IP A M °UR- LITTLE 
 «J C/Y1Y AUSTRALIAN "COUSIN 
 
 MARY-F-NIXON-ROULET 
 
This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 illillililfl '** 
 
 00025764450 
 
 r 
 
 OCt 
 
 i, y: 
 
 I c 2 *z (s , y^ cC ^ ^ 
 
 *r * c_ 
 
 ?}&i^ /^ 
 
THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Elizabeth Preston Ward 
 
 in memory of 
 Jean Versfelt Preston 
 
Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
THE 
 
 Little Cousin Series 
 
 (trade mark) 
 
 Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in 
 
 tint. Cloth, i2mo, with decorative cover, 
 
 per volume, 60 cents 
 
 LIST OF TITLES 
 
 By Mary Hazelton Wade 
 
 (unless otherwise indicated) 
 
 Our Little African Cousin 
 Our Little Alaskan Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Our Little Arabian Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 
 Our Little Armenian Cousin 
 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 Our Little Brazilian Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Our Little Brown Cousin 
 Our Little Canadian Cousin 
 
 By Elizabeth R. MacDonald 
 
 Our Little Chinese Cousin 
 
 By Isaac Taylor Headland 
 Our Little Cuban Cousin 
 Our Little Dutch Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 Our Little Egyptian Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 Our Little English Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 Our Little Eskimo Cousin 
 Our Little French Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 Our Little German Cousin 
 Our Little Greek Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 
 Our Little Hawaiian Cousin 
 Our Little Hindu Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 Our Little Hungarian Cousin 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 Our Little Indian Cousin 
 Our Little Irish Cousin 
 Our Little Italian Cousin 
 Our Little Japanese Cousin 
 Our Little Jewish Cousin 
 Our Little Korean Cousin 
 
 By H. Lee M. Pike 
 Our Little Mexican Cousin 
 
 By Edward C. Butler 
 Our Little Norwegian Cousin 
 Our Little Panama Cousin 
 
 By H. Lee M. Pike 
 Our Little Persian Cousin 
 
 By E. C. Shedd 
 Our Little Philippine Cousin 
 Our Little Porto Rican Cousin 
 Our Little Russian Cousin 
 Our Little Scotch Cousin 
 
 By Blanche McManus 
 Our Little Siamese Cousin 
 Our Little Spanish Cousin 
 
 By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet 
 Our Little Swedish Cousin 
 
 By Claire M. Coburn 
 Our Little Swiss Cousin 
 Our Little Turkish Cousin 
 
 L. C. PAGE £r COMPANY 
 
 New England Building, Boston, Mass. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/ourlittleaustralOOnixo 
 
JEAN. 
 
| JEAN | 
 
 2 Our Little Australian Cousin T 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 * By ^ 
 
 * Mary F. Nixon -Roulet * 
 
 T Author of " Go</, *&* %, Afy Brother^ " Owr Jf 
 
 «k Z./ft/<? Spanish Cousin" "Our Little Alaskan ' *• 
 
 £T Cousin" " Owr Z/tf/* Grecian Cousin" ^£ 
 
 Tf " Owr Z./tt/<? Brazilian Cousin," etc. Jj 
 
 *, ^ 
 
 ^4 Illustrated by ^ 
 
 * Diantha W. Home *£ 
 * * 
 
 * ^^ * 
 
 ^ Boston #• 
 
 ^ L. C. Page £sf Company ^ 
 
 4* Publishers 4 
 
 4* 4^ 
 
Copyright, igo8 
 By L. C. Page & Company 
 
 (incorporated) 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 First Impression, September, 1908 
 Second Impression, October, 1909 
 
TO 
 
 fottfcp PtSDowittffl) 
 A Little Texas Friend 
 
P reface 
 — -^ — 
 
 Australia, though a continent, is a part of the 
 Empire of Great Britain. A few years ago it 
 was a wild country, where no white people 
 lived, filled with Blacks, who were man-eating 
 savages. These are fast dying out, but in this 
 story you will learn something about them, and 
 of the lives of your Australian Cousins. 
 
Contents 
 
 I. "Land!" 
 
 II. Sailing to Sydney 
 
 III. A Drive 
 
 IV. On the Way to the " Run 
 V. Life at Djerinallum 
 
 VI. "Lost!" 
 
 VII. Jean Finds a Friend 
 
 VIII. In the Bush . 
 
 IX. Housekeeping in a Cave 
 
 X. Dandy Saves the Day . 
 
 PACK 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 20 
 32 
 
 47 
 60 
 76 
 90 
 101 
 117 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 Jean ....... Frontispiece 
 
 " ' I thought Pacific meant peaceful/ said 
 
 Fergus" ....... ii 
 
 "'That is the lyre bird, isn't he a handsome 
 
 fellow?'" ....... 58 
 
 " ' That was a platypus, or water mole,' said 
 
 Mr. McDonald" ..... 66 
 
 "The leaves parted and a black face peered 
 
 through the bushes " .... 99 
 
 " The black boy on a pony led by a white 
 
 child" 128 
 
Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Fergus and Jean were very tired of the long 
 voyage. They stood at the taffrail looking over 
 the dancing waves, longing for the sight of land. 
 
 " It seems as if we would never get there, 
 Father," said Fergus. " How long it is since 
 we left home ! " 
 
 " And how far away Scotland seems," sighed 
 his mother, as she took little Jean on her lap and 
 stroked her fair hair. 
 
 " But Australia is to be our home now," said 
 Mr. Hume cheerfully. " See, there is the very 
 first glimpse of it," and he pointed across the 
 
2 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 water to a dim line, as the look-out called 
 "Land!" 
 
 " We are passing Port Phillip's Head," he 
 said presently. " See the lighthouse ! Soon we 
 shall land and you will see a beautiful city." 
 
 " Beautiful ! " Fergus said in surprise. 
 " Why, I thought Melbourne was a wild sort of 
 a place. You have told us about the time you 
 were here long ago, before you married my 
 mother, and you had floods in the streets and 
 had to climb up on top of some one's porch for 
 fear of being drowned." 
 
 " That was fifteen years ago, my son," said 
 Mr. Hume with a smile. " Melbourne is very 
 different now from what it was then, and then 
 it was not at all like it was when its first settlers 
 saw it. 
 
 " It was in 1836 that Robert Russell came 
 here to survey the shore near Port Phillip and 
 find out whether boats could go up the River 
 Yana. He felt this to be just the place for a 
 
" Land ! " 3 
 
 city, planned Melbourne and laid out the streets. 
 It seems strange to think that then the blacks 
 owned all this land and the Wawoorong, Boo- 
 noorong, and Wautourong tribes roamed these 
 shores, and that when Russell laid out his city 
 there were native huts standing. The place was 
 called Bear Grass, and in 1837 there were thir- 
 teen buildings, eight of which were turf huts. 
 Now Melbourne is seven miles square and the 
 principal street is a mile long. You will soon 
 see how handsome the buildings are, for we are 
 now making ready to land after our long jour- 
 ney." 
 
 Fergus and Jean Hume had come from Scot- 
 land to live in Australia. Their father had been 
 a farmer, but he had lost all his little fortune 
 through the rascality of a friend, and had deter- 
 mined to try again in the colony. 
 
 Australia is a colony of Great Britain just as 
 Canada is, and though it is at the other side of 
 the world, still it is British. 
 
4 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 Mrs. Hume had a sister in Sydney and they 
 were to visit her before going to the Gold Coun- 
 try, where Mr. Hume intended to try his for- 
 tune. 
 
 Fergus was a fine boy of twelve and Jean was 
 eight, and both were much excited at the trip, 
 while Mrs. Hume's sadness at leaving her old 
 home was mixed with joy at the idea of seeing 
 again the sister from whom she had been sepa- 
 rated for years. 
 
 The landing on the Melbourne quay proved 
 interesting for the children, and they were very 
 much impressed with their first glimpse of the 
 city. 
 
 " Why, Father," exclaimed Fergus, as they 
 drove in a cab up Flinders Street, " Melbourne 
 streets seem as busy as those of Glasgow ! " 
 
 " Indeed they are, my son," said his father, 
 smiling. " Perhaps they are busier. You see 
 Victoria is the busiest part of this country, al- 
 though the people of New South Wales will tell 
 
" Land ! " 5 
 
 you that their district is far superior and Sydney 
 a much handsomer city than Melbourne." 
 
 "If the wares one sees in the streets are any 
 sign, Victoria must have a great variety of prod- 
 ucts," said Mrs. Hume. " The shops have all 
 manner of things in the windows, and besides 
 there are great drays of wood, coal and timber." 
 
 " Victoria is called the Garden of Australia," 
 said Mr. Hume. " You will see considerable of 
 it if we go up to Sydney by rail instead of by 
 sea. 
 
 " Oh, Father! " cried Fergus, who loved the 
 water, " are we going to do that? " 
 
 " I haven't decided yet which would be the 
 better plan," Mr. Hume answered. " I had 
 thought of going by steamer and stopping at 
 Hobart in Tasmania, but it will take a great deal 
 longer and you will miss the trip through Vic- 
 toria, which is said to be the prettiest part of 
 this great continent." 
 
 " I think the sooner we reach Aunt Mildred 
 
6 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 the better for all of us," said Mrs. Hume. 
 " The children are tired with the long voyage 
 and winter will soon be here." 
 
 " Winter! " exclaimed Jean. 
 
 "Winter, why, Mother!" cried Fergus. 
 "This is June!" 
 
 " Yes, I know that," said his mother. " But 
 don't you know that in the Southern Hemi- 
 sphere, winter and summer change places? In 
 Victoria, midwinter comes in July." 
 
 "Will it be cold?" asked Jean. 
 
 " No, dear, winter here is not like our nip- 
 ping Scotch frost. It is not very cold here, and 
 it rains in winter instead of snowing." 
 
 " I don't think that is nice at all," said Fergus. 
 " We'll have no sleighing." 
 
 " There are many things we will miss here," 
 said his mother sadly, but his father said cheer- 
 fully, 
 
 " There are many things here we can't have 
 at home, also. When I get to the Gold Fields 
 
" Land ! " 7 
 
 you shall have all the gold you want, and that 
 is something you never had in Scotland. Now, 
 our fine drive is over and here we are at the 
 hotel, where we shall have some luncheon. 
 How have you enjoyed your first drive in an 
 Australian city? " 
 
 " Very much," cried both of the children. 
 
 " It will be some time before you take another 
 one, for I believe after all that we shall go by 
 boat to Sydney. I understand that the sea trip 
 is very pleasant and it is less expensive. " 
 
 " I am glad," said Fergus. 
 
 " A boat sails this afternoon and there is noth- 
 ing for us to do but have our luggage trans- 
 ferred from one boat to the other," said Mr. 
 Hume, as they all went in to luncheon. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 SAILING TO SYDNEY 
 
 The travellers set sail for Sydney in a calm 
 and beautiful afternoon when earth and sea 
 seemed at peace. The sea sparkled in the sun- 
 light as if set in diamonds and the vessel fairly 
 danced over the waters as it sailed out of Bass 
 Strait into the dark waters of the blue Pacific. 
 The afternoon passed quietly and toward eve- 
 ning all gathered on deck to see the sunset, for 
 Australia is noted as the land of wonderful sun- 
 sets, and from the sea these can be viewed in all 
 their splendour. 
 
 Gold, crimson, yellow, pink, from brilliant to 
 soft, from light to dark, the clouds changed in 
 countless colour schemes, bewilderingly beauti- 
 ful. The whole sky was a dome of softest rose, 
 
Sailing to Sydney 9 
 
 then a flaming crimson, then pearly-tinted helio- 
 trope ; the sea, too, shone in varying shades of 
 beauty, until all melted and blended into one 
 exquisitely soft shade of deep-toned purple, and 
 into this the smiling stars stole one by one, the 
 countless stars of the southern night, and above 
 all shone the glory of the Southern Cross. 
 
 " Oh, Father," whispered Jean, " I have 
 never seen anything so beautiful! Is the sunset 
 always like this in Australia ? " 
 
 " This was a particularly fine one, daughter, 
 but whenever the sun sets it is a thing worth 
 looking at." 
 
 " How quickly it has grown dark after all that 
 splendour," said Mrs. Hume, looking at the sky 
 over which the clouds were passing. 
 
 " I don't like the look of the sky," said Mr. 
 Hume. " I'm afraid there is a squall coming." 
 
 " Worse than a squall, sir," said a sailor, 
 hurrying by. " It looks to me like a hurricane." 
 
 The air had grown suddenly warm and the 
 
10 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 sky was overhung with heavy clouds, while 
 flashes of lightning blazed across the sky. Sud- 
 denly a great waterspout seemed to rise up like 
 an inky-black pillar from sea to sky. The ship 
 tossed about and pitched so badly that it was 
 impossible to keep one's feet and Mr. Hume led 
 his little party to the cabin. 
 
 "Oh, Father! what shall we do?" cried 
 Jean, frightened. 
 
 " Go to sleep is the best thing to do if you 
 can," he said, and the children were put to bed 
 in their berths, in which they could hardly stay, 
 so violent was the pitching of the ship. 
 
 The wind howled and roared and, as the 
 storm kept up all night, there was little sleep in 
 the cabin. When the morning came it was lit- 
 tle better. Sea and sky were dull gray, save 
 where the foam-crested waves broke in sheets 
 of spray against the sides of the vessel, sending 
 the foam high into the air. 
 
 " It is a cross sea," said the sailor on the look- 
 
I THOUGHT PACIFIC MEANT PEACEFUL,' SAID FERGUS. 
 
Sailing to Sydney n 
 
 out and the captain shook his head. " It's a 
 bad outlook," he said. " I don't like the gray 
 water." 
 
 " I thought Pacific meant peaceful," said 
 Fergus, who stood clinging to his father on 
 deck, looking at the wonderful scene. " It 
 doesn't seem peaceful to me," as a great wave 
 broke over the deck and drenched him to the 
 skin. 
 
 " Like most peaceful things, it is terrible 
 when it is roused," said Mr. Hume. " There 
 is a strong current running up and down this 
 eastern shore of Australia and it often sets ves- 
 sels quite out of their course. Sometimes they 
 are washed miles out of their way, and occa- 
 sionally, in the darkness, run upon one of the 
 little islands which dot this sea." 
 
 " Is Tasmania one of them? " asked Fergus. 
 
 " We have long since passed Tasmania," said 
 his father. " But there are many little islands 
 between here and Sydney. There! What is 
 
12 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 that? " he exclaimed. Suddenly it seemed as if 
 land sprang at them through the fog and they 
 were almost upon a rocky shore. So near to it 
 was their steamer that there was barely time to 
 put about and it was only by the quickest action 
 that they escaped the rocks. The steamer 
 lurched and rolled, pitched and tossed in the 
 gale, but she passed the rocks in safety, and as 
 afternoon waned and night drew on, the storm 
 grew less, until by midnight the sea was quiet. 
 The morning of the third day broke in a golden 
 splendour, the air was fresh and cool, the sky 
 and the sea were as blue as a sapphire, the chil- 
 dren glad to be out of the stuffy cabin and up 
 on deck. 
 
 "If the weather continues like this we shall 
 not be long in reaching Sydney,' 5 said Mr. 
 Hume. " And I am sure we shall all be glad to 
 get there." 
 
 "What kind of a place is Sydney?" asked 
 Fergus. 
 
Sailing to Sydney 13 
 
 " It is a fine city, my boy, and very different 
 from what it was when Botany Bay was peopled 
 with felons." 
 
 " What are felons? " asked Jean. 
 
 " Felons are people who have done wrong 
 and must be kept in prison for punishment in 
 the hope that they will learn to do right/' an- 
 swered Mr. Hume. " Botany Bay was named 
 by the botanist Joseph Banks who was with 
 Cook when he made his first voyage in 1770. 
 It is an inlet near Sydney and the English sent 
 their criminals there until 1840. Such men as 
 behaved well when they reached the colony were 
 allowed to leave the penal settlement upon 
 tickets, and were called ' ticket of leave men.' 
 They could be followed up and brought back 
 if they misbehaved in any way. Many of them 
 were good men who had been led into wrong- 
 doing and were glad to have a chance to be good 
 again. They went out into the ' bush,' cleared 
 farms or sheep stations, and many of them 
 
14 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 grew rich. Quite a number of the good citizens 
 of Australia to-day, could, if they would, trace 
 their descent back to ' ticket of leave ' men." 
 
 " I shouldn't think they would like to do 
 that," said Fergus. " I wouldn't like any one 
 to know that my people had done wrong." 
 
 " Everybody does wrong," said Jean sagely. 
 
 " Yes, but every one isn't found out," her 
 brother answered. " When they are, it hurts." 
 
 " But if it's found out that they're sorry and 
 are going to do good for ever and ever," the 
 little girl looked puzzled, " then does it mat- 
 ter?" 
 
 " Dear little childish point of view," said her 
 mother, with a smile, and her father added, 
 
 " It would be a good thing if older people 
 felt so." 
 
 Sydney looked beautiful enough as their ship 
 steamed into the bay to pay them for their 
 troublesome voyage. The harbour is one of 
 the handsomest in the world. The city is pic- 
 
Sailing to Sydney 15 
 
 turesquely situated upon the bold and rocky 
 slopes which rise from the water's edge and is 
 defended from any possible attack by bristling 
 forts and batteries. 
 
 " This narrow entrance to the harbour is 
 called ' the Heads,' " said Mr. Hume to the 
 children, who were dancing about asking a thou- 
 sand questions, of which their father answered 
 the most important. " The lighthouse is a guide 
 to all storm-driven sailors, and also a good 
 lookout, should any enemies of England hope to 
 steal upon Australia unawares. I think Sydney 
 one of the most delightfully situated cities I 
 have ever visited. It is surrounded by parks 
 and groves where grow bananas, orange trees, 
 palms and all manner of tropical plants. Its 
 climate is healthful and life here easy and 
 pleasant." 
 
 " The buildings seem very handsome, " said 
 Mrs. Hume, as the city came into view, gleam- 
 ing white and beautiful in the morning sun. 
 
