The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1899-03-16

had supposed the creature to be ex-
tinct, indeed. but might have remem-
bered the tales had often heard as q
boy of its demon blackness. its strange
cries, and, above all. it's temper of in.
satiable revenge.
As the smoke cleared away saw him
again. He was rolling on the ground.
trying to tear himself savagely with
fierce white teeth that glistened in the
moonlight. Then he gave another Of
those fendish cries, and again there
came the answering echoes. He strug-
gled to his feet, and his eyes seemed
to look for me with savage, cunning
glances. watched him as If had been
fascinated, and saw him suddenly STUN
BILE along the bank towards my rock.
He came slowly and painfully, but he
reached the foot Of the great bowlder
at last. put my hand hastily to my
belt and drew out cartridge-it was
one OF less than a dozen that were left
and rose slowly to my knees. AS did
so l remembered that my cartridges
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. lie 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 motion that
was quite indescribable in its clumsy
eagerness. AS he did so another black
figure appeared at the bottom, and
heard a splash as third began to wade
the stream. 1t was growing serious in
deed. l waited until he had got within
a few feet Of me. and then fired. He
gave snarling howl and rolled to the
bottom.
When the smoke cleared I could see
him on the ground, but the other had
begun to climb in his place. Slowly,
carefully, doggedly he came on, as il
his one object in existence was to reach
me. l 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
swapping fercely at the places where
the shot had wounded him. l had to
fire again, this time almost into his face.
before he rolled down again. And so
it went on, with Il 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 to
storm the rock, with the same slow, des-
perate. untiring energy. fused up my
cartridges, and yet they came. l
clubbed 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
to crawl. still they crept up. one by
| one.
Iseemed to myself to have stood there
for hours. My head had grown dizzy.
my arms had become weak and numbed.
l 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. A burn
ing thirst, too. had begun to creep over
me, and q sense Of horror which could
hardly resist. 1t seemed long since ]
had struck the last blow. but | didn't
dare for single moment to relax my
watchfulness. Sudden!y-it appeared
to be within q yard of my foot-there
was black face, with fiendish eyes that
CLEANED and great white teeth that
glistened in the moonlight. With a
sudden, desperate effort l heaved up
the gun and struck att 1t. thought the
creature answered the blow with dia-
.bolical laugh; and that was the last
| thought of which / was conscious.
Something cool fell on my cheeks and
I opened my eyes. 1t was Tom Boyd's
anxious face that was bending over me !;
it was his hand that was sprink!ing wa
ter on me.
'Tom," 7 gasped-"Tom. where are
they?"
Tom laughed. The devils. you
mean? Oh, they're all about among
the scrub. 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
pSts Of Australia. Like nearly every
mammalian quadruped Of the conti-
nent, the devil is marsupial; but, with
the solitary exception of the socalled
Tasmanian wolf, he is the only surviv.
| inn marsupial animal TINT is carpiv.