The remote _estancia_ presents a scene of unwonted revelry. All night long its rude walls resound with boisterous hilarity--good-humour, gaiety, and a spice of practical joking pass away the dark hours and by daylight all are in the saddle. The young bulls have previously been herded upon that part of the estate which affords the best level ground for smart manoeuvre and fast riding, and the task of holding the impetuous beasts together is allotted to skilled herdsmen armed with long _garrochas_--four-yard lances, with blunt steel tip. All being ready, a single bull is allowed to escape across the plain. Two horsemen awaiting the moment, spear in hand, give chase, one on either flank. The rider on the bull's left assists his companion by holding the animal to a straight course. Presently the right-hand man, rising erect in his stirrups, plants his lance on the bull's _off-flank_, near the tail, and by one tremendous thrust, delivered at full speed, overthrows him--a feat that bespeaks a good eye, a firm seat, and a strong arm. Some young bulls will take two or more falls; others, on rising, will elect to charge. The infuriated youngster finds himself faced by a second foe--a horseman armed with a more pointed lance and who has been riding close behind. This man is termed _el Tentador_. Straightway the bull charges, receiving on his withers the _garrocha_ point; thrown back thus and smarting under this first check to his hitherto unthwarted will, he returns to the charge with redoubled fury, but only to find the horse protected as before. The pluckier spirits will essay a third or a fourth attack, but those that freely charge _twice_ are passed as fit for the ring. Should a young bull _twice_ decline to charge the _Tentador_, submitting to his overthrow and only desiring to escape, he is condemned--doomed to death, or at best to a life of agricultural toil. Not seldom a bull singled out from the _rodéo_ declines to escape, as expected; but, instead, charges the nearest person, on foot or mounted, whom he may chance to espy. Then there is a flutter in the dovecotes! Danger can only be averted by skilled riding or a cool head, since there is no shelter. Spanish herdsmen, however (and amateurs besides), are adepts in the art of giving "passes" to the bull--a smart fellow, when caught thus in the open, can keep a bull off him (using his jacket only) for several moments, giving time for horsemen to come up to his rescue. Even then it is no uncommon occurrence to see horseman, horse, and bull all rolling on the turf in a common ruin. Seldom does it happen that one of these trial-days passes without broken bones or accidents of one kind or another.