1 6 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " The sandstone upon which the town is built 
 gives fine building material," said her husband, 
 " and while, in the older part of the city, streets 
 are narrow and houses old-fashioned, the newer 
 portion compares favourably with almost any 
 of the modern European cities. 
 
 "We are just about in now; the sailors are 
 making ready to cast the hawser." 
 
 u Oh, Fergus! There is Mildred!" cried 
 Mrs. Hume to her husband, pointing to a sweet- 
 faced little woman who stood beside a large, 
 burly-looking man upon the wharf. " It is 
 worth almost the long journey from home just 
 to see her again ! " and she stretched out her 
 hands to the sister whom she had not seen for 
 ten years. 
 
 Soon they were landed and the two sisters 
 greeted each other joyfully. 
 
 " Elsie ! How glad I am to welcome you to 
 Australia," cried Mrs. McDonald, while her 
 sister said, 
 
Sailing to Sydney 17 
 
 11 Mildred, you don't look a day older than 
 when you left Scotland ! " 
 
 " Life is easy out here," said Mr. McDonald 
 genially. " Come, all of you. The carriage is 
 waiting. We are glad to have a visit from you 
 and want it to be as long a visit as possible. We 
 have planned all manner of things to do during 
 your stay." 
 
 As they drove through the handsome streets, 
 Mrs. McDonald said, 
 
 " It is nearly time we went into the country, 
 and after you are well rested and have seen 
 Sydney, Angus is going to take us up to the 
 station so you can see just what life is on an 
 Australian * run.' " 1 
 
 " I am sure we shall enjoy it," said Mrs. 
 Hume. " But just now I can think of nothing 
 to do but getting rested. The sea motion is 
 still in my head, and I believe that if I could go 
 to bed and think that Jean could sleep without 
 1 Run is the name given to a ranch in Australia. 
 
1 8 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 danger of falling out of bed, I could sleep for 
 two or three days without waking up." 
 
 " We'll take care of the wee lassie and of 
 this big boy, too," said Mr. McDonald kindly, 
 laying an arm about Fergus' shoulder. " Sandy 
 is up at the run and you will have fine times with 
 him there, and your mother shall rest as long 
 as she wants to. 
 
 11 But you are not seeing the sights as we pass. 
 We think Sydney about the finest thing on this 
 side of the world. These buildings are a part 
 of the University. The College of St. Paul's 
 there belongs to the Church of England, and St. 
 John's is Roman Catholic." 
 
 " It is all very handsome," said Mrs. Hume. 
 
 " How Sydney has changed since I was here," 
 said Mr. Hume. " It is not like the same 
 place." 
 
 11 Its growth is simply wonderful," said Mr. 
 McDonald. " We have now all manner of 
 manufactories. Wagons are made here and sold 
 
Sailing to Sydney 19 
 
 all over Australia and New Zealand. There 
 are fine glass and pottery works, boot and shoe 
 factories, besides stove foundries and carriage 
 works. Tobacco and fine liquors are manufac- 
 tured here and Sydney is really the center of the 
 British colonies in the South." 
 
 " Here we are at home," said his wife. " So 
 your interesting lecture must cease. I am sure 
 Elsie would rather see a good cup of tea and a 
 comfortable bed than hear your discourse on 
 the beauties of Sydney when she's homesick for 
 dear little Glasgow." 
 
 " Tea and bed will do much to do away with 
 homesickness, and the sight of you will do 
 more," said her sister as they alighted from the 
 carriage and went up the steps of a handsome 
 house surrounded by fine trees and a garden 
 radiant with flowers. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A DRIVE 
 
 A FEW days' rest made the travellers as good 
 as new and Fergus and Jean were ready for any 
 kind of an adventure. They went about the city 
 interested in each and everything they saw, for 
 they were bright little children, full of spirits to 
 the brim. 
 
 " We are to take a drive this afternoon, " said 
 Mrs. McDonald one morning. " Your Uncle 
 Angus is going to show you Wuurna-wee- 
 weetch, which means * home of the swallow.' 
 It is the largest squatter station anywhere about 
 here, and it is as handsome as any noble estate 
 at home." 
 
 "That will be jolly, Aunt Mildred," said 
 
 Fergus, who loved driving. 
 
 20 
 
A Drive 21 
 
 When luncheon was over they all seated them- 
 selves in Mr. McDonald's comfortable road- 
 cart, and his fine span of horses pranced along 
 the Sydney streets. 
 
 " We are passing St. Andrew's Cathedral 
 now," said Mrs. McDonald. " And there is 
 St. Mary's Cathedral, which is equally fine. 
 There is the Governor's Mansion, the Museum, 
 the Art Gallery, and now we are entering Hyde 
 Park. Isn't it beautiful? The water works of 
 Sydney are excellent and the water supply never 
 fails. It comes sixty-three miles from the Ne- 
 pean River and is stored in a huge reservoir. 
 Even in the hottest weather there is enough 
 water to keep our parks green and beautiful." 
 
 " You are very enthusiastic over your adopted 
 country," said her sister, teasingly. 
 
 " Indeed I am. I have learned to love Aus- 
 tralia, the rural life better than the urban. You 
 wait until we go up to the ' run ' and see if the 
 charm of the Bush country life doesn't hold 
 
22 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 you." Mrs. McDonald smiled. " Now we are 
 entering the grounds of Wuurna-wee-weetch. 
 Tell me, is the Duke of Argyle's place finer? " 
 
 They drove over the estate, which was sur- 
 passingly beautiful. 
 
 " I have heard so much of the Australian 
 Bush and how wild and bare it is," said Fergus, 
 " that I had no idea that there was anything here 
 so fine as this." 
 
 " What magnificent trees," said his mother. 
 
 " Those are the eucalyptus, the gum trees for 
 which Australia is famous," said Mr. McDon- 
 ald. " The eucalyptus grows to an enormous 
 height, many of the trees are 150 feet high and 
 eleven feet around the trunk. In some places 
 they grow to be twenty feet in diameter. They 
 are not good shade trees because the leaves, 
 which are shaped like little lances, grow straight 
 up and down, that is, with one edge toward the 
 sun. But in spite of that, the tree is one of the 
 most useful in the world. There are nearly 150 
 
A Drive 23 
 
 varieties of eucalyptus, and most of these are 
 found in Australia. The lumber is used for all 
 kinds of building purposes. Many of the trees 
 contain a hard substance, ' manna,' from which 
 we get a kind of sugar called melitose. Others 
 give us kino, a resin used in medicine. The bark 
 yields tannin, and from one variety with ' stringy 
 bark ' we get a fibre used for making rope, the 
 manufacture of paper and for thatching roofs. 
 From the leaves an oil is distilled which is much 
 used in medicine, being particularly good to 
 dress wounds and for the treatment of fevers." 
 
 " It seems to me that these trees furnish al- 
 most everything you need," said Mr. Hume. 
 
 " If you include the birds who nest in them 
 and the animals who climb in the branches," 
 replied his brother-in-law, " I fancy the Blacks 
 did not need to look beyond the eucalyptus for 
 a living. The wood built their huts, and the 
 bark thatched them. From the fibre they made 
 mats for their floors and hats to keep off the sun, 
 
24 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 and clothes, which consisted of waist cloth and 
 sandals. The leaves gave them medicine for 
 the fever and salve for their wounds. The 
 cockatoos nesting in the branches furnished 
 them delicious food, while of the feathers the 
 gins * made boas for their necks and wonderful 
 Easter bonnets. It really would seem as if the 
 gum trees were all they really needed. They 
 have another use not to be slighted, for they 
 take up the moisture rapidly and dry the soil 
 in rainy seasons, thus reducing the malaria al- 
 ways found in such climates as these." 
 
 " They are certainly useful," said Mrs. 
 Hume. " Is this the station to which we are 
 going? " as they drove through a fine gateway. 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. McDonald. " Wuurna- 
 wee-weetch is quite up to date in every way. 
 The house cost £30,000 to build and the ranch 
 has every modern improvement. The grazing 
 land hereabouts is perfectly adapted to sheep 
 
 1 Black women. 
 
A Drive 25 
 
 raising. It is so rich that you may dig ten feet 
 down and still find rich black dirt. The owner 
 of this ranch has been most successful. He has 
 recently put in new wool sheds, sheep pens, 
 washing ponds, and the like, and you may, if 
 you wish, see the whole process of sheep rais- 
 ing, shearing, pressing, packing and transport- 
 ing the wool. You will see it at our station on 
 a smaller scale." They drove for an hour 
 about the magnificent place, and over all the 
 estate was an air of wealth and prosperity. 
 
 The gardens were blooming with gay, trop- 
 ical flowers, and the songs of the birds were in 
 the air, as they flitted hither and yon through 
 the branches of the magnificent trees. 
 
 " What is that noise, Aunt Mildred? " asked 
 Jean as they drove through a beautiful grove 
 of pines which scented the air deliciously. " It 
 sounds like a far away church bell." 
 
 " It is the bell bird, dear, one of the curiosi- 
 ties of Australia," replied her Aunt. " Long, 
 
26 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 long before there was a church bell of any kind 
 in Australia, this little, lonely bird made its curi- 
 ous bell-like note. There are some pretty verses 
 by one of our poets about it." 
 
 " Can you say them to us, Aunty?" 
 " I will try, — they are really beautiful," she 
 said. 
 
 " ' Tis the bell bird sweetly singing, 
 The sad, strange, small-voiced bird, 
 His low sweet carol ringing, 
 While scarce a sound is heard, 
 Save topmost sprays aflutter, 
 And withered leaflets fall, 
 And the wistful oaks that utter 
 Their eerie, drearie, call. 
 
 " What may be the bell bird saying, 
 In that silvery, tuneful note ? 
 Like a holy hermit's praying 
 His devotions seem to float 
 From a cavern dark and lonely, 
 Where, apart from worldly men, 
 He repeats one dear word only, 
 Fondly o'er and o'er again." 
 
 " Is not that pretty?" said Mrs. Hume, as 
 her sister's musical voice ceased. " I did not 
 know you had such poets in Australia." 
 
A Drive 27 
 
 " Indeed we have a literature of our own," 
 said Mrs. McDonald, " and very beautiful 
 things are written by Australians. You have 
 much to learn about this great island continent 
 of ours." 
 
 " Now we must turn toward home," said Mr. 
 McDonald, and his wife said, " Drive back 
 past Tarnpin, it is so beautiful about there. 
 Tarnpin, or Flowing Water, is a favourite spot 
 hereabouts. The Blacks have a quaint story 
 about its origin, and I will tell it to you as old 
 Tepal, a black chief, told it to me. 
 
 " It was the day time, and all the animals 
 died of thirst. So many died that the Magpie, 
 the Lark, and the Crane talked together, and 
 tried to find water to drink. 
 
 " ' It is very strange,' said the Magpie, * that 
 the Turkey Buzzard is never hungry.' 
 
 " ' He must, then, have water to drink,' said 
 the wise Crane. 
 
 " ' He flies away every morning, very early,' 
 said the Lark. 
 
28 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " ' Let us rise before the sun and watch him,' 
 said the Magpie, and they agreed. 
 
 " Next morning the Turkey Buzzard rose 
 early and crept from his wuurie. 1 He looked 
 this way and that and saw no one. Then he 
 flew away. He knew not that two bright eyes 
 peeped at him through the leaves of the great 
 gum tree. He did not hear the ' peep, peep ' 
 with which the Lark awoke his friends. The 
 Lark, the Magpie and the Crane flew high to 
 the sky. They flew so high that they looked as 
 specks on the sun. The Turkey Buzzard saw 
 them but thought they were small, dark clouds. 
 He flew to a flat stone and lifted it up. And the 
 water gushed from a spring in the rock and he 
 drank and was satisfied. Then he put back the 
 stone and flew away. 
 
 " The three friends laughed and were glad. 
 Quickly they flew to the stone, singing, ' We 
 have caught him ! ' and drank of the fresh 
 
 'Hut. 
 
A Drive 29 
 
 water. They bathed in the pool and flapped 
 their wings until the waters rose and became a 
 lake of clear water. Then they spread their 
 wings and flew over the earth, and the waters 
 dropped from their wings and fell to the thirsty 
 earth. They made there water holes, and ever 
 since there have been drinking places all over the 
 land." 
 
 " My but that's a jolly story," said Fergus, the 
 irrepressible. " Did you really know the Blacks, 
 Aunt Mildred? Are there any around here?" 
 
 " None very near," said his aunt. " Indeed, 
 they are mostly dying out. People who have 
 lived here a long time used to know them and 
 say they were a kindly people. They were very 
 fond of children and I do not think they were 
 cruel or quarrelsome unless roused to anger. 
 They have nearly all buried themselves in the 
 Bush, but you will be likely to see some of them 
 at our station. There used to be a number 
 around the { run,' and when we first came out 
 
30 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 we had some rather curious experiences with 
 them. We do not see many now, their experi- 
 ences with white people were not always pleas- 
 ant, I am sorry to say." 
 
 " I hope we shall see some of them," said 
 Fergus. 
 
 " I like black people," said little Jean. 
 
 "What does she know of Blacks?" asked 
 her aunt, smiling, and her mother replied, 
 
 " Some people from the States came to our 
 farm one fall for the shooting and they had a 
 black nurse for the baby. Jean took a great 
 fancy to her, and we simply couldn't keep her 
 from toddling after Dinah. She was a faithful 
 soul, so good and kind." 
 
 " Those who have lived here for many years 
 say that if you once make a friend of a Black he 
 will do anything for you," said Mr. McDonald. 
 " I never had any trouble with them around my 
 station, though other squatters did." 
 
 " I think it's all in the way you treat them," 
 
A Drive 31 
 
 said his wife. " Of course the Blacks near the 
 ' run ' are not the wild Blacks from the interior, 
 the man-eating kind, but a gentler race." 
 
 " Well, I hope we shall see some of them," 
 said Fergus. " But I shouldn't care for can- 
 nibals." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ON THE WAY TO THE " RUN " 
 
 It was a bright morning when they left Syd- 
 ney to go to the station, taking the train early 
 in the day, for there was a railway ride of sev- 
 eral hours before them, as well as a long drive. 
 
 " Now you are going to see something of Aus- 
 tralian life," said Mr. McDonald. " Life in 
 Sydney or Melbourne is very little different from 
 that in Liverpool or Glasgow. On the big sta- 
 tions it is much the same as on the country places 
 at home, but my station is typical of Australia." 
 
 " Is it in the Bush, Uncle? " asked Fergus. 
 
 " Hear the laddie talking like an old squat- 
 ter," laughed Mr. McDonald. " Yes and no. 
 You see the Australians who live in the cities 
 
 consider all the rest of the continent the Bush, 
 
 32 
 
On the Way to the " Run " 33 
 
 but to those who live in the grazing and farm- 
 ing districts the country inland is the Bush or 
 the ' Back Country.' Our run is beautifully situ- 
 ated just on the edge of the Dividing Range, 
 and we are lucky enough to have a river run- 
 ning through one side, so that the run is seldom 
 dry." 
 
 "What is the Dividing Range? " asked Fer- 
 gus, who was determined to understand every- 
 thing he heard. If he did not, it was not be- 
 cause he did not ask questions enough about it. 
 
 " The Dividing Range is the high land which 
 separates the east and west of the continent 
 and runs from north to south along the coast. 
 It is sometimes called the Australian Alps, and 
 some of the peaks are 7,000 feet high. The 
 eastern part of Australia runs in a long strip 
 of fertile ground along the coast. West of this 
 are the mountains and beyond them is a high 
 plateau which slopes down to the plains of Cen- 
 tral Australia. This central portion is an al- 
 
34 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 most unknown country. There are no great 
 rivers and little rain. The land is terribly dry 
 and very hot. Many who have gone to explore 
 it have never returned and no one knows their 
 fate. Perhaps they have died of thirst, perhaps 
 they have been killed by the Blacks. This part 
 of the country is called ' Never, Never Land.' " 
 
 " Uncle Angus," asked Fergus, as his uncle 
 paused. " When you came to your station were 
 you a squatter? " 
 
 His uncle's hearty laugh rang out. " No, 
 my boy, but I bought my run from a squatter," 
 he answered. " The days of squatters were 
 about over when I came out. What do you 
 know about squatters?" 
 
 " I don't know anything," answered Fergus. 
 " Only I have heard the name and thought 
 maybe you would tell us about them." 
 
 " In the old times, before Australia had 
 started in the trade, the wool from the sheep on 
 the runs was very important to her," said Mr. 
 
On the Way to the " Run " 35 
 
 McDonald. " Men would come out to the 
 country, and, not having very much money, they 
 could perhaps buy a small homestead and stock 
 it, but little more. They would have to have 
 large tracts of land to pasture their sheep, but 
 had not money enough to buy the land. They 
 therefore settled down and took what they 
 needed without permission, and so were called 
 ' squatters.' The Government did not interfere 
 with them, because the wool from their sheep 
 was needed and because the country was so big 
 there seemed land enough for everyone. In 
 time the matter was arranged by the Govern- 
 ment's dividing the back country into grazing 
 districts, which all the squatters might use by 
 paying a yearly rent." 
 
 " How did the squatters keep their sheep 
 from other people?" Fergus inquired. 
 
 " Every flock had its shepherd, who led it 
 wherever food and water were to be found," 
 was the answer. " The life of a shepherd was 
 
36 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 a lonely one. He had to watch the sheep and 
 lambs and see that the dingoes 1 did not get at 
 them. The shepherd never saw any other people 
 except the man who brought his supplies from 
 the station. His dogs were his only friends, 
 and often these shepherd dogs are marvels of 
 intelligence and loyalty. For a time the squat- 
 ters prospered and some of them grew im- 
 mensely wealthy. These were called c Wool 
 Kings ' and lived on their stations extravagantly, 
 building houses such as you saw at Wuurna-wee- 
 weetch. 
 
 " But sheep raising is not all plain sailing in 
 Australia. Rabbits were brought into the coun- 
 try, and these proved to be a regular plague, 
 destroying the grass, so that the Government 
 passed a law that squatters must help to exter- 
 minate them, which put them to a great expense. 
 
