Dot and the Kangaroo

ry much, but please stop singing now, as we are getting near the wat

her. The way the Kangaroo was hopping was like going down the side of a wall. Huge rocks were tumbled about here and there. Some looked as if they would come rolling down upon them; and others appeared as if a little jolt would send them crashing and tumbling into the darkness below. Where the Kangaroo found room to land on its feet after each bound puzzled Dot, for th

we get safely to the

all the time. My nose gets in the way when I look straight in front," she explained. "Don't be afraid," she continued, "I know every jump of the way. We kangaroos have gone this way ever since Australia began to have kangaroos. Look here!" she said, pausing on a big boulder that hung right

iful polish like a looking glass, for the rock had been rubbed for thousands of years by the soft feet and tails of millions of Kangaroos: kangaroos that had hopped down that way to get

ore each movement. Her long soft ears kept moving to catch every sound, and her black sensitive little nose was constantly lifted, sniffing the air. Every now and then she gave little backward starts,

High up in the branches were numbers of pigeons-sweet little Bronze-Wings; and above all the other sounds she could hear their

ink at the waterho

e frightened,"

d of what?

d up upon her long legs and tail, so that she stood at least six feet high,

" she said, as she

e're dying of thirst. Last night, when we had waited for hours, to make certain there were no cruel Humans about, we flew down for a drink-and we wanted, oh! so little, just three little sips; but the terrible Humans, with their 'bang-bangs,' murdered number

e you can only drink at evening; we sometimes can quench our thirst in the day. I wish we could do without water! T

ned;" and the Bronze-Wing asked the Kangaroo to try again, i

roo, having sniffed and listened as b

the open space at night. As the Kangaroo moved stealthily forward, pushing aside the branches of the scrub, or standing erect to peep here and there, there was absolute silence in the bush. Even the pigeons ceased to say they were afraid, but hopped silently from bough to bough, following the moveme

ched the last bushes of the sc

return, and the Bronze-Wings have had their drink; for, did they see you, they wo

nd looked. She could see the fur on the Kangaroo's chest moving with the frightened

e dim light, with the great black darkness of the trees surrounding it, and from all parts came the thirsty creatures of the bush. The Bronze-Wings were all together. Hundreds of little heads bobbed by the edge of the pool, as the little bills were filled, and the precious water was swallowed; then,

as again in the cosy pouch, and was hurrying away, like all the others, from the water w

a friendly Bandicoot, which the little girl ate because she was hungry; but she thought she wouldn't like to be a Bandicoot always to

remember, at first waking, what had happened, or where she was. It was dark in the cave, and outside the bushes and trees looked quite black-for there was but little li

upid. It gives me the jim-jams, for it reminds me I've lost my baby Kangaroo. There is something wrong about some birds that think themselves musical," she continued: "they are well behaved and consider

ke she hopped to th

"I'm a little sad to-night, p

a great artist, and can touch all hearts. That is my mission in the world: when all the bush is q

herself, but out loud she said, "I find it really too beautif

Nightjar, further and further i

the Nightjar it has a touching voice, and can sing: everyone has to suffer for that joke of the Possum's. I

ieking that made Dot's heart stop with fear. It sounded terr

rds, and entertain a great deal. There is a party to-night, I suppose, and that is the expression of their enjoyment. I believe," she continued, with a suppressed yawn, "it's

and she wondered what Willy Wagtail meant, but she was too sleepy to ask: so she nestled a little closer to the Kangaroo