Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction; Short stories
And just then the bull charged unexpectedly one of the capadors. The man
slipped and lost his head. The bull caught him--fortunately, between his
wide horns. And while the audience watched, breathless and silent, John
Harned stood up and yelled with gladness. Alone, in that hush of all of
us, John Harned yelled. And he yelled for the bull. As you see yourself,
John Harned wanted the man killed. His was a brutal heart. This bad
conduct made those angry that sat in the box of General Salazar, and
they cried out against John Harned. And Urcisino Castillo told him to
his face that he was a dog of a Gringo and other things. Only it was
in Spanish, and John Harned did not understand. He stood and yelled,
perhaps for the time of ten seconds, when the bull was enticed into
charging the other capadors and the man arose unhurt.
“The bull has no chance,” John Harned said with sadness as he sat down.
“The man was uninjured. They fooled the bull away from him.” Then he
turned to Maria Valenzuela and said: “I beg your pardon. I was excited.”
She smiled and in reproof tapped his arm with her fan.
“It is your first bull-fight,” she said. “After you have seen more you
will not cry for the death of the man. You Americans, you see, are more
brutal than we. It is because of your prize-fighting. We come only to
see the bull killed.”
“But I would the bull had some chance,” he answered. “Doubtless, in
time, I shall cease to be annoyed by the men who take advantage of the
bull.”
The bugles blew for the death of the bull. Ordonez stood forth with the
sword and the scarlet cloth. But the bull had changed again, and did not
want to fight. Ordonez stamped his foot in the sand, and cried out, and
waved the scarlet cloth. Then the bull charged, but without heart. There
was no weight to the charge. It was a poor thrust. The sword struck
a bone and bent. Ordonez took a fresh sword. The bull, again stung to
fight, charged once more. Five times Ordonez essayed the thrust, and
each time the sword went but part way in or struck bone. The sixth time,
the sword went in to the hilt. But it was a bad thrust. The sword missed
the heart and stuck out half a yard through the ribs on the opposite
side. The audience hissed the matador. I glanced at John Harned. He sat
silent, without movement; but I could see his teeth were set, and his
hands were clenched tight on the railing of the box.
All fight was now out of the bull, and, though it was no vital thrust,
he trotted lamely what of the sword that stuck through him, in one side
and out the other. He ran away from the matador and the capadors, and
circled the edge of the ring, looking up at the many faces.
“He is saying: 'For God's sake let me out of this; I don't want to
fight,'” said John Harned.
That was all. He said no more, but sat and watched, though sometimes
he looked sideways at Maria Valenzuela to see how she took it. She was
angry with the matador. He was awkward, and she had desired a clever
exhibition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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