 " When I came here twenty years ago, I got 
 my station from a squatter who had worked it 
 for years and had made enough to sell out and 
 
 1 Wild dogs. 
 
On the Way to the "Run" 37 
 
 go to Sydney, where it had always been his ambi- 
 tion to live. I have worked hard and been suc- 
 cessful. When you see our station I think you 
 will want to stay in this country instead of trying 
 to find gold in ' Never, Never Land,' " he said 
 to his brother-in-law. 
 
 " Perhaps I shall, but I have no money to buy 
 a station and I can't be a squatter now," said 
 Mr. Hume. 
 
 Their way lay through a beautiful semi-trop- 
 ical country. The train moved through fertile 
 valleys, fine woodland and green vales, and 
 bridged cool mountain streams. When their 
 stopping place was reached and they alighted 
 from the train to find a comfortable cart and 
 good horses awaiting them, Fergus exclaimed, 
 " It doesn't seem to me that travelling in Aus- 
 tralia is very hard work." 
 
 " Wait till you get to the Bush," said his 
 uncle. " And have to tramp it with your swag * 
 
 1 Name given to the pack carried on the back. 
 
38 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 upon your back, make your own supper over a 
 twig fire, stir your tea in a billy 1 with a euca- 
 lyptus twig, and roll up in a blanket to sleep, 
 waking up to find a dukite snake taking a nap 
 on your breast, — that's real Australia for you." 
 
 u I like your kind better," said Jean with a 
 shudder, but Fergus said boastingly, 
 
 " Well, I'm not afraid of the Bush." 
 
 " Wait and see," said his father as they drove 
 through the gate which led into Mr. McDon- 
 ald's run. 
 
 It was a beautiful station and well suited for 
 the sheep farming from which the owner had 
 made his money. The land lay in a triangle, on 
 two sides of which was a considerable stream 
 while the main road formed the third boundary. 
 The land was fenced with stout rail fences while 
 the paddocks were fenced with wire. 
 
 The house was built of stone, of one story, 
 with a broad veranda running around all four 
 
 1 Bucket for water, carried by Australians. 
 
On the Way to the " Run " 39 
 
 sides, shaded in vines and looking on a garden 
 in which gorgeous-hued flowers bloomed in 
 brilliant beauty. There was an air of great com- 
 fort about the place. Hammocks were slung in 
 the porches and easy chairs were placed invi- 
 tingly about. 
 
 Long windows clear to the floor opened into 
 the living rooms and a wide hallway ran through 
 the middle of the house. On one side was a 
 drawing room, at the other, dining room and 
 living room. The guests caught glimpses of 
 books and music as they were ushered into their 
 cool bedrooms. These opened on to the veranda 
 and were cool and pleasant, with gay chintz 
 and white hangings. What a delightful visit 
 the children had at the run ! It was perhaps 
 pleasanter for them than for the grown folk, 
 for Sandy, Mr. and Mrs. McDonald's only 
 child, a boy of ten, was a perfect imp of mis- 
 chief, and he led his two cousins into everything 
 that he could think of. Fergus was not far 
 
40 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 behind, and Jean trudged after the boys, grow- 
 ing strong and rosy in the Australian sunshine. 
 
 " Australia is making the greatest change in 
 Jean," said her mother to Mrs. McDonald one 
 day, as they sat upon the veranda. " At home 
 she was so shy she would scarcely look at any 
 one. She seemed delicate and I was worried 
 for fear she would never learn to take care of 
 herself in this world." 
 
 " She will grow up into the most self-reliant 
 kind of a girl in the Bush," said her sister. 
 " She is a dear little girl and I think there is 
 plenty of strength of character under her shy 
 little ways." 
 
 " I wonder what the three are doing now," 
 said Jean's mother. " It has been some time 
 since we heard a shriek of any kind — oh — 
 what is that?" for as she spoke there came a 
 scream so loud and piercing from the shrubbery 
 that both women sprang to their feet and rushed 
 across the lawn. 
 
On the Way to the " Run " 4 1 
 
 Midway between the house and the garden 
 they met the three children, both boys holding 
 Jean's hands and helping her to run to the house, 
 while the little girl, her face covered with blood 
 and tears, was trying not to cry. 
 
 " Jean's hurt," cried Sandy. 
 
 " So I should judge," said his mother, trying 
 to keep calm, while both boys began to talk at 
 once, so that no one could understand a word 
 they said. 
 
 Mrs. Hume gathered Jean in her arms and 
 carried her quickly to the house, where she 
 washed the little, tear-stained face. The child's 
 lip was terribly cut and she was badly fright- 
 ened, but not seriously hurt, and as she cuddled 
 down in her mother's arms she sighed, 
 
 " Nice mother ! I don't mind being hurt when 
 you are here to fix me up." 
 
 " Tell me what happened, dear," said her 
 mother, as she stroked the fair hair. 
 
 " We were playing," Jean said. " The boys 
 
42 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 had sticks and we heard a queer rustle in the 
 bushes. Sandy said it was a snake and beat the 
 bushes to drive him out. It ran out just in front 
 of Fergus and I thought it would bite him, and 
 I didn't want anything to happen to my brother 
 so I ran up behind him just as he swung his 
 stick over his shoulder to hit the snake. He hit 
 me in the mouth, but of course he didn't mean 
 to, Mother. I screamed because it hurt me so, 
 and then I tried not to cry because I knew it 
 would worry you. It doesn't hurt so badly now, 
 Mother." 
 
 " I'm sorry it hurts at all, darling," her 
 mother held her close. " You were a good 
 child and brave not to cry. Crawl up in the 
 hammock now and take a nap, and you will 
 feel better when you wake up." 
 
 " I hope Fergus and Sandy won't do any- 
 thing very interesting while I am asleep," the 
 little girl murmured drowsily, as she dropped 
 off to sleep. 
 
On the Way to the " Run " 43 
 
 Fergus and Sandy undoubtedly would. They 
 were very kind to Jean, but there was no doubt 
 that they found the little girl a clog upon their 
 movements. Fergus was used to taking care of 
 her, but Sandy had no sisters and he sometimes 
 wished the little cousin would not tag quite so 
 much. 
 
 " You can't really do anything much when a 
 girl is tagging around," he said to his mother, 
 but that long-suffering woman proved strangely 
 unsympathetic. 
 
 " I think I shall keep Jean always if her being 
 here keeps you out of mischief," she said with 
 a smile, and Sandy answered, 
 
 " Well, keep Fergus too, then." 
 
 No sooner was Jean asleep than the boys de- 
 cided the time had come for them to carry out 
 a plan long since formed, but laid aside for a 
 convenient season. At one side of the run was 
 a little lake, formed where one of the boundary 
 streams was dammed. A windmill carried water 
 
44 Out Little Australian Cousin 
 
 from this to a platform and upon this were iron 
 tanks from which pipes carried water through 
 the house. The boys had decided to climb to 
 the top of the reservoir and slide down the pipes, 
 which seemed to them would be an exciting per- 
 formance. The climbing up was not difficult 
 and Sandy took the first slide. 
 
 " It's great fun," he shouted. " Let me have 
 another! " as he clambered up again. 
 
 " It's my turn," cried Fergus, astride of the 
 pipe. 
 
 " Let me. You wait," said Sandy, who was 
 used to playing alone and not to having any-one 
 dispute with him. 
 
 "I tell you it's my turn!" Fergus' temper 
 rose. " You don't play fair." 
 
 There was a scramble and a cry, both boys 
 lost their balance and fell, and the sound of 
 breaking glass crashed through the air. 
 
 Both mothers rushed to the scene to find two 
 pairs of arms and legs waving wildly from the 
 
On the Way to the " Run " 45 
 
 hot-bed, while broken glass was scattered hither 
 and yon. 
 
 " You dreadful boys, you have fallen right 
 into the flower beds and broken the glass ! Are 
 you badly hurt?" cried Mrs. McDonald, as 
 each mother dragged out a son. 
 
 Very crestfallen were the boys as they stood 
 up, their faces covered with scratches and 
 Sandy's hand badly cut. 
 
 " What were you doing? " asked both moth- 
 ers sternly. 
 
 " Sliding down the water pipe," said Sandy. 
 
 " Quarrelling," said Fergus. 
 
 " Nice way to spend the morning," said Mr. 
 McDonald, who appeared at that moment from 
 the stables. " Go and get washed up and we'll 
 see if you have any broken glass in your cuts." 
 
 When the damages were repaired neither boy 
 was found to be much hurt, but Jean begged so 
 hard that they should not be punished, that 
 the two were let off for that time. 
 
46 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " The next piece of mischief you get into 
 you'll be sent to bed for a day to rest up and 
 think it over," said Sandy's father, and the boys 
 assured him that they would never, never do 
 anything again as long as they lived. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 LIFE AT DJERINALLUM 
 
 While the children played happily together 
 the grown folk had many an anxious consulta- 
 tion as to ways and means. 
 
 11 I wish I could persuade you to stay with 
 us, Elsie," said her sister. " Let your husband 
 go by himself, on his wild goose chase after 
 gold." 
 
 "Oh, I can't do that," said Mrs. Hume. 
 " I can rough it, and it will do Fergus good, 
 but I am afraid of it for Jeanie." 
 
 " Let me keep her," said Mrs. McDonald 
 
 eagerly. "Oh, do, Elsie! I have always 
 
 wanted a little girl to pet and take care of and 
 
 Jean will be ever so much safer with me than 
 
 travelling through the wild country you are 
 
 going into on your way to the Gold Fields." 
 
 47 
 
48 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " It might be best," Mrs. Hume said thought- 
 fully. " I will talk it over with Fergus and 
 leave Jean in your care, going with him, if he 
 agrees." 
 
 Mr. Hume, however, had very decided ideas 
 as to what was best to be done. 
 
 " Since your sister and her husband are so 
 anxious to keep you, my dear, I am sure it will 
 be best for you and Jean to stay here at the run. 
 My trip to the Gold Fields is only an experi- 
 ment. It will be a long, hard journey and an 
 expensive one, and I may not find anything 
 worth doing when I get there, and in that case 
 will return and take up stock farming. McDon- 
 ald offers me a chance now, but I feel as though 
 I ought to make the trial before accepting help. 
 
 " I will take Fergus with me. The trip will 
 not hurt him and he would drive you distracted 
 if left here with Sandy. I shall do better work 
 feeling that you and the lassie are safe and well 
 cared for here." 
 
Life at Djerinallum 49 
 
 " I hate to have you go without me, but I 
 must do as you think best," said his wife. So it 
 was arranged, and with a heavy heart Jean saw 
 her father and brother drive away from the run, 
 starting on their long trip to the Gold Fields. 
 
 "Why does father have to go away?" she 
 asked her uncle, who had taken her before him 
 for a ride on his big, black horse, " The Bruce." 
 
 " He has gone to hunt for gold, lassie, so you 
 can have fine clothes to wear," he answered. 
 
 " I'd rather have father here and not have 
 fine clothes," she said, her lip quivering. " How 
 do they get gold in fields, Uncle? I didn't know 
 it grew like flowers and grass." 
 
 " It doesn't, lassie," he answered. " They 
 just call the place they find it the Gold Fields. 
 It is dug out of the earth, where it is found 
 mixed with sand and stone." 
 
 " Well, where are the Gold Fields and who 
 found there was gold there? " asked Jean. She 
 liked her burly uncle, who was always ready to 
 
50 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 talk to her and who explained everything about 
 the run so pleasantly. 
 
 " The Gold Fields extend all over Western 
 Australia," said Mr. McDonald. " Gold was 
 first discovered here in 1823 and people have 
 gone mad with gold fever ever since. The pre- 
 cious metal has been found in Victoria, New 
 South Wales and Queensland, but recently it has 
 been discovered in Western Australia. The 
 miners often strike a good lead and grow very 
 rich, but it is a hard life and especially so in the 
 districts where there is little water. In the old 
 days men often died of thirst, but now they have 
 ways of storing the rain which falls in the wet 
 season so that they do not suffer much. 
 
 " There are many interesting things about the 
 gold regions if the life there is hard. Trains 
 of camels carry the swag of the miners across 
 the sandy deserts. These beasts were imported 
 especially for this work, since they can go longer 
 without water than any other animals, and often 
 
Life at Djerinallum 51 
 
 it is a long ways from one good water hole to 
 another. The miners ' peg out ' their claims in 
 the new places and set to work sifting the sands 
 in which are found the grains of gold, sometimes 
 as large as nuts. Soon there is a camp started. 
 Little canvas huts dot the country. Then if the 
 camp proves successful, houses are built and 
 finally a city will grow up, almost as if by magic. 
 One city, that of Ballarat, has grown in twenty- 
 five years to be one of the handsomest in Aus- 
 tralia. It has broad streets, fine houses, and a 
 beautiful park. The swamp land near by has 
 been made into a lake surrounded by velvet- 
 turfed pleasure grounds, planted with wonderful 
 trees and flowers. Kalgoorlie, in only ten years, 
 is almost a golden city, to which water is 
 brought two hundred miles in pipes, to drive 
 the engines which extract the gold from the 
 quartz." 
 
 " Thank you, Uncle, for telling me all about 
 It," said Jeanie. " I hope father will find a good 
 
52 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 mine and then sell it out quickly and come back 
 to buy a run near you. That is what I should 
 like best of anything." 
 
 " So should I, child," her uncle smiled at her. 
 11 Here we are at the stables. Jump down and 
 run and call Sandy for me and I'll take you both 
 with me while I go over the sheds." 
 
 " I've always wanted to know about these 
 queer looking sheds," said Jean as she and Sandy 
 trudged after her uncle. 
 
 " This long building is the wool shed," he 
 said. " Now it is empty and quiet, but when it 
 is shearing time there is noise enough. At this 
 end is the wool press, and the shearing board 
 runs along the sides of the shed. Sheep used to 
 be sheared by hand, but Lord Wesley's brother 
 invented a machine for shearing which is a won- 
 derful thing. Would you two youngsters like 
 to ride around the run with me? I have to go 
 over to the paddocks to-day." 
 
 "Oh, Uncle, may I ride?" exclaimed Jean. 
 
Life at Djerinallum 53 
 
 " I had a little Shetland pony at home and I 
 have missed him so much." 
 
 " You may ride Sandy's pony, and he will 
 take Wallace, while I will ride ' The Bruce,' " 
 said Mr. McDonald, and both the children 
 fairly jumped with delight. They rode around 
 the run, the master looking everything over care- 
 fully. 
 
 " Every paddock has its own flock," he ex- 
 plained to Jean. " In one the ewes are kept, 
 in another the wethers, and then there is a 
 paddock for the horses and another for the 
 cows." 
 
 " How do you get so many animals fed," 
 asked Jean. 
 
 " They graze on the grass, and those great 
 fields of alfalfa over there are grown to use as 
 food. It has to be irrigated and is quite a little 
 trouble, but it pays in the end. That house is 
 where the manager lives, with his family and 
 the jackaroos." 
 
54 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " What is a jackaroo? Some kind of a bird? " 
 asked Jean. Sandy shouted with laughter and 
 his uncle smiled as he answered, 
 
 " No, child, jackaroo is the name given to the 
 young fellows who are new at the station and 
 just learning Australian customs. All kinds of 
 jokes are played on them by the old hands and 
 they have a hard time at first. A story is told 
 of some Englishmen who had just come out and 
 were going hunting. They hadn't found any 
 game and so they asked some station hands if 
 they had seen any. ' There's a jackaroo down 
 near the water hole,' said the cook, wickedly, 
 so the two men hurried away to shoot the 
 strange animal, and lo ! it was a young man 
 like themselves." 
 
 "What do jackaroos do, Uncle?" asked 
 Jean. 
 
 " Well, they have to learn to do all the work 
 there is to do at a station, so that some day they 
 may get to be managers or even run stations of 
 
Life at Djerinallum 55 
 
 their own. They have to ride the boundary 
 every day to see that there are not holes in the 
 fences, and that the water holes are full. Only 
 one man is needed to look after 7,500 sheep, so 
 he is kept pretty busy." 
 
 " There are so many buildings somebody must 
 have to look after them. Do the jackaroos do 
 that? " asked Jean. 
 
 " No, all the repair work on the station is 
 given to a set of men who dig water holes, build 
 fences, and do any necessary carpenter work. 
 These draw their groceries, meat, and so forth 
 from the stores, but do not eat at our tables. I 
 don't believe Wu Ling: would stand it if he had 
 to cook for them." 
 
 " Isn't he funny? " said Jean, laughing. 
 " He lets me come in the kitchen and watch him 
 bake brownie, but he won't allow Fergus or 
 Sandy there at all. Do all stations have Chinese 
 cooks? " 
 
 " Not all, but a great many do. The Chinese 
 
56 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 are the best cooks we can get. A great many 
 people hate the yellow-skinned Celestials and 
 raise a hue and cry about a ' White Australia,' 
 but I don't know what we of the far stations 
 would do without them." 
 
 " Wu Ling cooks very good things," said 
 Sandy. " But he got very angry when Fergus 
 called him ' pig tail.' " 
 
 " That wasn't nice of Fergus," said Jean. 
 " What beautiful thistles and sweet briar, 
 Uncle." 
 
 " Not beautiful in our eyes," said her uncle, 
 as they rode by a magnificent clump of sweet 
 briar, the pink blossoms making a lovely spot 
 of colour against the purple of the thistles. 
 " Some patriotic Scot brought the first thistles 
 to Australia, and an English family the roses, 
 and many's the day I have wished they never 
 came. The soil here is so rich that everything 
 grows fast, and the thorny plants have spread 
 all over the land, in some places growing so 
 
Life at Djerinallum 57 
 
 thick that they have ruined whole tracts of 
 grazing land. They are nearly as bad as the 
 foxes. These were brought to destroy the rab- 
 bits which ate up the crops, but Mr. Reynard 
 likes chicken far better than hare, and he has 
 increased so rapidly that it is almost impossible 
 to get rid of him, though rewards are offered 
 for his scalp and in one year over thirty thou- 
 sand skins were brought in." 
 
