But college-fellows have, I remembered, a weakness for such salutes. Perhaps Nature thus revenges her- self for too much " dead languages " by giving them up to coarse practical jokes which outsiders can but regard with derision. Wash and Wade were meanwhile chatting and laugh- ing with the girls. I sincerely hoped Wash would have the grace to behave himself; for a long acquaintance with him had taught me, that, once well off on a frolic, he never knows when to stop. From knocking about on a yacht, one is apt to get out of the grooves of social propriety, and gain a proficiency in phrases rather s]>i<'ij for family use. Indeed, this is one of the evils we have to keep watch and ward over. It was a source of relief to me to observe, from time to time, that the old lady was smiling kindly, and giving us all the full tide of her grandmotherly sym- pathy. As for Kit, he magnanimously devoted himself to the care and replenishing of our plates ; in short, made a " table-girl " of himself, and a very attentive one. FOX-HUNTING. 23 It was easy to see that the Freshman regarded us all with a magisterial eye, and that both the girls paid him a vast stipend of awe -and admiration, enforced mainly, no doubt, by those four-syllabled adjectives. I took note that the word " inscrutable," repeated twice in the course of the meal, made them fairly catch their breaths, and, if I did not fancy it, caused even the old lady to show the white of her eye for a moment. Ah ! this national schoolmaster of ours is a power in the land. We were, of course, anxious to see the hounds and the mysterious fox-bait Kit had hinted at ; but it was dark ere we had finished supper. "Better wait till to-morrow morning, I guess," Kit remarked aside. " ~\Ve shall need daylight for it." So all hands adjourned to the sitting-room again ; and an era of general sociability began. It soon appeared, however, that these evenings were, in part at least, de- voted to study, and that a certain Latin lesson was due from the girls. Indeed, I had all along noticed that they were rather nervously turning over a couple of me- dium-sized volumes in that dark-green cloth sacred to the text of Prof. Harkness ; and at length Mr. Graves inquired preliminarily whether that " lesson " were committed. Miss Nell replied, a little anxiously, to the effect that they would wish to put it over till to-morrow. The rea- son was apparent enough. It was not surprising that they did not care to recite Latin before a roomful of young gentlemen. But the master was quite unwilling to excuse them. I think he felt a little proud of his 24 FOX-HUNTING. class ; possibly proud of his Latin. We hastened to assure them that we should be utterly unable to criti- cise ; and, after considerable hesitation, the recitation commenced. It was the conjugation of audio in the ac- tive voice, together with questions relative to the parts of Latin verbs of the third and fourth conjugations. As to the merits of the recitation, it Would be rash for the writer to hazard an opinion ; but it seemed to be given with very considerable fluency. There were a few hesitations ; but these, I am convinced, were oc- casioned rather by our embarrassing presence than from negligence in study. Mr. Graves was very accurate with the parts of the Latin verbs. They seemed to flash out from his memory with the nicety of steel plate. He had a mind that would take a sharp discipline, and retain it : so I judged. But this finished exactitude held the young ladies in a good deal of awe. "The parts of scribo, if you please, Miss Wealthy?" he asked. " Scribo, scribere," began Wealthy bravely enough ; but happening at that instant to catch Wade's black, attentive eye, she stumbled, made a mess of it, and stopped short in blushing confusion. It hurt my feel- ings fairly. " Why, Wealth ! " cried Kit. " Forgotten scribo ! Just as easy as to snap your fingers, scribo, scribere, scratcheye, scrinktum ! " He said it mischievously ; and the outrageousness of the parody amused us all prodigiously, except the teacher. I saw in a moment that he was hurt or FOX-HUKTING. 25 offended; both, perhaps. He said nothing, save to gravelj- set Miss Wealthy right; at which Kit seemed all the more amused. I wondered again at this almost imperceptible flavor of spite. I thought, for a moment, that Wash seemed to notice it a little curiously ; bu subsequent events have rendered him rather reticent on that and kindred topics. It passed ; and a desultory conversation on the merits of Latin, as a study, sprang up. Mr. Graves urged that the study of Latin was neces- sary, because hundreds and thousands of our words in every-day use were made of Latin word-roots, with Latin prefixes and suffixes. Unless a person understood the meanings and uses of these, he could never be classed as a well-educated person. " But," argued Kit, " do not, to a far greater extent too, the old Anglo-Saxon word-roots enter into and make up the very warp and woof of the English lan- guage ? and yet you say nothing about studying these, the language of our ancestors. Why do you urge so long and exhaustive a study of Latin and Greek, and entirely slight the old Saxon tongue?" No better reply occurred to Mr. Graves than to say that both should be studied ; the one, perhaps, as much as the other. " But how can the old Norse languages be studied, when all a man's youth is used up on Caesar, Sallust, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Tacitus, Xenophon, Homer, De- mosthenes, and Sophocles ? " demanded Kit. And so they had it. Both were in earnest, taking . fair and serious grounds for argument. Mr. Graves 26 FOX-HUNTING. especially contended, that in law, in theology, and in medicine, as also in the nomenclature of natural history, botany, and physiology, a knowledge of Latin was ab- solutely necessary in order that a student may under- standingly pursue his professions and studies. It seemed so. I thought he made out a very strong case on this latter point. But we all agreed with Kit, that the time spent on Greek and Latin was disproportionate ; that these lan- guages were allowed to take up far too much time. Wash gave it as his opinion, that one year of Latin and Greek would be as much time as could be justly set apart for them. Kit thought a second year should be spent on Old English and the Norse tongues. Mr. Graves did not agree with us ; but he admitted that Latin occupied more time than could, with justice, be given it. He argued, however, that the course of studies pursued at college (Bowdoin) was about as good a one as could be laid down. Kit laughed at this opinion : he believed, with the rest of us, that scientific studies should occupy a full two- thirds of the time. I felt sure, however, that the "flavor of spite " which I had fancied to exist between them did not originate in their diverse opinions on educational matters. They were both perfectly fair and candid in argument, and showed no signs of losing temper. I began to think I had been mistaken altogether as to it. It occurred to me that we might get some benefit from Mr. Graves's Latin ; and, since he had argued so stoutly FOX-HUNTING. 