Page:The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/340

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Guerrita, and who was considered by some his equal, by others his superior. While witnessing his marvelous feats of daring and dexterity, we little thought that ere the season closed he should meet with a tragic death in a grand "bull feast" at Madrid. Having been slightly wounded by a bull, he yet insisted on continuing his play; he poised the sword, the brute rushed at him, and to the horror of the ten thousand people the famous Matador was caught, lifted, tossed, then helplessly rolled in the dust, and finally before the paralyzed cuadrilla could rush to his assistance, the bull had plunged a reeking horn into his body. The Catholic priest who is at every plaza, ever in waiting with the sacrament, was called upon; the surgeon's hand was powerless to save the life of Espartero. A nation mourned his death as it would not have mourned the death of a prime minister.

THE GENERALIFE Photograph by Harlow D. Higinbotham