"
Dot saw the flight of the blacks in the dim distance, and told the good
news to the Kangaroo, who, however, was too exhausted to rejoice at their
escape. She still lay where she had fallen, gasping, and with her tongue
hanging down from her mouth like that of a dog.
In vain Dot caressed her, and called her by endearing names; she lay quite
still, as if unable to hear or feel. Dot's little heart swelled within
her, and taking the poor animal's drooping head on her lap, she sat quite
still and tearless; waiting in that solitude for her one friend to
die--leaving her lonely and helpless.
Presently she was startled by hearing a brisk voice: "Then it was a human
picaninny, after all! Well, my dear, what are you doing here?"
Dot turned her head without moving, and saw a little way behind her a
brown bird on long legs, standing with its feet close together, with the
self-satisfied air of a dancing master about to begin a lesson.
Dot did not care for any other creature in the Bush just then but her
Kangaroo, and the perky air of the bird annoyed her in her sorrow. Without
answering, she bent her head closer down to that of her poor friend, to
see if her eyes were still shut, and wondered if they would ever open and
look bright and gentle again.
The little brown bird strutted with ail important air to where it had a
better view of Dot and her companion, and eyed them both in the same perky
manner.
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