Quickly making them into a rouleau with the piece of rag, I rammed them down the barrel, and they were hardly well home before the bull again sprang forward.

So quick was it that I had no time to replace the ramrod, and I threw it in the water, bringing my gun on full cock in the same instant.

However, he again halted, being now within about seven paces from me, and we again gazed fixedly at each other, but with altered feelings on my part.

I had faced him hopelessly with an empty gun for more than a quarter of an hour, which seemed a century.

I now had a charge in my gun, which I knew if reserved till he was within a foot of the muzzle would certainly floor him, and I awaited his onset with comparative carelessness, still keeping my eyes opposed to his gaze.
At this time I heard a splashing in the water behind me, accompanied by the hard breathing of something evidently distressed.