CHAPTER II
"That is a nice song of yours," said the Kangaroo, "and I like it verymuch, but please stop singing now, as we are getting near the water-hole,for it's not etiquette to make a noise near water at sundown."
Dot would have asked why everything must be so quiet; but as she peepedout, she saw that the Kangaroo was making a very dangerous descent, andshe did not like to trouble her friend with questions just then. Theyseemed to be going down to a great deep gully that looked almost like ahole in the earth, the depth was so great, and the hills around came soclosely together. The way the Kangaroo was hopping was like going downthe side of a wall. Huge rocks were tumbled about here and there. Somelooked as if they would come rolling down upon them; and others appearedas if a little jolt would send them crashing and tumbling into thedarkness below. Where the Kangaroo found room to land on its feet aftereach bound puzzled Dot, for there seemed no foothold anywhere. It alllooked so dangerous to the little girl that she shut her eyes, so as notto see the terrible places they bounded over, or rested on: she feltsure that the Kangaroo must lose her balance, or hop just a little toofar or a little too near, and that they would fall together over theside of that terrible wild cliff. At last she said:
"Oh, Kangaroo, shall we get safely to the bottom do you think?"
"I never think," said the Kangaroo, "but I know we shall. This is theeasiest way. If I went through the thick bush on the other side, Ishould stand a chance of running my head against a tree at every leap,unless I got a stiff neck with holding my head on one side looking outof one eye all the time. My nose gets in the way when I look straight infront," she explained. "Don't be afraid," she continued. "I know everyjump of the way. We kangaroos have gone this way ever since Australiabegan to have kangaroos. Look here!" she said, pausing on a big boulderthat hung right over the gully, "we have made a history book forourselves out of these rocks; and so long as these rocks last, long,long after the time when there will be no more kangaroos, and no morehumans, the sun, and the moon, and the stars will look down upon whatwe have traced on these stones."
Dot peered out from her little refuge in the Kangaroo's pouch, andsaw the glow of the twilight sky reflected on the top of the boulder.The rough surface of the stone shone with a beautiful polish like alooking-glass, for the rock had been rubbed for thousands of years bythe soft feet and tails of millions of kangaroos; kangaroos that hadhopped down that way to get water. When Dot saw that, she didn't knowwhy it all seemed solemn, or why she felt such a very little girl. Shewas a little sad, and the Kangaroo, after a short sigh, continued herway.
As they neared the bottom of the gully the Kangaroo became extremelycautious. She no longer hopped in the open, but made her way with littleleaps through the thick scrub. She peeped out carefully before eachmovement. Her long, soft ears kept moving to catch every sound, and herblack sensitive little nose was constantly lifted, sniffing the air.Every now and then she gave little backward starts, as if she were goingto retreat by the way she had come, and Dot, with her face pressedagainst the Kangaroo's soft furry coat, could hear her heart beating sofast that she knew she was very frightened.
They were not alone. Dot could hear whispers from unseen littlecreatures everywhere in the scrub, and from birds in the trees. High upin the branches were numbers of pigeons--sweet little Bronze-Wings; andabove all the other sounds she could hear their plaintive voices crying,"We're so frightened! we're so frightened! so thirsty and so frightened!so thirsty and so frightened!"
"Why don't they drink at the water-hole?" whispered Dot.
"Because they're frightened," was the answer.
"Frightened of what?" asked Dot.
"Humans!" said the Kangaroo, in frightened tones; and as she spoke shereared up upon her long legs and tail, so that she stood at least sixfeet high, and peeped over the bushes; her nose working all round, andher ears wagging.
"I think it's safe," she said, as she squatted down again.
"Friend Kangaroo," said a Bronze-Wing that had sidled out to the endof a neighbouring branch, "you are so courageous, will you go first tothe water, and let us know if it is all safe? We haven't tasted a dropof water for two days," she said, sadly, "and we're dying of thirst.Last night, when we had waited for hours, to make certain there wereno cruel Humans about, we flew down for a drink--and we wanted, oh! solittle, just three little sips; but the terrible Humans, with their'bang-bangs,' murdered numbers of us. Then we flew back, and some werehurt and bleeding, and died of their wounds, and none of us have daredto get a drink since." Dot could see that the poor pigeon was sufferinggreat thirst, for its wings were drooping, and its poor dry beak wasopen.
The Kangaroo was very distressed at hearing the pigeon's story. "It isdreadful for you pigeons," she said, "because you can only drink atevening; we sometimes can quench our thirst in the day, I wish we coulddo without water! The Humans know all the water-holes, and sooner orlater we all get murdered, or die of thirst. How cruel they are!"
Still the pigeons cried on, "we're so thirsty and so frightened;" andthe Bronze-Wing asked the Kangaroo to try again, if she could eithersmell or hear a Human near the water-hole.
"I think we are safe," said the Kangaroo, having sniffed and listened asbefore; "I will now try a nearer view."
