1 52 The King of the Thundering Herd 



position in the excited herd, while the light- 

 ning and the thunder constantly increased. 

 Then for a minute there was a lull in the 

 fireworks of the heavens ; but the elements 

 were merely gathering strength, for presently 

 there was a flash so bright that Bennie saw 

 the entire herd as plainly as though it had 

 been broad daylight. The great shaggy 

 heads of the bulls with their black beards 

 and their eyes, usually mild enough, now 

 blazing with fear and rage, loomed up before 

 him. For a thousandth part of a second 

 every detail of the scene stood out like a hid- 

 eous nightmare; then there was a peal of 

 thunder that seemed fairly to crack the 

 heavens. Again and again it rolled from 

 horizon to zenith, snapping and snarling 

 like the very demon of destruction. 



The pent-up fear of the herd now broke 

 all bounds. For a moment they swayed 

 this way and that, and then with one im- 

 pulse they were off, crowding, pushing, 



