These he
whirled round his head, and launched them at the ostrich. They
struck his legs, and twined themselves round and round, and in
another moment the bird was down in the dust. Before Lopez could
leap to the ground the dogs had killed it, and the gaucho pulled
out the tail feathers and handed them to Mr. Hardy. "Is the flesh
good?" Mr. Hardy asked.
"No, senor; we can eat it when there is nothing else to be had, but
it is not good."
"I am rather glad the other got away," Hubert said. "It seems cruel
to kill them merely for the sake of the feathers."
"Yes, Hubert; but the feathers are really worth money," Mr. Hardy
said. "I should be the last person to countenance the killing of
anything merely for the sake of killing; but one kills an ostrich
as one would an animal with valuable fur. But what is that?"
As he spoke the dogs halted in front of a patch of bush, barking
loudly. The retrievers and the native dogs kept at a prudent
distance, making the most furious uproar; but the mastiffs
approached slowly, with their coats bristling up, and evidently
prepared for a contest with a formidable antagonist. "It must be a
lion!" Lopez exclaimed. "Get ready your revolvers, or he may injure
the dogs."
The warning came too late. In another instant an animal leaped from
the thicket, alighting immediately in front of Prince and Flora.
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