Just for the first moment or two Pip felt a little disinclined to
quit the stronghold of his horse's back. The thunder of hoofs and
horns, the wild charges made by the desperate animals against the
fence, made him expect to see it come crashing down every minute.
But everybody else had gone to "cockatoo"--to sit on the top rail
of the enclosure and look down at the maddened creatures, so at length
he fastened his bridle to a tree and proceeded gingerly to follow
their example.
At a sudden signal from Mr. Hassal the men dropped down inside,
half along, one side and half the other. The object was to get a
hundred or two of the cattle into the forcing-yard adjoining, the gate
to which was wide open. Pip marvelled at the courage of the men;
for a moment his heart had leaped to his mouth as bullock after
bullock essayed to charge them, but the air resounded with cracks from
the mighty stock whips and drafting-sticks, and beast after beast
retreated towards the centre with its face dripping with blood.
Then one huge black creature, with a bellow that seemed to shake
the plain, made a wild rush to the gate, the whole herd at his heels.
Like lightning, the men made a line behind, shouting, yelling,
cracking their whips to drive them onward.
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