27 for it, I asked him, as a favor, to make out for us a list of one hundred Latin words that entered most fre- quently in the " compounds " of our language, together with their u roots," and a few common derivatives as examples of the way these derivatives are formed. He seemed pleased with the idea ; and I was glad to see that he looked upon the request as a compliment to his argu- ments. He promised to do so in the course of a week. Kit and Miss Nell had gone out meanwhile. From certain sounds of talk which seemed to come up through the floor, I concluded they were down cellar. Presently they re-appeared from the dining-room, Kit with a willow-basket of apples (sponge-russets, of fabulous size), and Miss Nell with a large pitcher and glasses. The pi teller was soon declared to contain cider; at which Wash held up his hands in comical despair. He is a " Good Templar." But is a Good Templar really holden to resist cider when poured out by a pretty girl who playfully raises her own glass " to touch " ? Well, all is, I know one Good Templar who didn't ; though I am bound in honor not to disclose his name. There is always a dodge with cider, however. Cider is of two kinds, sweet cider and sour cider. Just where the line of demarcation between the two obtains place is not very clear. Perhaps it is not fixed. I never knew a Good Templar who ever drank sour cider ; and, now I think of it, I am inclined to believe that sour cider is wholly a myth. Sweet cider is, as everybody knows, a very innoxious beverage. 28 FOX-HUNTING. " Is it sweet ? " I asked. "Certainly, sir," replied Kit blandly. "Just tapped. Try it." I tried. . . . Such cider! Never tasted any thing like it ! It did have a little of " the fuddle " to it ; but, of course, that had nothing at all to do with its sweetness. It was as rich in color as port wine. We learned that this barrel was a sort of "fatted calf" which Kit had been keeping, and had only tapped in honor of our arrival ; and, as this barrel of cider is a good deal mixed up with my narrative, I may be par- doned some gossip concerning it and its general get-up. In the first place, it was made of grafted fruit exclu- sively, Baldwins, Greenings, and Scotch-sweets. So far as practicable, all wormy apples had been thrown out. This circumstance was a comforting one ; for, generally speaking, each barrel of merchantable cider made since the year of grubs (1861) contains the juices of about at a moderate estimate forty thousand fat white worms ! To resume, the apples had been carefully sorted; and, after expressing, Kit had put into this barrel a half-pound of white mustard (whole), five blood- beets (nicely sliced up), and three pounds of raw beef- steak. The mustard was to keep it sweet, the beets to give it color, the beef to give it body. Happy con- catenation ! " Gentle cask of mellow " cider ! Ah ! if I were only a poet, I would celebrate that bar- rel of apple-juice a la Horace, or I'd cave the head of it in. Full many a long, fox-less tramp has it cheered up ; full many a happy evening has it made happier, always FOX-HUNTING. 29 in moderation. Associated, too, with its rich color, rises in memory a vision ahem! Ah! it's no sort of use to try the poetical : I can'fr fetch it. In plain prose, it was plaguy good stuff: came as near old Jove's nectar as any thing that has been gotten up since his time. Then those russets ! If there is one apple in the world which stands superior in its season to all other apples, it is the sponge-russet. (I should remark, per- haps, that Wash prefers the gillyflower ; hut his opinion is manifestly ahsurd.) Some of these mammoth russets were thirteen inches in girth, with the flavor and quality in proportion. Picture us sitting at a safe distance be- fore that cyclopean hearth, eating thirteen-inch russets, and quaffing beakers of sweet cider, and you have a scene to match Valhalla, from which not even the Val- kyrs were absent, toned and beautified by Yankee girl- hood. We sang too. There was a parlor-organ. I presume our music would scarcely deserve a " review : " yet with Wade's tenor, the Freshman's bass, and Miss Nell's clear soprano, we managed to please ourselves ; and, as there was nobody else to hear, it can be nobody's else business. These good folks keep early hours. By half-past ten I noticed a movement which indicated " bed-time ; " and we all acquiesced, the more readily that our long ride in the cold wind had rendered us unusually stupid and sleepy. Lighting a little kerosene-lamp, Kit conducted us up the broad but uncarpeted flight of stairs in the " front hall." Our chambers were two square rooms on the second floor, connecting the one with the other. A bright fire in a fireplace of smaller dimensions warmed 30 FOX-HUNTING. and lighted the first and southernmost of the two; and, by leaving the door open, the second was rendered com- fortable. " We four fellows shall have to lunlc here," explained our young host. " You can choose of the two rooms to your liking." Having in mind certain hygienic precepts to the effect that it is healthier to sleep in cool rooms, Wash and myself chose the fireless one. Wade, who shivers a good deal in our climate, was glad of the bed nearer the fire. He and Kit occupied the fireplace-room together; it being a part of Kit's duty to tend the fire. "But where does the Freshman bestow himself ?" Wash inquired. " Oh ! he has the spare room down stairs," said Kit. " The spare room is always sacred to the schoolmaster, who generally boards here. . . . But what do you think of him this Graves ? " he asked after we had sat warm- ing our feet a while. The question was put a little insidiously. We had liked him pretty well. "A trifle mawkish," Wash ob- served. " But he seems a good fellow at bottom." Kit made no reply to this. "How do you like him ? " I ventured after a moment's silence. " Oh ! / like him well enough," said Kit, and changed the subject. CHAPTER III. The Hounds, "Jim," "Nance," and " Ginx," with Some Account of Each. The " Fox-Bait." " Whoa, ye kicking old Kep ! " A Four-dollar Horse. ~T1T7"E slept soundly, rather too soundly ; and were V V only up in time for breakfast, and the "family prayers " which followed the meal. ("Grandfather's" prayer was fully as prolix as on a former and less deco- rous occasion.) Mr. Graves joined in these devotional exercises ; but he grew sadly uneasy ere the prayer concluded. I de- tected him in a surreptitious consultation of his watch. It lacked but fourteen minutes of nine ! and he immedi- ately hurried off to school with the girls. We went out to the stable to see the hounds and the " bait." "Here they are!" exclaimed Kit, rolling back the stable-door. He had them chained in empty horse-stalls warmly bedded. " This is Jim," continued Kit, making us acquainted with a big, bony, savage-looking beast, white, calicoed