The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-04-05
HeSTORGU
BYEDnNMD VINCE COOKE
(Copyright 1910, by the Author)
Copyright, 1910, by the Author.)
BY Truepenny.

"For a true story, that wasn't
half bad" said Angelina. Tear
another yard off the same place,
will your"
Same kind asked True
penny.
Eyes, a fact story, Truepenny!"
said Angelimp. GO ahead"
well, then, here's the story OF
the other ostrich egg. The big
hen ostrich laid this one on the
ostrich ranch, and she sat on II
all day, and all the next day, and
the next day, and the nexi for
seven weeks"
Go on!" said GGbleoff;s "she'd
starve to death in seven weeks. .
81 said she sat on the egg every
day." replied Truepenhy. Every
evening at early supper time, the
papa ostrich went on the nest and
stayed till after breakfast time
next morning. In seven weeks
they could see the baby ostrich
inside the shell. Ever notice that
in one end of an egg thece's a lit.
tie empty place? Well, the papa
and mamma ostrich cracked open
this end and yanked the little
ostrich out by his neck, and there
he was, little hudjled-up, rough
looking, gray-looking bird about
as big as barnyard hen. But
he didn't stay that small long.
He grew about a foot q month,
and that's plenty"
wished I'd grow foot q
MONTH" said Willibill. "Tiiere's
some fellers l know of would get
what's comm to EN-"
For a while the ostrich farm
ers kept him in = warm house.
then they let him out every day
and only kept him in at night.
When he was big enough FOR that,
he thought he was i big, big bird,
and so he was. He was so big
they called him Bill Taft"
What did he eat?" asked Fiz-
ziwig.
Alfalfa" answered Truepenny.
"One day he got Holt of some
barley and ate that, and pretty
soon he ran to his mother. and
said, ooh, nanny, nanny, got
such tummyacne.' And his
mamma said. You foolish little
six-foot baby. Now, you'll have to
have a DOCTOR Then the doctor
came and gave him calomel pill
rolled up with something else, and
you could see it go down his neck
all the way.
About this time, Bill was sur
prised one day to have a man
drive him into a three-cornered
pen, and then he was more sIr-
prised when something slid over
his head so he couldn't soc. Then
someone cut off his wing and tail
feathers, but 1t didn't hurt, and
the feathers weren very snowy
so de didn't care. A couple oil
months after, they drove him into
the pen again and pulled out the
ends Of the quilts, and then the
new feathers began to sprout and
Bill looked pretty good. and the
third crop was prettier still. When
Bill had given up half dozen
crops of plumes, he was the big.
gest bird on the place and was
lold enough to have a mate.
Then he and his mate dug q
nest in the ground with Their
breast bones and Mrs. Bill Iait
an egg. And then Mr.. Bill ruffIet
; his beautiful black and whit.
lplumes and stretched himself vi
to his full eight feet and struttet
before his wife and said, Look d
me, Mrs. Bill. look at me. Foul
hundred pounds big and just a
beautiful as am big, yet they d,
say that four years ago wa
nothing but a baid-headed chin.
watermelon like that egg in gu
NEST. Can you believe it7'
And Mrs. Bill said. Lets hate
II out and see." So they did, an,
that's sli.%