 " Do they scalp rabbits, too? " asked Jean. 
 
 " Trapping rabbits is a regular Australian 
 business," said her uncle. " A good trapper 
 can make £4 a week catching them, and the 
 fur is used to make felt hats." 
 
 " There are lots and lots of interesting things 
 in your country," said Jean brightly. 
 
 " But shearing time will be the fun," said 
 Sandy. 
 
 " Oh, I'd like to see them shear. May I, 
 Uncle? " cried Jean. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, you may see anything you like. 
 
58 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 We'll make a regular station-hand of you before 
 you are done," he laughed. 
 
 " I'm only a little jackaroo now," she said. 
 " What is that queer noise? It seemed to come 
 from under those trees." 
 
 " That is the lyre bird, isn't he a handsome 
 fellow? See, there he is beneath that bottle tree. 
 We have a pair of them and never allow them 
 to be touched, as they are quite rare in this part 
 of the country, though found quite frequently 
 in the scrub. 
 
 " The tail of the male is just like an old-fash- 
 ioned lyre, and it is one of the most interesting 
 of our birds." 
 
 " Did you say that was a bottle tree? " asked 
 Jean. 
 
 " Yes. Don't you see it is shaped just like a 
 huge bottle, the branches growing out of the 
 mouth ? The stems have water in them, and 
 if you are ever lost in the Bush and thirsty, 
 find a bottle tree and get a drink. The Blacks 
 
THAT IS THE LYRE BIRD, ISN T HE A HANDSOME 
 
 FELLOW 
 
Life at Djerinallum 59 
 
 eat the roots, which are full of a kind of 
 gum." 
 
 " I never heard of such a place as this," said 
 Jean. " It seems as if everything in Australia 
 was useful. Everything but little girls," she 
 added. 
 
 " Little girls are very useful in making other 
 people happy," said her uncle kindly. 
 
 " But I'd like to be really useful and learn to 
 do something," said Jean. 
 
 " You will when you are bigger," he an- 
 swered. " You must get well and strong before 
 you can do very much, lassie. But you will be 
 useful enough as you grow older." 
 
 " I don't see why you are in such a hurry to 
 go to work," said Sandy. " I think you have 
 a pretty fine time ! " 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 "lost!" 
 
 Life at the run proved pleasant to Jean and 
 full of Interesting happenings. She missed her 
 father and Fergus, but she and Sandy soon grew 
 to be great friends, and many were the thrill- 
 ing bits of mischief into which he dragged her, 
 sure that he would escape punishment if Jean 
 were only to say, " Don't punish Sandy, Uncle 
 Angus, I did it too." 
 
 The little girl loved her Aunt Mildred, but 
 
 more than any one at the station her uncle had 
 
 won her heart. She grew to be his little shadow, 
 
 driving and riding with him, sun-tanned and 
 
 rosy, growing strong and healthy in the free 
 
 Australian life. 
 
 " You are getting as fat as a Chinaman's 
 60 
 
-Lost!" 6 1 
 
 horse, lassie," said her uncle as they rode to the 
 river one day. 
 
 " Why do you say that? " she asked. 
 
 " The Chinese are always very kind to their 
 horses and keep them fat and slick, so that has 
 grown to be a proverb, though some people say 
 as ' fat as a larrikin's dog,' instead." 
 
 " What is a larrikin? " Jean was growing as 
 full of questions as Fergus. 
 
 " Larrikin is a slang term applied to the idlers 
 who lounge about the cities, a dog at their heels, 
 like the 'Enery 'Awkins of London or Glasgow. 
 There are many of them in Australia and they 
 have formed a kind of secret society among 
 themselves, which is not a very good thing. 
 Here is a fine bit for a canter, Jeanie. I'll beat 
 you to the big eucalyptus." 
 
 " No, you won't." Jean chirruped to her 
 pony and was off like a shot through the open 
 paddock, jumping a fence as if on wings. She 
 loved to gallop when the air was filled with the 
 
62 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 fragrance of the wattle and the gum, and she 
 had grown to ride like a little centaur. 
 
 " Well done," cried her uncle as she drew up 
 at the gate, laughing and breathless, her horse 
 half a head in advance of his. " We are so 
 near to ' Mason's run,' I think we'll have time 
 to stop there. I want to see him about several 
 things, so we'll ride on." 
 
 " Very well, Uncle. Is it a sheep run? " 
 
 " No, cattle. You have not seen one yet, so 
 keep your eyes open and learn all you can. 
 Mason breeds the long horns, sullen beasts, but 
 good stock." 
 
 " I shall be glad to see them," she said, and 
 they cantered up to the homestead, which was 
 very unlike her uncle's station. 
 
 Built of wood, with a galvanized-iron roof, 
 the house stood on piles, but between each pile 
 and the house was a tin plate to keep the white 
 ants from climbing into the rooms. Several 
 gins 1 came out to see who the strangers were, 
 1 Black women. 
 
" Lost I " 63 
 
 the first that Jean had seen, and she looked at 
 them curiously. Not more so, however, than 
 they looked at her, for they stared at her and 
 whispered together. 
 
 " They don't know what to make of you, 
 1 Lassie with the lint white locks,' " her uncle 
 laughed. " The young gin wants to know if you 
 are Great Baiame's golden child. It's your fair 
 hair, I suppose." 
 
 Jean's hair was light golden and floated all 
 about her face like a halo. 
 
 " Great Baiame is their god, good spirit, and 
 they think you are a goddess. That gin wants 
 to touch your hair. Better let her, she won't 
 hurt you." 
 
 Jean smilingly bent her head and let the black 
 woman run her fingers over her shining tresses. 
 The gin smiled and, seized by a sudden impulse, 
 Jean said, 
 
 " She may have a curl if she wants it, Uncle. 
 I have plenty and mother won't care." He 
 
64 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 handed her his knife and she snipped off a silken 
 strand, which the gin took with many expres- 
 sions of delight. 
 
 " You have certainly made a hit among the 
 Blacks," said her uncle teasingly. " She will 
 wear that as a charm and be the envy of all the 
 tribe. Your hair is pretty. 
 
 The world to me knows no fairer sight 
 Than your long hair veiling your shoulders white, 
 As I tangle my hand in your hair my pet.' " 
 
 he quoted as he stroked the shining mane. 
 
 " Uncle, I don't think cattle runs are as nice 
 as sheep runs. There aren't any wool sheds, 
 but just open yards." 
 
 " These are the stock and branding yards. 
 You see the cattle roam the hills, some of the 
 runs being as large as five thousand square 
 miles, on which the cattle find their own food 
 and water." 
 
 " If they wander over all that distance, how 
 do the owners ever tell their own cattle? " asked 
 Jean. 
 
" Lost ! " 65 
 
 " Every beast is branded, that is, he has his 
 owner's mark burnt into his hide," said her 
 uncle. " So it is easy to draft out of the mobs 
 the cattle which belong to other ranchmen. The 
 young oxen are sent to the coast to be fattened 
 for market, while the old cattle are sent to the 
 rendering works, where they are made into tal- 
 low and beef extract. The stockman's life is 
 harder than that of the shepherd, and danger- 
 ous because of the bullocks' stampedes, when 
 they break loose and often run down horses and 
 men in their frantic rush for freedom." 
 
 " I like the sheep run much better," said Jean. 
 " See that flying squirrel, Uncle ! I think they 
 are the cunningest little things. Who do you 
 suppose is hiding behind that tree? I heard 
 some one laughing." 
 
 " Look and see," her uncle smiled. Jean 
 jumped down from her horse and peered behind 
 the tree. There she saw a little bird perched 
 on one leg which sang a pretty little song, al- 
 
66 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 ways breaking off with "H-ah-ha! Hoo-hoo 
 hoo ! " 
 
 " That's a laughing jackass, Jeanie," said her 
 uncle. " He's a funny little fellow, isn't he?" 
 
 " He isn't a bit pretty," said Jean. 
 
 " No, but he's very useful, for he eats snakes 
 and lizards and all kinds of things, and there is 
 a law forbidding any one to kill him." 
 
 " You have so many queer things in Aus- 
 tralia," said Jean. " Down by the river Sandy 
 and I found the queerest thing. It looked part 
 animal and part bird. It had a big flat bill like 
 a duck and fur on its body like a rat, and it had 
 webbed feet and a long bushy tail. Sandy said 
 it was a beastie and was called a water mole, but 
 we found its nest in a kind of tunnel running 
 from the water's edge under ground, and in the 
 nest were eggs." 
 
 " That was a platypus, or water mole," said 
 Mr. McDonald. " He is an animal but lays 
 eggs like the birds. There is another animal in 
 
mm- 
 
 that was a platypus, or water mole, said mr. 
 Mcdonald. 
 
" Lost ! " 67 
 
 Australia which does too, the spiny ant-eater. 
 He looks like a hedgehog but has a queer, long 
 bill with a long tongue covered with sticky stuff 
 with which he licks up the ants off the ground. 
 He hasn't a nest, but carries his eggs around in 
 a kind of a pocket until they are hatched." 
 
 " It certainly is a queer place, with trees that 
 shed their bark every year, pears that have hard 
 wooden rinds, cherries with the stones outside, 
 trees with flowers and seeds growing in the 
 leaves and animals that lay eggs," said Jean. 
 
 " And little girls that chatter and ride like 
 monkeys," cried Sandy's teasing voice, as he 
 rode up behind them. " I can pass you ! " 
 
 " No, you can't ! " cried Jean, and she gal- 
 loped off, her cousin after her, though he did 
 not catch up with her till she rode up to the 
 veranda and jumped off her pony, laughing 
 heartily. 
 
 Some weeks later all was hurry and bustle at 
 the station. Shearing was to begin the next day 
 
68 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 and there was a great deal to be done to make 
 ready for the great event. Shearers were com- 
 ing in, some riding, some trudging along on 
 foot, carrying their swags. There were huts for 
 them to sleep in, and tents were being spread in 
 the open. Mr. McDonald left all the details of 
 this work to his manager, a young Australian 
 who had been born and raised on a sheep run. 
 
 At first Jean was much interested in seeing 
 the shearing and stood in the shed watching, as 
 the engine whistled to begin. The pens were 
 full of sheep who did not at all know what they 
 were there for, but who did know that they did 
 not like it. They baa-ed and bawled, and with 
 the noise of the machinery it was deafening in 
 the sheds. As the machine starts every shearer 
 grabs a sheep from the pen, choosing the one 
 that looks the easiest to shear, he throws it with 
 his knee and rapidly guides the little knife-like 
 cutters of the machine over the fleece, which 
 falls from the animal in one huge piece. The 
 
« Lost ! " 69 
 
 sheep is then released to run, pink and shivering, 
 to the yard again. The " picker up " catches 
 up the fleece and takes it to the wool bin, while 
 the shearer turns to the pen to catch another 
 victim. He has to be quick because the sharp 
 eye of the overseer is upon him. He walks up 
 and down, watching every one. The " pen- 
 ners-up " must not let a single pen be empty, 
 " the pickers-up " must keep the floor clean, the 
 shearers must shear evenly as well as closely. 
 If they cut a ragged fleece the wool will grow 
 badly the next year and some of it will be 
 wasted. 
 
 The shearers are paid by the number of sheep 
 they shear, and they work very fast, every man 
 trying to see if he cannot be the " ringer," as 
 they call the man who has sheared the great- 
 est number of sheep at the close of the shear- 
 ing. 
 
 The shearers earn five dollars for every hun- 
 dred sheep sheared, and an ordinarily good 
 
70 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 workman will shear a hundred sheep in a day, 
 while extra good ones have sheared three hun- 
 dred in a day. As the shearers have no expenses, 
 their food and lodging being given them, they 
 can make a good deal of money during the 
 season. 
 
 The picker-up takes the fleece to the wool 
 roller, who trims it and rolls it up to be inspected 
 by the classer. He decides as to its quality and 
 puts it in the proper bin. It is then baled, 
 marked with the quality and the owner's brand, 
 and taken by wagon to the nearest shipping 
 station. 
 
 The sheep are counted, branded and dipped 
 to prevent their being covered with wood ticks, 
 which bite so fiercely, and then are returned to 
 their paddocks. There is no more attractive 
 sight in the world than an immense flock of the 
 long-wooled Australian sheep, and none more 
 forlorn than the shivering droves of freshly- 
 sheared animals. 
 
"Lost!" 71 
 
 Jean watched until she was tired. The smell 
 of the wool, the noise, the heat, the cries of the 
 tormented sheep, all turned her sick, and she fled 
 to the house. There things were little better. 
 Everybody was busy. Aunt Mildred had no 
 time to notice a little girl. Sandy was away, no 
 one knew where, and, worst of all, her mother 
 was laid low with one of her terrible headaches. 
 Jean knew these of old, and that it was no use 
 to expect to even speak to her mother before 
 night. She felt forlorn and lonely and decided 
 to take a ride. 
 
 No one was at the stable to saddle Dandy, but 
 she had learned to ride as well without a saddle 
 as with, so she got on the pony's back and rode 
 toward the river. 
 
 Away from the noise of the shearing shed, 
 how quiet and lovely it all seemed. The wind 
 swayed gently the branches of the great she-oaks 
 as a mopoke's mournful note came from the 
 gum trees. Flying foxes flapped their wings and 
 
72 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 she came upon the playground of a satin-bower * 
 bird, the first she had ever seen, although her 
 uncle had told her about them. She rode farther 
 into the wood than she intended and, feeling 
 tired, she got off Dandy and, throwing the reins 
 over a bush, sat down under a tree to rest. 
 
 " I'm so tired," she said to herself, " I think 
 I will take a little nap. This looks just the place 
 for a fairy ring and perhaps the elves will come 
 to dance while I am asleep." 
 
 She lay down under the huge tree about which 
 ferns grew so thickly as to form a green curtain. 
 Dandy browsed in the grass near by, every now 
 and then pricking up his dainty ears and work- 
 ing his velvety nose as if something he did not 
 like was near. Then his reins pulled loose from 
 the bush and he wandered away to nibble at a 
 tempting bit of turf a little distance away. 
 
 1 This bird makes a play-ground before the tree in which 
 it builds its nest. It has a floor of sticks, and over this is 
 built a little bower into which are woven bright feathers, 
 white shells, etc. 
 
" Lost ! " 73 
 
 Another tempted him and he was soon out of 
 sight, hidden by the great ferns which grew up 
 above his pretty head. 
 
 As he disappeared there was a little rustle in 
 the bushes and two eyes peered at the sleeping 
 child. Then a hand reached out and warily 
 touched a fold of her little blue gingham frock. 
 Jean stirred in her sleep and smiled. She was 
 dreaming that her father had come back and 
 that he took her in his strong arms and carried 
 her away, away, and she never wanted him to 
 put her down. The scent of the wild blooms 
 was in her nostrils, and she did not wake when 
 two arms cautiously raised her from the ground 
 and holding her lightly yet carefully, so that 
 no branch might brush against her, carried her 
 far into the deep and lonely wood. It was per- 
 haps an hour that the man carried her and she 
 did not wake. Then she opened her eyes to 
 find herself in the arms of a big Black. She 
 screamed in fright, but he spoke gently to her. 
 
74 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " Missa not 'fraid. Me not bad Black. Take 
 Missa home." 
 
 " Where is my pony. I would rather ride 
 him," she cried, struggling, and the Black put 
 her down. 
 
 " Pony all gone," he said. " Missa very 
 tired, me show Missa my gin. She very sick, 
 want to see white baby, with gold for hair. 
 Hear all about her from other gin. Then carry 
 home. Black very much like Missa." He 
 smiled again and his face looked kind. " Let 
 me carry Missa or we not get there soon," he 
 said coaxingly, and not knowing what else to do 
 Jean allowed him to pick her up and carry her 
 again. He walked fast, but she did not see the 
 river or the house and she began to grow fright- 
 ened. It grew dark and the air was full of fly- 
 ing things, so large as to seem like birds and 
 so small as to seem like baby mice with wings. 
 The bird songs were stilled ; only the soft chirp- 
 ing of the tree insects were heard. Then those 
 
" Lost ! " 75 
 
 ceased and all was still and dark, and the silent 
 forest so terrified the child that she began to cry. 
 
 " No good for Missa to cry, Missa must go 
 see gin," said the Black, and as he spoke they 
 came in sight of a little group of native huts, 
 bark-thatched and dimly seen through the dark- 
 ness. Into the smallest of these the Black stum- 
 bled and set his burden before a couch on which 
 lay a black woman wasted with fever. 
 
 " Brought you white child," he said. The 
 hut was full of Blacks, but Jean was too fright- 
 ened and tired to think of any of them, and she 
 covered her face with her hands and sobbed as 
 if her heart would break. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 JEAN FINDS A FRIEND 
 
 Jean stopped crying, for she found that it did 
 no good. She curled up in the corner of the 
 dark hut and waited to see what would happen. 
 The Blacks talked and jabbered around her, but 
 she could not at all understand what they said, 
 and she was too little to understand that she was 
 in any danger. She only wished with all her 
 heart that she might see her mother. The 
 Blacks talked together, and Jean at last was so 
 tired that she curled up on the floor and went 
 to sleep. When she awoke and opened her eyes 
 she was surprised to find that the sun was shi- 
 ning. 
 
 She was lying on the ground under a huge 
 
 gum tree. A fire of the dry twigs of the gum 
 
 tree burned brightly, as a young black boy whom 
 
 76 
 
Jean Finds a Friend 77 
 
 she had seen the night before fanned it with a 
 huge fern leaf. 
 
 " Little Missa hungry," he said, smiling 
 kindly down at her. " Kadok make eat. Be 
 good little girl and lie still." 
 
 He took a hatchet which hung on the belt 
 around his waist and quickly cut off a piece of 
 bark from the gum tree, then took some flour 
 from a bag and piled it on the bark. Water 
 from the water-hole he dipped up with a leaf 
 cup and mixed with the flour, baking it on the 
 bark over the fire. Kadok then dipped fresh 
 water from the water-hole, around which ferns 
 grew as high as Jean's head, and turned over the 
 ashes of the fire to roast in them a turkey's egg 
 which he had found in the bracken. 
 
