This bull had
not moved except to roll his eyes from one to the other of the riders.
If he meditated war he should, by all the bovine traditions of warfare,
have bellowed a warning and sent up a whiff or two of dirt over his
back, as one has a right to expect a pessimistic bull to do. Instead of
which he flung down his head and made an unexpected rush at
Teresita--and Jack had left his pistols at home.
Jack's riata was coiled in his hand and his head was turned towards the
girl, his brain busy with his thoughts of her and her wilfulness. From
the tail of his eye he caught the first lunge of the bull, and that
automatic mental adjustment to unexpected situations, which we call
presence of mind, sent a knee-signal to Surry which that intelligent
animal obeyed implicitly.
Surry rushed straight at the bull, but the triangle was a short one, and
there was much to do in that quarter of a minute. Teresita was stubborn
and would not turn and run; but she happened to be riding Tejon, who
knew something about bulls and was capable of acting upon his knowledge.
He whirled with hind feet for a pivot and ducked away from the horns
coming at him, and it was not one second too soon. The bull swept by, so
close that a slaver of foam was flung against Teresita's skirt as he
passed.
He whirled to come back at the girl--and that time he seemed sure to
give that vicious, ripping jab he had so narrowly missed giving before;
even the girl saw that he would, and turned a little pale, and Tejon's
eyes glazed with terror.
Pages:
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229