KANNY, THE KANGAROO 263 



only time she was ever out of temper was when anyone 

 forgot to put sugar in her tea ! 



One day, when the children came in from their walk, 

 they went as usual to find Kanny in her own particular 

 apartments — an outhouse, which had been fitted up for 

 her when she first arrived. Instead of bounding to meet 

 them directly she heard their voices, as was her usual 

 habit, Kanny waited for them in her own drawing-room, 

 quite like a lady. As the children ran up to her they 

 suddenly stopped short, for out of Kanny' s pouch two 

 little black eyes, and two little skinny hands were peeping. 

 Oh, how happy the children were with the new baby, 

 and what care they and Kanny took of it. Other people 

 might say it was lean, and ill-made, and ugly, but they 

 knew it was the most beautiful creature in the world. 

 For a few weeks nothing was thought of or talked of but 

 the baby kangaroo ; then frost came and cold winds blew 

 and one day the poor little baby was found dead in its 

 cradle. 



The children did their best to comfort Kanny, and 

 brought her all the sweet things they could think of, and 

 by-and-by she began to play again. Her favourite prank 

 was to jump on top of the great walls seven feet high, 

 which shut in the fruit garden and shut out the children, 

 and then spring right down among the bushes where her 

 favourite currants and cherries grew. But Kanny' s 

 appetite was a good one, and like all people who are fond 

 of eating, she enjoyed trying experiments. One morning, 

 when she had had as much fruit as she wanted, she 

 leaped on top of the wall which at that end opened out 

 upon a lane, where some workmen were busy making a 

 door into another garden. Her movements were as silent 

 as they were rapid, and when the carpenters suddenly 

 looked up and saw this strange creature standing before 

 them, they fiung down their tools and ran away as hard 

 as they could. Nothing ever put out Kanny, so she only 

 began to wonder if they had left anything behind for her 



