ive 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