IN THE BUSH
THE sun was high in the heavens when Jean awoke and at first she did not
know where she was. Then she sat and looked about her, calling "Kadok!"
but there was no answer. She went to the door of the hut and looked
about. The fire was still burning, but there was no sign of the black
boy. Before she had time to be frightened, however, Kadok's black face
peered from between the trees, across the little clearing which lay in
front of the hut. He smiled when he caught sight of her.
"Little Missa sleep good, feel good this morning," he said.
"_Bujeri_,[13] Kadok make breakfast."
"What have you for breakfast," she asked, hungry as she had never been
at home.
"Fine fruit, got it top of tree," he said, handing her a large purple,
plum-like fruit which she ate and thought delicious. Kadok then roasted
in the ashes some scrub turkey eggs he had found, and these too tasted
good, and there was damper and cool water.
"Missa must hurry start now," said Kadok. "We long way to go to-day to
get to Mother."
"First I must try to fix my hair," she said. "It catches in the branches
so that it hurts."
"Kadok help," he said briefly. He caught the golden mass in his hand and
screwed it up in bunches on either side of her head, pinning it tight
with some long thorns. Then he tied about her head a bright handkerchief
which he had worn knotted around the open neck of his shirt, and rolling
up the blankets and packing up the ration bag, he shouldered his swag,
gave her a hand, and they were off for the day.
As they walked Jean noticed that Kadok looked always to the right and
left and that whenever they came near a hill or a hummock, he would go
ahead before telling her to follow him.
"Why do you always look around, Kadok," she asked curiously.
"'Fraid Debil-debil get little Missa or _Buba_ or maybe _Yo-wi_ or
_Ya-wi_," he answered briefly.
"Who are they?" she asked.
"Debil-debil bad god, enemy of _Baiame_,"[14] he said. "_Buba_ big
kangaroo, very bad father of kangaroos, _Yo-wi_ is fever god, and
_Ya-wi_ is snake god. All very bad for little Missa," and he shook his
black head. He did not tell her there were others more to be feared than
these monsters of the Blacks' demonology, but he was worried by tracks
he saw in the sand, tracks of both Blacks and Whites. "Mounted police,
been here," he muttered to himself. "Look for little Missa. See horse's
tracks plain. Here black man's tracks. Think bad Blacks," and he knit
his brows.
Kadok was at a loss to know what to do. He did not want to take Jean
into the Bush again, fearing that hard walking such as they had had the
day before would make her too sick to go on, yet he was afraid to keep
on the beaten track. They kept on till noon, however, and he drew her
aside into the woods to rest and eat her dinner.
He gave her damper, of which she began to be tired, bits of smoked meat,
and some of the white larvae to be found in quantities on the tree
roots, and which she thought delicious. She was hungry, but Kadok gave
her some roots to chew as they walked, saying, "We eat 'gain before
long, must walk some now. 'Fraid we have big storm," and he looked
anxiously at the sky, over which heavy clouds were passing.
Obediently she followed him again, and he walked quickly, peering
through the bushes as if looking for something. The wind was so fierce
that they made slow progress. It blew so that Jean was terribly
frightened and at last Kadok stopped in his quick walk and took her
hand.
"Missa 'fraid Storm debil," he said. "I find place to hide from him.
Come!" and he pulled her into the bushes which covered a high hill.
Skirting round the hill, he pushed through a thicket which seemed almost
like a wall, dragging Jean along as the storm broke with a sudden crash
of thunder which frightened the child terribly.
"Quick!" Kadok cried to her, "We find cave now!" and he pushed aside
some close growing tree branches and showed her the entrance of a little
cave hollowed out of the rock. "Here we be safe till storm go over," he
said, and Jean gladly crouched in the shelter, watching with frightened
eyes the play of the lightning. Kadok gave her more roots to chew and
talked kindly to her to soothe her fears.
"This not much storm," he said. "See many worse than this. Soon over and
we go on. Think Missa see Mother to-morrow. Not many hours far now."
"Kadok," said Jean, "why are you so good to me?"
"What you mean?" asked Kadok.
"Why do you take me home?" she asked.
"Black boy not forget friend," he said. "Not forget enemy. Do mean to
Kadok, Kadok do mean to you, if he has to wait five, ten years. Do Kadok
good, he do good to you when he make chance."
