Not always was the Kangaroo as now we do behold him, but a Different
Animal with four short legs. He was gray and he was woolly, and his
pride was inordinate: he danced on an outcrop in the middle of
Australia, and he went to the Little God Nqa at six before breakfast,
saying, "Make me different from all other animals by five this
afternoon."

Up jumped Nqa from his seat on the sandflat and shouted, "Go away!"

He was gray and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced
on a rockledge in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Middle
God Nquing.

He went to Nquing at eight after breakfast, saying, "Make me different
from all other animals; make me, also, wonderfully popular by five
this afternoon."

Up jumped Nquing from his burrow in the spinifex and shouted, "Go
away!"

He was gray and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he
danced on a sandbank in the middle of Australia, and he went to the
Big God Nqong.

He went to Nqong at ten before dinner-time, saying, "Make me different
from all other animals; make me popular and wonderfully run after by
five this afternoon."

Up jumped Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan and shouted, "Yes, I
will!"

Nqong called Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusty in the
sunshine, and showed him Kangaroo. Nqong said, "Dingo! Wake up, Dingo!
Do you see that gentleman dancing on an ash-pit? He wants to be
popular and very truly run after. Dingo, make him so!"

Up jumped Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--and said, "What, that
cat-rabbit?"

Off ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, grinning like a
coal-scuttle--ran after Kangaroo.

Off went the proud Kangaroo on his four little legs like a bunny.

This, O Beloved of mine, ends the first part of the tale!

He ran through the desert; he ran through the mountains; he ran
through the salt-pans; he ran through the reed-beds; he ran through
the blue gums; he ran through the spinifex; he ran till his front legs
ached.

He had to!

Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, grinning like a
rat-trap, never getting nearer, never getting farther--ran after
Kangaroo.

He had to!

Still ran Kangaroo--Old Man Kangaroo. He ran through the ti-trees; he
ran through the mulga; he ran through the long grass; he ran through
the short grass; he ran through the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer;
he ran till his hind legs ached.

He had to!

Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--hungrier and hungrier, grinning
like a horse-collar, never getting nearer, never getting farther; and
they came to the Wollgong River.

Now, there was n't any bridge, and there was n't any ferry-boat, and
Kangaroo did n't know how to get over; so he stood on his legs and
hopped.

He had to!

He hopped through the Flinders; he hopped through the Cinders; he
hopped through the deserts in the middle of Australia. He hopped like
a Kangaroo.

First he hopped one yard; then he hopped three yards; then he hopped
five yards; his legs growing stronger; his legs growing longer. He had
n't any time for rest or refreshment, and he wanted them very much.

Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--very much bewildered, very much
hungry, and wondering what in the world or out of it made Old Man
Kangaroo hop.

[Illustration: This is the picture of Old Man Kangaroo at five in the
afternoon, when he had got his beautiful hind legs just as Big God
Nqong had promised. You can see that it is five o'clock, because Big
God Nqong's pet tame clock says so. That is Nqong in his bath,
sticking his feet out. Old Man Kangaroo is being rude to Yellow-Dog
Dingo. Yellow-Dog Dingo has been trying to catch Kangaroo all across
Australia. You can see the marks of Kangaroo's big new feet running
ever so far back over the bare hills. Yellow-Dog Dingo is drawn black,
because I am not allowed to paint these pictures with real colours out
of the paint-box; and besides, Yellow-Dog Dingo got dreadfully black
and dusty after running through the Flinders and the Cinders.

I don't know the names of the flowers growing round Nqong's bath. The
two little squatty things out in the desert are the other two gods
that Old Man Kangaroo spoke to early in the morning. That thing with
the letters on it is Old Man Kangaroo's pouch. He had to have a pouch
just as he had to have legs.]

For he hopped like a cricket; like a pea in a saucepan; or a new
rubber ball on a nursery floor.

He had to!

He tucked up his front legs; he hopped on his hind legs; he stuck out
his tail for a balance-weight behind him; and he hopped through the
Darling Downs.

He had to!

Still ran Dingo--Tired Dog Dingo--hungrier and hungrier, very much
bewildered, and wondering when in the world or out of it would Old Man
Kangaroo stop.

Then came Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan, and said, "It's five
o'clock."

Down sat Dingo--Poor Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusky in the sunshine;
hung out his tongue and howled.

Down sat Kangaroo--Old Man Kangaroo--stuck out his tail like a
milking-stool behind him, and said, "Thank goodness that's
finished!"

Then said Nqong, who is always a gentleman, "Why are n't you grateful
to Yellow-Dog Dingo? Why don't you thank him for all he has done for
you?"

Then said Kangaroo--Tired Old Kangaroo--"He's chased me out of the
homes of my childhood; he's chased me out of my regular meal-times;
he's altered my shape so I'll never get it back; and he's played Old
Scratch with my legs."

Then said Nqong, "Perhaps I'm mistaken, but didn't you ask me to make
you different from all other animals, as well as to make you very
truly sought after? And now it is five o'clock."

"Yes," said Kangaroo. "I wish that I had n't. I thought you would do
it by charms and incantations, but this is a practical joke."

"Joke!" said Nqong from his bath in the blue gums. "Say that again and
I'll whistle up Dingo and run your hind legs off."

"No," said the Kangaroo. "I must apologize. Legs are legs, and you
need n't alter 'em so far as I am concerned. I only meant to explain
to Your Lordliness that I've had nothing to eat since morning, and I'm
very empty indeed."

"Yes," said Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--"I am just in the same situation.
I've made him different from all other animals; but what may I have
for my tea?"

Then said Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan, "Come and ask me about
it to-morrow, because I'm going to wash."

So they were left in the middle of Australia, Old Man Kangaroo and
Yellow-Dog Dingo, and each said, "That's your fault."

This is the mouth-filling song
Of the race that was run by a Boomer,
Run in a single burst--only event of its kind--
Started by Big God Nqong from Warrigaborrigarooma,
Old Man Kangaroo first: Yellow-Dog Dingo behind.

Kangaroo bounded away,
His back-legs working like pistons--
Bounded from morning till dark,
Twenty-five feet to a bound.
Yellow-Dog Dingo lay
Like a yellow cloud in the distance--
Much too busy to bark.
My! but they covered the ground!

Nobody knows where they went,
Or followed the track that they flew in,
For that Continent
Had n't been given a name.
They ran thirty degrees,
From Torres Straits to the Leeuwin
(Look at the Atlas, please),
And they ran back as they came.

S'posing you could trot
From Adelaide to the Pacific,
For an afternoon's run--
Half what these gentlemen did--
You would feel rather hot
But your legs would develop terrific--
Yes, my importunate son,
You'd be a Marvellous Kid!