286 SAGACITY OF MY IJOESE. 



have seen the bull, turn which way he would ; there was, 

 however, no such animal in view ! " East, west, alas ! I 

 knew not whither" the bull had gone. He had not had 

 time to ascend the opposite bank, and if he had, the 

 prairie was open and I must have seen him, and he cer 

 tainly was not going in the hollow to the right or left, or 

 he would have been equally visible. There was, however, 

 a short turn in the creek, and it was just possible, though 

 I much doubted it, that he might have reached it, and so 

 have shut me out of view ; I therefore let Taymouth feel 

 the calf of my leg, and shook the snaffle, for the purpose 

 of following the bull, at the exact spot where he had so 

 unaccountably disappeared. Taymouth, however, to my 

 surprise, refused to go ; when, still with my eyes directed 

 to the creek and plains beyond, expecting to see the 

 monster reappear, I put my horse at it again, but he turn 

 ed round more resolutely than ever, and began to jib and 

 rear. This struck me as very odd, because the difficulty 

 in the chase with this hot chestnut horse was to prevent 

 him from rushing blindly at anything that looked like an 

 impediment to headlong speed. My curiosity was there 

 fore aroused, and when I had overcome his restiveness, 

 and put him at the place again, I looked at the same time 

 to see of what it was that he was afraid, when, blessed 

 St Hubert ! close beneath me, on the very spot where he 

 had disappeared, there lay my monstrous game, couched 

 in the reeds on all fours, and hoping to find me and my 

 horse come down upon his back, and so deliver myself 

 to his power. 



The bank was very steep, and the bottom boggy where 

 the beast lay, and I could see his ears moving and listen 

 ing up in expectation to catch any noise I made. Oh ! 

 what a shot his spine and broad back offered, right be- 



