In a few minutes he came in sight of it, and ran forward with his rifle in readiness.

“Down, Crusoe,” he whispered; “wait for me here.”

Crusoe crouched in the grass instantly, and Dick advanced.  As he came on, the bull observed him, and turned round bellowing with rage and pain to receive him.  The aspect of the brute on a near view was so terrible that Dick involuntarily stopped too, and gazed with a mingled feeling of wonder and awe, while it bristled with passion, and blood-streaked foam dropped from its open jaws, and its eyes glared furiously.  Seeing that Dick did not advance, the bull charged him with a terrific roar; but the youth had firm nerves, and although the rush of such a savage creature at full speed was calculated to try the courage of any man, especially one who had never seen a buffalo bull before, Dick did not lose presence of mind.  He remembered the many stories he had listened to of this very thing that was now happening; so, crushing down his excitement as well as he could, he cocked his rifle and awaited the charge.  He knew that it was of no use to fire at the head of the advancing foe, as the thickness of the skull, together with the matted hair on the forehead, rendered it impervious to a bullet.

When the bull was within a yard of him he leaped lightly to one side and it passed.  Just as it did so, Dick aimed at its heart and fired, but his knowledge of the creature’s anatomy was not yet correct.  The ball entered the shoulder too high, and the bull, checking himself as well as he could in his headlong rush, turned round and made at Dick again.

The failure, coupled with the excitement, proved too much for Dick; he could not resist discharging his second barrel at the brute’s head as it came on.  He might as well have fired at a brick wall.  It shook its shaggy front, and with a hideous bellow thundered forward.  Again Dick sprang to one side, but in doing so a tuft of grass or a stone caught his foot, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Up to this point Crusoe’s admirable training had nailed him to the spot where he had been left, although the twitching of every fibre in his body and a low continuous whine showed how gladly he would have hailed permission to join in the combat; but the instant he saw his master down, and the buffalo turning to charge again, he sprang forward with a roar that would have done credit to his bovine enemy, and seized him by the nose.  So vigorous was the rush that he well-nigh pulled the bull down on its side.  One toss of its head, however, sent Crusoe high into the air; but it accomplished this feat at the expense of its nose, which was torn and lacerated by the dog’s teeth.

Scarcely had Crusoe touched the ground, which he did with a sounding thump, than he sprang up and flew at his adversary again.  This time, however, he adopted the plan of barking furiously and biting by rapid yet terrible snaps as he found opportunity, thus keeping the bull entirely engrossed, and affording Dick an opportunity of reloading his rifle, which he was not slow to do.  Dick then stepped close up, and while the two combatants were roaring in each other’s faces, he shot the buffalo through the heart.  It fell to the earth with a deep groan.