. The trial to the woods. el, and there weresudden feints and quick attempts to catch the rivaloff his guard and lacerate his side with the many-pronged antlers; but each was an adept in antlerplay, and thrust was parried with thrust, and feintmet feint. It was simply a matter of endurance, and eachcombatant was determined to humble his adversaryor leave his bones on the green carpet that he hadtrod so proudly. The underbrush was trampled to bits, and theturf was plowed as though by cavalry. Many asapling bent and broke with a crack like a pistol asthe battle shifted ground. But as the seconds
. The trial to the woods. el, and there weresudden feints and quick attempts to catch the rivaloff his guard and lacerate his side with the many-pronged antlers; but each was an adept in antlerplay, and thrust was parried with thrust, and feintmet feint. It was simply a matter of endurance, and eachcombatant was determined to humble his adversaryor leave his bones on the green carpet that he hadtrod so proudly. The underbrush was trampled to bits, and theturf was plowed as though by cavalry. Many asapling bent and broke with a crack like a pistol asthe battle shifted ground. But as the seconds grewto minutes and the minutes to quarter hours, thecrash of horns became less frequent and the deepbreathing grew louder. Each breath now ended in 67 a sob. Blood dripped from the nostrils and foamfell from the long upper lips. It was now fighting at close range; there wassnapping of teeth, clicking of hoofs, and deep-throated sobs for breath. Each was alternately onthe defensive, but their fury would not let them The Fight The bright harvest moon threw scintillating beamsinto the cavernous woods, that the owl and the nighthawk might see this tragedy of the wilderness. Suddenly the mode of the battle changed. Therewere backward pulls and wrenchings of the head andterrible twists to the right and left that made the 68 necks of both combatants crack and hoarse bellowsof pain escape their foaming lips. Their antlerswere locked in deadly embrace. Now indeed itwould be a fight to the finish and of necessity adrawn battle. All through the night the stars caught fitful peepsof huge forms in the tangle of underbrush. Some-times the struggle would cease for half an hour andthen begin again with renewed fury. But theperiods of activity grew less and less frequent untilfinally they ceased altogether. The combatantswere down and there was httle left to do but strikesavagely with those deep-cutting hoofs, whichmerely cut the air. Horns and hoofs were nowalike unavailing. It was hun
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidcu3192, booksubjectanimals
