plain.

In a few minutes he came in sight of it, and ran forward with his rifle
in readiness.

"Down, Crusoe," he whispered; "wait for me here."

Crusoe crouched in the grass instantly, and Dick advanced. As he came
on, the bull observed him, and turned round bellowing with rage and pain
to receive him. The aspect of the brute on a near view was so terrible,
that Dick involuntarily stopped too, and gazed with a mingled feeling of
wonder and awe, while it bristled with passion, and blood-streaked foam
dropped from its open jaws, and its eyes glared furiously. Seeing that
Dick did not advance, the bull charged him with a terrific roar; but the
youth had firm nerves, and although the rush of such a savage creature
at full speed was calculated to try the courage of any man, especially
one who had never seen a buffalo bull before, Dick did not lose presence
of mind. He remembered the many stories he had listened to of this very
thing that was now happening, so, crushing down his excitement as well
as he could, he cocked his rifle and awaited the charge. He knew that
it was of no use to fire at the head of the advancing foe, as the
thickness of the skull, together with the matted hair on the forehead,
rendered it impervious to a bullet.

When the bull was within a yard of him he leaped lightly to one side and
it passed. Just as it did so, Dick aimed at its heart and fired, but
his knowledge of the creature's anatomy was not yet correct. The ball
entered the shoulder too high, and the bull, checking himself as well as
he could in his headlong rush, turned round and made at Dick again.

The failure coupled with the excitement proved too much for Dick; he
could not resist discharging his second barrel at the brute's head as it
came on. He might as well have fired at a brick wall; it shook its
shaggy front, and with a hideous bellow thundered forward. Again Dick
sprang to one side, but in doing so a tuft of grass or a stone caught
his foot, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Up to this point Crusoe's admirable training had nailed him to the spot
where he had been left, although the twitching of every fibre in his
body and a low continuous whine showed how gladly he would have hailed
permission to join in the combat; but the instant he saw his master down
and the buffalo turning to charge again, he sprang forward with a roar
that would have done credit to his bovine enemy, and seized him by the
nose. So vigorous w