"Is it gay?" enquired Dot, hesitating a little in her speech, for she had felt rather dull and miserable.
"Well, everyone says it"s gay, and there is always a deal of noise, so I suppose it is," answered the Kangaroo.
"I"d rather be in your pouch, so let us go away," entreated Dot; and they left the bower place without any of the birds noticing their departure, for they were all busy gossiping, or discussing the great berry or digestion questions.
It was towards evening when they reached an open plain, and here they met an Emu. As both Dot and the Kangaroo were thirsty, they asked the Emu the way to a waterhole or tank.
"I am going to a tank now," replied the Emu; "let us proceed together."
"Do you think it will be safe to drink to-night"; enquired the Kangaroo anxiously.
"Well, to tell the truth," said the Emu lightly, "it is likely to be a little difficult. There is a somewhat strained feeling between the White Humans and ourselves just now. In consequence, we have to resort to a little strategy on our visits to the tanks, and we avoid eating anything tempting left about at camping places."
"Are they laying poison for _you_?" asked the Kangaroo in horrified tones.
"They are doing something of the kind, we think," answered the Emu airily, "for some of us have had most unpleasant symptoms after picking up morsels at camping grounds. Several have died. We were quite surprised, for hitherto there has been no better cure for Emu indigestion than wire nails, hoop iron, and preserved milk cans. The worst symptoms have yielded to sc.r.a.ps of barbed wire in my own case. But these Emus died in spite of all remedies."
"But I heard," said the Kangaroo, "that Emus were protected by the Government. I never understood why."
"We are protected," said the huge bird, "because we form part of the Australian Arms."
"So do we," said the Kangaroo, "but we are not protected."
"True," said the bird, "but the Humans can make some money out of you when you are dead, whereas we serve no purpose at all, excepting alive, when we add a charm to the scenery; and, moreover, each of our eggs will make a pound cake. But the time will come, friend, when there will be neither Emu nor Kangaroo for Australia"s Arms; no creature will be left to represent the land but the Bunny Rabbit and the Sheep."
"I hate sheep!" said the Kangaroo, "they eat all our gra.s.s."
"You have not studied them as we have," answered the Emu. "They are most entertaining. We have great fun with them, and we"ve learnt some capital sheep games from those dogs Humans drive them with. It"s really exciting to drive a big mob, when they want to break and scatter. We were chasing them, here and there, all over the plain to-day."
"I don"t like sheep!" said Dot, "they are so stupid."
"So they are," agreed the Emu, "and that is what puzzles me. What is it about the sight of sheep that excites one so? When one gets into a big flock, one has to dance, one can"t help oneself. We had a great dance in a flock to-day, and the lambs would get under our feet, so I"m sorry to say a good many of them were killed."
"Men will certainly kill you, if you do that," said Dot.
"We know it," chuckled the Emu; "that is why the tank is not quite safe just now. But this evening I will show you a new plan by which to learn if Humans are camped at a tank, or not. We have played the trick with great success for several nights."
Conversing thus, the Emu, the Kangaroo, and Dot wandered on until the Emu requested them to wait for a few minutes, whilst it peeped at the tank, which was still a long way off.
It presently returned and said that it felt quite suspicious, because everything looked so clear and safe. "From this point of high ground,"
said the bird, "you can watch our proceedings. I will now give the signal and return to my post here."
The Emu then ran at a great pace along the edge of the plain, and emitted a strange rattling cry. After disappearing from sight for a time, it returned hurriedly to where Dot and her friend were waiting.
"Now, see!" said the Emu, nodding at the distant side of the plain.
Dot"s eyes were not so keen of sight as those of an Emu; but she thought she could see something like a little cloud of dust, far, far away across the dry brown gra.s.s of the plain. Soon she was quite sure that the little cloud was advancing towards her side of the plain, and in the direction of the tank. As it came nearer she could see the bobbing heads of Emus, popping up above the dust, and she could see some of the birds running round the little cloud.
"What is the cause of all that dust?" she asked the Emu.
"Sheep!" it answered with a merry chuckle.
"But what are the Emus doing with the sheep?" asked Dot and the Kangaroo, now fully interested in the Emu"s manoeuvre.
"They are driving them to water at the tank," said the bird, highly delighted with the scheme. "The sheep will soon know that they are near water, and will go to it without driving. Then we shall watch, and if they quietly drink and scatter, it will be safe for us, but if they see anything unusual and break, and run--well, we shan"t drink at the tank to-night. There will be Humans and dogs there, and we don"t cultivate their society just now."
"Really that is the cleverest thing I have heard for a long time," said the Kangaroo, full of admiration for the trick. "How did you jump to that conclusion?"
