120 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 



to his farm at the end of a severe thunderstorm, found 

 that an ostrich's nest had been washed away. Some 

 of the eggs were rescued from the water, and — being 

 of course deserted by the parents — were placed in an 

 incubator, where, contrary to all expectations, one 

 chick came out. This bird, Jackie, became the tamest 

 and most audacious of pets ; and, like many another 

 spoilt only child, was often a terrible nuisance. All 

 the little niggers about the place had a lively dread of 

 him ; and he requisitioned their food in the boldest 

 manner. As they sat on the ground at meals, with 

 plates of boiled pumpkin and rice in their laps, he 

 would come up, and, stretching his snake-like neck 

 over their heads, or insinuating it under their arms, 

 would coolly help himself to the contents of one plate 

 after another. Occasionally he would make for the 

 unhappy youngsters in so menacing a manner as to 

 frighten them into dropping their plates altogether ; 

 then, while his victims ran away crying, he would 

 squat on his heels among the debris, and regale his 

 enormous appetite at leisure. 



But one day retribution came. Being free of the 

 kitchen — simply because no one could keep him out — 

 he was not long in observing that the pumpkin and rice 

 always came out of one particular pot ; and, the idea 

 suddenly occurring to him that he could do no better 

 than go straight to the fountain-head for his favourite 

 dish, he walked up, full of joyful anticipation, to the fire 

 where this pot was bubbling. The cook — who, being 

 mother to several of the ill-used children, did not love 



