The Kangaroo, hopping very weakly, and little Dot trudging over the
oozy ground, followed the Bittern's directions and found the cave,
which proved a very snug retreat. Here they lay down together, full of
happiness at their escape, and worn out with fatigue and excitement,
they were soon fast asleep.
The next day, before the sun rose, the Bittern visited the cave.
"Hullo, you precious lazy pair! I've been over there," and it tossed
its beak in the direction of the blacks' camp. "They're off northward.
Too frightened to stay. I thought you might like the news brought you,
since you're too lazy to get it for yourselves!" and off it went again
without saying good-bye.
"Now isn't he a kind little fellow?" said the Kangaroo. "That's his
way of telling us that we are safe."
"Thanks, Bittern! thanks!" they both cried, but the creamy brown bird
paid no attention to their gratitude: it seemed absorbed in looking for
frogs on its way.
All that day the Kangaroo and Dot stayed near the cave, so that the
poor animal might get quite well again. The Kangaroo said she did not
know that part of the country, and so she had better get her legs again
before they faced fresh dangers. Neither of them was so bright and
merry as before. The weather was showery, and Dot kept thinking that
perhaps she would never get home, now she had been so long away, and
she kept remembering the time when the little boy was lost and
everyone's sadness.
The Kangaroo too seemed melancholy.
"What makes you sad?" asked Dot.
"I am thinking of the last time before this that I was hunted. It was
then I lost my baby Kangaroo," she replied.
"Oh! you poor dear thing!" exclaimed Dot, "and have you been hunted
before last night?"
"Yes," said the Kangaroo with a little weary sigh. "It was just a few
days before I found you. White Humans did it that time."
"Tell me all about it," said Dot. "How did you escape?"
"I escaped then," said the Kangaroo, settling herself on her haunches
to tell the tale, "in a way I could have done last night. But I will
die sooner than do it again."
"Tell me," repeated Dot.
"There is not much to tell," said the Kangaroo. "My little Joey was
getting quite big, and we were very happy. It was a lovely Joey. It
was so strong, and could jump so well for its size. It had the
blackest of little noses and hands and tail you ever saw, and big soft
ears which heard more quickly than mine. All day long I taught it
jumping, and we played and were merry from sunrise to sunset. Until
that day I had never been sad, and I thought all the creatures must be
wrong to say that in this beautiful world there could be such cruel
beings as they said White Humans were. That day taught me I was wrong,
and I know now that the world is a sad place because Humans make it so;
although it was made to be a happy place. We were playing on the side
of a plain that day, and our game was hide and seek in the long grass.
We were having great fun, when suddenly little Joey said, 'strange
creatures are coming, big ones.'
"I hopped up to the stony rise that fringed the plain, and I thought as
I did so that I could hear a new sound on the breeze. Joey hid in the
grass, but I went boldly into the open on the hillside to see where the
danger was. I saw, far off, Humans on their big animals that go so
quickly, and directly I hopped into the open, they raised a great noise
like the blacks did last night, and I could see by the movement in the
grass that they had those dreadful dogs they teach to kill us: they
are far worse than dingoes. Joey heard the shouting and bounded into
my pouch, and I went off as fast as I could. It was a worse hunt than
last night, for it was longer, and there was no darkness to help me. I
gradually got ahead in the chase, and I knew if I were alone I could
distance them all; for we had seen them a long way off. But little
Joey was heavy, though not so heavy as you are, and in the long
distance I began to feel weak, as I did last night.
"I knew if I tried to go on as we were, that those cruel Humans (doing
nothing but sit quietly on those big beasts, which have four legs and
never get tired) would overtake us, and their dogs (which carry no
weight and go so fast) would tear me down before their masters even
arrived, for I was going gradually slower. So I asked Joey if I
dropped him into a soft bush whether he would hide until I came back
for him. It was our only chance. I had an idea that if I did that he
would be safe--even if I got killed; as they would be more likely to
follow me, and never think I had parted from my little Joey. So we did
this, and I crossed a creek, which put the hounds off the scent, and I
got away. In the dusk I came back again to find Joey, but he had gone,
and I could not find a trace of him. All night and all day I searched,
but I've never seen my Joey since," said the Kangaroo sadly, and Dot
saw the tears dim her eyes.
Dot could not speak all she felt. She was so sorry for the Kangaroo,
and so ashamed of being a Human. She realised too, how good and
forgiving this dear animal was; how she had cared for her, and nearly
died to save her life, in spite of the wrongs done to her by human
beings.
"When I grow up," she said, "I will never let anyone hurt a bush
creature. They shall all be happy where I am."
"But there are so many Humans. They're getting to be as many as
Kangaroos." said the animal reflectively, and shook her head.