"The idea sprang upon us," answered the Emu, with an immense hop in the air, and a dancing movement when it came to the ground again. "Dear me!"
it exclaimed, "the sight of those sheep is beginning to excite me, and I can hardly keep still! I wonder what there is so exciting about sheep!"
Dot could now see the advancing flock of sheep, with their attendant mob of Emu, quite well. The animals had got scent of the water, and with contented bleatings were slowly moving with a rippling effect across the dusty plain. The mob of Emu soon left the sheep to go their own way, and, grouped in a cl.u.s.ter, watched, with bobbing heads, every movement of the flock.
Dot, the Kangaroo, and the Emu looked towards the tank with silent interest. "I"m stationed here," whispered the bird, "to give a warning in case there is any danger in this direction. Emus are posted all round the tank on the same duty."
Dot could see the whole scene well, for beyond a few low shrubs on the opposite side of the sheet of water, there was no sheltering bush near the great tank which had been excavated on the bare plain.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EMUS HUNTING THE SHEEP]
Onward came the sheep, and quite stationary in the distance remained the Emu mob. Just as the first sheep were descending the deep slope of the tank, a Plover rose from amongst the bushes with a shrill cry. The Emu started at the sound, and whispered to the Kangaroo, "There"ll be no drink to-night: watch!"
The cry of the Plover seemed to arrest the advance of the timid sheep: they waited in a closely-packed flock, looking around. But presently the old leader gave a deep bleat, and they moved forward towards the water.
"Shriek! Shriek!" cried the Plover from the bushes, screaming as they rose and flew away; and suddenly the flock of sheep broke and hurried back to the open plain. At the same instant Dot could hear the sharp barking of a sheep dog, a noise that produced an instant effect on the creatures she was with. With lightning speed the Kangaroo had popped her into her pouch and was hopping away, and the Emu was striding with its long legs as fast as it could for the cover of the Bush.
Just as they entered the Bush shelter, Dot peeped out of the pouch, across the plain, and could see the mob of Emu in a cloud of dust, running, and almost out of sight.
When they had reached a place of safety, the friendly Emu bid the Kangaroo and Dot good-night. "We shall have to go thirsty to-night," it said, "but there will be a heavy dew, and the gra.s.s will be wet enough to cool one"s mouth. That pretty trick of ours was such a success that it is almost worth one"s while to lose one"s drink in proving it."
Turning to Dot it said, "You will be able to tell the big Humans that we Emus are not such fools as they think, and that we find their flocks of silly sheep most useful and entertaining animals."
Chuckling to itself, the Emu strode off, leaving Dot and the Kangaroo to pa.s.s another night in the solitude of the Bush.
CHAPTER XI
The next day they travelled a long distance. At about noon they came to a part of the country which the Kangaroo said she knew well. "But we must be careful," she added, "as we are very near Humans in this part."
As Dot was tired (for she had had to walk much more than usual) the Kangaroo suggested that she should rest at the pretty spot they had reached, whilst she herself went in search of w.i.l.l.y Wagtail. Dot had to promise the Kangaroo over and over again, not to leave the spot during her absence. She was afraid lest the little girl should get lost, like the little Joey.
After many farewells, and much hopping back to give Dot warnings and make promises of returning soon, the Kangaroo went in search of w.i.l.l.y Wagtail; and the little girl was left all alone.
Dot looked for a nice shady nook, in which to lie down and rest; and she found the place so cheerful and pretty, that she was not afraid of being alone. She was in the hollow of an old watercourse. It was rather like an English forest glade, it was so open and gra.s.sy; and here and there were pretty shrubs, and little hillocks and hollows. At first Dot thought that she would sit on the branch of a huge tree that had but recently fallen, and lay forlornly clothed in withered leaves; but opposite to this dead giant of the Bush was a thick shrub with a decayed tree stump beside it, that made a nice sheltered corner which she liked better. So Dot laid herself down there, and in a few minutes she was fast asleep; though, as she dropped off into the land of dreams, she thought how wonderfully quiet that little glade was, and felt somewhat surprised to find no Bush creatures to keep her company.
Some time before Dot woke, her dreams became confused and strange. There seemed to be great crowds in them, and the murmur of many voices talking together. As she gradually awakened, she realized that the voices were real, and not a part of her dreams. There was a great hubbub, a fluttering of wings, and rustling of leaves and gra.s.s. Through all this confusion, odd sentences became clear to her drowsy senses. Such phrases as, "You"d better perch here!" "This isn"t your place!" "Go over there!"
"No! no! I"m sure I"m right! the Welcome Swallow says so." "Has anyone gone for the Opossum?" "He says the Court ought to be held at night!"
"Don"t make such a noise or you will wake the prisoner;" "Who is to be the Judge?" This last enquiry provoked such a noise of diverse opinions, that Dot became fully awake, and sitting up, gazed around with eyes full of astonishment.