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.1115:-ii 3. mac.
am-:GOLDE
N DA3ESs-%-
67
larger than Oscar thought it was, for
more than an hour passed before Bugle
came around to him; but that he
struck a trail, and a warm one, too, was
evident, judging by the way he gave
a u
81
All last, his deep-toned bays began to
ring out louder and clearer, and then
Oscar brought his gun to his shoulder,
and stall in as motionless as a ligure
carved out o stone, kept his eye moving
about the clears (is be ow him; but the
fox did not brea cover. He must have
passed that way, however, for in slew
minutes more Bugle dashed around the
base of the hill, giving tongue at every
jump, and started for another hour's run
around the sugar-losf.
soon as he was out of hearing, Oscar
put down the hammers of his gun and
ran across the open space at the top of
an speed.
“I was on the right track," thought
he, “ but not quite far enough down the
'1. ‘ow, I wis I knew where that
[allow turns of!‘ when he makes up his
mind to cross the hollow and go over to
tlicliill on theother side. Ah! Ilerels
where he assed. If he tries that trick
again, he s my fox."
The exclaniations were called forth h v
the discovery 0 n. well-beaten pat i
which run diagonally toward the summit
of the hill.
short examination of it showed the
hunter that it had been inaxle by Mr. Ba.-
cnn‘s sheep; and his experience told him
that the fox had followed that with in the
he )0 of throwin oil‘ the liouni .
rossing new y-plowed fields where
the scent will not lie, walking on the
' fences, wading in shallow
brooks, and running about among n‘
flock ofsheep, or following a road along
which they have recently passed, are
strutagoms towhicha cunning old fox
wlll Irequently resort to throw ad‘ the
dogs that are ursulng his trail; but
Bugle was nine l too sniart to be deceiv-
ed by any such tricks, and he had fol-
lowed the fox up the path without the
least trouble.
Ileing full satisfied tlnit he had found .
liimse ‘ in l'roiit of a large tree that stood i
nshort distance up the tli, and in such
a position that he oou d look over the 1
tops of the bushes that surrounded it and
command a view of the trail for twenty
yards on each side-, and patient] waited
for llugle to drive the fox union to '
the right pace at last, Oscar stationed E I
‘ l
again. ‘
It virus 9. ion tline before he heard
from the houn -longer than before-
and then he heard but a few faint bays,
after which all was silent agaiii. The
fox had left the sugar-loul’ and taken to
another hill standing hall‘ a mile further
down the hollow. Alter playing around
there for half an hour he (-.'i.nis back to ‘
the hill he had left, und started around 1
it in ll direction opposite to tliut he had ‘
at first followed.
()>u:ir's ears told him all this (he could ;
distiiictly hear the hound whenever he ;
nnindcd the base of the hill nearest the ‘
hollow), and he tprelpared to act accord. I
ingly. llc move a ittle further iirouiid ‘
his mac, and, keeping his gaze directed ‘
up the ninth, cocked both barrels of his
gun an drew it to his shoulder. l
lle had not occu iied this position more ‘
than fivo ininutes efore the fox came in y
siglit. It was the one he was looking
for, iu-i sure as the world, for there Wu.-i
that white tip on the end of his tail, and
the rest of him was as black asjet.
llo iiras taking matters very coolly
trotting down the path as though he hilki
no particular liusiiiess on lianll, and tho
llrst thing that told him or the hunter's
proscin-.0 was the report of the gun which
sent ll charge of heavy shot into his head
and broast. lle bounded hl li info the
air, and when he struck tie ground
again ho rolled rapidly down the hill,
sending the twigs and withered leaves
in every direction. lle struggled dos-
porately to et upon his foot and con-
tinue his Ili rlit, but he was too hard hit.
Oscar das ID(l down the hill alter him,
and when he came up with the fox he
found him lying motionless on a. little
pile of loaves, which the winds had
iea ied against the side of a fallen log.
lle lad robbed his last hen-roost.