 " Now Missa eat," he said, giving Jean a 
 piece t)f damper 1 and the egg, with a cup of 
 water. " Little Missa not be afraid. Kadok 
 take her to see Mother." 
 
 1 Kind of native bread made of flour and water. 
 
78 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 The boy's face was kind and Jean tried to 
 smile at him in return, finding courage to say, 
 
 " Are you Kadok? How did I get here? " 
 
 " I am Kadok, yoia. 1 Black man found little 
 Missa asleep by the corral. Want to show her 
 to his woman who had no girl, all die. He take 
 little Missa and mean to bring her back. Then 
 white police ride and hunt. Black man scared, 
 hide Missa, hide selves. Some black men say 
 kill little Missa. Kadok say ' No.' His father 
 chief, and chief say, ' Take back white Missa 
 to mother.' So Kadok will take." 
 
 " Thank you, Kadok," said Jean simply, ac- 
 cepting all that he said. " How soon will I see 
 my mother? " 
 
 " Don't know. Missa come long way on 
 man's back. Must go back on two feet. Take 
 days and nights. Not cry," he said as her face 
 clouded. " Kadok take one good care of little 
 Missa. Eat plenty meal, then we start walk." 
 
 'Yes. 
 
jean Finds a Friend 79 
 
 Jean was a quiet child. Fergus had always 
 been the talker and she had been content to 
 listen to the big brother whom she thought the 
 most wonderful boy in the world. So she did 
 not say much in reply to Kadok, but obediently 
 ate her queer breakfast, which tasted very good 
 to the hungry little girl. When she had finished 
 she said timidly to Kadok, 
 
 " May I wash my hands and face at the 
 water-hole? " 
 
 " Come with me. I go see," said Kadok. 
 She followed him to the water, always a precious 
 thing in Australia, where the dry season makes 
 it scarce. " Step right behind Kadok, maybe 
 snakes," said the black boy, and she followed 
 him close. 
 
 Trees had been cut down and many lay about 
 in the scrub, which grew thick and higher than 
 Jean's head, so that Kadok had to hold it aside 
 in many places for her to pass. The water-hole 
 was clogged with weeds and leaves, but Kadok 
 
8o Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 dug about under the ferns until he found a clean 
 pool, then filled his flask with water, saying, 
 
 " Little Missa wash quick." Jean dipped up 
 the cool water in her hands, splashing it on her 
 face. As she dried herself as best she could with 
 her handkerchief, Kadok cried, 
 
 " Jump back, Missa, quick! into the scrub! " 
 She obeyed without stopping to ask why and 
 stood trembling, as Kadok came hurriedly after 
 her. 
 
 " Missa one good little girl," he said. 
 " Mind what Kadok say always so quick, then 
 Missa get safe home. See there ! " pointing as 
 he spoke to something on the other side of the 
 water-hole where Jean had just been washing. 
 " What Missa see?" 
 
 11 I see a big black log," answered Jean. 
 
 "What Missa see now," said Kadok, throw- 
 ing a stick at the log. To the child's astonish- 
 ment and horror the log rolled on its side, turned 
 over and opened a huge pair of jaws, closing 
 them again with a cruel snap. 
 
Jean Finds a Friend 81 
 
 " Yamin" 1 said Kadok briefly. He seldom 
 wasted words. " Eat little Missa if she not 
 jumped. Now we start take you home. Little 
 Missa mind Kadok and she go long home all 
 right. You not afraid?" 
 
 " I will mind," said Jean, " and I am not very 
 much afraid." 
 
 " We go," said the boy, and he flung over his 
 shoulder a bag in which he had put his water 
 bottle and provisions and started through the 
 scrub. " Come after me and tell Kadok when 
 you too tired to walk," he said to the child, and 
 she followed him obediently. 
 
 She did not know why, but she was not at all 
 afraid of Kadok. She felt he was telling her the 
 truth when he said he would take her home if she 
 was a good girl, and she put her whole mind 
 upon following the difficult trail. The way at 
 first led through a tangle of tropical vegetation, 
 then the two struck into a forest of huge gum 
 
 1 Crocodile. 
 
82 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 trees. Overhead the limbs made a lattice-work 
 of interlacing boughs which gave no shade, as 
 the leaves were vertical instead of horizontal. 
 
 The sun grew hot and beat down upon Jean's 
 bare head, for she had lost her hat. Her fair 
 hair caught on the long festoons of gray moss 
 which hung from the trees, the flying golden 
 fleece stuck to the rough bark, which was red 
 with gum and very sticky. Her tangled matted 
 curls, which had been her mother's joy, hung 
 about her face and into her eyes so that she could 
 scarcely see where she was going. The spinifex 
 prickles stuck her ankles and legs, and at last 
 she stumbled over a hidden tree root and fell in 
 a heap upon the ground. At her cry Kadok 
 turned quickly, 
 
 " Missa hurt," he said, coming back and help- 
 ing her to her feet. " Not cry." 
 
 " I won't," she said, choking back her sobs. 
 " Please let me rest awhile." 
 
 " Must go fast to get to water-hole for din- 
 
Jean Finds a Friend 83 
 
 ner," said Kadok. " Missa rest a little and then 
 try go again." 
 
 She lay down on the grass and shut her eyes. 
 Some parrots chattered and screamed in the trees 
 above her, but the sun was hot and most of the 
 forest birds were still, except for little twitter- 
 ings among the branches. Kadok sat silent 
 beside her. Much was passing in the black boy's 
 mind. He knew too well the need for haste. 
 The trip was dangerous for him as well as for 
 his little white friend; he understood the danger 
 and she did not. She felt only the danger of the 
 forest, reptiles, hunger, cold and thirst. But 
 Kadok had to fear both Blacks and Whites. 
 Should the two fugitives run into unfriendly 
 Blacks they would be captured, and if the little 
 girl was not killed by them she would be taken 
 far inland, where as yet white people did not 
 rule, and all hope of restoring her to her people 
 would be at an end. On the other hand, were 
 they to fall in with any of the mounted police 
 
84 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 or squatters, Kadok knew that his story would 
 never be believed, and that he would be pun- 
 ished for stealing a white child. All this he 
 knew, that Jean could not understand, but he 
 felt that he must make her see the need for hur- 
 rying if possible. 
 
 " Kadok," she spoke first. " How many miles 
 is it to my mother? " 
 
 " It is many hours," answered Kadok. " We 
 must go fast." 
 
 " I will go now," she said, getting up. " I 
 can walk." 
 
 " Why you hurry? " asked Kadok, surprised. 
 
 " I want my mother," she answered. u She 
 will be afraid for me. My father has gone away 
 to find gold and she will be frightened for me." 
 She spoke like a little old woman and the black 
 boy's eyes shone. He saw that he had the way 
 to manage her without frightening her with the 
 dangers he dreaded. 
 
 "We must go fast so little Missa's mother 
 
Tean Finds a Friend 85 
 
 not get sick without her," he said, and the two 
 started on again. 
 
 By noon, slow as the little steps were, they had 
 covered considerable ground, and they sat down 
 near a tiny water-hole to eat and rest. 
 
 " Missa wash feet and rest while I make eat," 
 said Kadok, and Jean bathed her bruised feet, 
 wrapping them in wet leaves, which Kadok told 
 her would take out the pain. " Little Missa sit 
 very still while I find eat," he said. " I not go 
 away." She was terribly frightened when he 
 disappeared between the trees, but in a few 
 minutes she heard the sound of chopping near 
 by, and in a few moments more, Kadok re- 
 turned carrying a dead bandicoot. 
 
 " Me chop him out of hole in foot of tree," 
 he said, grinning broadly. " Him make fine 
 eat." 
 
 He quickly made a fire, and cutting up the 
 meat in pieces, put some of them on sharpened 
 twigs, and held them over the fire to roast. 
 
86 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " Eat plenty much," he said to Jean as he 
 handed her several pieces. " We not know when 
 we find another." 
 
 She ate and found the meat very good. Some 
 of it Kadok had rubbed with a little salt which 
 he took from his provision bag, and a few bits 
 he held over the smoke to dry. All this he 
 wrapped in green leaves and put carefully with 
 his provisions, getting Jean water in a leaf cup 
 and making ready to start again. 
 
 " You good little wirawi," 1 he said approv- 
 ingly. " We soon bring to Mother her good 
 luck." 
 
 The afternoon's walk was not quite so bad 
 as the morning's had been. Kadok struck into 
 a track which led through the Bush to the main 
 road. Walking here was not so troublesome and 
 Jean managed fairly well, though her feet hurt 
 her cruelly and toward the last Kadok had to 
 help her along. 
 
 1 Woman. 
 
Jean Finds a Friend 87 
 
 " Little more walk, Missa," he said encour- 
 agingly. " We find good camp for night. To- 
 morrow we get long way to home." 
 
 But Jean was almost past thinking of the 
 morrow, almost past thinking of home. Her 
 poor little body ached in every muscle, her face 
 and hands were scratched and bleeding, and she 
 was faint with hunger and fatigue. She stum- 
 bled on, Kadok holding her arm, until at last 
 she could go no longer and would have fallen, 
 had not the black boy picked her up and carried 
 her. Laden as he was with his heavy swag, it 
 was no easy task to carry a heavy child of eight, 
 but he was a strong, muscular fellow, used to 
 Bush life, and not tired as was his white charge. 
 He carried her along the track some twenty 
 rods, then paused and looked closely into the 
 forest. It seemed a great wall to shut them off, 
 but the keen eye of the Black caught an almost 
 imperceptible opening amongst the leaves and 
 he left the path once more to tread the mazes 
 
88 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 of the wood. Only a little distance and he came 
 to a ruined hut overgrown with moss and creep- 
 ing plants. It had once been a shepherd's hut 
 and was a poor place, but at any rate it would 
 serve as a shelter from the night and Kadok 
 carried Jean within and laid her down on the 
 floor. 
 
 " Little Missa tired out," he said, pitying the 
 child's white face, which looked unearthly in 
 the light of the sunset which streamed through 
 the open doorway. Jean was too tired to speak. 
 She looked at him wearily for a moment and 
 then closed her eyes. " Missa must eat. Not 
 good to sleep too quick," he said. 
 
 He made a fire at the door of the hut, partly 
 for warmth, for with the sun's going down came 
 the cool night dews, and partly to drive away 
 mosquitoes, as well as to cook their supper. He 
 then brought water from the trough, and made 
 damper and forced bits of it between the child's 
 teeth and gave her a drink of water. Little 
 
Jean Finds a Friend 89 
 
 pieces of roasted meat he added to her meal, 
 and at last she sat up and smiled her thanks at 
 him. 
 
 " Good Kadok," she said, " eat some yourself. 
 You are tired too." 
 
 " Not tired like little Missa," he said, showing 
 his even white teeth in a smile. " Now must 
 rub feet with wet leaves so they not be sore to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Jean bathed her feet and bound them up in 
 cool green leaves, tying them on with long 
 grasses which Kadok brought her. Then she 
 wrapped herself in the blanket the black boy 
 took from the swag and, lying down, was soon 
 sound asleep. Kadok sat for some time at the 
 door of the hut, feeding the fire, then he too 
 rolled up in a blanket, and lying across the door- 
 way, so that no one could come in without his 
 knowledge, he too fell asleep. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 IN THE BUSH 
 
 The sun was high in the heavens when Jean 
 awoke and at first she did not know where she 
 was. Then she sat and looked about her, call- 
 ing " Kadok! " but there was no answer. She 
 went to the door of the hut and looked about. 
 The fire was still burning, but there was no sign 
 of the black boy. Before she had time to be 
 frightened, however, Kadok's black face peered 
 from between the trees, across the little clearing 
 which lay in front of the hut. He smiled when 
 he caught sight of her. 
 
 " Little Missa sleep good, feel good this 
 
 morning," he said. " Bujeri, * Kadok make 
 
 breakfast." 
 
 1 Expression of satisfaction. 
 90 
 
In the Bush 91 
 
 " What have you for breakfast," she asked, 
 hungry as she had never been at home. 
 
 11 Fine fruit, got it top of tree," he said, hand- 
 ing her a large purple, plum-like fruit which she 
 ate and thought delicious. Kadok then roasted 
 in the ashes some scrub turkey eggs he had 
 found, and these too tasted good, and there was 
 damper and cool water. 
 
 " Missa must hurry start now," said Kadok. 
 " We long way to go to-day to get to Mother." 
 
 " First I must try to fix my hair," she said. 
 " It catches in the branches so that it hurts." 
 
 " Kadok help," he said briefly. He caught 
 the golden mass in his hand and screwed it up 
 in bunches on either side of her head, pinning 
 it tight with some long thorns. Then he tied 
 about her head a bright handkerchief which he 
 had worn knotted around the open neck of his 
 shirt, and rolling up the blankets and packing 
 up the ration bag, he shouldered his swag, gave 
 her a hand, and they were off for the day. 
 
92 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 As they walked Jean noticed that Kadok 
 looked always to the right and left and that 
 whenever they came near a hill or a hummock, 
 he would go ahead before telling her to follow 
 him. 
 
 11 Why do you always look around, Kadok," 
 she asked curiously. 
 
 " 'Fraid Debil-debil get little Missa or Buba 
 or maybe Yo-wi or Ya-wi" he answered briefly. 
 
 " Who are they? " she asked. 
 
 " Debil-debil bad god, enemy of Baiame" 1 
 he said. " Buba big kangaroo, very bad father 
 of kangaroos, Yo-wi is fever god, and Ya-wi is 
 snake god. All very bad for little Missa," and 
 he shook his black head. He did not tell her 
 there were others more to be feared than these 
 monsters of the Blacks' demonology, but he was 
 worried by tracks he saw in the sand, tracks of 
 both Blacks and Whites. " Mounted police, 
 been here," he muttered to himself. " Look 
 
 1 Baiame is the chief god of the Blacks. 
 
In the Bush 93 
 
 for little Missa. See horse's tracks plain. Here 
 black man's tracks. Think bad Blacks," and 
 he knit his brows. 
 
 Kadok was at a loss to know what to do. He 
 did not want to take Jean into the Bush again, 
 fearing that hard walking such as they had had 
 the day before would make her too sick to go 
 on, yet he was afraid to keep on the beaten track. 
 They kept on till noon, however, and he drew 
 her aside into the woods to rest and eat her 
 dinner. 
 
 He gave her damper, of which she began to 
 be tired, bits of smoked meat, and some of the 
 white larvae to be found in quantities on the 
 tree roots, and which she thought delicious. 
 She was hungry, but Kadok gave her some roots 
 to chew as they walked, saying, " We eat 'gain 
 before long, must walk some now. 'Fraid we 
 have big storm," and he looked anxiously at the 
 sky, over which heavy clouds were passing. 
 
 Obediently she followed him again, and he 
 
94 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 walked quickly, peering through the bushes as if 
 looking for something. The wind was so fierce 
 that they made slow progress. It blew so 
 that Jean was terribly frightened and at last 
 Kadok stopped in his quick walk and took her 
 hand. 
 
 " Missa 'fraid Storm debil," he said. " I find 
 place to hide from him. Come ! " and he pulled 
 her into the bushes which covered a high hill. 
 Skirting round the hill, he pushed through a 
 thicket which seemed almost like a wall, drag- 
 ging Jean along as the storm broke with a sud- 
 den crash of thunder which frightened the child 
 terribly. 
 
 "Quick!" Kadok cried to her, " We find 
 cave now ! " and he pushed aside some close 
 growing tree branches and showed her the en- 
 trance of a little cave hollowed out of the rock. 
 " Here we be safe till storm go over," he said, 
 and Jean gladly crouched in the shelter, watch- 
 ing with frightened eyes the play of the light- 
 
In the Bush 95 
 
 ning. Kadok gave her more roots to chew and 
 talked kindly to her to soothe her fears. 
 
 " This not much storm," he said. " See many 
 worse than this. Soon over and we go on. 
 Think Missa see Mother to-morrow. Not 
 many hours far now." 
 
 " Kadok," said Jean, " why are you so good 
 to me?" 
 
 " What you mean? " asked Kadok. 
 
 " Why do you take me home? " she asked. 
 
 " Black boy not forget friend," he said. 
 " Not forget enemy. Do mean to Kadok, Ka- 
 dok do mean to you, if he has to wait five, ten 
 years. Do Kadok good, he do good to you 
 when he make chance." 
 
 " But I never did you any good," said Jean, 
 puzzled. 
 
 " No, little Missa not. Missa McDonald do 
 me heap good. 1 There was bad man at Station. 
 
 1 This story of the poisoning of nearly a whole tribe of 
 Blacks at a Christmas feast is vouched for on good authority. 
 
96 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 He no like Blacks near his cattle camp. Blacks 
 not bad, not hurt white man. White man very 
 bad. He make feast and tell Blacks to eat. 
 Black men all eat. Next day all black men dead, 
 all but Kadok and his father, great Chief. They 
 very sick, but they not had eat much of white 
 man's pudding. Chief tell Missa McDonald 
 they very sick here/' — putting his hand on his 
 stomach — " She look very sorry and give them 
 hot drink. It make them very sick and all white 
 man's pudding come up. Think very strange 
 that Kadok and Chief only ones not die, but like 
 Missa McDonald very well for hot drink. Chief 
 father say to me, ' Some day do kind to Missa 
 McDonald,' and I say ' Yes.' When little 
 Missa taken by bad Blacks, Chief say to me, 
 1 Now time to pay Missa McDonald, take little 
 Missa home ! ' I go take," and the boy nodded 
 his head. 
 
 Jean did not understand all of his story, but 
 she could take in enough to know that her Aunt 
 
In the Bush 97 
 
 Mildred had saved the life of Kadok and his 
 father, and she felt that the boy would do all 
 he could for her. 
 
 The storm had ceased and the rain lay in 
 sparkling drops upon bush and leaf. 
 