with light tan. " He's the leader, a half-breed. It's as 31 32 FOX-HUNTING. much as a man's life's worth to get before him after he has run five or six hours. A while ago I had them on a fox-track. They ran till night around a mountain up here. Then the fox, an old ' cross gray,' made a bee- line for another mountain about four miles farther on. I found they weren't gaining, for it was bad running ; and so cut across to take them off the trail. Jim had got pretty mad. His eyes were like coals. I knew I should have my hands full : so I hacked down a lot of little hemlocks, and threw them in on to the track at a place where it ran between a couple of big rocks. Then I got a large, brushy hemlock-limb, and stood ready on the other side. Up came Jim. I yelled at him. Paid no attention to me. I thought he would have to go round the hemlock; but he took it at a leap, when he found the scent was under it. As he came orer, I laid on to him with the limb. I had to fairly knock him down, and kick him after he was down, to stop him. He would have throttled me in a jiffy if I hadn't got him down and got the better of him. He was so excited, he didn't know me. Afterwards he acted as ashamed as you please. The other two were a little behind, and stopped when they found Jim had stopped. But I made up my mind that it was a rather risky business. I think Jim has something of the bloodhound in him. I bought him in one of the adjoining towns to the east of us. " And this," continued Kit, going to the next stall, " is old Nance. She runs next to Jim. Is a faster run- ner than Jim ; but he won't have any thing ahead of him of the feminine gender. When I want some sharp, quick running, I put her on alone. She knows what I FOX-HUNTING. 33 want just as well as I could say it in words. She will skim like a swallow ; and she will put a common yellow fox into the ground in from one to three hours, or else overhaul him handsomely. Generally holes them. They'll take the ground when they hear her closing up behind. You shall see. I don't care what folks say about fox-hunting : it's fun alive, I think." I cannot describe old Nance more graphically than by saying that she resembled a large-sized English coach- dog: only the black spots were rather larger, and less regularly disposed. She had, of course, a hound's ear, with a lean, bony head, and a prodigious muzzle. "And this," resumed Kit, going round into the third stall, " this is Ginx." (I think Kit must have been reading " Ginx's Baby.") " One year old. Runs behind the other two. Going to be quite a hound one of these days. Nothing but a puppy yet. Got a good eye and a good head : intelligent brute." Ginx we could but grin at the name was a sleek, short-haired creature ; black back, with tan legs, red ears, and light tan nose. "But what of this one?" demanded Wash, looking into a fourth stall, where a faintly-brindled and rather ill-conditioned hound stood shivering. " Oh ! he's of no account," said Kit. " Not one of my pack : wouldn't keep such a cur. You see, he be- longed to an old chap a few miles from here : so I bought him up about a fortnight ago. Gave a fiver for him too ; and he isn't worth a paper dime. But I was afraid the fellow would be out hunting with him, chas- ing and frightening off the foxes : so I gave him hia 34 FOX-HUNTING. price. There isn't now another fox-hound kept within a dozen miles of here ; and there hasn't heen a hound out this season yet. The foxes are as bold as crows. Go out almost any evening after dark, and you can hear them mousing round the stone-piles out in the fields ; and, just as day is breaking, they sometimes get to bark- ing and yelping in a perfect chorus. There are scores of them about here. But what to do with this hound I have bought, I really don't know; unless I take him for fox-bait." " Why, is this the bait you've been chaffing us about ? " demanded Wash. " No ! oh, no ! " disclaimed Kit. " Come on : I'll show you the bait." He went out through a passage leading from the stable into the barn proper, and, partly opening the door of a dark pen adjoining the haymow, peeped cautiously in. Our curiosity was now highly excited. " In there, is it ? " said I. " In there," said Kit. " Take a peep ? " Impressed by his own seeming caution, I carefully craned my neck, and was just getting my face in at the dark crack of the door, when, quick as a wink, there was a snort, a swish of something or other, instantly followed by a ponderous crash against the door, which, slamming to, knocked me most unceremoniously into the middle of the barn-floor. " What the dickens ! " exclaimed Wash ; while Wade made a bolt of several yards. Kit sprang to secure the door, shouting, "Whoa! FOX-HUNTING. 85 you confounded, kicking old rep ! Whoa ! or I'll have ye shot and skinned ! " At the same moment, a horse's head was thrust men- acingly out at a place where a board had fallen off the partition of the pen, an ugly, lean white head, with retroverted ears, and horrid yellow teeth all exposed. The old brute's eye showed wickedly white and vicious. Kit seized a rake, and bestowed it upon the unsightly apparition with a hearty malediction. " Is that your fox-bait ? " cried Wade, coming back a little. We began to laugh. " That's the bait," said Kit with a grin. "Well, by Jude!" says Wash, "if you don't mind him, he will be making fox-bait of you instead." " You would have thought so, I guess, if you had seen the tussle we had to get him into the pen when I first bought him, a week ago," laughed Kit. " Oh ! then he isn't one of your raising ? " Wade observed. " Not at all ! " cried Kit. " I got him of a notorious old character who lives about a mile from here. The animal is worthless : has the heaves, and about as many spavins as legs. And he seems to have brought along his old master's disposition with him. Kicks outra- geously, and bites like a dragon. Years of abuse have sunk him to a veritable devil. But he will make a pile of fox-bait." We could but laugh. 36 FOX-HUNTING. "Seems to me you are rather extravagant," said I, " to kill horses for fox-bait." " Not a bit of it ! " replied Kit. " How much did he cost ? " Wash asked. "Four dollars!" CHAPTER IV. Chilly Weather. The Frozen Lake. Skating. " The Fire- Eater on Skates." A Trip to the " Store." Eoundwood Ber- ries. Robins. We visit Mr. Graves's School. Some Pretty School-Girls. The Pearl of the Schoolroom. The Class in English Analysis. Introductions. Miss Kate Edwards. The Pretty Misses Wilbur. Wash as a Ladies' Man. forenoon was a pleasant one ; though the wind JL blew chill enough from the north-west. The ground was frozen hard. Off to the east of the farm lay the pond, under a glass-bright expanse of new ice. Our hearts bounded free at sight of it. " What's to hinder skating ? " Wash exclaimed. "Nothing," said Kit quietly; "and this evening, if it's not too windy, we will have the girls out. There's a moon this week." Both Wash and myself had brought our skates, thinking they might very likely come into requisition. But Wade had never skated a yard in his life ; had never learned how. South-Carolinians rarely get a chance to practise this grand old Northern sport. Wade looked doubtful when the skatiug-project was proposed. 