g a wound almost
exactly similar to that which he had received.

Quick as a flash, the younger combatant gave up the fight. But as he
turned, instead of merely crawling away defeated, he made a sudden
convulsive sprawl which the older bull was not expecting, and dug his
teeth into the cow who had given rise to all the trouble, and lifted her
bodily. The old beachmaster, his mane bristling with rage, made after
him, but the younger bull, although he was forced to move on the stump
of his wounded flipper, held fast to his prize, even when the victor
inflicted a fourth fearful wound.

But before the old sea-catch could turn the plucky youngster, he saw two
other bulls sidling towards his harem, intending to steal his cows while
he was off guard, and he lumbered back to repel the new intruders. In
the meantime, the young bull was attacked on his way to his own station
by three other bulls near whose harems he had to pass, but he made no
resistance and, though bleeding from a dozen wounds, he struggled on,
leaving a gory trail in his wake, but gripping with grim determination
the cow he had almost given his life to secure. When at last he reached
his own station, he was a mass of blood from head to foot, his flesh was
hanging from him in strips and one of his fore-flippers was dangling
uselessly.

"He put up a plucky fight, anyway," said Colin, "even if he did get
licked."

But it was for the poor cow seal that Colin felt the most sympathy. She
lay upon the rocks where her second captor had thrown her, absolutely
unconscious and seemingly almost dead, wounded in several places and
covered with blood and sand, a wretched contrast to the pretty, gentle
animal which the boy had seen emerge from the water not fifteen minutes
before.

"It's a shame," Colin said, speaking a little chokingly. "I didn't know
any animals could be so brutal."

The agent glanced at him quickly.

"The beachmasters are brutes," he said, "but mostly among themselves.
Notice. The bull isn't even licking his wounds. He's pretty well used
up, too. They're always too proud to show that they feel their hurts.
Evidently! Even when they have been almost torn to pieces."

"Then you think he won't die?"

"Not a bit of it," the agent said cheerfully. "He'll be ready for
another fight to-morrow."

"But how about the poor cow? She looks about dead now," said Colin.

"Not as bad as it looks! She's all right," his friend replied. "Those
wounds don't go d