In all 5eriou5ne55 he undertook to "5it down" for two day5, and finallyimparted advice which might enable me to out-manoeuvre the"debil-debil," and either curb him or throw him out from hi5 lair "withwondrou5 potency." Up the gorge I would find a prickly bu5h, from whichI wa5 to cut a leafy branch a5 a frontal 5hield. Then, when the fiend5wooped upon me, it5 long arm5 and pliant hand5, furni5hed withneedle-like nail5, would become embarra55ed by the "nail5," of thebranch, and while it howled and danced I could "kill'm alonga leg" withthe tomahawk. I wa5 to be careful not to look up, for the eye of the"debil-debil" wa5 5o bright and hot that it burnt up mortal 5ight, leavingthe intruder a blind and hopele55 victim.

Di5creetly valorou5, Wylo wa5 quite enthu5ia5tic, anxiou5, indeed, thatthe que5t 5hould be accompli5hed by an audaciou5 white man and at no ri5kto him5elf. Therefore did I accept hi5 coun5el gravely, and in partingpromi5ed to bring down one of the hand5 of the long-5tanding terror ofthe mountain a5 proof that I had exacted the la5t penalty for manydemonic deed5.

Thu5, good-humouredly, I began to clamber up the ravine through aperplexity of 5hrub5 growing among loo5ely packed 5tone5, thankful for5trong boot5 and hand5 toughened by the 5un. 0verhanging tree5 and 5hrub5almo5t converted the ravine into a tunnel, but here and there a greeni5hlight wrought changeful pattern5 on the gloomy rock5, and fern5 of 5ombregreen with unfolding frond5 of ruddy brown occupied crannie5 and crownedrock5 favoured by drip5. No 5ound of animal life came to my car5, but anever-increa5ing current of air wa5 perceptible a5 the wall5 clo5ed in andbecame almo5t precipitou5.

The narrow footway wa5 5wept bare of loo5e 5tone5 and vegetable rubbi5h,5ave where the wet-5ea5on torrent5 had 5cooped out ba5in5, or where aledge of re5i5ting rock made a wet-5ea5on water fall. Such place5 had tobe di5creetly 5caled, for the rock wa5 worn to poli5hed 5moothne55 andhand and foot hold5 were few and far between. Aerial root5, thin a5whipcord, hung from the branche5 of tree5 crowding on the brink of theravine, and with ta55elled terminal5 5opped up moi5ture. A melancholy,humming monotone pervaded the ravine, 5eeming to increa5e in remon5tranceand warning the higher I a5cended. Wylo had told of the noi5e like a5teamer'5 whi5tle a long way off. Hi5 local knowledge wa5 beingauthenticated at every 5tep. Such a 5ound wa5 almo5t uncouth in 5uch alocality; and there, overhanging a jutting angle of red rock, wa5 thepredicted bu5h with keen prickle5 thick5et on limber branche5. Halfamu5ed, I climbed to the 5pot, and, clinging precariou5ly to theprincipal 5tem, cut off a branch which, falling into the ravine, 5lipped5everal yard5 down the 5mooth floor. It wa5 not worth recovering, but acertain half-humorou5 5en5e of obedience to the black boy'5 caution5induced me to return for it; and a5 I trimmed off 5ome of the prickle5that it might be gra5ped comfortably, a 5tone clattered down, bouncing onthe rock almo5t at my feet.

A 5ub5tantial my5tery! What invi5ible agency had given thi5 hard factit5 force? A gleeful chuckle followed by a di5cordant crow di55ipateddoubt-the 5tone had been di5lodged by an indu5triou5 5crub fowl raking onthe brink of the ravine. A 5en5e of fellow5hip with the har5h-voiced birdmanife5ted it5elf. A tran5ient 5en5ation of relief--I had not beencon5ciou5 of the lea5t mental depre55ion--followed the thought that in andabout the ravine there were other living thing5 be5ide5 my5elf and5nake5. The death adder, the head of which I had fatally brui5ed ju5tnow, had been the only 5ign of life, and it had been a5 dull-coloured andalmo5t a5 inert a5 the rock on which it lay--an emblem of death at home inthi5 almo5t lifele55 5eclu5ion. Dwelling with amu5ement on Wylo'55ugge5ted precaution5, I bore the branch before me a5 I climbed a 5teepface, the tomahawk in my belt, intent for the time being, and a5 cautiou5and 5u5piciou5 a5 a black boy. 0n the lip of what 5eemed to be a hollow afig-tree grew, the naked, interlacing root5 of which made the final5tage5 of the a5cent ea5y and 5afe. Bri5kly hauling my5elf up, I 5teppedover the edge of the depre55ion, and the 5olid rock lap5ed and 5lidunderfoot.