Piccaninnies | Page 4

of them, tall slim trees with long bare trunks
and a crown of long, narrow leaves at the top.
"We must climb to the top to find the cabbages," said Swanki; but
though they had done a lot of climbing in their day, it was usually up
trees with plenty of branches and twigs to help them.
They found it very hard to get a grip with their little, bare, brown knees
on the long, smooth trunks, and Tiki frowned thoughtfully at his tree as

he slid down for the fifth time.
"You give me a leg up first," said Swanki, "and when I'm up I'll give
you one," which was rather a silly thing to say when you come to think
of it.
However, you can do most things if you try hard enough, and Swanki,
seeing how the last year's jackets of the cicadas, which they had quite
grown out of, were clinging to the Cabbage trees with their tiny claws,
slipped her hands and feet into a set of them and through this clever
idea of hers was able to climb right up the trunk, followed by Tiki, who
was busy all the time trying to explain that he had just been going to
think of the plan himself.
When they were at last nestled in the crown of leaves they began to
look about for the cabbages, but could find nothing resembling
Swanki's idea of a cabbage, which wasn't very clear, but quite different
from anything they found in that tree.
They nibbled some of the leaves which were bitter and stringy, and
tried some of last year's flowers, which were very little better, and then
Swanki cried out in disappointment:
"You've played me a trick, Tiki. These are not cabbages."
She gave him an angry little push, and to her surprise he fell backward
out of the tree splash into the swamp, where she saw him struggling in
the muddy water.
Very frightened Swanki hurried down the tree and ran to the edge of
the water, where she held out her hands to Tiki who grabbed them
tightly.
But just as she was drawing him to land the boggy piece of ground on
which she was standing gave way, and she, too, fell into the water.
Luckily it was not very deep, and a friendly old frog gave them a leg up
the bank, and very wet and muddy and miserable they started back for

the bush.
The worst of it was that tiresome Miss Fantail had spread it all abroad
that they had left the bush, and on the way home they met her and all
her relations, and all the Piccaninnies too, setting out on a search party.
[Illustration: "To her surprise he fell backward out of the tree."]
How they stared and questioned and teased the poor little tired
travellers, standing before them so wet and grimy and weary, and when
they had heard the whole story how they all laughed at Swanki and
Tiki!
And glad, indeed, were those two Piccaninnies to sit down to a
delicious tea of fern root, young nikau, and assorted berries, and never
again did any one hear Swanki complain of just
"berries--berries--berries--roots--roots--roots."
[Illustration]

[Illustration: " ... he rocked himself to sleep among the pretty little
starry flowers."]

TEA TREE.
One of the Piccaninnies had a horrid adventure one day. He had heard a
tui that morning singing in the Bush, and had made up his mind to
speak to it, because he was sulking with the other Piccaninnies.
You know they say a tui can be made to talk, but it's hard to get near
enough to one to find out, but perhaps if you did get close and surprised
it, it would be so mad at you that it would answer back.
The Piccaninny followed his tui up and up, but it flitted from tree top to
tree top, and he could hear it tolling a bell and cracking a whip, and
chuckling at him, and finally it flew away, and that was the last of it.

The Piccaninny, tired out, climbed up into a tea tree bush, and swung
himself gently to-and-fro until he rocked himself to sleep among the
pretty little starry flowers, a thing he should never have done unless a
Piccaninny Boy Scout had been posted near by in case of danger. He
was so drowsy, that he never heard a voice saying:
"Oh! look here, George, this is a lovely spray!" nor felt the spray on
which he was sleeping torn from its mother-bush, and carried away. It
was taken into a big room in a big house, and there on a big table it was
placed in a silver vase.
It was then the Piccaninny woke up because the