El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-04
The Wild Boar


old fellow could rarely see more
than a few yards in front Of him That
explains why. in rounding a sharper
bend than usual. the boar came sudden
" upon an animal dashing as if for
its life in the opposite direction to
that taken by himself. Collision was
inevitable it seemed, but IL was the
old boar who, with scarcely the 5Oth
OF a seconds warning. took in the
situation in a flash. Quick as light
ming he sprang-Or rather. reared-up
wards in his galOp IN way peculiar
10 pigs, slashlng sideways with his
head a slant in manner also pc
culiar to pigs, straight at the other
beasts fthrOaL
beast pitched headlOng sideways into
the underground. blood squirting from
a deep, angry cash plOWed across Its
throat anC shoulder-an ugly wound
The beast was a wolf. but the old boar
did not wait to see that.
He kept straight on as If nothing
bad happened, parallel with the fir
ms, seeking the far end of the IA
vine, where there was a forest and
an easy way out. And the next in
slant he was almost on top Of a man
hUrrying the other way
There was an amazed shout as the
old brute reared fin his charge as be-
fore. with out a seconds hesitation or
confusion the boar saw the man flat
ten against the wall of underground
even as he sprang, and missed his
stroke by hairs breadth. and at the
same instant he saw the CLEAN of
steel as q sword bayonet shot past
his right ear, and next second he was
past the man, gauOpins hard ahead as
before.
The hardy mOuntaineer watched the
little tail of the plucky old tusker
vanish into the gloom among the thick
els. and he laughed. Tt must have
been this same infantry scout who
had put up the wolf. and I think he
was laughing to think what had hap
pened TO the wolf when it had met the
boar.
The boar held straight on, knowing
the value of sustained retreat when
dealing with men He came on some
strange sights as he gauOped. for the
wild Of those parts had remained till
then practically as untouched by man
as IL had been a thousand years ago
Then he swerved all at once, and slow
ing down, carefully bored a passage
in the underground round the body of
q Turkish sOldier-he must have met
that hardy Bulgarian scout-lyinE in
the middle Of the same path. Farther
on still he nearly ran into a crafty,
Sneaking lynx, gliding along stealthily.
aroused by the booming OF the cannon
and close behind the lynx. stampeding
and terror stricken, came herd OF
deter, which latter the old boar went
through as If he were a collie dog go
ing through a flock of sheep. Indeed.
everything seemed to be rushing about
hopelessly nOnplussed. and only the
crafty brain Of the pig appeared able
to rise to the altered conditions. He
gained the forest in safety, and hav-
ing put half dozen miles between
himself and the guns. IN the direction
they were not firing. he sought out a
comfortable couch OF leaves in a
thicket
Now. that afternoon. long after the
firing had ceased, and the sounds OF
battle died gradually away into the
distance, there CHANGED to pass that
way two great hounds They came
from a village which was now only
ashes and belonged to a master Ions
since slain, and having nobody TO keep
them, they were wandering about. try
ing TO keep themselves. They were no
cOwardly parish dogs, these, but
hounds used for hunting And one Of
them passing to leeward Of the thicket
got the wind Of the old boar lying
asleep. Instantly he let forth deep
bay and dashed into the thicket his
companion close at hand.
Indeed the din was amazing As a
matter of fact probably nothing very
awful was happening, for dogs usually
make the most ferOciOus noise when
they are trying to Brighten a quarry
into running away so that they can
attack from behind The old boar,
however. would not bolt.
The biggest hound managed to seize
him by one ear. and stayed there He
had probably been specially trained al
ways 20 try for this hold, for IL is
about the only sure grip on a boar that
viii really hamper him
The boar stopped and spun round and
round, facing the other hound, who was
excited TO great daring by the success
of his companion. For a minute it
looked as If the fine old beast was
really going to be beaten. but only Tor
a minute The other hound in leapinE
at his other ear, had been repulsed
and had retired temporarily with
nasty cash on his chest made by those
terrible tusls. and the boar. seeing his
chance, acted With one tremendous
jerk, he shook the biggest hound from
his hold, and the next instant had
slashed and hurled the brave dog bod
lily into the bushes killing him on the
spot Then he trOtted awav. bristling
and fOamiug. leaving the other hound
to howl at his defeat and loss
That night in a wood on the slope
Of a high ridge. the old boar started
to feed. His food was quite innocent,
consisting OF acOrns and various bulbs
which he rooted up with his powerful
snOut. And at this harmless Occupa-
ton he was peacefully engaged. when
suddenly he stopped and flung up his
head He had become aware of sounds
all around him in the bitterly cold
darkness He could not tell what they
were. because the wind was wrong.
but when many Of these stealthy noises
had passed ahead of him. he scented
them. and, with a snort. dashed away
But there was no getting away from
them: they were everywhere these
creeping forms. He was in fact, in
the middle of a Turkish regiment In
open order. engaged with others upon
a night attack
Then the old boar seemed to go mad
with rage and fear. He charged about
hither and thither. gruntinE and
splashinE. upsetting and wOunding all
who came in his path. It was very
dark. and the bayOnets, jabbed at him
with muffled CurSinEs, only seemed TO
make him worse. To fire at him would,
Of course. have spoiled the whole man
euver, silence being vital. and the reEu-
lar troops merely tried to bayOnet him
But at last he got mixed up with
batch of recruits from COnstantinOple,
and these. knowing very little of boaTs,
shouted that the Bulgarians were kill
ing them and opened fire blindly-
Instantly n triple line OF fire lit up
the ridge above, driving the Turk al
most insane.
The old boar fell, fighting Erandly,
with three bayOnets through him. The
recruits broke and fled. and in
breath almost q whole unbeaten army
became a fleeing rahble-
Next morning. as soon as Il was
light. the BulEarians hardly realizing
their luck, came sweeping down in
force. and the first thing the leading
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