38

28

BUFFALO BILL AND THE BULLFIGHTERS.
Colonel Cody had a little war of his own with the Spaniards before Dewey, Sampson, Miles, Roosevelt and the rest took a hand in the grim game. It happened when he was in Barcelona, Spain, with his Wild West. One evening after the performance he got into his carriage, drove to the various newspaper offices and had this liberal offer appended to his advertisements:
"I will wager any amount that the people in my show can lasso and ride any bull in Spain," He didn't think it necessary to tell his interpreter of this, and went home and to bed. was stopping at the House of Four Nations, which was built in a square and had a large, beautiful court in the center. What subsequently occurred we will let the Colonel tell in his own language:
"Very early the next morning my interpreter and agent came rushing into my room, crying: "Get up! Get up! Dress at once; they are going to kill you!"
"Who? I asked.
"The bullfighters,' they answered breathlessly. 'Peep into the court below at the maddened mob.'
"I did, and, by Jiminy, it was a sight! The court was jammed with men as mad as so many mad bulls, and they were lying here, there and everywhere, threatening to tear me limb from limb. I dressed leisurely and put a Colt's revolver in my hip pocket–just to keep me company, you know-and then I went downstairs. I got the interpreter to ask them what they meant, Their spokesman demanded to know why I had put such an insult to them in the papers, and at that, every matador of 'em brandished a morning paper. I told them that I had merely made that wager, and was ready to stick to it. Then they asked me how much I would wager. Now the people of Spain are distressingly poor, so I offered to bet 200,000 pesetas, for I knew they couldn't cover it. This crazed them and they tried to get at me. In the meantime, my agent had gone for the American Consul and police officers to protect me and quell the riot, and I saw I had to talk to me. I began to drop, offering 175.000 pesetas, and I had got down to 50,000 and was losing wind when The Consul and officials arrived. The Consul saw that there was blood on the face of the moon, and he and the police advised me to withdraw my challenge. The bullfighters told them that I had attempted to ruin the national sport and had grossly insulted them; that they had to make the people believe that these bulls were very fierce and that no one in the world could capture and ride them but themselves, or else the sport would die an ignominious death, so I withdrew my wager. But I had to have police protection during the rest of my stay in Spain."

28

BUFFALO BILL AND THE BULLFIGHTERS.
Colonel Cody had a little war of his own with the Spaniards before Dewey, Sampson, Miles, Roosevelt and the rest took a hand in the grim game. It happened when he was in Barcelona, Spain, with his Wild West. One evening after the performance he got into his carriage, drove to the various newspaper offices and had this liberal offer appended to his advertisements:
"I will wager any amount that the people in my show can lasso and ride any bull in Spain," He didn't think it necessary to tell his interpreter of this, and went home and to bed. was stopping at the House of Four Nations, which was built in a square and had a large, beautiful court in the center. What subsequently occurred we will let the Colonel tell in his own language:
"Very early the next morning my interpreter and agent came rushing into my room, crying: "Get up! Get up! Dress at once; they are going to kill you!"
"Who? I asked.
"The bullfighters,' they answered breathlessly. 'Peep into the court below at the maddened mob.'
"I did, and, by Jiminy, it was a sight! The court was jammed with men as mad as so many mad bulls, and they were lying here, there and everywhere, threatening to tear me limb from limb. I dressed leisurely and put a Colt's revolver in my hip pocket–just to keep me company, you know-and then I went downstairs. I got the interpreter to ask them what they meant, Their spokesman demanded to know why I had put such an insult to them in the papers, and at that, every matador of 'em brandished a morning paper. I told them that I had merely made that wager, and was ready to stick to it. Then they asked me how much I would wager. Now the people of Spain are distressingly poor, so I offered to bet 200,000 pesetas, for I knew they couldn't cover it. This crazed them and they tried to get at me. In the meantime, my agent had gone for the American Consul and police officers to protect me and quell the riot, and I saw I had to talk to me. I began to drop, offering 175.000 pesetas, and I had got down to 50,000 and was losing wind when The Consul and officials arrived. The Consul saw that there was blood on the face of the moon, and he and the police advised me to withdraw my challenge. The bullfighters told them that I had attempted to ruin the national sport and had grossly insulted them; that they had to make the people believe that these bulls were very fierce and that no one in the world could capture and ride them but themselves, or else the sport would die an ignominious death, so I withdrew my wager. But I had to have police protection during the rest of my stay in Spain."