, and at the same time the old bull jerked his head up and sidewise,
and sank his teeth deep into the side of the neck of the younger bull.

"He's got him, what a shame!" cried Colin, whose sympathies were all
with the younger fighter.

The old sea-catch, paying no attention to the roaring and whistling of
his wounded rival, kept his teeth fast-clenched in a bulldog-like grip
and braced himself against the repeated lunges the other made to get
free. There could be but one result to this and, with an agonized
wrench, the younger bull pulled himself free--tearing out several inches
of skin and leaving a gaping wound from which the blood streamed down.

But he was not defeated yet!

Facing his more powerful enemy, roaring unceasingly and with the shrill
piping whistle of battle, the younger bull fairly swelled with exertion
and rage until he seemed almost the size of his big foe, his head darted
from side to side quick as a flash, and the revengeful, passionate
eyes--so different from the limpid, gentle glance of the cow
seals--flashed furiously as the blood poured down and reddened the
rocks around him.

Again it was the younger bull who took the aggressive and, after a
couple of feints, he reared and struck high for the face, just grazing
the cheek of the older bull and pulling out several of the stiff
bristles on which his teeth happened to close, springing back in time to
escape the double sickle-stroke of the sea-catch. The old bull roared
loudly and sprang forward, getting a firm hold of the younger by the
skin behind the muscles of the shoulders. But he was a second too late,
for as he closed his grip, the smaller fighter shifted and struck down,
a hard clean blow, reaching the coveted point and half-tearing the
flipper from the body.

Undeterred by the injury, though the pain must have been intense, the
old bull threw his weight upon the younger, bending him far over as
though to break the spine. Seals cannot move backward, and the smaller
fighter was almost overbalanced. Then, seizing his chance, the old
beachmaster let go his hold upon the other's back and got in a crashing
blow at the same point where he had torn open the neck before, this time
sinking his teeth so far in that the muscle of the shoulder showed
plainly, and an instant later, although there seemed scarcely time to
strike a second blow, he swept down the body with his long, sharp teeth,
catching the younger at the flipper-joint, and inflictin