TALES OF THE WILDERNESS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1343, 22 January 1912, Page 3

TALES OF THE WILDERNESS.

THE RED BULL'S LAST FIGHT, (l!y Will Lawson.) (All Rights Reserved.) They were building a railway through the Red Bull'.- territory. Al first a flying survey gang disturbed the stillness of the hills and gullies. Their ca,iu|>-lire smukci curled up above Hie trees to tho wonderment of the Red Bull and all his people, some of whom had never seen a man or smelt the man-taint on the breeze. With axe and slasher (he men cleared track- through tho scrub, their rifles rang out the knoll of more than one young bull and whe.n the herd moved further afU'lcl, the flying gang followed, for the railway was to pierce the. wildest country lo reach the fertile lands beyond. For a time there was n. great uneasiness among the cattle. They split into several herds, but the Hod Bull, after tho first alarm, moved back to the domain wherein lie had ruled during the passage ol many suns and many moons and many seasons. And after a timi the flying survey men were gone lor inany months peace reigned again in the lonely places. Then oanic the second survey gang who went slowly over the ground and cut down more trees and scrub and slew more cattle. Yci ■ they had come to slay more than cattlo, for there was no more silence, no more peace, no glorious loneliness such as the wild cattle loved. Presently tho beasts began to realise this. So they scattered far and wide, searching for these things in wirier stretches of wilderness. All save the Red Bull and a few faithful cows, lie led them still by tho old well-loved ways and hid them cunningly in bushed places from the rifles of the men Next camo the advance guard of the construction gangs—men with broad-blod-ed axes and bright-headed picks that flashed in the sunlight as they hewed the forest giants down, and bit wide wounds in the great curves of the hillsides. Prom a great distance the Red Bull watched, and the Black Cow, standing at his shoulder, heard him muttering and growling to himself in sullen rage at the sight, But the axes never ceased cutting; the picks swung up and down, up and down like parts of a huge machine. Men with harrows were soon displaced by horses and drays, and still from a great distance the Red Bull muttered and rumbled and kept his herd in shelter, because of tho guns he had learned to beware. In course of time there was a winding, well-graded way cut in the hillsides; the gullies were crossed on high earth embankments. and busy camps sprang up along the lin?. Time and again the Red Bull barely evaded tho eyes of hunters who on Sundays went out with rifle .and . gun to bag game for the larder. It. was high time the old patriarch moved further afield. His cows thought so, but always when they wandered away lie called tlieni, and led them back to the old well-loved ways, where ho had been King for all-these "years. 'The platelayers were following close on the earth, workers. It was on a warm, bright day when the distance was blurred in'haze that thn first engine whistle blew in the Red Bull's domain. Paint and far away it cried, liko a young bull in Ilia first mating season. The Red Bull tramped to the hill-crest where ho had his vantage point, and muttered and grumbled in his deep, wide chest. But he saw nothing. A week later the locomotive -came up to the railhead, whistling shrilly and puffing stentoriously. The Red Bull could stand it no longer. lie thrust forward his head and roared his deep-lunged answer to this strange'beast's challenge. And bis bellow was the death knell of his herd,, for tho railway men heard at last the cry of the cattle they had often .sought, and knew that without a doubt there were wild cattlo in the jhills. All unknowing, the old bull sallied down alone when the night was at its darkest, about an hour before the dawn. Across the loose earth of tho formation, over ' the steel rails and sleepers, right down to the rough yard where the engine stood, he marched. But his wariness hade him be silent. For a long time he stood and watched tho black bulk of the strange beast. Then muttering and growling, he went back to the well-hidden herd. They looked at him askinpe, as common peoplo. do when their loader becomes sullen, and seems to be leading them on tho wrong way. Yet because of his great prowess they still foilov.'->d where he led Very , early on the next Sunday morning, he was taking t.hem down' to a grassy place deep in tho heart of a wido'gully where there were also young leaves to •browse upon, when suddenly he smelt tho man taint on the bree4_>, and stood still to reconnoitre. The cows crowded behind him in anxious manner, and in his own heart fear came at last. Suddenly he wheeled and dashed into the scrub, and at that instant tho rifles crashed. Tho slayers wero close at hand; they had found the herd in the evening, and camped near by. The Black Cow went down first with a brpken shoulder, and her bellow of anger and pain brought the Red Bull charging back out of-the bush to add to the confusion of the herd. Distracted, terrified, they rushed here and there, and all the while the bullets sang till only the lied Bull remained upright, lie had one bullet in his rump, and another through the loose gkin of his neck, when ho escaped into tho bush onco more. Thenceforth he lived alone; a soured, fierce beast, he haunted the railway works at night and by day kept aloof on his hills, and muttered to himself when the ballast engines shrieked and snorted along the shining way. Time passed; the railway was finished. Heavy engines hauled long trains of waggons back and forth, never stopping, only crying hoarsely as they passed, and repassed. There was a greater peace in the hills than there had been for a long time, because the men had all gone save a few who tended the track, ami ushered the engines through the Ued Bull's domain. The Red Bull was very lonely. Tho night was brilliantly sterlit, tho air clear, as ho crashed through tho undergrowth and marched across the open spaces ,on this way to. the railway. Ho went along tho permanent way to tho approaches of a tall viaduct which spanned a gorge in which he and his people had often wintered. The bull smelt the steam-aiid-oil-stained rails and stones and steel of tho bridge. Then lifted up his great head and listened. Far away, behind him, a deep, hoarse bellow rang. He turned towards the sound, and, standing still, listened for the challenge to be repeated. Again it echoed, much closer at hand, and a rumbling, louder than the grumbling of the Red Bull, made a throbbing in tho clear air. Another long whist lo and round the corner rushed the first passenger train to cross the now mountain section. In a special car attached to it wero the officials of the line. They were toasting all the men who had helped to plan and push this great enterprise through. One of the heaviest of their engines, weighing nearly 150 tons, was hauling tho train and doing hrr best lo show how fast the service could be run. At sight of her leaping towards him, great joy played in the embittered hearl of the Red Bull. He wa3 not afraid of these beasts. Had ho not come down at night and smelt them as they stood like cowards on, tho track, cold and silent? Hi; bellow answered the scream cf Number 1182. With lowered head ho charged straight for the approaching locomotive. /The engine-driver saw the bull for a second in the bend-light's rays. The next, before ho could apply a brake or pull the whistle cord, there was a. slightjar. Then the train was flying on unhurt, ' across the tall viaduct. In tho private car someone,said, "What was that jolt?" And tho answer came with a good-natured laugh at the constructing engineer, who was looking out of the window. "Oh. that's one of .Johnson's transition currcs." Down into tho gully flung like an old sack, from the blow of No. 1 ls2's cow-catcher, down into the deep gorge, where ho and his people had so often wintered, the Red Bull fell to sleep through the long winter that comes to every heart.