86 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



dred yards away, and dashed along parallel 

 with us, tossing their heads, bucking and frisk- 

 ing, and evidently taking a deep interest in the 

 race. 



It was plain that the ostrich was not exerting 

 himself. Perhaps he thought it would be more 

 fun to run us down and tire us out than to end 

 the race by a sudden burst of speed. With 

 each stride his feet reached out like those of a 

 race-horse, and as he drew near I saw that his 

 bill was half open. With his extremely small 

 head mounted on his snakelike neck, his open 

 mouth gave him an idiotic appearance. 



When he was within forty or fifty yards of us 

 he suddenly began surging back and forth, and 

 it seemed that I could read his thoughts: 



"I've got you. You can't get away." 



And he did have us. But the ridiculousness 

 of our position, together with a nearer view of 

 the green shirt that I wore, seemed to intox- 

 icate him with ecstasy; the foolish old bird 

 threw himself flat on the ground, lifted his 

 wings over his back, and began rocking from 

 side to side and twisting his head and neck 

 about as if he were ready to burst with laughter. 



How long he continued to act so I do not 



