Then out into the open sky swept dozens of black wings,
accompanied by abusive swearing from dozens of wicked little brown Foxes;
and, as they settled again on the tree, all the fighting would begin again,
so that the squealing, screaming, and swearing never ended.
As Dot was listening to the fighting of the Flying Foxes, she heard a
sound near her that alarmed her greatly. It was impossible to say what
the noise was like. It might have been the braying of a donkey mixed up
with the clattering of palings tumbled together, and with grunts and
snorts. Dot started to her feet in fright, and would have run away, only
she was afraid of being lost worse than ever, so she stood still and
looked round for the terrible monster that could make such extraordinary
sounds. The grunts and clattering stopped, and the noise died away in a
long doleful bray, but she could not see where it came from. Having
peered into the dark shadows, Dot went more into the open, and sat with
her back to a fallen tree, keeping an anxious watch all round.
"Perhaps," she thought, "It is the blacks. What would they do if they
found me? What will happen if they have killed my dear Kangaroo?" And she
covered her face with her hands as this terrible thought came into her head.
Soon she heard something coming towards her stealthily and slowly.
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