37 38 FOX-HUNTING. " Oh ! we can teach you in an hour or two," said Kit encouragingly. " Can you, though ? " asked Wade. Time has been when our Southern friend would have scorned to learn a so purely Northern accomplishment ; but, the more he sees of the North and the world in general, the less prominent grow his local prejudices. He is gradually thanks to our yachting scheme becoming that most desirable of comrades, a true man of the world. Travel, and travel only, can do it. Trav- el gives one breadth of thought, and charity for his fellow-man. Your true man of the world is always charitable ; capable of seeing the good, and choosing it anywhere .and everywhere. Our yacht-cruises confirm me in this belief. No method of education can possibly be so beneficial as that which takes a young man (or a young lady) under- standingly over the world. Thousands of our American youth are wealthy enough to do as we are doing ; yet they settle down to three years of high-school and four years of college life in some dull little town, and at last graduate as green as grass of real life, of men, and of the great world around them, their heads stuffed with a mass of dry Latin and unintelligible theorems of geometry. Ah, what a mis- take ! Even at the risk of being called opinionated, I will write, DON'T DO IT. You can take the same money, and do far better. Two thousand dollars, economically expended, will now take you over nearly the whole world. And, even if a fellow hasn't a dime to bless himself with, he has no need to plant himself like a hill of potatoes. FOX-HUNTING. 39 Get right up and get. Strike off somewhere. Corre- spond for some newspaper; take an agency for some new publication ; or, if nothing better offers, sell " corn- salve " at twenty-five cents per.roll (but first be sure it is a good article, and will cure 'em). By the time you have done this six months, you will see your way out to something better, if you are a genuine live Yankee youth, and go abroad with your eyes open. Opportunities for making a fortune are lying about under our very noses, if we can only get our eyes open enough to see them. The sort of capital most needed is spunk, force, grit, seasoned by perseverance. We went down to the pond-shore with our skates. Kit had brought out a pair of lady's skates the property of Miss Nell for Wade to make his maiden efforts on. .They were rather small for him ; but we finally got his feet into them, and stood him up. It took some minutes to get explained to him that he must turn his foot out after each slide ahead, in order to get a second foothold, and not slide backwards. At length he said he had the idea. We stood aside; and he struck off gallantly under a prodigious head of muscle. He went eight or ten rods like a dart ; then fell all at once with a stomach-shaking wallop. We hurried up. He had fairly knocked his wind out, and was gasping to catch it. Got him on his feet presently ; and he " came to time" again. We all gave him lots of advice. The only difficulty was to follow it. "Don't drive ahead so, like a mad bull in a china- shop ! " admonished Wash. " Slower ; more deliberate like ; so " (illustrating it). 40 FOX-HUNTING. Wade listened attentively. I knew he wanted to make a good appearance the coming evening, and was giving his wits to it sharp. He made a second essay, a slow one, and tumbled immediately ; then he sat still a long while (taking counsel of himself, I presume)^ while we three took a turn across the pond. By and by, looking round, I saw him afoot again, and going like a streak up the pond near the shore. "He'll break his neck !" exclaimed Wash. "Never saw a fellow plunge ahead so ! " But he didn't lose his legs, and went on for a quarter of a mile in a marvellously short time : then, attempt- ing to turn on a much too sharp curve, he went down again, slap ! I feared that he had killed himself out- right. Kit shouted lustily. At that he sat up, and waved his hand, but continued sitting there for as much as fifteen minutes. A while after, we espied him on his feet again, tearing down toward us like a July tor- nado. We instinctively got out of the way ; and he went past at a regular 2.40 pace, his arms stuck out, and brandished. Kit lay down on the ice, and roared with laughter. I never saw a person skate with such down- right, unreasonable violence before. On he went, look- ing neither to right nor left, for nearly a thousand meters, and, mindful of his previous mistake, took nearly the whole width of the pond to turn on, and came back flying. By this time he was reeking with perspiration, and ready to drop with fatigue. He got to the shore, and dropped panting. But he triumphantly exclaimed that- he had got it now ! And, so far as I have remarked, he FOX-HUNTING. 41 has never had any difficulty in skating since. I never saw a Northern hoy learn the art in just that way, nor yet in so brief a time. - "VVe have had many a laugh inter nos over "the fire-eater on skates." After dinner, we harnessed one of the horses, not the fox-bait, and went off to the "store," distant a mile and a half, to purchase Wade a pair of skates. The ruts and holes in the road, frozen hard, made the double wagon dance in a most side-shaking way as we bowled along at a smart pace down the descending ground. The afternoon was pleasant ; but a dim, misty bank lay along the south-western sky, a " snow-bank," in rural phrase ; and, as snow was quite essential to our plans for fox- hunting, we observed it with interest. A part of the way was through a woody tract, whore there were hundreds of mountain-ash, or " round-woods," fairly laden with their bright scarlet berries in countless clusters ; and the whole place teemed with thousands of robins feasting on the fruit. Kit informs me that these birds gather here late in the fall every year, and never leave the locality so long as a single cluster of berries remains. Wash suggested robin-pies. But Kit said, that to come shooting here would call down on us the wrath of the whole community. The robin is a sacred bird. The skates for sale at the "store" were of a rather rough pattern, but strong. Wade purchased two pairs. Kit also negotiated for two or three brown-paper pack- ages, the exact purport of which I did not at the time understand. As we came back, we passed the schoolhouse, a mod- 42 FOX-HUNTING. est story-and-a-half structure. Through the window I caught sight of Mr. Graves in the discharge of his duties. " Let's make him a call ! " Wash proposed. " It's three o'clock. We can stop till school is out, and so bring the girls home." " Well yes ; so we can," assented Kit. But he had hesitated just for an instant. I should not have urged it, seeing this; but Wade struck in his plea for it : and, without further ado^ we rattled round to the door, and, hitching up the horse, smoothed down our faces, and knocked. Forthwith appeared Mr. Graves, book in hand. " We were passing, and thought we would just drop in a minute," explained Kit. Mr. Graves was, of course, delighted to have our com- pany. School-teachers are doubtless passionately fond of callers. We were without delay ushered in, and seated in the " desk," save Kit, who, as an old scholar here, beat naturally up into the back seat, where were ranged a stalwart row of boys, who eyed us with no great favor, I thought ; and, contrasting the rather dashing " get-up " of my two comrades with their rustic mien and dress, I did not much wonder at it. It isn't in human (male) nature to greatly admire a superior, superior in dress and "style," I mean. The young metropolitan'always has this advantage over the country youth. But our com- panionship with Kit has taught us not to rely far on such advantages ; since there rise yearly a class of young men in the country who come to the city, and beat us on our own ground. FOX-HUNTING. 43 Kit had taken a seat beside a young fellow of about his own age seemingly, an old schoolmate, doubtless; for Kit was playfully turning over his algebra, and holding it up to see how far he had got in it by the soiling of the pages, a very accurate test. I could but compare them, and wonder what magical power drives one boy on in life ahead of his fellows. Modesty, of course, had withheld my eyes from wan- dering immediately over to the other side of the room (it was a large room, and contained some fifty-five or sixty scholars). But modesty, I regret to say, had no such sway over Wash ; for, on turning to whisper to him some trifle, I found his attention obstinately fixed on some object on the feminine side. Mustering my courage, I ventured to steal a furtive glance. There was a goodly array of girlhood and young womanhood, the most of which was slyly regarding us out of the cor- ners of its eyes. But I did not, at first, see any thing that would seem likely to have enchained the optics of so practised a connoisseur as our respected fellow-yachter, Mr. Burleigh. I had to come back, and take the direc- tion from his eyes again. Mr. Graves was hearing a grammar-lesson. Wash's eyes seemed to pass close to the master's head, and continue on toward the farther corner of the room. Ah, yes ! I saw now : a young lady, half hidden by heads, with her face partially shaded by her hand and wrist (for one arm rested easily, as if from habit, on the desk before her), a white, dusk face ; dark-brown hair prettily arranged. By Jove ! there was a pearl, composedly studying her lessons, not once remarking Wash's admiring glance. Wade had espied 44 FOX-HUNTING. her too. A moment later she changed her book, and in- cidentally looked up, a dark-hazel glance from a large, calm eye. Our six guilty eyes scattered instanter in all directions. Momentarily I caught a keen, incisive look from Kit, which was gone as quickly ; and I remem- bered afterwards that I did not quite understand nor like it. If affairs are as I afterwards had reason to suspect, I think Kit did very wrong in not giving us some hint thereto : it would have saved one or two heart-aches, I am pretty sure. Of course, it is always very easy tell- ing what a fellow ought to do: still I shall let the above remark stand, though it forestalls the story proper. All I will now say is, that a source of discord a very old one, I believe, worse than all our politi- cal disagreements disclosed itself that winter, which came near setting us at swords'-points metaphorically, and which might well have dissolved our companion- ship in good earnest. A word in the first place, even a hint ever so obscure, would have prevented it all. Hence I hold Kit blamable, and am willing to let the reader judge. Ere we had well regained our ocular equanimity, Mr. Graves called " the class in English analysis." The young fellow with whom Kit was sitting came down to the recitation-seats, Kit accompanying him ; also two of the larger girls from the back seat, with some flutter; and then, very quietly but leisurely, the dark-eyed miss out of the corner seat. It seemed as if the whole school were a foil to set off not her dress ; for, if I noticed, she was not richly clad that certain nameless grace which FOX-HUNTING. 45 dowers the lady born. She did not ignore our presence as company : she did not give it prominence. Mr. Graves was about to give us his own text-book to look over from ; when she, like a dutiful pupil, handed him her own for that purpose, which he passed to us. This surrender was like to have embarrassed the fair benefactor: She had presumably thought to look over with one of the other young ladies ; but, on turning to them, it appeared that they had but one book between them that day. There was a momentary hesitation. Wade rose to restore the book with an elaborate bow ; but our lady disclaimed it with a little wave of her hand and a reserved smile, and, passing along, seated herself demurely beside the young fellow, who gra- ciously, and very much as a matter of course, I thought, gave her half his book. (He was her brother, though.) Imagine a young girl, very beautiful certainly, rather tall, and finely formed, doing all this with an air of per- fect ease, and, withal, modesty. Well, we could but repress our admiration. Some- thing quite new and unexpected seemed to be resulting from our fox-hunting tour. I knew Wash and Wade well enough to predict a thing or two. Indeed, I was satisfied, from the general appearance of Wash, that he was after his fashion more than half in love already. Then I wondered what Mr. Graves thought of his pupil, and laid him under surveillance ; but he was on his dignity, and conducted the recitation with all the methodus of a full-blown professor. Then I thought of Kit, and was sincerely puzzled. I looked at him atten- tively. There he sat, to all appearance, interested in 46 FOX-HUNTING. nothing but the lesson ; and a very dry one it was. I compared them, as they sat there with only the other young fellow between them, she with her wealth of dark beauty ; he with his strong face, and smart, asser- tive look. I am not ashamed to say that I watched them narrowly; and I know Wash and Wade did: but we neither of us discerned the slightest indication or sign of any thing in common between them. Furthermore, I bethought myself, that, for the past three years, I had never known of Kit's having a lady-love. He had never, while absent from Maine, written to nor received letters from a lady. In short, I had never heard of his doing any thing in the "sparking line;" and he had always argued that no young man should dream of marriage till well established in business. I concluded that he and she were schoolmates, perhaps ; nothing more. I think Wade and Wash had the same idea. I do not know how this conclusion 'affected them ; but, for my own part, I felt much relieved by it, on their account, of course. There would be no teterrima causa belli (as the Fresh- man would say) between them. I was more occupied with these reflections than with the English-analysis lesson. " The e-xercise finished, Mr. Graves had given some masterly opinions relative to the formation of our mother- tongue, and generally exerted himself to give the class reason to be proud of their teacher. But I still dis- trusted him ; and, when he handed our young lady her book, I detected his glance, not exactly a tender glance, but one of interrogation. It convinced me that he had put forth his powers before us to win her adniira- FOX-HUNTING. 