Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-10-09

scantoa ., swing. The black bull
VEL "a: the lion and backed off SLOWLY
sn ..n nus mead lowered and his right root
who p I'm al the ground. The spectators
WIG WHO mad only few moments before hoon
.eluy TO hamstring the MANAGER wnra
now wiling to cry long life to him and
prosperity on his endeayors. r. 10 -
III M world even in Central America.
me manager, now re-instated in tho
n a.satu OF the spectators, explained that
wig 10 the fcrocious nature Of the
.al lion it would be necessary to
;aAe some means to prevent him from
Tieeaplng out of the ring into the crowd
y ms friends, the spectators, Ind M
ue'1er way to suggest he would order
tnat the hon be tied to stake in tho
centre OF the bull ring. This nronos-
. .a,on mad the entire approval Of the spec
.ators' and especially Of those who sat in
Tue rows nearest the ring. The lion was
.leo With rope enough to allow him to
length. "''e Ills own
lie the bull, too!' called out a Voice
Fair play for the lion!" and the cry was
taken up. was
ne manager protested that he wanted
the tight to be as good as possible. and
nc a1uoted the wisdom of tying the bull.
II n ut is not fair" the crowd shouted.
The bull will kill the lion without n
fight '''''' Il
What would you huvo?" said the
manager. "Shall let loose the lion
among you alp"
No, no. Tie the bull in front of the
hon. Give them an equal chance"
So the bull was tied to q stake with a
short rope. Apparently the lion would
have fair chance. At length the COM
batants were left face to face. The lion
was free of muzzle and the two extra
ropes.
The animals watched each other for q
rev moments, each one moving restlessly
as though uncertain what to do. Neither
seemed to be afraid. The bull slowly
paved the ground and waved his long
tail, at the same time shaking his head
and expelling from his nostrils such
quick blasts Of air that the dust flew up
in his face. The lion now and then
croached nervously, with snarling Jaw
and jerking tail, but he did not spring.
The crowd held its breath again and
again as the crisis seemed to be at hand.
At length the lion crouchcd. His
muscles moved under his soft skin like
steel springs. The bull stiffened his
thick neck and lowered still further his
wicked head.
Then there was sudden fash of yell
low in the last rays Of the setting sun.
The lion had sprung at his foe. The
bulls great head went up into the air SO
quickly that the human eye could not fol-
low the motion, but the bull was too late.
The lion landed full upon the bull's
broad back and dug in his cruel claws.
The bull roared. His roar was answered
by greater, louder roar from the
thousand human throats in the circle out.
side the ring. The human animal was in
sympathy with his dumb fellow.
The bull jumped about and tried VIC.
lently to dislodge the lion, but the yellow
beast stuck fast. In moment the blood
began to trickle down the bulls black
sides. Probably surprised by the noise
OF the bowling crowd, the lion made nc
further hostile demonstration. Even the
smell Of blood did not rouse him from his
wondering quiet. The rope which fas.
tened the bull to the stake was too short
to allow him much freedom Of movement
and 80 the lion remained calmly on his
back.
"Give the bull chance" the crowd
began to yell. Don't you see that be
can't move his head? Give the bull more
rope. The lion will kill him like tame
cow" Sympathy for the bull was ris-
ing.
"knock the lion off !" howled the
crowd again. ''Let the fight go on. II
will be dark before it's over. Knock the
lion off or we will cut the ropes. Give
the bull more rope" The bulls life
blood was trickling down into the dust
in steadily increasing streams.
The subdued manager yielded to the
will Of the people. The lion was induced
to get down from the bulls back, where
upon he was dragged along to his stake
He was getting ugly, and the men who
had hold Of his rope were careful to keep
we'll out Of his reach. Only the bull was
left to face his rising wrath.
The bulls rope was heightened So that
it was nearly the same length us the
rope which held the lion, and when nc
felt his head once more free the black
fellow turned to lick his wounds. 1t
was only for moment, however, as he
seems to know instinctively that the lion
must be watched.
The crowd began to yell again. co
for him. lion! take him by the neck!,
cheered groups Of spectators here and
there. "Take him under the forelegs'
bull.' shouted hundreds Of voices; toss
him once for all! He deserves it. lie
kills all the calves and frightens the
cows. Kill the thief and get even. :,
The lion began to growl and to walk
back and forth quickly, us though seek
ing for Il chance to spring in and flnish
the work already begun. His wonder
and surprise had passed away, and he ", was
ready for more serious attack. Inc
bull was slnarting witt, pain where the
lions claws had sunk into his flesh, ana
he shook his head viciously. These de-
monstrations went GU for few moments
without result, and the crowd yelled
louder and louder. In their excitement
men leaped into the bull ring to get q
better view. 40 >; -
| - Tho lion ornncheu for