2i8 TJic Course, the Camp, the Chase 



appear to be almost touching his back, and surely the bull 

 must pin him against the wooden boards. But no ! the 

 fugitive lays one hand upon them, and vaulting lightly 

 over the 5 feet 6 inches of paling, drops down on the 

 farther side. To the horror of the lookers-on the bull 

 rises at the leap at the same moment, taking it in his 

 stride like a steeplechase horse, and even yet it cannot be 

 seen for certain whether he has not caught his would-be 

 victim in the air. The latter, however, has intuitively 

 realised what is happening, for he has kept his hand on 

 the top of the barrier, which has caused him to slightly 

 incline to one side as he alights ; whereas the bull has 

 jumped straight and just missed him. Without moving his 

 hand, the matador, the moment he touches the ground, 

 vaults back again into the ring, leaving the bull on the far 

 side. 



The cheers, the vivas, and the music that burst forth 

 are the expression of the natural relief to the thrilling 

 moments that have just been experienced. 



Let us take one other instance, in the ring at Malaga, 

 on the last occasion that I ever attended a bull-fight. 



Frascuelo, together with his great rival, " Lagartijo," 

 the two most famous matadors of the day, were both in 

 the ring, each burning to do some feat to eclipse the other. 

 It was Frascuelo's turn to be matador, and to perform the 

 last act of the drama. It is necessary for the matador to 

 wrap the red cloak around the espada and to roll it up, so 

 that only a convenient length depends, making it much 

 like a flag attached to a staff, with the bare part of the 

 latter cut off. The matador holds the cloak and espada in 

 the middle, and then manoeuvres it before the bull until he 

 can manage to get him to stand in exactly the right 