47 tion; and now he very naturally glanced to inquire whether or not he had succeeded. He had fine talents, and a handsome couutenance; in a word, all the ele- ments of an able man in embryo. I saw no reason why she would not like him ; though Charles E-eade argues that dark eyes are not likely to love the dark-eyed. But that is rank nonsense, so far as my observation goes. Question. Could Wash oust the Freshman ? Could Wade? I rather hoped he would, if he could by fair play; for schoolmasters have no sort of business to fall in love with their lady-pupils. It always demoralizes the school, and makes a "mess " of things generally. It was not very wonderful, however, that he had done so, or was in a fair way to. If I were a schoolmaster, I should not want this beautiful girl for a pupil. I think I would forthwith resign, and enter some other calling less amenable to public censure. But suppose one or the other of my comrades should succeed in dislodging the Freshman. Suppose Wade should. How about Wash ? Would he submit with a good grace ? Would he quietly stand aside ? Our friendship was a firm one. I did not believe any mem- ber of our party would be so foolish as to let any tiling of this sort divide us. But beauty has often set bosom- friends and comrades at daggers'-points. Having the good of our party and our future plans at heart, I felt a little uneasy, and secretly resolved to watch sharp, and be ready to pour on the oil of disinterested mediation. It would be a shame to have labored and planned such great things only to have our party broken up by even a beautiful girl. Nothing else would part us, I felt sure. 48 FOX-HUNTING. A class or two in spelling ; then school was dismissed. Kit came down to the desk, and with him the young fellow with whom he had been sitting, and whom he at once introduced, " Mr. Tom Edwards," a well-made, frank-faced youth, rather above middle size, and, as we afterwards found, intelligent. I remarked his strong chin and rather heavy black eyebrows. Two very pretty girls who had just donned their cloaks were standing for a moment by the stove, Miss Georgie and Miss Elsie Wilbur. Mr. Graves introduced us. We chatted a moment. But I suppose Kit must have seen Wash's eyes wandering toward that corner seat where the pearl was leisurely muffling herself to face the chill wind out of doors. He slipped out of our circle of conversation, and made his way up the aisle. The pearl was just tying a white-and-buff beaded liood under her chin. There was a moment's ordinary con- versation between them : then she followed him down the aisle ; and I was introduced, " Miss Kate Edwards." I had felt sure she was a lady at first sight : now I knew it. The worst of it was, I had to immediately give place to Wade, who was waiting his turn to exhibit his black eyes and debonair. Wash, with his usual accursed craft, had got behind us, in order to come last, and so have the field clear, with nobody behind to push him aside. And, once introduced, he struck in an his usual happy-go-lucky style, and managed to get off a droll Ion- mot, which set everybody laughing at the outset. Miss Edwards smiled bewitchingly either with him or at him. That spurred the young reprobate. His tongue began to wag out a stream of comical nonsense, which set even FOX-HUNTING. 49 Mr. Graves smiling. The rest of us couldn't get in a word edgewise : Wade, indeed, was the only one who tried to. Kit looked quietly on with a queer, amused smile. I turned to the Misses Wilbur. They were pretty, hlue-eyed girls. Surely it was not their fault that Miss Edwards had cast them in eclipse. And, come to look at them, Miss Elsie was really beautiful, though rather delicate, looking as if (like so many of our girls) the New-England winter might be too severe for so frail a flower. She was modestly embarrassed in conversation with a stranger at first. It took but a few judicious words to give her a start, however, especially after Miss Nell and Miss Wealthy joined us. We had a pleasant, cosey chat, somewhat buffeted by the bursts of laughter from the larger group, of which Wash was "jaw-master" (to use a yachting term). I was not surprised to see that lie had, to a great extent, monopolized Miss Edwards's attention. I had expected as much. Question. Would he be able to do so after the first week ? Mr. Graves appeared guardedly uneasy; and, either at that or some- thing else, Kit seemed altogether amused. As Miss Nell and Miss Wealthy were to ride, Wash and Wade magnanimously offered to walk up. Just how magnanimous an offer this was appears in the fact that Miss Edwards's way home lay over a part of the same route. Looking back as we drove away, we could see them coming, Wash in close company with the lady, Wade at his side, and Mr. Graves a little behind with Tom and Miss Kate's younger sister Rhoda. Miss Nell looked 4 50 FOX-HUNTING. back at them ; then glanced to Kit, and then to me cu- riously. Kit laughed heartily, and said Wash was evi- dently suffering from one of his constitutional relapses ; then went on to say that he had invited all hands to a skating-party that evening. That changed the subject. It was dusk when Wash and Wade came in ; for in- deed it had been past sunset before we left the school- house. Wash was in high spirits. Wade was humming " Dixie " abstractedly. CHAPTER V. The Ball on the Ice. The Beacon-Fires. The Supper-Table. Some Stunning Toilets. Wash Refulgent. Wade " Reful- genter." Miss " Jule." Some Rapid Skating. A Grand Rink. A Promenade with Miss Kate. The " Poetry of Mo- tion." The Hemlock-Top. A Partridge. A Fox. What a Pretty Girl thought of Wash. A Race. Wash grows Au- dacious. A Chat with Miss Nell. Going Home with Jule. The " Ten-year-old." Rather a Joke. OJ UPPER was waiting. We hurried it somewhat, to k3 prepare for the ice-party. As soon as it was finished, Wash and Wade betook themselves up stairs to " fix " for the evening. " Look out for some stunning toilets ! " Kit whispered to me. " But, Raed, I must rely on you to help me a little on the arrangements. Two such old bachelors as you and I are not to be making fools of ourselves, you know." The responsibilities of oversight clearly devolved on us. Assisted by the hired man, we carried down to the shore of the lake a couple of pine-boards about a foot in width, and twelve feet long ; also a couple of benches. These were to serve as a table for the col- lation. 