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KANNY, THE KANGAROO 265
good. Yes—after another sip—it was certainly refreshing ; so from one pot she went to another, until she had emptied them all.
All this time the men were cowering under an outhouse, far too much frightened to interfere with the kangaroo. And even when she was called off, and taken back to her own outhouse, they did their work in fear and trembling for the rest of the day, lest this terrible stranger should come back again.
But as winter came on, poor Kanny's games got fewer and fewer. She had attacks of shivering, which generally ended in fainting fits, and between them she would lie on her bed, looking up sadly at her anxious nurses, who sat by her, stroking her head. At length the weather got so cold that they could not keep her warm in the outhouse, so she was carried in and laid on a soft rug before the kitchen fire. She knew they meant to be kind to her, and though she had hardly strength for the move, she tried to raise her head, and rub it against their hands. But the bitter frost had touched her lungs, and she fell back gasping, and in a few minutes was dead.
The children wept bitterly for their beloved playfellow, whom they themselves buried under a tree ; and though time passed and they had other pets, no one ever took in their hearts the place of Kanny. |
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