"Not he," said the other shepherd, "he is too good a judge; but he
fastens on the haunches, and hamstrings him in a moment. O the
fear of the horse when he comes near the dwelling of the wolf. My
master was the other day riding in the despoblado, above the pass,
on his fine Andalusian steed, which had cost him five hundred
dollars; suddenly the horse stopped, and sweated and trembled like
a woman in the act of fainting; my master could not conceive the
reason, but presently he heard a squealing and growling in the
bushes, whereupon he fired off his gun and scared the wolves, who
scampered away; but he tells me, that the horse has not yet
recovered from his fright."
"Yet the mares know, occasionally, how to balk him," replied his
companion; "there is great craft and malice in mares, as there is
in all females; see them feeding in the campo with their young cria
about them; presently the alarm is given that the wolf is drawing
near; they start wildly and run about for a moment, but it is only
for a moment - amain they gather together, forming themselves into a
circle, in the centre of which they place the foals. Onward comes
the wolf, hoping to make his dinner on horse-flesh; he is mistaken,
however, the mares have balked him, and are as cunning as himself:
not a tail is to be seen - not a hinder quarter - but there stands
the whole troop, their fronts towards him ready to receive him, and
as he runs around them barking and howling, they rise successively
on their hind legs, ready to stamp him to the earth, should he
attempt to hurt their cria or themselves."
"Worse than the he-wolf," said the soldier, "is the female, for as
the senor pastor has well observed, there is more malice in women
than in males:
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