The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1918-11-29
IN ODD ALLIANCE
Old Bull Gnu, Driven From Herd,
Found Other Companions.
rt-Hog and Outcast Ostrich Allowed
to Travel With Depoeed King
Old Bachelors f1enceforth,
All OF Them.

There was some trouble out in the
glare Of the sun ou ae bare plain. and
the dust was rising in clouds, 7. st.
Mars writes IN London Answers. A
single Nuluire hung over the scene as
il expecting prohl from the inspec-
tlon, and little bach-backed jackal
prick cared and dogike, was watching
attentively from IN unsuspected hole
under a W,lt-a-Jlt thorn.
Presently forms began to loom up
among the dust as the cloud itself be-
gan to move. Beasts, extraordinarily
strange and odd beasts, with shaggy
heads and curved horns, like buGfaloeS,
long, horselike tails, and sturdy
but graceful, somewhat antelope-ike
bodies, began to loom up indistinctly.
one heavy. massive, very shaggy
beast was fighting with the rest. But
always the heavy shaggy fellow,
whose very massiyeness spelt age,
gave back slowly on The whole, though
often master in the single contests.
lie coald not fight the whole herd, and
that in fact, was what he was being
asked to do then. In other Words IA
piece Of wild Justice was taking place,
which is TO say thar, because Of his
"crustincss, Jealousy, lack of chiyalry,
or for some other or all these reasons.
t!nIt old shaggy brute was being kicked
out Of The herd.
Az hey drew nearer. one saw thut
they We're blue gnus, which are brin-
which are Wild beasts and devilish
wild beasts too. If you did not know
they We're antelope, you would have
said they We're buffalo, musk OK, horse
and antelope mixed in one beast. The
result, anyway. was queer Gus
toner.
Al last the old bull gnu-perhaps he
had been lord of the herd till then
Acknowledged defeat, and, realizing
tGd he could not DO the impossible,
cleared himself cleverly from a terri
bic miNup among three other bulls,
and set off at a galIop alone.
Then at length he remembered thar
it was sun,Io0n, and time for all good
wild beasts is take the evening drink
and ne walked 10 one of those we'll
worn paths which all his kind make
toward water, ana slowly plodded his
heavy way to the river.
II was not a great distance, in and
out among the shattered clumps OF
thorny acacias, and he was not alone,
for as he drew into the river he met
many herds of antelopes and Of zebra.
going TO or coming from the water.
Coming up the bank behind a herd
of gaudy zebra. he was the first to
sight. over a ridge not far off, the two
great tawny, heavy, giant dog forms,
seen and gone in nm instant. dead
ahead. They were lions. and his in
stant loud warning snorts said so,
and drew the. zebras attention to the
danger. so that they broke away, and
stampeded thunderously in the OPP
poSite direction. And again it was he,
galloping clumsily with them, who
SHED suddenly at a clump of acacias
aud began zigzagging and swerving
wildly in ana out Mt top speed. snort
ing madly, so that the 2ebras scat
tered, and the lioness that had been
told of from her companions to lie
in wait for the Stampeded herds could
only come ont and growl her disap-
poinunent at them.
That night he kept with the Zebras,
feeding with them wherever they went.
and they did not drive him off. Per-
haps they realized that rs a sentry he
was an asset. And next day an old
as ugly as sin, came and
struck up acquaintance with him. and
later a cock nstrich-all. perhaps, old,
outcasts.
Anyway, when the day dawned they
rere still together. and the zebra had
gone. and, for al I know, they are to-
gether To this day surely MS strange
an alliance as ever faced the battle
Of life-bird. pig and antelope-old
bachelors all.