The boy picked hlni up and looked at
him. It was the first black fox he llllll
over soon; but he had read and heard
enough about the speciesto know that
they were very rare and valuable, and
he win-i not a ittle elated over the suc-
cess that had attended his hunt.
loading is gun, Oscar placed his
im on the ground, where he could
ve a fair view of him, and sat down on
the ‘log to admire him and wait for
iig o
It was an hour or more before the
hound ll ipcared, and his long absence
uccountu ' e slow and deliberate
inovomeiits of the fox. The cunning
illlllllill luul doubled on his trail, and, by
making use of extra speed, had placed
such a distance between himself and his
pursncr that haste was no longer neces-
sary. If left to himself, he would pro-
bably have curled up in some warm s t
and rested until the hound came wit iin
hearing, when he would have jumped
up and continued his flight.
When Bugle arrived on the ground he
did not attempt to ' e the fox, as he
generally did. lle simply smelt it, wag-
ged his tail vigorously in response to his
imuitcr’s caresses and words of praise,
and then stood on" and looked up at him,
as ifawiiiting further orders.
“ We’ll have something to eat, old fol-
low, before we do any more hunting,
said Oscar, who always talked to his fav-
orito as if the animal could understand
every word he said. “ lVe have earned
a good dinner by this mornin '3 work,’
and we‘ll go and at it. I dec are, it is
ready now. I hm no idea it was so late.
Lut‘sliurr upl"
Oscar knew that dinner was ready, be-
iiise he heard signals exchanged be-
tween Mr. ]laoon's house and the field.
First, a slirill, feinale voice shouted:
“lloop ice "
he cal was repeated two or three
times, and then an answering: “Yeepl"
uttered in deep masculine tones, arose
from the field below. ' .
()>ic:ir, followed by llugle, hurried
down the hill, clambered over the fence,
and joined Mr. con and his two broad-
shouldersd sons, who li-ad been at work
repairing a. stone well. They 'were on
their way to the house, but they stop d
when they saw him coming, and A lr.
ll-aoon, discovering the prize be carried
over his shoulder, brought his haiids to-
gether with aloud clap, and shouted out
it mrdizil we come.
“Well, you done it, dldn‘t you?” he
exclziiiiicil. “That's the feller, ’cziuse
G
1
him that fur. I told the boys I reckon-
od inebbe that was you it-sliootin’ up
there, an’ I had lmlfa notion to send one
on ‘em up to see. Come on now, an’ get
the dinner I promised you-you an‘
Bugle. We'll lill him so full of meat
1 i .that he won't do no more huntin‘ this
day, that there hound-dog won't.”
“ Not meat, please," said Oscar; “ it
spoils 11 do r‘s nose. Bugle has little be-
sides corii- :read and vegetables at home,
:ind he is entirely satisfied with ' his
“ Well, I reckon mebbe Jolumy-
cuko‘ll do him won‘t it? Nance always
Inna Juhniiy-mice on Manda , ‘muse it
wash-day, you '
“'hen the farmer and his sons had ex-
ninimed Osl-ar‘s prize to their satisfaction,
and had told i-ionie remarkable sto es of
the skill he had exhibited in eluding his
former pursuers, Mr. Bacon led the way
toward the lions
His wife was loud in her praises, and
inn-le Oscar laugh, by declaring that she
“ knowod tlia there fox was gone u
when she heard that him an‘ Bugle was
goin’ to get alter him." . '
llaving performed his nblutions, Oscar
was shown eat at the table, which
fairly groaned under the weight of the
goal tliings that were piled upon it.
Mrs. llaoon was sorry she hadn't some-
thing better to other the successful sports-
inai but Oscar could see no necessity
for any apologies. It was riots “picked
up" inn r, if ' was washing-diiy. lle
tlmnglit the farmer must have un idea.
that fox-hunters were blessed with more
than ordinary appetites, for the plate that
was passoil over to him was filled so full
that not another thing could have been
placed upon it.
c meal was enlivened with conver-
nation on various topics, and when it was
linishcd, and the farmer had smoked his
alter-dinner pipe, Oscar picked up his
fox mnl gun, thanked Mrs. Bacon for the
good dinner she had given him, and R0‘
minpunied the three men to the field.
There he took lcave of them and stmck
out across the hills tmvard home.
lle was in no hurry now, so he walked
along very leisurely, and picked up quite
a respect-ulile bag of game on the way.
llugle drove tlirce hares around to him
and twice as many grouse fell to his
double-barrel.
