TWO DIANAS TN SOMALILAND 
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because I could not bag an ostrich the bird seemed to 
me the be-all and end-all of the trip. I am a woman 
all over, it seems. 
Well, Clarence’s idea was this : Ostrich never eat at 
night ; therefore, if you persistently chase the same 
ostrich for two or three days consecutively it follows, 
of course, that the bird must give in sooner or later 
— sooner, Clarence hoped — from want of food and 
exhaustion. Or, if a hen ostrich could only be pro- 
cured — just as though I was not prepared to welcome 
her — it would not be long before I should have a near 
view of a cock bird, who would come along with a 
view to a possible introduction to Miss Ostrich. She 
was to be tied to a thorn bush behind which I should 
be ensconced. It did not seem at all a sporting thing 
to do. Love’s young dream should not be made a 
potent factor in a deadly business of the kind. Love 
spells life, not death. 
The other idea did not commend itself to me either 
with any gusto. I had no mind myself to go riding 
after ostrich as though it were a trophy beyond price. 
Neither did I want to detail any of the men for the 
job. It was just as well we did not trouble for — such 
are the. chances of hunting, when the position of things 
may change from success to failure, from failure to 
success in the blinking of an eyelid — I suddenly came 
on two birds — two grey hens — one afternoon as I was 
returning from a fruitless expedition after a lion that 
must have left the neighbourhood a week before. One 
hen was picking the new grass that was everywhere 
springing up, the other was playing sentry. And very 
H 
