The worst symptoms have yielded
to scraps 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, "and 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 grass."
"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.
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