BUTTING MATCHES
Shep, the Watson dog, noticed that all the animals seemed greatly
excited. They wandered around the farmyard, lay down for a few minutes
and then got up to begin their restless wandering again.
“Something is up, and I bet it is some devilment of Billy Whiskers.
I’ll just keep my eye on the villain without his knowing it and
discover what it is that is going on,” thought Shep.
Now the night pasture where the cows were allowed to wander after they
had been milked in the evening was directly the other side of the barn.
The gate between was left standing open so the cattle could pass from
barnyard to pasture and back again at their pleasure. This pasture led
down a steep hill to the stream and a nice grassy meadow, and as the
banks of the stream were sandy, the cattle liked to go there to roll in
the sand and dry their coats after a bath in the pools of the stream.
It was bright moonlight--one of those nights when the moon rose early.
For which Shep was thankful, as it made it easy to watch the cattle.
Just as he surmised, the minute the moon appeared over the top of the
high hill in front of the house and shed its light over the barnyard
and pasture, Billy Whiskers, Billy Junior, Nannie and Daisy slipped
off the watch tower, as they called the high straw stack on which they
slept, and from which vantage point they could see all that went on.
They made straight for the pasture. Shep kept an eye on Billy, saw him
lead his family through the gate into the pasture, and was a little
amazed to find all the cattle followed them in groups of two and three.
“Now what in the world are they up to? I’ll go up on the straw stack
they just left and see where they go. Not one of them is stopping to
take so much as a mouthful of clover, and that is really fine clover
in their field, and generally they love to munch it when the dew is
on it as now. So there must be something very exciting ahead of them.
Now they are going down the hill toward the stream. What is that line
of black I see coming from the Smith farm? I declare it is his cattle,
even to the big hogs! There comes another line of cattle from the
direction of the Jones farm. It must be a big party they are having.”
When all the animals arrived at the edge of the stream where stretched
the wide beach of sand, Shep could see they were forming a great
circle.
[Illustration]
“What is up, I wonder?” he said over and over to himself. But he did
not have to wait long to know, for Billy stepped into the center of the
ring and then out stepped Satan, one of the neighbor’s big, coal-black
goats, and joined him. After sniffing each other’s noses, they backed
off a few paces and then rushed toward one another with great force.
There was a clash of horns, followed with a twisting of necks and much
side-stepping until Billy had Satan down on his knees. After this they
separated, each seeking his own particular group of animal friends.
In less time than it takes to tell, they were back in the middle of
the ring fighting again. But they did not seem to be fighting to hurt
one another, but rather to see which could butt the harder and down
the other. They would advance slowly step by step, eyes unwinkingly on
the adversary until within a few feet of touching noses. Then without
a sound one or the other would spring forward and they would butt
their foreheads together or lock horns. The way they would twist their
necks one would certainly think they would break them. At other times
they would stand on their hind legs and push one another forward and
backward, striking out with their fore legs.
All this time the onlookers pawed the ground in excitement and bellowed
their pleasure or disgruntlement as their favorite was winning or
losing.
Billy won the first round, and all the animals clustered around the
contestants, complimenting them on their prowess and skill.
After Billy Whiskers and Satan had taken a drink and waded in the
stream to cool off, they lay down to watch the next feature on the
program. This was a test of strength between two blooded bulls, one
a red Hereford, the other a red and white Durham. The Hereford was
ever on the alert but much lighter in weight than the Durham, who was
of powerful build. But even though he could hit the most powerful
blow, the alert Hereford was likely to fly around and give him a
couple punches in the ribs while he was slowly getting in position to
hook him. It had been agreed they were not to run their horns into
one another, as this was purely a friendly bout, just to exhibit
their skill, and indeed it did prove to be a most exciting display
of strength and quickness. They whirled and turned, locked horns and
twisted each other’s necks until one could almost hear the bones crack.
Whenever they locked horns and it came to a display of strength, the
Durham was away ahead, and he would push the Hereford into the stream,
but when it came to hooking, as they would have done in a real fight,
the Hereford was superior, for his long, sharp horns would have made
short work of the big, clumsy Durham.
Next in order was a fight between two fat rams with double twisted
horns, who fought standing facing each other, their big twisted horns
locked together. They forced each other forward and backward across the
ring, kicking up the dirt at a great rate. When time was called, it was
found they could not unlock their horns. In fact, in the morning when
Mr. Watson found them that way it took both him and his hired man quite
a while to separate them.
This fight ended the evening’s performance, which all had enjoyed so
much that they planned then and there to have a second one a week from
that night, which was to be for just the younger animals--the calves,
colts, lambs and kids. Of course the Twins were the first to ask to be
in it, and their parents saying they could, Billy Whiskers promised to
give them some lessons to prepare them for the event.
Just before they separated, someone proposed they have an exhibition of
jumping and running as well. This was considered a good proposal and
was accepted unanimously, though everyone said they knew just who would
win those races: Sal Scrugs. She was known to be the highest jumper and
fleetest runner of all the animals far and near.
“No, there is Shep,” argued someone. “We must ask him to compete with
her.”
Some declared he would say no, while others were sure he would enjoy
it. So it was left to Billy to approach him on the subject, and with
many complimentary expressions for those who had participated, the
animals separated, promising to be on hand at the next meeting.