On that evening, also, Bull made his next step forward toward the most
difficult proposition of all--he took a partly filled barley sack and
put it on the back of Diablo. The next moment the sack was shot into
the air as Diablo leaped up and arched his back like a cat at the
height of his leap. He came down trembling and snorting, but Bull
picked up the fallen sack and allowed him to smell it. Diablo found
that the smell was good and that the hateful sack even contained
things very good to eat. The next time the sack was put on his back he
quivered and shrank, but he did not buck it off.
After that, Bull spent his evenings in gradually increasing the weight
of that sack until a full hundred pounds caused Diablo no worry
whatever, and when this point had been attained, Bull decided that he
might venture his own bulk on the back of Diablo. He confided his
purpose to Tod, and the boy, greatly excited, hid himself at a
distance to watch.
In the beginning it was deceptively easy.
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