 " Very wet," said Kadok as he peered out. 
 " Missa sit here very still while Kadok go and 
 see. Maybe we go on, maybe not." Jean did 
 not want to stay alone in the cave. " Let me go 
 with you," she said pleadingly, but Kadok shook 
 his head. 
 
 " Not good for Missa. Big snakes come out 
 of holes. Too many. Kadok not go far away. 
 Missa not come out of cave till Kadok come 
 back. Missa 'fraid, say prayers to white peo- 
 ple's Baiame." 
 
 Jean thought his advice good and said her 
 prayers, sitting quietly for a time, looking 
 through the cave door, though she could see but 
 little, the screen of vines and bushes was so 
 thick. She grew tired of sitting still, and moved 
 
98 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 about the little cave, finding little to interest 
 her, however. It was hollowed out like a tunnel 
 deep into the cliff, but was so dark, except right 
 at the mouth, that she was afraid to explore it. 
 She took off her shoes, washed her aching feet, 
 and reaching to the bushes around the cave, 
 pulled leaves to bind on them as Kadok had 
 taught her to do. Then she took off the hand- 
 kerchief he had tied about her head, let down 
 her long hair and tried to smooth out the tangles 
 with her fingers. It was no easy task, for the 
 hair was long, fine and curly, and it was terribly 
 matted down and snarled. She took a long 
 thorn and tried to use it for a comb, and after 
 working a long time had the locks smoothed 
 out into a fluffy mass of gold on either side her 
 face. She had been so interested in her work 
 that she had not noticed how late it was getting 
 until suddenly it seemed to be growing dark. 
 She looked out of the cave and saw the gleams 
 of the golden sunset through the leaves. She 
 
THE LEAVES PARTED AND A BLACK FACE PEERED 
 THROUGH THE BUSHES." 
 
In the Bush 99 
 
 felt hungry. "Where can Kadok be?" she 
 thought to herself. " He has been gone a long, 
 long time. Oh, supposing something has hap- 
 pened to him! What shall I do? " But there 
 was nothing for her to do but wait, and she sat 
 at the door of the cave, too frightened to cry, 
 fearing a thousand dangers the worse because 
 they were imaginary. Then she heard a crack- 
 ling of the branches near the cave and sprang 
 to her feet joyfully, expecting to see Kadok's 
 black face through the bushes. 
 
 " Kadok!" she cried eagerly. The leaves 
 parted and a black face peered through the 
 bushes, fierce black eyes gazed at the child, as 
 she stood speechless with astonishment, gazing 
 at a perfectly strange Black. She did not speak, 
 she was too frightened to scream, and the Black 
 too was silent. With her floating, golden hair, 
 her wide blue eyes, her fair cheek turned to gold 
 by the rays of the setting sun, which shone full 
 upon her, the rest of her body concealed by the 
 
ioo Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 branches with which Kadok had filled the mouth 
 of the cave, she looked like a creature of air 
 rather than earth, and so the Black thought her. 
 With a wild cry of " Kurru! Kurru! " l he let 
 go his hold of the branches, and Jean could hear 
 him crashing through the bushes in mad haste 
 to get away. 
 
 1 Kurru-kurru is the Dew Dropper or Mist Gatherer, 
 Goddess of the Blacks and wife of Munuala, the water god. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 HOUSEKEEPING IN A CAVE 
 
 She heard Kadok's voice and called to him 
 excitedly, " Oh, Kadok, come quick ! I am so 
 frightened! " 
 
 " What matter, little Missa?" asked Kadok 
 as he parted the bushes and looked at her with 
 anxious face. 
 
 " Oh, a strange Black looked at me and ran 
 away! " she said, bursting into tears. 
 
 " Little Missa not cry," said Kadok. 
 " Brought little Missa meat for supper. What 
 did black man say? " 
 
 " A strange word something like curry curry," 
 she said. " He looked frightened too." 
 
 " That good," said Kadok. " He think little 
 Missa not real child. Golden child. Think him 
 
 IOI 
 
102 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 not come again. Kadok glad, for we must stay 
 here one, two days." 
 
 " Oh, Kadok, why? Can't we go to Mother 
 to-morrow?" her voice was full of tears and 
 the boy's face clouded. 
 
 " Kadok very sorry for little Missa," he said. 
 " But no can help. Kadok got bad hurt on foot. 
 No can walk one, two days. Little Missa help 
 Kadok get well?" 
 
 " Oh, Kadok, how did you hurt yourself?" 
 she asked, as she saw that his foot was covered 
 with blood. 
 
 " Hurt in the scrub," said Kadok, who did 
 not want to tell her the truth, that he had met 
 a Black who had thrown his nulla-nulla 1 and 
 struck him on the foot, though the boy had 
 managed to get away from him. 
 
 " Let me tie it up for you," said Jean. " I've 
 often seen mother dress Fergus' wounds, for he 
 was always doing things to himself. He always 
 had at least one finger tied up in a rag." 
 
 1 Big stick, like a shillalah. 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave 103 
 
 " Little Missa good," said Kadok as he sat 
 wearily down beside her. He was worn out and 
 even his brave spirit sank at this new trouble. 
 It would be several days before he could walk 
 well, he knew, and if the Black who had 
 wounded him had discovered Jean he would 
 certainly come back. Would they be safe even 
 for a few hours, he wondered? His chief hope 
 lay in the fact that if the Black had thought her 
 a vision, he would fear to return. 
 
 Jean scooped up water which stood in a pool 
 at the door of the cave, washed her pocket-hand- 
 kerchief and tore it into strips, then bathed 
 Kadok's foot and tied it up as she had seen her 
 mother do. 
 
 " Thank little Missa," said Kadok. " Feel 
 better, make eat now." 
 
 " No, I shall make supper to-night," said 
 Jean. " It is time I tried to do something for 
 you." 
 
 She gathered up sticks and bits of bark and 
 
104 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 laid the fire, which Kadok carefully lighted, 
 taking one from a box of matches which he had 
 in his swag, and which he kept tied up in the 
 skin of an animal to keep them from getting 
 damp. He had brought back a yopolo 1 from 
 his hunt in the forest, and wild bee's honey, and 
 he said to Jean, 
 
 " Better not make damper to-night. Save 
 meal for some day we have not meat. ,, 
 
 " I am tired of damper anyway," said Jean. 
 " How shall I cook the meat? " 
 
 " Put leaves over hot stones, set yopolo on, 
 all in his skin, cover him over with earth and he 
 cook very tender," said Kadok, and she followed 
 his receipt. There was only a little water left 
 in the water-hole, and that not fresh. 
 
 " Where do you get water, Kadok? " asked 
 Jean. 
 
 " From the spring," he answered. " Not far, 
 just ten steps in the bushes, straight ahead from 
 cave, but not safe for little Missa go." 
 
 1 Small animal. 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave 105 
 
 "Why not? We are both so thirsty," she 
 pleaded. 
 
 " Little Missa's shoes make tracks. Bad 
 Black come long, see tracks, know white child 
 here, steal little Missa away." 
 
 " Oh, if that's the trouble I can take my 
 shoes off," she said, laughing, as she pulled off 
 shoes and stockings. " I will be right back. I 
 can find it, for you said it was only ten steps 
 away," and she picked up the billy and hurried 
 out of the cave in spite of Kadok's " Little 
 Missa not go. Debil-debil get her! " 
 
 She was back before Kadok thought she could 
 have found the spring, saying brightly, 
 
 " Now we have fresh water for our supper, 
 afterwards I can tie up your foot again." 
 
 " Kadok found cup for little Missa," he said, 
 pulling from his belt a battered tin cup. " Think 
 white man drop it, little Missa can have honey- 
 water to drink." He cut a piece of the honey- 
 comb and put it in the cup of water. Jean 
 
lo6 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 drank the sweet drink and almost smacked her 
 lips. 
 
 " It is ever so nice, Kadok," she said. " It 
 tastes like the sugar-water the American chil- 
 dren's black mammy used to give us." 
 
 " Who was that?" he asked curiously. 
 
 " There were three children of America came 
 to stay at my uncle's place, oh, a long time ago 
 before we came to Australia. They had a nurse, 
 a black woman. She was ever so black, not 
 brown like you, Kadok, and so good and nice. 
 I used to like her very much. That was the 
 reason I was not afraid, when the black man 
 told me to come and see the gin who was sick. 
 I thought he would be good like Dinah and 
 bring me right back." 
 
 " Black people very much like white people," 
 said Kadok. " Some black face white heart, 
 some black all way through. Some white face 
 very black heart," and the boy shook his head. 
 
 " Think yopolo cooked. Him smell fine," he 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave 107 
 
 said, sniffing the scent which came from the 
 fire. 
 
 The yopolo was indeed done and delicious. 
 It was very tender and tasted like spring chicken. 
 It was a queer supper for the little Scotch girl, 
 seated cross-legged on the floor of the cave, as 
 she drank honey-water and cut off bits of meat 
 for herself and Kadok. 
 
 The little housekeeper enjoyed her supper 
 thoroughly. Having finished, she put fresh green 
 wood on the fire that the smoke might keep off 
 the mosquitos, and wrapped the rest of the meat 
 in leaves to keep for breakfast. She bathed 
 Kadok's foot, which was swollen and painful, 
 and tied it up, and then, under the boy's direc- 
 tions, cut down some leafy branches and moss to 
 make herself a bed, and wrapped herself in her 
 blanket to sleep. 
 
 When morning came it seemed as if the moth- 
 er's desire that the little girl should have ex- 
 periences to make her less childish was to be 
 
108 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 fulfilled, for Kadok's foot was so painful that he 
 could not even drag himself about the cave and 
 Jean had to wait on him as well as to care for 
 herself. She made breakfast and gathered fresh 
 leaves and branches and brought water enough 
 to last all day. Then she made fresh damper 
 and cut strips of the yopolo meat, drying it in 
 the sun and smoke under Kadok's directions. 
 There were provisions enough to last a day or 
 two and she tried not to worry about things, but 
 she wished she had something else to do. 
 
 Kadok saw she was growing restless and tried 
 to talk to her, afraid that she would cry. " Lit- 
 tle Missa not see cave before, not have at home. 
 Tell about home." 
 
 " Oh, it's not at all like this," she said. " It's 
 very cold, and the mountains are high and beau- 
 tiful and there are no snakes nor wild things. 
 It's all farms and sheep and not wild like Aus- 
 tralia. And in the winter the snow is lovely." 
 
 " What is snow? " asked Kadok. 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave 109 
 
 "Don't you know what snow is?" she 
 laughed. " I hardly know how to tell you. It 
 looks like soft, white feathers and it floats down 
 from the sky when it's very cold and covers up 
 the ground like a white blanket. Then it is 
 lovely, but when the sun comes out and melts 
 it, it's not nice. Didn't you ever see snow? " 
 
 " Never did," said Kadok. 
 
 " Oh, Kadok, what's that? " exclaimed Jean, 
 as a mournful sound came through the forest. 
 
 " That messenger of Muuruup, Debill-deb- 
 ill," said Kadok with a frown. " Muuruup 
 lives under the ground. He make evil. He 
 makes lightning and spoils trees and kills peo- 
 ple. No like hear owl bird. Bring bad storm 
 or bad luck." 
 
 " Oh, I hope he won't bring a storm," said 
 Jean. " We had storm enough yesterday to 
 last for awhile. How does Debil-debil make 
 lightning? " 
 
 " Don't know," said Kadok. " Old chief say 
 
no Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 he not make. Say Great Baiame make. He 
 want to smoke big pipe up in sky, strike match 
 to light pipe, throw match down to earth, while 
 smoke — match make lightning." 
 
 " If we are going to have another storm I am 
 going to bring water from the spring while I 
 can go out of the cave." She was getting very 
 tired of sitting still. 
 
 " Kadok not like little Missa to run round by 
 herself," said Kadok, but Jean said wilfully, 
 
 " I must go by myself if there is no one to go 
 with me, mustn't I? We've got to have water," 
 and she picked up the billy and started for the 
 spring. 
 
 It was cool and pleasant in the woods. She 
 filled her billy and stopped to gather a handful 
 of leaves which grew near-by and looked shiny 
 and pretty, then went back to Kadok. 
 
 " You see nothing happens to me," she said. 
 
 " You go once too often. You not good little 
 Missa. You not mind Kadok," he grumbled. 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave m 
 
 " I will be good, but really I can't sit still all 
 day," she said. " See what pretty leaves." 
 
 " Very good leaves," said Kadok. " When 
 little Missa have no water, chew these, not be 
 thirsty. White men call them hibiscus." 
 
 " I'll remember that," said Jean. " Kadok, 
 tell me a story about when you were a little boy. 
 What did you used to do at home? " 
 
 " Not do very much in wuuries," 1 he said 
 with a broad grin. " Blacks not have much 
 home like white people. Like woods better than 
 wuuries. Like hunt. Make many fine hunt, 
 sometimes hunt animals, sometimes hunt other 
 Blacks. Very good eat, before white man 
 comes," he hastened to add as he saw Jean's 
 expression of terror. " Not eat people now." 
 
 " I should hope not," cried the child. 
 
 " Little Missa keep quiet," said Kadok, rais- 
 ing himself on his elbow, grasping a stick he 
 had and peering through the bushes. " Some- 
 
 1 Huts. 
 
112 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 thing coming. Think not black man. Don't 
 move! " They sat so quiet it seemed to Jean 
 that she could hear her heart beat, but heard 
 nothing more. Just as she was about to speak, 
 Kadok raised his stick quickly and brought it 
 down with great force and Jean saw something 
 black whirl and twist at the opening of the 
 cave. 
 
 " Missa help quick. This hard to hold," 
 cried Kadok. " Take stick, hold very tight 
 here," and he gave her the handle of the forked 
 stick which, to her horror, she saw held down 
 by its neck a large snake. She shut her eyes 
 tight, but held the stick bearing down with all 
 her might while Kadok struck the snake over 
 and over with his stick. 
 
 " Good Missa, let go stick, snake very dead 
 now," and she looked with a shudder at the 
 dead body of the serpent. 
 
 "" Him tree-python," said Kadok, calmly. 
 " Him make very good supper for Missa." 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave 113 
 
 " Oh, I couldn't eat snake, really, I couldn't," 
 she said, but Kadok laughed. 
 
 " Make very good eat for black boy, save 
 yopolo for Missa," he said. " Think dinner 
 time now, Missa eat meat, Kadok eat snake." 
 
 It made Jean feel very queer to see him cut 
 off a piece of the tail, roast it and eat with great 
 enjoyment, but before night she was to look 
 upon the snake as her greatest friend. 
 
 She dropped asleep after eating and did not 
 waken until almost time for supper, when she 
 found that Kadok had been sleeping too. 
 
 " Foot very much better, think we go find 
 Mother to-morrow," he said, as she sat up and 
 rubbed her eyes. " Little Missa not cry, be 
 good Missa. We be all right. Time to eat 
 again." 
 
 " I'm not very hungry," she said, " but I want 
 some fresh water to drink." 
 
 " Little Missa not go to the spring. Kadok 
 not like," he said so earnestly that she said, 
 
H4 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " Well, never mind, I can drink the old water 
 and chew some hibiscus leaves." 
 
 " Think I can go for Missa," said Kadok 
 as he rose and tried his foot. " Not very 
 bad." 
 
 " Oh, never mind," she said, but he took the 
 billy and his stick and limped through the bushes. 
 He was gone only a moment or two when she 
 felt a strange feeling as of some one looking at 
 her, and she raised her head to see, staring 
 through the bushes, the same savage eyes which 
 had frightened her the day before. 
 
 " Kadok!" she screamed, but the Black 
 reached forth a long arm and tried to catch her. 
 She drew back into the cave and screamed again. 
 She had no weapon, but she grasped the dead 
 snake by the tail and with all the strength she 
 could muster threw it straight into the Black's 
 face. The man gave a loud " Wouf ! " as the 
 reptile struck his face, and darted back just as 
 Kadok came up behind and struck him on the 
 
Housekeeping in a Cave 115 
 
 head with his waddy. Attacked before and be- 
 hind, the black man thought his enemies were 
 many and he fled through the bushes as fast as 
 he could go. Fear lent him wings and he did 
 not stop until far from the scene of his terror. 
 Kadok limped into the cave. 
 
 " Little Missa hurt?" he asked anxiously. 
 
 " No, but I was dreadfully frightened. It 
 was the same Black I saw yesterday." 
 
 " What little Missa do? " asked the boy. 
 
 " I hadn't anything else, so I hit him with 
 your snake and he ran away," she said simply. 
 The boy looked at her in astonishment and then 
 laughed loud and long. 
 
 " Baiame teach little Missa to be good Bush 
 girl," he said. " One thing very much scare 
 Black is snake in the face. Missa do just right 
 thing." 
 
 " I didn't know just what to do, but I had to 
 do something," she said. " What shall we do 
 now, Kadok? " 
 
Ii6 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " Not know," he said, frowning. " Think 
 best eat, rest to-night. Go long early in 
 morning before Black come back. Missa 
 make eat, then sleep. Not be afraid. Kadok 
 watch." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 DANDY SAVES THE DAY 
 
 It was early in the morning when the two set 
 out and the stars were still shining. 
 
 " I never saw so many stars in all my life," 
 said Jean. " It seems to me there are more in 
 Australia than I ever saw in Scotland." 
 
 " Think great plenty, maybe eighty-eight," * 
 said Kadok. 
 
 Their way lay through a less beautiful part 
 of the country than any Jean had seen before. 
 It was a wild and lonely land, close to the edge 
 of the scrub, beyond them only sand and spini- 
 fex. A fire had swept over the wood and left the 
 trees gaunt and bare. They waved and tossed 
 
 1 The Blacks can count only as high as their ten fingers. 
 Anything above this they call always " eighty-eight," though 
 no one knows why. 
 
 117 
 
u8 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 their gray branches like demons, and Jean shud- 
 dered, as on every side the ghostly trees seemed 
 to hem her in. 
 
