The men, on either side, relinquished their
hold, and retreated to a safe position on the fence.
Then commenced the most exciting struggle for mastery between brute and
man that the boys had ever seen.
For a moment the broncho stood stock still, paralyzed with surprise and
fright. Then he gave a mighty leap into the air in a vain endeavor to
unseat the rider. This failing, he snapped viciously at the horseman's
leg, which was instantly thrown up out of reach. Then the maddened brute
rushed against the bars of the corral in an effort to crush the rider.
But again the uplifted leg foiled the maneuver, and the severe scraping
that the horse himself received took away from him all desire of
repeating that particular trick.
All this time the cowboy showed the most extreme nonchalance. If
anything, he seemed rather bored. And yet, despite his apparent
stolidity, the boys noticed that he watched his mount like a hawk and
always discounted each trick a second in advance. It was a fight between
brute strength and human intelligence and the struggle was unequal.
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