The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1896-05-22

y
harangue in Spanish, not word of
which a Spaniard could have under
stood, announcing the beginning of the
sport.
Then we began to chase the steers
madly around the ring, with wild
shouts, all in carefully selected Span
ish. The steers, with eyes on fire and
tails aloft, ran magnificently.
After some ten or a dozen of these
circuits l gave signal to the chulos and
banderillos, who, the moment we had
passed them, leaped over into the ring
and ran for the inside dry goods boxes,
where they began to wave in the air
large sheets of red cambria
Now came the thrilling moment.
When the steers came around so that
the red sheets confronted them. we ex-
pected them to be furious and to rush
madly at them, whereupon the bows
were to leap on the boxes and over the
fence to place of safety This was
to be continued until the steers or the
patience of the audience gave out, or
the balloon went up.
But unfortunately the steers, instead
of being filed with fury at the sight of
the sheets, were scared almost to death.
They turned about so swiftly that we
who were on horseback almost rode
upon them; but they lodged us, raced
across the inclosure, huddled together
with their tails to the fence and con-
fronted us with their long horns
Though / rode my mare toward them
as near as she would go-and she was
disposed to give them wide berth
they refused to bulge. This was un-
expected and mortifying.
The crowd began to laugh and ieer
Send the other boys around in back
of 'em and let em punch 'em out!" some
| one shouted.
This was evidently the thing to do
| ordered-in plain English, this time
two of the banderillos to go around and
punch the steers from behind, through
the barbed wire. Two of the plea
dores handed the banderillos their
lances.
| AS soon as the steers were assaulted
in the rear they sprang forward with
SC wild leap and such frightful below
ing that our five horses turned tail AMI
ran frantically around the ring. They
were simply uncomfortable. The
steers were believing and running in
every direction. The remaining boys
in the ring, pale with fright, plunged
| almost headlong over the fence to a
place of safety.
| Our horses ran, and the cattle ran
each trying madly to get away from the
other. The audience shouted with
laughter. l screamed to my men,
and they screamed back again, but the
mad panic continued. There was really
danger that a tragedy might follow.
In the midst of it, / saw one of the
boys rushing on his horse out through
the lane which led to the gate and thus
out of the inclosure. Some one had
prudently opened the gate. and the
brave picador was taking to flight
Afterward | learned that my father had
ordered the gate opened
In less time than it takes to tell il
every toreador and picador had charged
down that lane and out of the in
closure; and, as we went out, the whole
herd of steers came believing after us
Out into the open space surrounding
the grounds we rushed, with the now
maddened toros at our heels We could
hear great shouts of laughter from
within. Rows of faces appeared at the
top of the grand stand, grinning at us.
l overhauled Tom Norcross.
Toni" said l, gasping, as my horss
plunged was entirely out of breath
and SO frightfully jolted by the riding
that could hardly speak-"To Tom, where
-are-you-going?"
'm-going-out-of town." said ne,
huskily, land 1 ain't-coming-bac
till-this Great Potato Picnic is over!"
"So'm r." gasped.
We rode ON, all five of us, toreadores
and picadores, and did not slacken our
speed until we were we'll out on the road
toward the neighboring town of Slaters-
vile, where we put up for the night,
after sending a telephone message to
my father. The last we saw of the
steers they were going down the road
toward the ranch where they belonged
at the clumsy trot that frightened cat
tie sometimes take.
The great Corrida re Toros was over.
1t ended very ingloriously for US. For
weeks we were the laughing stock of
the town. But the Potato Picnic was an
immense success. / have been told
Thousand times since that the bull
fight was the best thing that day on the
programme, but this was always emf
phasized with a grin.-Youth's Com
panion.
Pixies peak, where gold was first
discovered on this side of the Rocky