At length, when the increasing gloom
of the woods told him that the day was
drawing to a close, Oswr tied his game
together in a bunch with a strong cord
he always carried in his game-bag for
that purpose, called Bug-le to him, and
sot out at ii. brisk walk. '
As he wa.1 working his way through Ll.
dense thicket on Mr. Parker's hill-farm,
ha c.-nne suddenly upon two boys, who,
pist as he appeared in sight, dropped a
iundlo of soinetliirig behind ii. log and
took to their heels. One of them lanced
over his shoulder as be run, an finally
halted and faced about.
“ Don't be afraid, J eff,” he shouted to
his retreating ooiiipaniou; “its nobody
but Oscar Preston."
Jcif stopped as soon as he oould check
his headlong flight, and when he had
satisfied himself as to the identity of the
npplroiwliiiig hunter, he came slowly
bac .
Oscar knew the two boys, but he
iiovor had anything to do with them.
They lived near the river, and belonged
to what the order-loving portion of the
villagers called a “ hard crowd.“
“What have you been up to?" do-
manded Oscar, as soon as he came within
speaking-distance. “Something mean,
I’ll warrant." V
“ No we liaven‘tl” answered both the
boys, in wncert. “VVe haven't been up
to aiiytliin .”
It was oiily necessary that Oscar should
use his eyes to detect the falsehood. Ono
glance around ex lained everything.
Tho snares which eon had worked an
hard to build were all ruined. Oscar
knew that they were Leon's snares, for
no one else would be likely to build
them on his father's grounds. ‘
“ You are u conteinptible couple i" said
he, iiidignuntly; “although I don't know
that one can ex iect you to be anything
else. What mac e you do it?“
' V , what nnide Leon shoot my
tzuno pigeons the last time he was down
to the river?“ whined one of the boys.
“ lle kiiowed they was mine, but he
lumped ’ein over, all the same. I said
‘d spilo sometliing of his’n some day, to
pay for it, and I’ve done ’ ."‘
“’l‘liat's a 1-ctty way to get even with
him isn't it " demanded Oscar. “ I've
tho best notion in the world to take you
both by the neck, and knock your lnnuls
together. Did you find any birds in
these siiares?"
“ Nury one; and no rabbits neitlie
““’hat did you do with the triggers
and strings?"
““'o heaved ‘em into the bushes as
fur as we oou1d,and it‘s too dark to Iind
lcin again. Say, Oscar, you won't tell
nobodyuliout this, will you? That's a
good foller.”
"No blarney, now. I'll tell you this
much,” ivas Oscar's angry reply. “ if I
catch either of you in an act of‘ this kind
again I'll give you ashaking that will
do! your hearts good. Now, reinenibcr
it “
So sayin", he walked past the young
vandals, who ck cars to give him all
the room he wanted, and disappe:ire(l in
the thicket which covered the other side
of thcliill.
The two boys did not move nor speak
until the were certain that he had really
one, an then one of iein hurried to
the fallen log, snatched up the bundle
that was lying behind it, and ran mi" in
a direction lying at rirrlit angles with the
one Oscar had NIIls't?Il,?illS companion fol-
lowing close behind him.
The bundle, which seemed to be about
as heavyas the boy could conveniently
manage, was made up of quail, gruiisc
and hares, rightful] belonging to Leon.
if Oscar had not een in such haste to
reach home and repars his black fox
forgiiouiiting-ifhe had taken zi little time
to look into things, as he afterwards
wished he had done-9. certain incident
we have already recorded never would
have happened.
[T0 an con-riimi:n.]
,.m:....j
-Sellisliness cannot flourish where
magnanimity reigns. The man of large
soul sees far beyond his own little orbit;
his heart thrills in syinpathv with jo -
to be biita spcckin the grcatuiiiverse, he
8l‘C3‘IlllllSCl to be but a speck in tli
grout liuinanity that lives and tlirobs all
around him. Instead of fixing an iii-
tt-use and niicrosoopic gaze upon hiinsclf,
with his little round of interests, his
large heart swells with sympathy for
otln-rs, iind his liand liasteiis to do them
vood. lcnerosity, however liberal, may
lie sclf-conscious, but the essence o
inzirrnaniinity is to forget the claims of
sellvln the yearning for others, to pass
by the less in the search for the greater.
