Iron County register., 1899-03-02

and rose slowly 10 my knees. As die
| so | remembered that my cartrid ges
| had been intended only for shooting
| birds, and were certainly not meant for
game like this.
He gave another cry, and again the
echoes came from far and near. He had
reared himself up and put his feet on
| the sloping face of the rock, while all
the time his eyes seemed to be fixed on
! mine with looks of fiendish malignity
| Suddenly there was a cry close behind
| him, and, as if encouraged by the sound.
| he made what appeared to be a des-
perate effort, and the next moment he
was scrambling, rolling or climbing up
| the face of the rock with a molten that
was quite indescribable in its clumsy
| eagerness. As he did so another black
figure appeared at the bottom, and l
heard a splash as a third began to wade
the stream. 1t was growing serious in
deed. / waited until he had got within
! a few feet of me, and then fired. He
gave a snarling howl and rolled 10 the
bottom.
When the smoke cleared l could see
him on the ground, but the other had
begun 20 climb in his place. Slowly,
carefully, doggedly be came on, as if
his one object in existence was TO reach
me. / waited till he got near the top
and then fired. He rolled half way
down, and then he seemed to cling TO
the rock and stop. Then he began to
crawl up again, gnashing his teeth and
NJ ha nj w her
the shot had wounded him. l had TO
fire again. this time almost into his face.
before he rolled down again And so
il went on, with a sameness that grew
more and more horrible, with per-
sistency which seemed to me nothing
less than diabolical. One by one they
came in answer TO the cries of the
wounded: one by one they attempted 10
storm the rock. with the same slow. des-
perate untiring energy. used up my
cartridg ges, and yet they came. L
dubbed my gun and felled them one
by one 1t was like the most horrible
of nightmare dreams. No sooner did
one disappear than another took his
place. Battered, bleeding, hardly able
10 crawl. still they crept up, one by
one.
Iseemed to myself to have stood there
for hours. Ny head had grown dizzy,
my arms had become weak and numbed.
I could scarcely raise the gun to strike,
and everything seemed to sway and
quiver before my eyes. The attacks had
gradually become more rare. but /
think the strain of watching for them
was more terrible than ever. 4 burn
ing thirst, too, had begun TO creep over
me. and sense of horror which 1 could
hardly resist. II seemed long since l
had struck the last blow. but | didn't
dare for a single moment TO relax my
watchfuIness. Suddenly-it appeared
10 be within a yard of my foot-there
was black face. with fiendish eyes that
cleaned and great white teeth that
clistened in the moonlight. With a
sudden, desperate effort l heaved up
the gun and struck al il. Thought the
creature answered the blow with dia-
bolical laugh: and that was the last
thought of which l was conscious.
Something cool fell on my cheeks and
I opened my eyes. Ii was Tom Boyd's
anxious face that was bending over me;
l
ter on me.
Tom" I gasped-"Tom, where are
they?"
Tom laughed. The devils. you
mean? Oh, they're all about among
the scrub. I fancy you've cleared Devils
Gully for good and ALL
Note-The animal known in Aus
tralasia as the Tasmanian devil is one
of the only two survivors OF what must
at one time have been widely distrib-
uted class of animals. TO judge from the
fossil remains already found in many
parts of Australia. Like nearly every
mammalian quadruped Of the CONT
nent. the devil is a marsupial; but. with
the solitary exception of the so called
Tasmanian wolf. he is the only surviy-
ing marsupial animal that is carniv-
orous. and may be regarded as a beast
of prey. The devil is now very scarce
and viii soon be extinct; but in the
early convict days of the island-when
Tasmania, then called Van Diemans
land. was the penal settlement for the
worst class of British convicts-thev
were plentiful, and many CHASTITY sto-
ries were afloat of their attacks upon
escaped convicts who had taken to the
bush. II is believed that the name of
devil was bestowed on the animal by
the convicts, who had learned TO look
upon them with almost superstitious
fear. partly in consequence of their ap-
pearance, but still more owing 10 their
untiring perseverance in following up
an enemy to the last with what looked
like undying hatred. No specimen has
ever been found on the continent OF
Acknowledgements Magazine.