Page:Fairview Boys and their Rivals.djvu/85

Rh formed the sides. Across their top was chained a big wooden log.

Two holes had been bored through the log. The rope, a thick heavy cable, was run through these, and knotted.

Bob reached the swing well ahead of the bull. He was a good climber. Spry and nimble, he was up one of the dead trees in a jiffy. The bull, headed for the swing, arrived under it as the boy got clear to the cross-piece, and sat astride of it.

The animal moved around the swing in a circle, glaring up at Bob and bellowing. The lad pulled one knotted end of the rope up and cut off the knot with his pocket-knife, then the other.

Now he made a stout slip-knot of one end. The other he tied around one of the side supports of the swing. He did not know much about lassoing animals, but the task Bob had set himself was a pretty easy one.

The bull kept moving around in a ring. Once in a while it would rush up against one of the trees and prod with its horns. Then it would glare up at Bob and roar fiercely.

"Now's my chance," said Bob, quickly, as the animal paced almost directly under the log piece on which the boy sat.

Bob did not fling the rope. He just dropped its looped end. He was well pleased, as without any tangle with the horns the loop fell right against the neck of the bull.

The instant the animal felt the rope it reared and shook its head. Then it started on a run. Bob clung close to the top beam of the swing, for he guessed what was coming.

The bull was going pell-mell. As the loop of the rope tightened, it came to a halt so sudden and terrific, that the animal was forced to its knees.

The swing shook and creaked, but Bob did not feel at all uneasy. The rope was strong and the sides were solid.