 They came to a clearing where the trees had 
 been cut down, and these, bleached and white, 
 lay on the ground in a thousand gnarled and 
 twisted shapes, their interlacing branches seem- 
 ing like writhing serpents. Many of the gum 
 trees had been killed, for the cuts in the bark 
 had been made too deep, and the bark hung 
 down in long strips. 
 
 No friendly animals or piping forest song- 
 sters chirruped a cheerful welcome to this scene 
 of desolation. Only the solitary " widow bird " 
 hopped about hunting for insects and piping her 
 mournful little note. Then the sound of a cur- 
 lew, like the gasp of a dying child, came to them 
 through the dawn, as the sun rose, red and piti- 
 less, over the sands. Beyond these were the 
 mountains, rising straight up against the sky. 
 Huge gray boulders made a wall at the base 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 119 
 
 of the ridge and the whole place seemed so 
 strange and eerie that Jean cried out, 
 
 " Oh, Kadok, we don't have to cross these 
 sands, do we? I'm afraid." 
 
 " No, Missa," said Kadok wearily. His foot 
 was hurting him cruelly and he felt discouraged. 
 " We go another way, all through the wood. 
 Missa not feel 'fraid. Where Missa's Baiame? 
 Take care of black boy, not take care of white 
 child?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed He will," said Jean, feeling 
 ashamed that the black boy should preach to her. 
 " But I can't help being afraid. It seems as if 
 we would never get to mother." 
 
 " Little Missa get there some day, but Kadok 
 not know how soon. Think best way now to 
 hunt for road and Missa go long quick for her- 
 self. Kadok foot not let him go very fast." 
 
 " Well, I think I won't," said Jean indig- 
 nantly. " Do you suppose I'd do that when you 
 have been so good to me? We'll go as slowly 
 
120 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 as you have to and I'll take care of your foot. 
 I'm terribly hungry, Kadok, can we eat now? " 
 
 " Not eat here," said Kadok, who liked the 
 place as little as she did. " Walk little more 
 round edge of sand, there find water-hole in the 
 woods and eat." 
 
 So they trudged on in silence for another 
 hour, gradually leaving behind them the sandy 
 scrub and coming to a pleasant wood where a 
 carpet of maiden-hair and coral fern reached 
 knee-deep in tenderest green. Velvet-brown tree 
 ferns rose in the air, wearing a feathery coronet 
 of fronds, and above them grew the sassafras 
 and the myrtle. A thousand sweet scents were 
 wafted through the air and a bubbling stream 
 surprised them by gushing forth from a clump of 
 bushes. 
 
 V Little Missa rest and eat here," said Kadok. 
 " Plenty water," as he explored the banks. 
 
 " Oh, Kadok, how lovely it looks," she cried. 
 " I'd like to bathe in that water, it's so clear and 
 nice." 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 1 21 
 
 " Very good thing," said the boy. " Kadok 
 make eat, Little Missa go to the bushes let water 
 run all over self. Keep her from being thirsty 
 all day while we walk." 
 
 So Jean splashed in the cool water and en- 
 joyed her bath like a little nymph behind the 
 thick screen of bushes. She smoothed up her 
 hair and came forth refreshed and rested to find 
 Kadok had made fresh damper and toasted some 
 bits of meat, gathering also some of the sassa- 
 fras leaves, making a kind of tea which was very 
 good. She ate and rested while Kadok bathed 
 his foot and filled his water bottle, and then they 
 started off again, tramping this time over a hilly 
 country. They had to take a long rest in the 
 middle of the day while the sun was hot and 
 both were very tired. There was nothing to eat 
 but damper and some roots Kadok had found, 
 and the delay and the scanty meal did not make 
 Jean feel any more cheerful. The day seemed 
 the longest she had ever spent and when twi- 
 
122 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 light fell and they found no shelter, no friendly 
 cave nor deserted hut, the little girl felt more 
 forlorn than she had ever felt in her life. She 
 tried hard not to show Kadok for she saw that 
 the boy was suffering far worse than he would 
 admit. 
 
 "What are we going to have for supper?" 
 she asked. 
 
 " Not much eat," said he. " Damper all 
 gone, no more flour. No meat." 
 
 " There's plenty of water, anyway," said 
 Jean, for they had followed the course of the 
 stream all day and now camped beside its sil- 
 very ripples. As she spoke, a stir in the water 
 caught her eye. 
 
 " Oh, Kadok," she exclaimed, " why can't we 
 have fish? " 
 
 " No can catch," said the boy wearily. " Too 
 bad foot to go hunt." 
 
 " Watch me catch a fish," said Jean sturdily. 
 " I used to catch trout at home. Let me see, 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 123 
 
 what can I use for a line?" She thought a 
 minute, then clapped her hands. " I know, you 
 just rest, Kadok, and see what a good fisherman 
 I am!" 
 
 She took a pin from her belt, bent it and tied 
 to it a strip of cotton torn from her skirt. This 
 line she tied to a branch from which she stripped 
 the leaves ; on them she found some fuzzy cater- 
 pillars, one of which she used for bait. Then 
 she threw her line and sat down where the 
 stream turned at right angles and made a deep, 
 quiet pool. She waited a long time. Three or 
 four times she had a bite and failed to land her 
 fish, but just as she was growing discouraged 
 there was a jerk, then a long, steady pull at her 
 line. 
 
 " Come help me land him," she called to 
 Kadok, and the boy hastened to her aid. Be- 
 tween them they pulled in their fish, a fine, speck- 
 led fellow which Kadok cleaned and roasted on 
 a flat stone heated red hot. The fish was deli- 
 
124 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 cious, and there was plenty for both of them, 
 so that they felt far more cheerful as they rolled 
 up their blankets to sleep. 
 
 It was Jean's first trial of sleeping in the open, 
 and it was long before she could rest. She lay 
 and watched the stars, of only a few of which 
 she knew the names, though Orion seemed like 
 an old friend and the cloudy path of the Milky 
 Way a broad road to Heaven. 
 
 " Little Missa not sleep," said Kadok. " Her 
 'fraid Debill-debill?" 
 
 " No, Kadok, I'm not afraid," she answered. 
 
 " Peruna heeal very good spirit, he big man 
 spirit, lives 'bove clouds. He not let Debil-debil 
 loose to-night. Too many twinkle lights. 
 Debil-debil likes darkness. Missa try sleep." 
 
 Toward morning Jean was awakened by a 
 crackling in the bushes. " Kadok," she whis- 
 pered. " Wake up." 
 
 " Kadok not asleep, little Missa," he whis- 
 pered in return. 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 125 
 
 " I hear something in the bushes," she said. 
 " Is it one of those bad Blacks like I saw at the 
 cave? " 
 
 " Too far away for bad Black, think ghost, 
 maybe," said the black boy, who, with all his 
 courage, had the Black's fear of ghosts. 
 
 " I don't think there are such things as 
 ghosts," said Jean steadily. 
 
 " Plenty ghosts," said Kadok. " One man 
 of my tribe go to near tribe and he saw wuurie 
 left alone with no life in it. Over door was 
 crooked stick pointing to where family had gone. 
 On ground were pieces of bark covered with 
 white clay, so he knew some one dead. He fol- 
 low tracks and found dead body in tree. It was 
 bound with knees to chest, tied with cord made 
 from acacia bark and was wrapped in rug of 
 opossum skins. He turn back rug and saw face 
 of friend. Then he wept and went away. He 
 walked from place of death and heard a great 
 chattering of magpies. He turned to see what 
 
126 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 made magpies make so much noise — saw ghost 
 of dead friend. It had followed him from the 
 tree. So I know there are ghosts, little Missa."' 
 
 " This ghost sounds to me as if it went on 
 four feet," said Jean. " And as I don't hear it 
 any more I'm going to sleep." 
 
 She listened for awhile, but heard no more. 
 
 In the early morning she was awakened by 
 feeling something cool on her face. She sprang 
 up with a cry of terror which promptly turned 
 to one of delight. 
 
 " Dandy, my own Dandy! " she cried, throw- 
 ing her arms around the pony's neck. 
 
 " Oh, Kadok, here is my pony. He has wan- 
 dered away and we must be not far from Djer- 
 inallum ! " 
 
 The little pony seemed as pleased as she, and 
 Kadok's face lighted up, 
 
 " Little Missa take road with pony and ride 
 safe now. Say good-bye to Kadok and run 'long 
 home." 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 127 
 
 Jean stamped her foot she was so angry. 
 
 " You make me angry, Kadok," she cried. 
 " Here you've taken care of me all these days 
 and now you want me to run off and leave you ! 
 I don't think you're nice at all. You shall come 
 with me to the run. You can ride when your 
 foot is tired and I'll ride part of the time. It 
 can't be far now. You go catch a fish and we'll 
 have breakfast, then we'll start." 
 
 Kadok looked astonished as the little fury 
 scolded, but he obeyed, and soon a fine fish siz- 
 zled on the fire stone. 
 
 They started off for the main road, which 
 Kadok said was not far away through the 
 bushes, Jean riding her pony and feeling bright 
 and cheerful. When they reached the road after 
 several hours riding, she saw that Kadok was 
 limping painfully. She jumped off the pony and 
 said, 
 
 " You must ride now. I know your foot 
 hurts and I'm tired of riding and want to walk 
 
128 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 awhile. Get on and I will walk along and hold 
 Dandy's rein." 
 
 " Little Missa get very boss. Time Missa 
 get back to white folks," he grumbled, as he 
 climbed slowly on the horse's back. " Gin never 
 say ' do ' to Kadok," but Jean only laughed at 
 him and trudged along. 
 
 It was an odd picture on which the Australian 
 sun shone, the black boy on a pony led by a white 
 child in tattered gingham, and two travellers 
 scanned the couple curiously as they urged their 
 horses along. Catching up with the children 
 they would have passed, but Jean suddenly cried, 
 
 " Father! Fergus!" 
 
 " Jeanie ! What on earth ! " but the rest of 
 her father's sentence was lost as he clasped the 
 child in his arms and Jean knew that her troubles 
 were over. 
 
 " There was a terrible hue and cry, lassie, 
 when it was discovered that Dandy and you were 
 
THE BLACK BOY ON A PONY LED BY A WHITE CHILD. 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 129 
 
 lost," said her uncle that night as she lay, tired 
 but happy, her mother beside her, in a corner 
 of the big couch in the morning room at Djer- 
 inallum. " Scouts were sent everywhere, but 
 you seemed to have dropped off the earth. Par- 
 ties have been searching ever since, but no one 
 has been successful in finding even a trail. We 
 traced you to the place in the woods where you 
 got off your pony, but beyond that there were no 
 tracks. Kadok says that the Black who took 
 you did not mean any harm. His gin was nearly 
 crazy over the death of her child, a little girl 
 younger than you, and he wanted to take you 
 to her to see. They had heard of you from the 
 gin to whom you gave a curl. The Blacks think 
 that when a Black dies he returns to the earth 
 as a white, and he wanted his gin to see you, 
 thinking that you might be his own child come 
 back." 
 
 " Poor child, you have had a dreadful time," 
 said her Aunt Mildred. 
 
130 Our Little Australian Cousin 
 
 " Oh, no, except that I was worried about 
 Mother, because I knew she'd think I was 
 killed," she said. Her mother held her close. 
 " I would have been if it hadn't been for 
 Kadok." 
 
 " Good Kadok," said Mr. Hume. " His foot 
 is being taken care of now and he shall have a 
 good home for the rest of his life on our 
 run — " 
 
 " Oh Father, are you going to have a sheep 
 run! I'm so glad! " cried Jean. 
 
 " Yes, we got back from the Gold Country 
 just in time to meet you. I made some money, 
 but I am never going back there. Fergus has 
 no end of adventures to tell you, but it is no 
 place to take you and your mother, and I don't 
 want to leave you again." 
 
 " Oh, I'm so glad, we'll be near Uncle and 
 Aunt Mildred," said Jean. 
 
 " Not me? " asked Sandy mischievously. 
 
 " Oh, you, of course," said Jean. " We are 
 
Dandy Saves the Day 131 
 
 going to be Australians ourselves, now, and of 
 course we won't forget our Little Australian 
 Cousin." 
 
 THE END. 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON 
 
 Each 1 vol., large 12 mo, cloth, illustrated, per vol. . $1.50 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 Being three " Little Colonel " stories in the Cosy Corner 
 Series, " The Little Colonel," " Two Little Knights of 
 Kentucky," and " The Giant Scissors," put into a single 
 volume. 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 SCHOOL 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 VACATION 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOUR 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 RIDING 
 MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL'S 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 CHUM 
 
 These ten volumes, boxed as a ten-volume set, . $15.00 
 A-l 
 
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL 
 
 (Trade Mark) 
 
 TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY 
 THE GIANT SCISSORS 
 BIG BROTHER 
 
 Special Holiday Editions 
 Each one volume, cloth decorative, small quarto, $1.28 
 
 New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page 
 drawings in color, and many marginal sketches. 
 
 IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: The Legend op 
 Camelback Mountain. 
 
 THE THREE WEAVERS: A Fairy Tale for 
 Fathers and Mothers as Well as for Their 
 Daughters. 
 
 KEEPING TRYST 
 
 THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART 
 
 THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME: A 
 
 Fairy Play for Old and Young. 
 
 THE JESTER'S SWORD 
 
 Each one volume, tall 16mo, cloth decorative . $0.50 
 
 Paper boards .35 
 
 There has been a constant demand for publication in 
 separate form of these six stories, which were originally 
 included in six of the " Little Colonel " books. 
 
 JOEL : A BOY OF GALILEE : By Annie Fellows 
 Johnston. Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. 
 New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel 
 Books, 1 vol., large 12mo, cloth decorative . $1.50 
 A story of the time of Christ, which is one of the author's 
 
 best-known books. 
 
 A — 2 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL GOOD TIMES BOOK 
 
 Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series. $1 .50 
 
 Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold . . 3.00 
 Cover design and decorations by Amy Carol Rand. 
 The publishers have had many inquiries from readers 
 of the Little Colonel books as to where they could obtain 
 a " Good Times Book " such as Betty kept. Mrs. Johns- 
 ton, who has for years kept such a book herself, has gone 
 enthusiastically into the matter of the material and format 
 for a similar book for her young readers. Every girl will 
 want to possess a " Good Times Book." 
 ASA HOLMES : Or, At the Cross-Roads. A sketch 
 of Country Life and Country Humor. By Annie 
 Fellows Johnston. 
 With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery. 
 
 Large 16mo, cloth, gilt top $1.00 
 
 " ' Asa Holmes; or, At the Cross-Roads ' is the most 
 delightful, most sympathetic and wholesome book that 
 has been published in a long while." — Boston Times. 
 THE RIVAL CAMPERS : Or, The Adventures of 
 Henry Burns. By Ruel Perley Smith. 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 A story of a party of typical American lads, courageous, 
 alert, and athletic, who spend a summer camping on an 
 island off the Maine coast. 
 
 THE RIVAL CAMPERS AFLOAT: Or, The 
 Prize Yacht Viking. By Ruel Perley Smith. 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 This book is a continuation of the adventures of " The 
 Rival Campers " on their prize yacht Viking. 
 
 THE RIVAL CAMPERS ASHORE 
 
 By Ruel Perley Smith. 
 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 
 " As interesting ashore as when afloat." — The Interior. 
 
 JACK HARVEY'S ADVENTURES: Or, The 
 Rival Campers Among the Oyster Pirates. By 
 Ruel Perley Smith. Illustrated . . $1.50 
 
 " Just the type of book which is most popular with lads 
 
 who are in their early teens." — The Philadelphia Item. 
 
 A — 3 
 
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 PRISONERS OF FORTUNE : A Tale of the Mas- 
 sachusetts Bay Colony. By Ruel Perley Smith. 
 Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece . $1.50 
 " There is an atmosphere of old New England in the 
 book, the humor of the born raconteur about the hero, 
 who tells his story with the gravity of a preacher, but with 
 a solemn humor that is irresistible." — Courier- Journal. 
 
 FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS. By Charles H. 
 
 L. Johnston. 
 
 Large 12mo. With 24 illustrations . . . $1.50 
 
 Biographical sketches, with interesting anecdotes and 
 reminiscences of the heroes of history who were leaders 
 of cavalry. 
 
 " More of such books should be written, books that 
 acquaint young readers with historical personages in a 
 pleasant informal way." — N. Y. Sun. 
 
 FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS. By Charles H. L. 
 
 Johnston. 
 
 Large 12mo, illustrated $1.50 
 
 In this book Mr. Johnston gives interesting sketches of 
 the Indian braves who have figured with prominence in 
 the history of our own land, including Powhatan, the 
 Indian Csesar; Massasoit, the friend of the Puritans; 
 Pontiac, the red Napoleon; Tecumseh, the famous war 
 chief of the Shawnees; Sitting Bull, the famous war chief 
 of the Sioux; Geronimo, the renowned Apache Chief, etc., 
 etc. 
 
 BILLY'S PRINCESS. By Helen Eggleston Has- 
 kell. 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated by Helen McCormick 
 
 Kennedy $1.25 
 
 Billy Lewis was a small boy of energy and ambition, so 
 
 when he was left alone and unprotected, he simply started 
 
 out to take care of himself. 
 
 TENANTS OF THE TREES. By Clarence 
 Hawkes. 
 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated in colors . . $1.50 
 
 " A book which will appeal to all who care for the 
 hearty, healthy, outdoor life of the country. The illus- 
 trations are particularly attractive." — Boston Herald. 
 A — 4 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 BEAUTIFUL JOE'S PARADISE : Or, The Island 
 of Brotherly Love. A sequel to " Beautiful Joe." 
 By Marshall Saunders, author of " Beautiful Joe." 
 One vol., library 12mo, cloth, illustrated . . $1.50 
 " This book revives the spirit of ' Beautiful Joe ' capi- 
 tally. It is fairly riotous with fun, and is about as unusual 
 as anything in the animal book line that has seen the light." 
 — PhUadetphia Item. 
 
 'TILDA JANE. By Marshall Saunders. 
 
 One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1.50 
 " I cannot think of any better book for children than 
 
 this. I commend it unreservedly." — • Cyrus Townsend 
 
 Brady. 
 