The news soon spread that the Kangaroo was going to venture near thewater, to see if all was safe. The light was very dim, and there was ageneral whisper that the attempt to get a drink of water should not beleft later; as some feared such foes as dingoes and night birds, shouldthey venture into the open space at night. As the Kangaroo movedstealthily forward, pushing aside the branches of the scrub, or standingerect to peep here and there, there was absolute silence in the bush.Even the pigeons ceased to say they were afraid, but hopped silentlyfrom bough to bough, following the movements of the Kangaroo with eagerlittle eyes. The Brush Turkey and the Mound-Builder left their heaped-upnests and joined the other thirsty creatures, and only by the cracklingof the dry scrub, or the falling of a few leaves, could one tell that somany live creatures were together in that wild place.
Presently the Kangaroo had reached the last bushes of the scrub, behindwhich she crouched.
"There's not a smell or a sound," she said. "Get out, Dot, and wait hereuntil I return, and the Bronze-Wings have had their drink; for, did theysee you, they would be too frightened to come down, and would have towait another night and day."
Dot got out of the pouch, and she was very sorry when she saw howterrified her friend looked. She could see the fur on the Kangaroo'schest moving with the frightened beating of her heart; and her beautifulbrown eyes looked wild and strange with fear.
Instantly, the Kangaroo leaped into the open. For a second she pausederect, sniffing and listening, and then she hastened to the water. Asshe stooped to drink, Dot heard a "whrr, whrr, whrr," and, like fallingleaves, down swept the Bronze-Wings. It was a wonderful sight. Thewater-hole shone in the dim light, with the great black darkness of thetrees surrounding it, and from all parts came the thirsty creatures ofthe bush. The Bronze-Wings were all together. Hundred of little headsbobbed by the edge of the pool, as the little bills were filled, andthe precious water was swallowed; then, together, a minute afterwards,"whrr, whrr, whrr," up they flew, and in one great sweeping circlethey regained their tree-tops. Like the bush creatures, Dot also wasfrightened, and running to the water, hurriedly drank, and fled backto the shelter of the bush, where the Kangaroo was waiting for her.
"Jump in!" said the Kangaroo, "It's never safe by the water," and, aminute after, Dot was again in the cosy pouch, and was hurrying away,like all the others from the water where men are wont to camp, and killwith their guns the poor creatures that come to drink.
That evening the Kangaroo tried to persuade Dot to eat some grass, butas Dot said she had never eaten grass, it got some roots from a friendlyBandicoot, which the little girl ate because she was hungry; but shethought she wouldn't like to be a Bandicoot always to eat such food.Then in a nice dry cave she nestled in
to the fur of the gentle Kangaroo,and was so tired that she slept immediately.
She only woke up once. She had been dreaming that she was at home, andwas playing with the new little Calf that had come the day before shewas lost, and she couldn't remember, at first waking, what had happened,or where she was. It was dark in the cave, and outside the bushes andtrees looked quite black--for there was but little light in that placefrom the starry sky. It seemed terribly lonesome and wild. When theKangaroo spoke she remembered everything, and they both sat up andtalked a little.
"Mo-poke! mo-poke!" sang the Nightjar in the distance. "I wish theNightjar wouldn't make that noise when one wants to sleep," said theKangaroo. "It hasn't got any voice to speak of, and the tune is stupid.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 themselvesmusical," she continued: "they are well behaved and considerate enoughin the day, but as soon as it is a nice, quiet, calm night, or a bit ofa moon is in the sky, they make night hideous to everyone withinearshot--'Mo-poke! mo-poke!' Oh! it gives me the blues!"
As the Kangaroo spoke she hopped to the front of the cave.
"I say, Nightjar," she said, "I'm a little sad to-night, please go andsing elsewhere."
"Ah!" said the Nightjar, "I'm so glad I've given you deliciously dismalthoughts with my song! I'm a great artist, and can touch all hearts.That is my mission in the world: when all the bush is quiet, andeveryone has time to be miserable, I make them more so--isn't it lovelyto be like that?"
"I'd rather you sang something cheerful," said the Kangaroo to herself,but out loud she said, "I find it really too beautiful, it is more thanI can bear. Please go a little farther off."
"Mo-poke! mo-poke!" croaked the Nightjar, farther and farther in thedistance, as it flew away.
"What a pity!" said the Kangaroo, as she returned to the cave, "the'possum made that unlucky joke of telling the Nightjar it has a touchingvoice, and can sing: everyone has to suffer for that joke of the'possum's. It doesn't matter to him, for he is awake all night, but itis too bad for his neighbours who want to sleep."
Just then there arose from the bush a shrill wailing and shrieking thatmade Dot's heart stop with fear. It sounded terrible, as if somethingwas wailing in great pain and suffering.
"O Kangaroo!" she cried, "what is the matter?" "That," said theKangaroo, as she laid herself down to rest, "is the sound of the Curlewenjoying itself. They are sociable birds, and entertain a great deal.There is a party to-night, I suppose, and that is the expression oftheir enjoyment. I believe," she continued, with a suppressed yawn,"it's not so painful as it sounds. Willy Wagtail, who goes a great dealamongst Humans, says they do that sort of thing also; he has often heardthem when he lived near the town."
Dot had never been in the town, but she was certain she had never heardanything like the Curlew's wailing in her home; and she wondered whatWilly Wagtail meant, but she was too sleepy to ask; so she nestled alittle closer to the Kangaroo, and with the shrieking of the Curlews,and the mournful note of the distant mo-poke in her ears, she fellasleep again.