"But I never did you any good," said Jean, puzzled.
"No, little Missa not. Missa McDonald do me heap good.[15] There was bad
man at Station. He no like Blacks near his cattle camp. Blacks not bad,
not hurt white man. White man very bad. He make feast and tell Blacks to
eat. Black men all eat. Next day all black men dead, all but Kadok and
his father, great Chief. They very sick, but they not had eat much of
white man's pudding. Chief tell Missa McDonald they very sick
here,"--putting his hand on his stomach--"She look very sorry and give
them hot drink. It make them very sick and all white man's pudding come
up. Think very strange that Kadok and Chief only ones not die, but like
Missa McDonald very well for hot drink. Chief father say to me, 'Some
day do kind to Missa McDonald,' and I say 'Yes.' When little Missa taken
by bad Blacks, Chief say to me, 'Now time to pay Missa McDonald, take
little Missa home!' I go, take," and the boy nodded his head.
Jean did not understand all of his story, but she could take in enough
to know that her Aunt Mildred had saved the life of Kadok and his
father, and she felt that the boy would do all he could for her.
The storm had ceased and the rain lay in sparkling drops upon bush and
leaf.
"Very wet," said Kadok as he peered out. "Missa sit here very still
while Kadok go and see. Maybe we go on, maybe not." Jean did not want to
stay alone in the cave. "Let me go with you," she said pleadingly, but
Kadok shook his head.
"Not good for Missa. Big snakes come out of holes. Too many. Kadok not
go far away. Missa not come out of cave till Kadok come back. Missa
'fraid, say prayers to white people's _Baiame_."
[Illustration: "THE LEAVES PARTED AND A BLACK FACE PEERED THROUGH THE
BUSHES."]
Jean thought his advice good and said her prayers, sitting quietly for a
time, looking through the cave door, though she could see but little,
the screen of vines and bushes was so thick. She grew tired of sitting
still, and moved about the little cave, finding little to interest her,
however. It was hollowed out like a tunnel deep into the cliff, but was
so dark, except right at the mouth, that she was afraid to explore it.
She took off her shoes, washed her aching feet, and reaching to the
bushes around the cave, pulled leaves to bind on them as Kadok had
taught her to do. Then she took off the handkerchief he had tied about
her head, let down her long hair and tried to smooth out the tangles
with her fingers. It was no easy task, for the hair was long, fine and
curly, and it was terribly matted down and snarled. She took a long
thorn and tried to use it for a comb, and after working a long time had
the locks smoothed out into a fluffy mass of gold on either side her
face. She had been so interested in her work that she had not noticed
how late it was getting until suddenly it seemed to be growing dark. She
looked out of the cave and saw the gleams of the golden sunset through
the leaves. She felt hungry. "Where can Kadok be?" she thought to
herself. "He has been gone a long, long time. Oh, supposing something
has happened to him! What shall I do?" But there was nothing for her to
do but wait, and she sat at the door of the cave, too frightened to cry,
fearing a thousand dangers the worse because they were imaginary. Then
she heard a crackling of the branches near the cave and sprang to her
feet joyfully, expecting to see Kadok's black face through the bushes.
"Kadok!" she cried eagerly. The leaves parted and a black face peered
through the bushes, fierce black eyes gazed at the child, as she stood
speechless with astonishment, gazing at a perfectly strange Black. She
did not speak, she was too frightened to scream, and the Black too was
silent. With her floating, golden hair, her wide blue eyes, her fair
cheek turned to gold by the rays of the setting sun, which shone full
upon her, the rest of her body concealed by the branches with which
Kadok had filled the mouth of the cave, she looked like a creature of
air rather than earth, and so the Black thought her. With a wild cry of
"_Kurru! Kurru!_"[16] he let go his hold of the branches, and Jean could
hear him crashing through the bushes in mad haste to get away.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Expression of satisfaction.
[14] Baiame is the chief god of the Blacks.
[15] This story of the poisoning of nearly a whole tribe of Blacks at a
Christmas feast is vouched for on good authority.
[16] Kurru-kurru is the Dew Dropper or Mist Gatherer, Goddess of the
Blacks and wife of Munuala, the water god.