HENRY CLAY.
No boy need despair of rising in life,
if he is industrious and persevering, and
has fair health and moderate abilities.
If he does, let him read the lives of many
or our prominent men, and see from
what obscure positions they made their
way up;
Any one taking a drive, a hundred
years ago, through Hanover, Virginia,
could hardly have noticed, as he passed
it,a plain, little farm-house set upsgainst
some woodland. And yet this humble
dwelling gave birth to one of our great-
est stutesmen and orators, and a man
who rendered invaluiible service to the
country. I refer to Ilenr Clay.
'l‘li‘is liouss was familiar y called “ The
Sluslics,” and lIenry’s fret uent visits to
II. gl‘iXl5-llllll not far off, on t is Puinunkey
ltiver, gained for him the name ol' “The
Mill-boy of the Slashes.” His father was
uptist minister, but as he died before
llcnry had attained his lilteentli year, to
his inotlicr, whom he devotedly loved,
ho owed most of‘ his intellectual advan-
tagt-s,. for the district school was a. very
imperfect one.
So reduced were their circumstaiiccs,
ho was glad to obtain a situation in M
drug store, although it was very uncon-
genial to his taste. By a piece of good
lortuiie, however, he exchanged it for
that of clerk of the Court of Chniicei-y, in
)0 ollive of Mr. Tunslo:-y, besides being
ussistaiit to the Cliaiicellor.
ills friends pcisuadod him to study
law, and his reat talents soon placed
him high in the profession. ;
At twenty-six cars of age he was
elected representative, and three years
after he appeared in defense of Aaron
llurr. This step dininicd.the lustreof
his fame in some quarters, but no one
regretted it more than himself, and alter
ho really knew how little doubt there
was of lliu'r's treiasonable. intentions he
refused to hold any iiitercourse with
I.
In 1816, he became United States Sena-
tor, and an anecdote is told of him that
while the question was pending in (.
gross whether or not to erecta bridge
over the Potoinae, he it-.11 into conversa-
tion with ii. stranger.
'l‘ ie unknown informed him that ii
ywcrful ll. speech in its
favor that the brid re was erected.
Just alter Mr. C ay was elected meni-
bcr, the question of war with Great Bri-
tain arose, and Congress convened ear-
ior than usual to consider it. The op-
us‘ vainst this country had been
l:lll'I‘l()ll to such length no other course
scciiiod open.
Mr. Clay strongly favored it, against
talented members of both llouses, and,
owing to his eloquence, ii bill for proso-
cuting it was passed, and on the llith of
Juno, M12, war was foriiiully declared. ’
Our troops were successful at sea, in
the victories of Coniinodore Decatur and
Coiiiiiiodoru Perrv, and the defeat of the
British at New rleans, under General
Jnuksoii, proved our power on land, and
lllL!:lSllrCS were taken to negotiate peace.
Mr. (‘lay was appointed one of the (Join-
's oncrs, and on the 28th of December,
1311:, a treaty was carried into elfect at
Ghent.
Mr. Clay was lledrtliy welcomed on his
rcturn l'roiii Europe, and was made
lle warmly advocated the lip-
propr ation of national funds for internal
iinprovcinonts, such as the construction
of roads and canals, iuid, although vig-
orously opposed, his views were sup-
portvd by a nizijority.
A grateful people corniiieinoriited his
services by p acing ii inominient on the
‘gill of the great Cumberland road.
1 Mr. Clay is astriking instance that a
lgroat man, like the ioet, is born, not
nnnlc. lie was reinar able for his elo-
qiiuiice, courteous iiiuniiers, pleusaiit
'1 and especially for reineiribering
imlivizliiuls, so that he never failed to
rccngniw any one whom he had once
i
.5
If
.-
E
e .
lle had a talent for winning frieiids
with little effort, and was esiroiis of
popularity, or he would not have been
wi ling to stand so olten as ll. candidate
for the Prcsidenc ;yet he never con-
ccaled nor sollzene his opinions in order
to obtain it.
He died at lVssliington in 1852, at the
ripe age of seventy-live. ,
if-"5