61 52 FOX-HUNTING. The pi iice chosen for our festive headquarters was a point directly under a high knoll crowned with dark firs, about a hundred rods up the shore of the pond from the boat-landing. There was a moon ; but the snow-bank had risen steadily, and well-nigh darkened it. The sky had a dull-gray tint. It was not dark exactly, but wonderfully dim and indistinct, one of those evenings when it is impossible to trust the eye in proportion to the seeming light. The table was set on the ice, a few yards from the shore. On the knoll, ten or fifteen feet above the table, were two or three great pitch-pine stumps. One of these Kit had the man set on fire. It burned with a steady, ruddy glare, lighting up the whole place like some huge lamp. Half a mile farther up the lake, and off a hundred rods from the shore, was a little islet, or rather a large rock, with a few bushes on it, rising abruptly from the water. On this Kit had a second fire kindled ; and a third against a stump on the opposite shore, which blazed up very brightly. The general position was thus outlined by the fires. Moreover, an abundance of " touch- wood " splinters, four and five feet long, were provided to be used as torches by those who wished them. The refreshments consisted of a two-gallon stone jug of the redoubtable sweet cider, with a half-score of glasses, which were arranged along one end of the table. Then there were two willow-baskets containing " box-raisins," together with crackers and " seed-cakes " by the platterful, quite a spread. These preliminaries were scarcely completed ere the FOX-HUNTING. 53 sounds of gayety came borne from the highway at a distance ; and soon a merry party issued from the dark- ness, and approached the fire-lit table. " My eye ! " whispered Kit behind his hand. " Only look at the two swells ! Poor Graves is nowhere ! " Wash was refulgent in his heavy beaver overcoat trimmed with black Astrachan, heavy fur gauntlets, black pants, a tall, peaked Astrachan cap, and a gor- geous crimson neck-scarf, amid the shining folds of which sparkled a (not very large) diamond. But Wade was refulgenter; in fact, absolutely stun- ning, a pure white lambskin cap fully as tall as Wash's ; a very light-colored wolfskin-overcoat, the breast of which disclosed a pink muffler crossed within, and only showing a glimpse of his collar and the single gold button which fastened it; light pants to correspond with coat; and heavy buff gloves. This costutne set off his black eyes, and clear, dark complexion, to the utmost. I thought of the black and white knights. Wade was fortunate in the selection of his colors too ; for Miss Kate wore a sack of white fur (or was it a cloak ? I am ashore on the great female wardrobe), with a white tippet, and a white plume in her skating-hat. But the other girls all wore black Astrachan sacks. It was the great Astrachan season of 1870. Ah ! 'twas a jolly, goodly sight to see, the sparkling eyes, the red cheeks, crowding in full of life, health, and jollity. Miss Georgie and Miss Elsie Wilbur had come; also a Miss Julia Sylvester, whom I had seen at the schoolhouse, but had not yet received an introduction to, a fair-faced girl, but rather athletic and easy-going. 54 FOX-HUNTING. Kit lost no time in making me known to " Jule," who, he assured me (before her), was the best skater on the ice. But they were all skaters, thanks to the yearly prac- tice the lake had given them. Tom Edwards was there, also a ten-year-old brother of Miss Sylvester. There were several independent skaters, too, not exactly included with our own party. Wash, with a burst of volubility, carried all before him, and paired off with Miss Edwards. I fancied Wade's slight acquaintance with the art of skating made him a trifle diffident at first. Skates were bound on ; silence during the process of buckling settling for a few moments, only to be succeeded by a fresh burst of mirth when the straps were achieved. Wash had gallantly set us the example of adjusting his partner's skates. Then up and off, all hands two and two ; the ten-year- old flitting ahead with a blazing splint like a furious Jack-o'-lantern. In this novel promenade the couples held hands, leaning lightly apart. Kit had the pretty Elsie. Mr. Graves attached himself to her sister Georgie. Young Edwards held the hand of Miss Wealthy. Wade con- fided his gorgeous inexperience to the hand of Miss Nell. For my own part, I found Jule all Kit had recom- mended, ou ice; and had no small ado to keep her in hand at all, as we dashed on at a ringing swing, soon distancing the others. The girl skated astonishingly fast. Indeed, I have never seen better skaters than these school-girls ; and that night there was no fatiguing wind to tug and drag at their skirts. FOX-HUNTING. 55 Our first burst was up around the fire on the islet rock, and back (one mile). Think of this, ye cramped-up doublers on the rinks ! Fancy a dark-gleaming, forest-bordered rink of ten square miles, room to put out all one's strength, and never a turn ! Consider our ice-party a ball, and this our well- waxed floor, along which the red gleam of the fires shines in a long, ever-shifting streak. Beneath us are forty feet of still, cold, black water. The impression is one of vast space aud ample bounds. A spell enchants it all, and illusion flits about it. The wild light of the fire on that hoary, wave-washed rock transforms us each from each as we cut swiftly around" it, and, circling off, dart away with the other fires gleaming far adown the ink-black pavement. Merry laughter sounds faint and low from far off in the dark. The sharp, continuous cut of the steel runners dies out as swiftly-receding feet fly past and on. Ah ! this is a ball worth attending : no heats, no sweat aud reek. The pure, keen ^,ir bap- tizes the dancer. The lake sleeps underneath. Far around, the forest glooms and lowers in darkness ; and we vainly speculate as to the savage eyes that watch us from out its depths. Owing to difference of relative speed, our party was soon dispersed over the dim expanse in couples, of which Jule and myself were the first to arrive at the table. But a merry peal of laughter close behind foibade us to greatly boast. Wash and Miss Kate were but a few seconds iu our wake. They came flying out of the dimness, and gliding into the circle of light. Was it a nymph from the lake's depths ? Surely I might be 56 FOX-HUNTING. pardoned the thought; for I saw the most beautiful object in creation, a peerless American girl, glorified by a grand effort of physical exercise in a keen, bracing air. Why shouldn't Wash look perfectly happy ? He did. He would not have been human, nor yet the man I take him for, if he hadn't. And even Miss Julia, with her masses of yellow hair and rather athletic figure, might easily have been mis- taken for a goddess, so exhilarating had been the effort. A sip of cider, that sweet cider, if you please. Cer- tainly. But to decant cider from a two-gallon jug on skates is something of a feat : done, however, by a sharp brace at the muscles. And by this time the others come in ; Kit the very last of all. It gave me a still higher opinion of him to perceive that he had not allowed the delicate Elsie to over-exert herself. Would any but a lover have been so thoughtful? Why not anybody of sense? Still it was suggestive ; and, in the uncertainty in which Kit had contrived to leave us all, I caught at it for a while. Miss Nell seemed vastly amused about something or other; and Wade looked a little discomposed. Possibly he had tumbled down. It would not have been surpris- ing, his first day on the ice. We sipped cider, got breath, and ate a handful of rai- sins. Kit advised following up the shore in the shadow of the forest this next " heat ; " each couple as far as they chose. Time not to exceed twenty minutes from the table. " And now all ready ! " he cried. " Change partners ! " FOX-HUNTING. 