 'TILDA JANE'S ORPHANS. A sequel to 'Tilda 
 Jane. By Marshall Saunders. 
 
 One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1.50 
 'Tilda Jane is the same original, delightful girl, and as 
 
 fond of her animal pets as ever. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE GRAVELEYS. By Mar- 
 shall Saunders, author of " Beautiful Joe's Para- 
 dise," " 'Tilda Jane," etc. 
 Library 12mo, cloth decorative. Illustrated by E. B. 
 
 Barry . . $1.50 
 
 Here we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and 
 triumphs, of a delightful New England family, of whose 
 devotion and sturdiness it will do the reader good to hear. 
 
 BORN TO THE BLUE. By Florence Kimball 
 
 RUSSEL. 
 
 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.25 
 
 The atmosphere of army life on the plains breathes on 
 
 every page of this delightful tale. The boy is the son of a 
 
 captain of U. S. cavalry stationed at a frontier post in the 
 
 days when our vegulars earned the gratitude of a nation. 
 
 A— 5 
 
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 IN WEST POINT GRAY 
 
 By Florence Kimball Russel. 
 
 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 
 " Singularly enough one of the best books of the year 
 for boys is written by a woman and deals with life at West 
 Point. The presentment of life in the famous military 
 academy whence so many heroes have graduated is realistic 
 and enjoyable." — New York Sun. 
 
 FROM CHEVRONS TO SHOULDER STRAPS 
 
 By Florence Kimball Russel. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, decorative . . . $1.50 
 
 West Point again forms the background of a new volume 
 
 in this popular series, and relates the experience of Jack 
 
 Stirling during his junior and senior years. 
 
 THE SANDMAN: HIS JARM STORIES 
 
 By William J. Hopkins. With fifty illustrations by 
 
 Ada Clendenin Williamson. 
 
 Large 12mo, decorative cover . . . . $1.50 
 
 " An amusing, original book, written for the benefit of 
 very small children. It should be one of the most popular 
 of the year's books for reading to small children." — 
 Buffalo Express. 
 
 THE SANDMAN: MORE FARM STORIES 
 
 By William J. Hopkins. 
 
 Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 
 
 Mr. Hopkins's first essay at bedtime stories met with 
 
 such approval that this second book of " Sandman " tales 
 
 was issued for scores of eager children. Life on the farm, 
 
 and out-of-doors, is portrayed in his inimitable manner. 
 
 THE SANDMAN: HIS SHIP STORIES 
 
 By William J. Hopkins, author of " The Sandman: 
 His Farm Stories," etc. 
 
 Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 
 " Children call for these stories over and over again." — 
 Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 A— 6 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 THE SANDMAN, HIS SEA STORIES 
 
 By William J. Hopkins. 
 
 Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 
 
 Each year adds to the popularity of this unique series 
 
 of stories to be read to the little ones at bed time and at 
 
 other times. 
 
 THE DOCTORS LITTLE GIRL 
 
 By Marion Ames Taggart, author of " Pussy-Cat 
 
 Town," etc. 
 
 One vol., library 12mo, illustrated . . . $1.50 
 
 A thoroughly enjoyable tale of a little girlfand her com- 
 rade father, written in a delightful vein of sympathetic 
 comprehension of the child's point of view. 
 
 SWEET NANCY 
 
 The Further Adventures op the Doctor's Little 
 
 Girl. By Marion Ames Taggart. 
 
 One vol., library, 12mo, illustrated . . . $1.50 
 
 In the new book, the author tells how Nancy becomes 
 in fact " the doctor's assistant," and continues to shed 
 happiness around her. 
 
 THE CHRISTMAS-MAKERS' CLUB 
 
 By Edith A. Sawyer. 
 
 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 
 
 A delightful story for girls, full of the real spirit of 
 
 Christmas. It abounds in merrymaking and the right 
 
 kind of fun. 
 
 CARLOTA 
 
 A Story of the San Gabriel Mission. By Frances 
 Margaret Fox. 
 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated 
 
 in colors by Ethelind Ridgway . . . . $1.00 
 
 "It is a pleasure to recommend this little story as an 
 
 entertaining contribution to juvenile literature." — The 
 
 New York Sun. 
 
 THE SEVEN CHRISTMAS CANDLES 
 By Frances Margaret Fox. 
 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated and deco- 
 rated in colors by Ethelind Ridgway . . $1.00 
 Miss Fox's new book deals with the fortunes of the de- 
 lightful Mulvaney children. 
 A — 7 
 
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 PUSSY-CAT TOWN 
 
 By Marion Ames Taggart. 
 
 Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and deco- 
 rated in colors $1.00 
 
 " Anything more interesting than the doings of the cats 
 in this story, their humor, their wisdom, their patriotism, 
 would be hard to imagine." — Chicago Post. 
 
 THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH 
 
 By Jane Scott Woodruff. 
 
 Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated 
 in colors by Adelaide Everhart . . . $1.00 
 
 This is a charming little story of a child whose father was 
 
 caretaker of the great castle of the Wartburg, where Saint 
 
 Elizabeth once had her home. 
 
 GABRIEL AND THE HOUR BOOK 
 
 By Evaleen Stein. 
 
 Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and deco- 
 rated in colors by Adelaide Everhart . . . $1 .00 
 Gabriel was a loving, patient, little French lad, who 
 assisted the monks in the long ago days, when all the books 
 were written and illuminated by hand, in the monasteries. 
 
 THE ENCHANTED AUTOMOBILE 
 
 Translated from the French by Mary J. Safford 
 Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and deco- 
 rated in colors by Edna M. Sawyer . . . $1.00 
 " An up-to-date French fairy-tale which fairly radiates 
 
 the spirit of the hour, — unceasing diligence.' — Chicago 
 
 Record-Herald . 
 
 O-HEART-SAN 
 
 The Story of a Japanese Girl. By Helen Eggles- 
 ton Haskell. 
 
 Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and deco- 
 rated in colors by Frank P. Fairbanks . $1.00 
 " The story comes straight from the heart of Japan. 
 The shadow of Fujiyama lies across it and from every 
 page breathes the fragrance of tea leaves, cherry blossoms 
 and chrysanthemums." — The Chicago Inter-Ocean. 
 A-8 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND: Or, The Adven- 
 tures of Allan West. By Burton E. Stevenson. 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 Mr. Stevenson's hero is a manly lad of sixteen, who is 
 given a chance as a section-hand on a big Western rail- 
 road, and whose experiences are as real as they are thrilling. 
 
 THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER. By Bur- 
 ton E. Stevenson. 
 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 
 " A better book for boys has never left an American 
 
 press." — Springfield Union. 
 
 THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER. By Burton E. 
 
 Stevenson. 
 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 " Nothing better in the way of a book of adventure for 
 boys in which the actualities of life are set forth in a practi- 
 cal way could be devised or written." — Boston Herald. 
 
 CAPTAIN JACK LORIMER. By Winn Standish. 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 
 Jack is a fine example of the all-around American high- 
 school boy. 
 
 JACK LORIMER'S CHAMPIONS: Or, Sports on 
 Land and Lake. By Winn Standish. 
 Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . $1.50 
 " It is exactly the sort of book to give a boy interested 
 
 in athletics, for it shows him what it means to always 
 
 ' play fair.' " — Chicago Tribune. 
 
 JACK LORIMER'S HOLIDAYS' Or, Millvale 
 High in Camp. By Winn Standish. 
 
 Illustrated $1.50 
 
 Full of just the kind of fun, sports and adventure to 
 
 excite the healthy minded youngster to emulation. 
 
 JACK LORIMER'S SUBSTITUTE : Or, The Act- 
 ing Captain of the Team. By Winn Standish. 
 
 Illustrated $1.50 
 
 On the sporting side, this book takes up football, wres- 
 tling, tobogganing, but it is more of a school story perhaps 
 than any of its predecessors. 
 — 9 
 
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 CAPTAIN JINKS: The Autobiography of a Shet- 
 land Pony. By Frances Hodges White. 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 
 
 The story of Captain Jinks and his faithful dog friend 
 Billy, their quaint conversations and their exciting 
 adventures, will be eagerly read by thousands of boys and 
 girls. The story is beautifully written and will take its 
 place alongside of " Black Beauty " and " Beautiful Joe." 
 
 THE RED FEATHERS. By Theodore Roberts. 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.50 
 
 " The Red Feathers " tells of the remarkable adventures 
 
 of an Indian boy who lived in the Stone Age, many years 
 
 ago, when the world was young. 
 
 FLYING PLOVER. By Theodore Roberts. 
 
 Cloth decorative. Illustrated by Charles Livingston 
 
 Bull $1.00 
 
 Squat-By-The-Fire is a very old and wise Indian who 
 
 lives alone with her grandson, " Flying Plover," to whom 
 
 she tells the stories each evening. 
 
 THE WRECK OF THE OCEAN QUEEN. By 
 
 James Otis, author of " Larry Hudson's Ambition," etc. 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated . . . . $1.50 
 
 " A stirring story of wreck and mutiny, which boys will 
 find especially absorbing. The many young admirers of 
 James Otis will not let this book escape them, for it fully 
 equals its many predecessors in excitement and sustained 
 interest." — Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 LITTLE WHITE INDIANS. By Fannie E. Os- 
 
 TRANDER. 
 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated . • • . $1.25 
 
 " A bright, interesting story which will appeal strongly 
 
 to the ' make-believe Y instinct in children, and will 
 
 give them a healthy, active interest in 'the simple life.'" 
 
 MARCHING WITH MORGAN. How Donald 
 
 Lovell Became a Soldier op the Revolution. 
 
 By John L. Veasy. 
 
 Cloth decorative, illustrated . . . . $1.50 
 
 This is a splendid boy's story of the expedition of 
 Montgomery and Arnold against Quebec 
 A— 10 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 COSY CORNER SERIES 
 
 It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall 
 contain only the very highest and purest literature, — 
 stories that shall not only appeal to the children them- 
 selves, but be appreciated by all those who feel with 
 them in their joys and sorrows. 
 
 The numerous illustrations in each book are by well- 
 known artists, and each volume has a separate attract- 
 ive cover design. 
 
 Each 1 vol., 16mo, cloth $0.50 
 
 By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON 
 
 THE LITTLE COLONEL (Trade Mark.) 
 
 The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its hero- 
 ine is a small girl, who is known as the Little Colonel, 
 on account of her fancied resemblance to an old-school 
 Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and old family 
 are famous in the region. 
 
 THE GIANT SCISSORS 
 
 This is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in 
 France. Joyce is a great friend of the Little Colonel, 
 and in later volumes shares with her the delightful ex- 
 periences of the " House Party " and the " Holidays." 
 
 TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY 
 
 Who Were the Little Colonel's Neighbors. 
 
 In this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an 
 old friend, but with added grace and charm. She is not, 
 however, the central figure of the story, that place being 
 taken by the " two little knights." 
 
 MILDRED'S INHERITANCE 
 
 A delightful little story of a lonely English girl who 
 comes to America and is befriended by a sympathetic 
 American family who are attracted by her beautiful 
 speaking voice. By means of this one gift she is en- 
 abled to help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the 
 use of her eyes, and thus finally her life becomes a busy, 
 happy one. 
 
 A — 11 
 
L. C. PAGE S° COMPANY'S 
 
 By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON (Continued) 
 
 CICELY AND OTHER STORIES FOR GIRLS 
 
 The readers of Mrs. Johnston's charming juveniles 
 will be glad to learn of the issue of this volume for young 
 people. 
 
 AUNT 'LIZA'S HERO AND OTHER STORIES 
 
 A collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal 
 to all boys and most girls. 
 
 BIG BROTHER 
 
 A story of two boys. The devotion and care of Stephen, 
 himself a small boy, for his baby brother, is the theme of 
 the simple tale. 
 
 OLE MAMMY'S TORMENT 
 
 " Ole Mammy's Torment " has been fitly called " a 
 classic of Southern life." It relates the haps and mis- 
 haps of a small negro lad, and tells how he was led by 
 love and kindness to a knowledge of the right. 
 
 THE STORY OF DAGO 
 
 In this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, 
 a pet monkey, owned jointly by two brothers. Dago 
 tells his own story, and the account of his haps and mis- 
 haps is both interesting and amusing. 
 
 THE QUILT THAT JACK BUILT 
 
 A pleasant little story of a boy's labor of love, and how 
 it changed the course of his life many years after it was 
 accomplished. 
 
 FLIP'S ISLANDS OF PROVIDENCE 
 
 A story of a boy's life battle, his early defeat, and his 
 final triumph, well worth the reading. 
 A — 12 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 By EDITH ROBINSON 
 
 A LITTLE PURITAN'S FIRST CHRISTMAS 
 
 A story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how Christ- 
 mas was invented by Betty Sewall, a typical child of the 
 Puritans, aided by her brother Sam. 
 
 A LITTLE DAUGHTER OF LIBERTY 
 
 The author introduces this story as follows: 
 " One ride is memorable in the early history of the 
 American Revolution, the well-known ride of Paul 
 Kevere. Equally deserving of commendation is another 
 ride, — the ride of Anthony Severn, — which was no less 
 historic in its action or memorable in its consequences." 
 
 A LOYAL LITTLE MAID 
 
 A delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary 
 days, in which the child heroine, Betsey Schuyler, renders 
 important services to George Washington. 
 
 A LITTLE PURITAN REBEL 
 
 This is an historical tale of a real girl, during the time 
 when the gallant Sir Harry Vane was governor of Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 A LITTLE PURITAN PIONEER 
 
 The scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settlement 
 at Charlestown. 
 
 A LITTLE PURITAN BOUND GIRL 
 
 A story of Boston in Puritan days, which is of great 
 interest to youthful readers. 
 
 A LITTLE PURITAN CAVALIER 
 
 The story of a " Little Puritan Cavalier " who tried 
 with all his boyish enthusiasm to emulate the spirit and 
 ideals of the dead Crusaders. 
 
 A PURITAN KNIGHT ERRANT 
 
 The story tells of a young lad in Colonial times who 
 endeavored to carry out the high ideals of the knights 
 of olden days. 
 A— 13 
 
Z. C. PAGE &* COMPANY'S 
 
 By OUIDA (Louise de la Ramee) 
 
 A DOG OF FLANDERS 
 
 A Christmas Story 
 
 Too well and favorably known to require description. 
 
 THE NURNBERG STOVE 
 
 This beautiful story has never before been published 
 at a popular price. 
 
 By FRANCES MARGARET FOX 
 
 THE LITTLE GIANT'S NEIGHBOURS 
 
 A charming nature story of a " little giant " whose 
 neighbors were the creatures of the field and garden. 
 
 FARMER BROWN AND THE BIRDS 
 
 A little story which teaches children that the birds are 
 man's best friends. 
 
 BETTY OF OLD MACKINAW 
 
 A charming story of child life. 
 
 BROTHER BILLY 
 
 The story of Betty's brother, and some further adven- 
 tures of Betty herself. 
 
 MOTHER NATURE'S LITTLE ONES 
 
 Curious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or 
 " childhood," of the little creatures out-of-doors. 
 
 HOW CHRISTMAS CAME TO THE MUL- 
 VANEYS 
 
 A bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children 
 with an unlimited capacity for fun and mischief. 
 
 THE COUNTRY CHRISTMAS 
 
 Miss Fox has vividly described the happy surprises that 
 made the occasion so memorable to the Mulvaneys, and 
 the funny things the children did in their new environ- 
 ment. 
 A— 14 
 
BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 By MISS MULOCK 
 
 THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE 
 
 A delightful story of a little boy who has many ad- 
 ventures by means of the magic gifts of his fairy god- 
 mother. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE 
 
 The story of a household elf who torments the cook 
 and gardener, but is a constant joy and delight to the 
 children who love and trust him. 
 
 HIS LITTLE MOTHER 
 
 Miss Mulock's short stories for children are a constant 
 source of delight to them, and " His Little Mother," in 
 this new and attractive dress, will be welcomed by hosts 
 of youthful readers. 
 
 LITTLE SUNSHINE'S HOLIDAY 
 
 An attractive story of a summer outing. " Little Sun- 
 shine " is another of those beautiful child-characters for 
 which Miss Mulock is so justly famous. 
 
 By MARSHALL SAUNDERS 
 
 FOR HIS COUNTRY 
 
 A sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved 
 his country; written with that charm which has endeared 
 Miss Saunders to hosts of readers. 
 
 NITA, THE STORY OF AN IRISH SETTER 
 
 In this touching little book, Miss Saunders shows how 
 dear to her heart are all of God's dumb creatures. 
 
 ALPATOK, THE STORY OF AN ESKIMO DOG 
 
 Alpatok, an Eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen 
 from his master and left to starve in a strange city, but 
 was befriended and cared for, until he was able to return 
 to his owner. 
 A — 15 
 
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY'S 
 
 By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE 
 
 THE FARRIER'S DOG AND HIS FELLOW 
 
 This story, written by the gifted young Southern 
 woman, will appeal to all that is best in the natures of 
 the many admirers of her graceful and piquant style. 
 
 THE FORTUNES OF THE FELLOW 
 
 Those who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm 
 of " The Farrier's Dog and His Fellow " will welcome 
 the further account of the adventures of Baydaw and 
 the Fellow at the home of the kindly smith. 
 
 THE BEST OF FRIENDS 
 
 This continues the experiences of the Farrier's dog 
 and his Fellow, written in Mr. Dromgoole's well-known 
 charming style. 
 
 DOWN IN DIXIE 
 
 A fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of 
 Alabama children who move to Florida and grow up in 
 the South. 
 
 By MARIAN W. WILDMAN 
 LOYALTY ISLAND 
 
 An account of the adventures of four children and 
 their pet dog on an island, and how they cleared their 
 brother from the suspicion of dishonesty. 
 
 THEODORE AND THEODORA 
 
 This is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mis- 
 chievous twins, and continues the adventures of the 
 interesting group of children in " Loyalty Island." 
 A— 16 
 
r &* IP 1 
 
 ^jTRADEMARK^ 
 
 s^PAT.O 1