"I suppose," said the Professor, "that they are coming to board with us for the season."
"Well, I am going to inform them, in a not very polite way, that we don't need company."
He was off with a club, Harry following.
"Look at that immense fellow. Wouldn't he make good sole leather? What is that on his side; that funny patch?"
Harry called to the Professor. "Did you see the peculiar mark on the side of the big bull?"
The Professor was on hand at once. "That is certainly a mark of some kind. See if you can get near enough to ascertain just what it is."
George, who had been so anxious to get rid of them, was now just as eager to hold them. The bull was a magnificent specimen. Like all this species he was a dark red, and had immense horns. All yaks, male and female, have horns, and the Texas steer has no horns to compare with the yaks in size and gracefulness of curve.
As George advanced there was no action on the part of the herd to scatter. Their own stock took no notice as he walked among them, and this, in all probability, gave the wild herd confidence. The bull paid no attention, until George was within twenty-five feet, when, with a deep-voiced roar and an ominous lowering and shaking of his shaggy head, made a beeline for him. The Professor called out, and he and Harry both sprang forward to aid him, but the bull's rush was a fierce one, and as we have previously stated, they are very active creatures. George saw his peril, and now realized that he could not possibly reach a place of safety, so he sprang behind one of the cows, and from that point sought to find a way through the herd. The warning voice of the bull, and his mad rush, excited the entire herd, which started a stampede.