CHAPTER VI
It was terrible to Dot to see the Kangaroo hop off into the dark bush,and to find herself all alone; so she crawled out from under the ledgeof rock into the moonlight, and sat on a stone where she could see thesky, and watch the black ragged clouds hurry over the moon. But the bushwas not altogether quiet. She could hear an owl hooting at the moon. Notfar off was a camp of quarrelsome Flying Foxes, and the melancholyNightjar in the distance was fulfilling its mission of making all thebush creatures miserable with its incessant, mournful "mo-poke!mo-poke!" As Dot could understand all the voices, it amused her tolisten to the wrangles of the Flying Foxes, as they ate the fruit of awild fig tree near by. She saw them swoop past on their huge black wingswith a solemn flapping. Then, as each little Fox approached the tree,the Foxes who were there already screamed, and swore in dreadfully badlanguage at the visitor. For every little Fox on the tree was afraidsome other Flying Fox would eat all the figs, and as each visitorarrived he was assailed with cries of, "Get away! you're not wantedhere!"
"This is my branch, my figs!"
"Go and find figs for yourself!"
"These figs are not half ripe like the juicy ones on the other side ofthe tree!"
Then the new-comer Flying Fox, with a spiteful squeal, would pounce downon a branch already occupied, and angry spluttering and screams wouldarise, followed by a heavy fall of fighting Foxes tumbling with a crashthrough the trees. Then out into the open sky swept dozens of blackwings, accompanied by abusive swearing from dozens of wicked littlebrown Foxes; and, as they settled again on the tree, all the fightingwould begin again, so that the squealing, screaming, and swearing neverended.
As Dot was listening to the fighting of the Flying Foxes, she heard asound near her that alarmed her greatly. It was impossible to say whatthe noise was like. It might have been the braying of a donkey mixed upwith the clattering of palings tumbled together, and with grunts andsnorts. Dot started to her feet in fright, and would have run away, onlyshe was afraid of being lost worse than ever, so she stood still andlooked round for the terrible monster that could make such extraordinarysounds. The grunts and clattering stopped, and the noise died away in along doleful bray, but she could not see where it came from. Havingpeered into the dark shadows, Dot went more into the open, and sat withher back to a fallen tree, keeping an anxious watch all round.
"Perhaps it is the Blacks. What would they do with me if they found me?What will happen if they have killed my dear Kangaroo?" and she coveredher face with her hands as this terrible thought came into her head.Soon she heard something coming towards her stealthily and slowly. Shewould not look up she was so frightened. She was sure it was somefierce-looking Black man, with his spear, about to kill her. She shuther eyes closer, and held her breath. "Perhaps," she thought, "he willnot see me." Then a cold shiver went through her little body, as shefelt something claw hold of her hair, and she thought she was about tobe killed. She kept her eyes shut, and the clawing went on, and then toher astonishment she heard an animal voice say in wondering tones:
"Why, it's fur! how funny it looked in the moonlight!" Then Dot openedher eyes very wide and looked round, and saw a funny Native Bear on thetree trunk behind her. He was quite clearly to be seen in the moonlight.His thick, grey fur, that looked as if he was wrapped up to keep out themost terrible cold weather; his short, stumpy, big legs, and littlesharp face with big bushy ears, could be seen as distinctly as indaylight. Dot had never seen one so near before, and she loved it atonce, it looked so innocent and kind.
"You dear little Native Bear!" she exclaimed, at once stroking its head.
"Am I a Native Bear?" asked the animal in a meek voice. "I never heardthat before. I thought I was a Koala. I've always been told so, but ofcourse one never knows oneself. What are you? Do you know?"
"I'm a little girl," replied Dot, proudly.
The Koala saw that Dot was proud, but as it didn't see any reason whyshe should be, it was not a bit afraid of her.
"I never heard of one or saw one before," it said, simply. "Do youburrow, or live in a tree?"
"I live at home," said Dot; but, wishing to be quite correct, she added,"that is, when I am there."
"Then, where are you now?" asked the Koala, rather perplexed.
"I'm not at home," replied Dot, not knowing how to make her positionclear to the little animal.
"Then you live where you don't live?" said the Koala; "where is it?" andthe little Bear looked quite unhappy in its attempt to understand whatDot meant.
"I've lost it," said Dot. "I don't know where it is."
"You make my head feel empty," said the Koala, sadly. "I live in the gumtree over there. Do you eat gum leaves?"
"No. When I'm at home I have milk, and bread, and eggs, and meat."
"Dear me!" said the Koala. "They're all new to one. Is it far? I shouldlike to see the trees they grow on. Please show me the way."
"But I can't," said Dot; "they don't grow on trees, and I don't know myway home. It's lost, you see."
"I don't see," said the Native Bear. "I never can see far at night, andnot at all in daylight. That is why I came here. I saw your fur shiningin the moonlight, and I couldn't make out what it was, so I came to see.If there is anything new to be seen, I must get a near view of it. Idon't feel happy if I don't know all about it. Aren't you cold?"
