Jess | Page 2

the
crest of the rise of land, now some four or five hundred yards away, a
pony with a lady on its back galloped wildly, and after it, with wings
spread and outstretched neck, a huge cock ostrich was speeding in
pursuit, covering twelve or fifteen feet at every stride of its long legs.
The pony was still twenty yards ahead of the bird, and travelling
towards John rapidly, but strive as it would it could not distance the
swiftest thing on all the earth. Five seconds passed--the great bird was

close alongside now--Ah! and John Niel turned sick and shut his eyes
as he rode, for he saw the ostrich's thick leg fly high into the air and
then sweep down like a leaded bludgeon!
Thud! It had missed the lady and struck her horse upon the spine, just
behind the saddle, for the moment completely paralysing it so that it
fell all of a heap on to the veldt. In a moment the girl on its back was
up and running towards him, and after her came the ostrich. Up went
the great leg again, but before it could come crashing across her
shoulders she had flung herself face downwards on the grass. In an
instant the huge bird was on the top of her, kicking at her, rolling over
her, and crushing the very life out of her. It was at this juncture that
John Niel arrived upon the scene. The moment the ostrich saw him it
gave up its attacks upon the lady on the ground and began to waltz
towards him with the pompous sort of step that these birds sometimes
assume before they give battle. Now Captain Niel was unaccustomed to
the pleasant ways of ostriches, and so was his horse, which showed a
strong inclination to bolt; as, indeed, under other circumstances, his
rider would have been glad to do himself. But he could not abandon
beauty in distress, so, finding it impossible to control his horse, he
slipped off it, and with the sjambock or hide-whip in his hand valiantly
faced the enemy. For a moment or two the great bird stood still,
blinking its lustrous round eyes at him and gently swaying its graceful
neck to and fro.
Then all of a sudden it spread out its wings and came for him like a
thunderbolt. John sprang to one side, and was aware of a rustle of
rushing feathers, and of a vision of a thick leg striking downwards past
his head. Fortunately it missed him, and the ostrich sped on like a flash.
Before he could turn, however, it was back and had landed the full
weight of one of its awful forward kicks on the broad of his shoulders,
and away he went head-over-heels like a shot rabbit. In a second he
was on his legs again, shaken indeed, but not much the worse, and
perfectly mad with fury and pain. At him came the ostrich, and at the
ostrich went he, catching it a blow across the slim neck with his
sjambock that staggered it for a moment. Profiting by the check, he
seized the bird by the wing and held on like grim death with both hands.

Now they began to gyrate, slowly at first, then quicker, and yet more
quick, till at last it seemed to Captain John Niel that time and space and
the solid earth were nothing but a revolving vision fixed somewhere in
the watches of the night. Above him, like a stationary pivot, towered
the tall graceful neck, beneath him spun the top-like legs, and in front
of him was a soft black and white mass of feathers.
Thud, and a cloud of stars! He was on his back, and the ostrich, which
did not seem to be affected by giddiness, was on him, punishing him
dreadfully. Luckily an ostrich cannot kick a man very hard when he is
flat on the ground. If he could, there would have been an end of John
Niel, and his story need never have been written.
Half a minute or so passed, during which the bird worked his sweet will
upon his prostrate enemy, and at the end of it the man began to feel
very much as though his earthly career was closed. Just as things were
growing faint and dim to him, however, he suddenly saw a pair of
white arms clasp themselves round the ostrich's legs from behind, and
heard a voice cry:
"Break his neck while I hold his legs, or he will kill you."
This roused him from his torpor, and he staggered to his feet.
Meanwhile the ostrich and the young lady had come to the ground, and
were rolling about together in a confused heap, over which the elegant
neck