An ostrich, who was closely pursued by a hunter, suddenly thrust his head deep down into the sand.

"Ah! ah!" exulted the hunter, "I have the silly thing at last." He advanced to place a rope around the bird's legs; but the ostrich, who had accurately timed his arrival, landed a kick in the pit of his stomach that sent him into the hereafter like a bullet through a fog-bank.

IMMORAL:

"Umph," said the ostrich as he surveyed his victim, "because a man looks sad at the opening of a jack-pot, it doesn't necessarily follow that he's only got ace-high."

[!-- 14 --]

The Idol and the Ass.

An ass felt it his duty to destroy superstition, so he went up to the brass idol in the market-place and gave it a vigorous kick.

A dog came to him as he lay groaning on the ground, nursing his broken leg, and said, "Well, did you prove anything?"

"Nothing," said the other. "Except that I am an ass."