The day before All Saints’ Day dawned as a

The day before All Saints’ Day dawned as a wet, eerie thing with a dripping, boiling fog and visibility of about 15 feet. This was a day appropriately designed for witches and warlocks, but the 31st of October had „ been designated as the date for the opening meet of the Rappahannock Hunt. So between 9 and 10 a.m. the lights of horse trailers and vans pierced the mosts as they made their way to the long sloping lawn of George E. Muth’s Stonehaven, near Woodville. A goodly congregation of seasoned foxhunters, over twenty in all, rode up to pay their respects to host Muth, the President of the Hunt, to the ground contingent who was there to wish them well and to the generous stirrup cup table. It has to be commented that there was an unusual lack of confusion for Opening Meet; only one loose horse at the start, and i... the other steeds behaved sensibly as they sedately milled around or the Muths’ croquet court. (The poor sod became a sorry mess o! hoof prints.) The Field voiced none of the oftheard early-season complaints of lost cuff links broken tack, or unloadablc horses. The goblins were with us not agin’ us this halloween, we thought, and so it seemed unti the hunt started.

Charles Settle, who is the Rappahannock Huntsman this year, blew the pack to attentior and led them up the steep Souti Face of Fielding, (note the mountain-climbing terraine term it’s fitting,) which makes i formidable backdrop for the Muths’ snug, sturdy old stom house. By the time we had huffee and puffed our way to thi cloud-draped 1125-foot peak o Fielding, the goblin departmen had enticed the hounds well ou of earshot. After a council of wa among the high command, it wa decided that hounds had takei off down to Varner’s farm in tb valley. When we had slithere* down the water-softened wood paths and were almost at Varner’ r