" GALLITO." A Spanish Study.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 49

" GALLITO." A Spanish Study.

The first notes of the royal march sounded strident and vibratiDg on the pulseless air, and at that blare of trumpets the gates of the arena swung back before the brilliant procession of the cnadrilla. With exeggerated dignity and. an air of chevaliers of past days the bull-fighters . advanced in superb order to salute the President, dispersing after this ceremony like the atoms of a kaleidoscope. Some retired,' while those remaining disposed themselves here and there and waited, immobile and indifferent, their brave oofetames laced with gold reflecting a thousand points of light. The President, rising, .threw a heavy key to a mounted alguacil, .who galloped witb it to the bull pen. The music oeased. By common impulse the 'audience craned forward as the low wooden gate moved up. There was a rush of hoofs, a waving of handkerchiefs, and the roar of utaag voices proclaimed " El toco i "

The dusky bull of Asturias stood facing the clamour, a red line rimming his eyes, his spongy nostrils dilated in fierce aßtonißhment. A moment he paused, his forehoofs planted, swaying his head from side to side ; at the next, venting a low bellow, he charged forward, and a blinded horse in his path reared in agony, falling heavily back on its rider. Ohuloe, with waving cloaks, hurried to the rescue, but the bull, sharply turning, scattered them to the barriers like mosquitoes before a wind. With frightful rapidity two other horses were gored to death, and beneath one lay a picador, wounded and unconscious. The bauderillos, teaßing the bull with their beribboned arrows, watched his movements now with anxious eyes; thera was an air about him, a williness, that meant he was of the true breed and would fight to kill. The amphitheatre was in tumult. " Bravo, toro 1 " shrieked the populace, jumping on the benches. " Bravo, toro 1 " laughed a blond-haired woman from the shadow of her loge. Tha tumult hushed to whispers as a solitary fig are entered the ring and came forward. " Gallito I "—the name was roared from 14,000 throats, feet beat a frantic tattoo, hats were thrown in. the air. The toreador bowed, standing quietly, as his eyes, first seeking the woman whose fair bead had drooped aside io Bhadow, ran over the benches where gaudy kerchiefs flattered in the uplifted hands of young girls. The bull, irritated by the continuous din, tossed his head" in defiance. On seeing suddenly the toreador before him, be lowered bis blood-stained front. Gallito, with sword under his cap*, awaited the onward rush, and when it oame slipped aside like a summer lightning flash from a dun cloud booming thunder. Again and again the man twisted and turned jast beyond the tips of the plunging horns, flirting his capet across his pursuer's eye?, and once tapping him insultingly on the sweating hide. Wearied with resaltless fury, the bull stopped often to pant and blow tbe foam from his nostrils, while the tense muscles of his chest relaxed and his eyes grew dull. Presently he stumbled to his knees. A torturing prick on the flank roused him to a last fury, and then the toreador, bounding b?ck, stood alert and steeled himself for the fiaal effort. With a bellow that was half a groan the brute gathered himself and came forging heavily forward against the poised Bword. The blade darted into his neck, but failed to check the fury of the onset. It had struck a bone — it snapped— in the sideward jerk the man's foot slipped, and in a flash he waß caught and flangin the air. , A gurgle of horror strangled in the mouths of the people as Gallito struck the ground and lay inert. Bat in a moment he moved, raised himself on his elbows, and instinctively straggled to his feet. The bull had wheeled and was charging down on him again. There came a cry of warning from the crowd. With a swift look over his shoulder the man turned and tried to make for the. barrier. Oat of her loge leaned a woman, her features sharpened with terror, her lips drawn back from ' her teeth. Supporting herself with rigid arms, she stared downward at the fly ing' figure! The l'ght swirled before her eyes, but through the blur she saw Gallito reach the barrier staggering, draw himself up, and fall .in a heap on the other side. — Scribner's Magazine.