"Yes, I am, a little, since my Kangaroo left me," Dot said.
"Now you make my head feel empty again," said the Koala, plaintively."What has a Kangaroo got to do with your feeling cold? What have youdone with your fur?"
"I never had any," said Dot, "only these curls," and she touched herlittle head.
"Then you ought to be black," argued the Koala. "You're not the rightcolour. Only Blacks have no fur, but what they steal from the properowners. Do you steal fur?" it asked in an anxious voice.
"How do they steal fur?" asked Dot.
The Koala looked very miserable, and spoke with horror. "They kill uswith spears, and tear off our skins and wear them because their ownskins are no good."
"That's not stealing," said Dot; "that's killing"; and, although itseemed very difficult to make the little Bear understand, she explained,"Stealing is taking away another person's things; and when a person isdead he hasn't anything belonging to him, so it's not stealing to takewhat belonged to him before, because it isn't his any longer--that is,if it doesn't belong to anyone else."
"You make my head feel empty," complained the Koala. "I'm sure you'reall wrong; for an animal's skin and fur is his own, and it's his life'sbusiness to keep it whole. Everyone in the bush is trying to keep hisskin whole, all day long, and all night too. Good gracious! what is thematter up there?"
A terrible hullabaloo between a pair of Opossums up a neighbouring gumtree arrested the attention of both Dot and the Koala. Presently thesounds of snarling, spitting, and screaming ended, and an Opossumclimbed out to the far end of a branch, where the moonlight shone on hisgrey fur like silver. There he remained snapping and barkingdisagreeable things to his mate, who climbed up to the topmost branch,and snarled and growled back equally unpleasant remarks.
"Why don't you bring in gum leaves for to-morrow, instead of sleepingall day and half the night too?" shouted the Opossum on the branch tohis wife. "You know I get hungry before daylight is over and hate goingout in the light."
"Get them yourself, you lazy loon!" retorted the lady Opossum. "If youdisturb my dreams again this way, I'll make your fur fly."
"Take care!" barked back her husband, "or I'll bring you off that branchpretty quickly."
"You'd better try!" sneered his wife. "Remember how I landed you intothe billabong the other night!"
The taunt was too much for the Opossum on the branch; he scuttled up thetree to reach his mate, who sprang forward from her perch into the air.Dot saw her spring with her legs all spread out, so that the skinnyflaps were like furry wings. By this means she was able to break herfall, and softly alighting on the earth, a moment after, she hadscram
bled up another tree, followed by her mate. From tree to tree, frombranch to branch, they fled or pursued one another, with growls,screams, and splutters, until they disappeared from sight.
"How unhappy those poor Opossums must be, living in the same tree," saidDot; "why don't they live in different trees?"
"They wouldn't be happy," observed the Koala, "they are so fond of oneanother."
"Then why do they quarrel?" asked Dot.
"Because they live in the same tree of course," said the Koala. "If theylived in different trees, and never quarrelled, they wouldn't like it atall. They'd find life dull, and they'd get sulky. There's nothing worsethan a sulky 'possum. They are champions at that."
"They make a dreadful noise with their quarrelling," said Dot. "They arenearly as bad as the Flying Foxes over there. I wonder if they made thatfearful sound I heard just before you came?"
DOT, THE NATIVE BEAR, AND THE OPOSSUM]
"I expect what you heard was from me," said the Koala; "I had justawakened, and when I saw the moon was up I felt pleased."
"Was all that sound and many noises yours?" asked Dot with astonishment,as she regarded the shaggy little animal on the tree trunk.
The Koala smiled modestly. "Yes!" it said; "when I'm pleased there is nocreature in the bush can make such a noise, or so many different noisesat once. I waken everyone for a quarter of a mile round. You wouldn'tthink it, to see me as I am, would you?" The Koala was evidently verypleased with this accomplishment.
"It isn't kind of you to wake up all the sleeping creatures," said Dot.
"Why not?" asked the Koala. "You are a night creature, I suppose, or youwouldn't be awake now. Well, don't you think it unfair the wayeverything is arranged for the day creatures?"
"But then," said Dot, "there are so many more day creatures."
"That doesn't make any difference," observed the Koala.
"But it does," said Dot.
"How?" asked the Native Bear.
"Because if you had the day it wouldn't be any good to you, and if theyhad the night it wouldn't be any good to them. So your night couldn't betheir day, and their day couldn't be your night."
"You make my head feel empty," said the Koala. "But you'd thinkdifferently if a flock of Kookooburras settled on your tree, andguffawed idiotically when you wanted to sleep."
"As you don't like being waked yourself, why do you wake others then?"asked Dot.
"Because this is a free country," said the Koala. While Dot was tryingto understand why the Koala's reason should suffice for one animalmaking another's life uncomfortable, she was rejoiced to see theKangaroo bound into sight. She forgot all about the Koala, and rushedforward to meet it.