the _ganadero_ dragged it nearer, without a
question, as if he knew already what was expected of him. Having pushed it
across the ditch, to form a bridge at the spot where the hedge was
thinnest, he took off his hat, and welcomed the gracious senor and
senorita home. Vivillo, said he, was well, but would be the better for a
sight of the senorita, who was the one human being he had seemed to love
since the day of the _tienta_ which had proved him brave.

Yes, there he was--the "lively one," well named indeed!--grazing for the
moment off there to the south-east. Could not the senorita see his brown
back among the grey and black ones, farthest away? But she had only to
call. Vivillo knew her voice and would answer to it as to no other. It was
really a marvel. And was it true that she had begun negotiating for his
purchase? Ah, it was a pity that such a _toro bravo_ would not have his
chance to fight in some splendid _corrida_, where the noblest bulls of
Spain must meet the most skilled of the _espadas_. He--Mateo--had often
thought what a grand spectacle it would be to see Fuentes and Vivillo
together. But--well, better waste the best bull that ever grazed on these
pastures, and please the senorita. For her interests it was a good thing
that the Senor Duque seldom or never troubled to come and see _los toros_,
for if his eye once lit upon Vivillo he would never part with him for any
money, except for the honour of the _corrida_.

"Then be sure you don't let the Duke have a hint!" laughed Pilar, happy
and fearless as a boy, as she squeezed through the hedge and tripped
across the plank, followed by Dick.

"She is perfectly safe," said the Cherub, in answer to an uneasy look from
me. "She's as well known over there almost as the herdsmen who tend the
bulls from their birth; besides, she has some curious influence over
animals. I have never seen anything like it in another human being, though
I have read of such things. Since she was a child, I have no longer had
any fear for her over there; and Senor Waring is safe also, while he keeps
with her and Mateo, unless he were foolish enough to make some
demonstration. But for me, I am no friend of _los toros_ when they are at
home."

Dick and Pilar were in Carmona's pasture now, moving towards a troop of
grazing bulls, magnificent creatures whose terrible horns and silken hides
(branded with double circles under a crown) glittered in the sun. Scarcely
a head was tossed in hono