Then he slipped
inside the corral and closed the gate behind him. The bull gazed at him
a moment as if amazed at the audacity of this mere human, then lowered
his head for the charge.
"Climb that gate, quick," yelled the Dean at the critical moment.
And Patches climbed--not a second too soon.
From his position of safety he smiled cheerfully at the Dean. "He came
all right, didn't he?"
The Dean's full rounded front and thick shoulders shook with laughter,
while Senor Bull dared the man on the gate to come down.
"You crazy fool," said the Dean admiringly, when he could speak. "Didn't
you know any better than to go in there on foot?"
"But you said you wanted him," returned the chagrined Patches.
"What I wanted," chuckled the Dean, "was to see if you had nerve enough
to tackle him."
"To tell the truth," returned Patches, with a happy laugh, "that's
exactly what interested me."
But, while the work assigned to Patches during those first days of his
stay on the Cross-Triangle was chiefly those odd jobs which called for
little or no experience, his higher education was by no means neglected.
A wise and gentle old cow-horse was assigned to him, and the Dean taught
him the various parts of his equipment, their proper use, and how to
care for them.
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