CHAPTER XXVI. 



" ALL TOGETHER." 



BEFORE the pony could change his direction, the brute was upon him. H 

 was the embodiment of fury, as, with his jaws dripping froth, and the fright- 

 - ful tusks agleam, he charged like a cyclone ; but the steed had seen his peri) 

 before his master, else he would have been ordered to flee in time easily to escape. 



At the instant when it seemed that nothing could save him, the horse, squatting 

 low, made a tremendous leap, which carried him and his rider clean over the head 

 of the boar that thundered beneath. 



The effort of the pony was entirely unexpected to Pongo, who had no time to 

 prepare himself, and, being without saddle, he fell from the back of his steed, strik- 

 ing the plain with such force that, for a few seconds, he was stunned. 



The pony ran several rods, snorting with terror. Then he circled about, and, 

 though apparently anxious to give his master help, was afraid to attempt it. 



The boar made a vicious upward flirt of his terrible tusks as he shot under the 

 belly of the steed, and must have grazed the glossy hide of the animal. Then, quick 

 to realize his failure, and seeing the prostrate form on the plain, he wheeled and 

 made for that. 



The Bushman was not entirely senseless, though unable to rise or defend him- 

 self. In a vague way, he knew what was coming, and, instead of resisting, lay per- 

 fectly still. 



The scene that followed was extraordinary. The boar, when directly upon him, 

 stopped as abruptly as if he had run against a stone wall. 



He had but to lower his head and give a single upper cut, to cleave the breast 

 open, or rip the thigh to the bone, but he made no sign. Standing motionless a 

 second or two, he uttered a sniff as of disgust, and then turned and trotted toward 

 the entrance to his home, which he had discovered at last 



The wild boar sometimes displays a strange chivalry toward a fallen foe. In 

 the midst of a terrific, fight, when the hunter sinks helpless to the earth, suffering, 

 perhaps, from fearfu. 1 wounds, the brute will halt and wait for him to rise, before as- 

 sailing him. 



He does not always do so, but, aware of his occasional forbearance, and, knowing 

 he could not resist him successfully, the Bushman lay still. The hog waited a brief 

 while for his enemy to rise, but, as he did not, he left him. 



At the moment of his vanishment among the rocks, Mr. Godkin was close 

 enough to reach him with his rifle, but he made no attempt. He saw and under- 

 stood the courtesy, and he would have been less than a gentleman had he refused 

 to reciprocate. 



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