Page:The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/333

 BEEF FROM THE BULL RING

face with his tormented foe, ready for the final stroke. There is a charge, a lowering of a gigantic pair of horns, a flashing of a polished blade, a burst of thunderous applause, and the bull drops to his knees, sways feebly to and fro, then with a last convulsive fall, after having vomited a stream of blood, he dies—protestingly. The sword hilt is seen protruding from a bleeding shoulder,—the point is buried in the heart. The diestro then acknowledges the plaudits of the crowd, while a short knife is plunged by an attendant into the bull's brain to complete the work begun by the torero. Sometimes, however, even the most skilled Espadas fail to dispatch their enemy with a single blow; two, three, even four unsuccessful