62 AN OVERTHROW. 



But the end was not yet. 



When the crisis of the collision came, and the bird tumbled to the earth, Jack 

 Harvey thought his arm was jerked from the shoulder, and had not his sagacious 

 mustang yielded a little ground, the rider would have been snatched from his stir- 

 rups. 



As it was, he recovered and sustained himself by a skill which not one horseman 

 in a thousand possesses. 



Unfortunately, Jack did not heed the lesson, and, instead of coiling the other 

 end around the knob of his saddle, he still relied on his arm to withstand the 

 second wrench, which he believed could not be as powerful as the first. 



But never did a man receive a ruder awakening. 



It was not the ostrich that was overturned this time, though he was almost 

 whirled off his feet, but before the Texan knew what was coming, he was roughly 

 snatched out of his saddle, as if by the hand of a giant, and sprawled headlong on 

 the plain. 



Not only that, but the ostrich continued its flight as though unconscious of the 

 drag weight he was drawing, and Jack went bumping and bounding over the ground, 

 like an anchor thrown out from the rear of an express train. 



It took him but a moment, however, to unwind the rope that held his arm, when 

 he lay still, and the ostrich serenely continued his flight, with the lasso trailing after 

 him. 



" Well, I'll be hanged," muttered the Texan ; " I thought the ostrich was the 

 biggest fool on earth, but he aint, there's another whose name is Jack Harvey, 

 from San Antonio, Texas." 



Without stirring or attempting to rise, the cowboy drew his rifle around in front, 

 it having suffered no injury during the owner's rough usage. Still lying flat on the 

 ground, he raised his shoulders just enough to give him the needed room, and aimed 

 at the author of his discomfiture. 



The distance was considerable, and, since the Texan scorned to shoot at any 

 part of the bird except its head, the shot was a difficult one, that is, difficult for 

 most persons. 



But when Jack pressed the trigger, the bullet sped true to its aim, and went 

 through the skull of the ostrich with the accuracy and fatal effect of a stiletto. 



The elevated head instantly dropped, and, resting on the ground, while the legs 

 continued their motion, the ostrich resembled some strange-fashioned plow, ripping 

 up the soil at locomotive speed. 



But not for long. 



You can understand how a plow, driven at such prodigious rate, is liable to take 

 a header, on striking some immovable obstruction. That is just what the ostrich 

 did. Actually turning a half somersault, and kicking his legs for a minute or two in 

 air, he departed this life. 



Jack's mustang, reading aright the stirring incidents, trotted toward his mkster 

 and waited for him to remount. 