57 "Wash looked distressed, and would fain have resisted ; but all moved to change. There was no help for it. Miss Kate had been standing next me ; and I instantly offered to be Wash's successor. Wade cast a single hopeless glance, but was fortunate enough to secure Miss Elsie. Kit paired off for a race with Jule. Away again! I didn't look to see; but I thought Wash had Miss Nell. Jule's skating had surprised me: equally did Miss Kate's charm me. I had somewhere read into a vein of nonsense about the " poetry of motion." It recurred as I held her hand. I felt it pervade and confirm my own exertions. We came to move in perfect time, as sound waves chord, and the fierce solar thrills blend their spectrum in the white light of day. One, two, three hundred yards. A glow of healthful ecstasy began to thrill and intensify. It was mutual too ; for, quite in- voluntarily, we both exclaimed at once, " How delight- ful ! " then laughed (still in chord) at our unity of impulse. We were skating swiftly, and had distanced them all save Kit and Jule, who were on a regular " breakneck " far ahead. The dark old forest threw its shadows far out over us ; for we were keeping within a few rods of the shore. I remember avouching in glowing phrase that I had never before known what happiness might come from physical exercise ; and Miss Kate declared to a fully concur- ring listener, that, of all physical exercise, skating, within proper bounds, was the most congenial to young people generally. 58 FOX-HUNTING. " Ah, this old lake of ours ! " she exclaimed : " I love it dearly. So many pleasant hours here ! In summer, as well as in winter, it is always a well-spring of excursion. Such grand sails as we have here in the summer among these islands, and along the wooded shores in the shade of the great trees ! Ah, Mr. Raedway ! this beautiful lake will be the dearest memory of my life, if ever I' should leave this pleasant home neighborhood." I wondered whether she loved it so passionately for its own sake, or from happy incidents connected with it ; and hastened to say how much it had fascinated me two years ago and over, when we had passed up to the head of it in a row-boat on our Katahdin trip, Which Kit has so graphically recorded in " Camping Out." "Yes : Kit and Nell have told me of your being here then. I was at Westbrook that summer. How fortu- nate you were in finding that graphite mine ! " " But we had a rough experience," I could not help remarking. " It reads pleasantly," said Miss Kate, laughing. " Kit put the smooth side but in the story : that's his way," I added. " He never dwells on disagreea- bles." " Do you think so ? " she asked reflectively. " But how singular that you four should join together, and adopt such a curious mode of educating yourselves ! I never heard any thing like it. It is intensely original." " But what do you really think of it, anyway, Miss Edwards ? " I questioned. "It would take a deal of worldly wisdom to give such an opinion as you seek," she replied lightly : " I would FOX-HUNTING. 59 not dare. But I like the thought of it. It is romantic. Did it never occur to you that your scheme was very romantic ? " " Quixotic, perhaps you would say," I added, hurt a little, if I must own it, at the thought. " No ; not Quixotic," rejoined Miss Kate candidly. " I never thought that, at least. But, now I think of it, I can imagine that it might become so, were you to allow it to degenerate on your hands." " That is just what we shall never allow it to do ! " I exclaimed rather too warmly. "Our motto is, hard study and world-wide travel combined." " In that light I admire your scheme," said Miss Kate. "And I want to ask you a question. Shall I?" " Assuredly." " Well, then Excuse me, Mr. Raedway ; but would it do you think it would be possible for a party of girls to adopt your plan ? " I declare I was a trifle staggered for a moment. " I'm afraid you deem the question unladylike," said Miss Kate quickly, and with a movement which broke the rhythm of our forward motion. " Not a bit ! " I cried, with a lunge to regain it. " I thought only of the difficulties you would have to en- counter." "Would there really be anything impossible' in the way of it, in your opinion ? " I was frank enough to confess, that to go about on a yacht as we had done, while it might not be exactly impossible, would, I feared, be well-nigh impracticable, for girls. 60 FOX-HUNTING. " All, you judge girls by the little they actually ac- complish nowadays ! " exclaimed Miss Kate. " That's hardly fair. We could do better, with opportunity, a fair chance with you young gentlemen. Once free from old-time restraints, we would show you that even a yacht would not be out of our range. But I think it likely," she added, " that it would be hardly feasible to adopt your plan entire. Yet, with some limitations, I do not see why a party of girls might not enjoy the advan- tages of travel equally with a party of young gentle- men. You complain of the dull vegetable life at a col- lege ; but let me tell you that the sort of life at a female seminary or boarding-school is ten times worse, duller." I had little doubt of it. At the same time, I was not a little surprised to hear such hard sense from a beauti- ful girl of seventeen, possibly not more than sixteen. How had she come by it ? A thought popped into my mind. " You must be quite well acquainted with Kit, I sup- pose," I said. Miss Kate was silent a moment. Perhaps she did not find me coherent. " Oh, yes ! " she said. " He is a near neighbor of ours, you know. I have always known him ; and we have often spoken on these subjects," she continued. " But do you not think he indulges in some very radi- cal opinions, on educational matters, for instance ? " "Not a whit too radical," I said. " I knew you four believed very much alike," replied Miss Kate. "Now, Mr. Graves thinks far differently." FOX-HUNTING. 61 I had no doubt he did. " And he is a very sensible young man," continued my fair companion. *