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THE OSTRICH. 61
61
was! And how bravely he would defend us
against the wild marauders of the desert, both
beast and man! We all lived a life of love,
and happiness, and freedom. Sometimes we
would accompany our friends the quaggas on
excursions far away over the sandy plains, and
in amongst the green oases, where, under the
shade of the palm-tree domes, we would refresh
ourselves at the springs that flow direct from
the bountiful bosom of nature, just where the
weary travellers most need it, and the panting
animals of the torrid desert hie to slake their
thirst."
"How is it that you ostriches have such
friendship for the quaggas and zebras, the wild
asinine sons of the desert ? " I asked.
" How is it ? I once heard a legend told in
the desert about that," she replied.
" Do let me hear it," I begged.
"When for the first time in the world an
ostrich and a quagga met, they looked very
hard at each other, and a young negro flung
himself on the back of the ostrich, and the
quagga looked with surprise when he saw how
the negro rode the ostrich,—as indeed they do
to this day,—and exclaimed : ’ Why, you are
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