h of time that the poor devil was kept in
suspense, I received a tremendous nudge from Mr. Brown's elbow,
accompanied by the exclamation of--

"The devil has come at last!"

I opened my eyes, and was gratified to see that the ghost whose
disappearance I had noticed, re-appeared upon the scene, but with one
important change in his aspect, which rendered his _tout ensemble_ more
hideous than ever.

By some means he had managed to light a fire upon his bony head, and the
flames were twisting and squirming like so many fiery serpents,
revealing the long bullock's horns with telling effect. So well had he
managed the affair, that, accustomed as I was to his presence, I had
half a mind to run, not knowing but a real devil, or being of the other
world, had usurped Day's especial functions in the ghost line.

If the sudden appearance was startling to myself and Mr. Brown, how much
more must it have astonished the bushrangers, who were anxiously
awaiting the death of their companion at the hands of Tyrell. I saw the
arm of the latter fall as if paralyzed, and he started back, but
disdained to fly upon the first alarm. Not so with his comrades. With
one accord they dropped knives, meat, and blankets, and with shouts of
frantic terror rushed towards the woods, tumbling over each other in
their eagerness to escape, and looking over their shoulders as they
fled, as if they feared that Satan had already laid a hand upon them,
and was about to claim them as his own.

Even the young fellow who had murdered the old pirate, seemed to
entertain some hope of escape from earthly enemies, for he commenced
crawling away from the fires as fast as he could on hands and knees, and
bent his course directly towards our ambush. Once or twice I saw him
look back, apparently with the expectation of receiving a shot in his
rear, but finding that his captain was too much occupied with his own
matters, he seemed to think that Providence had interfered in a most
wonderful manner in his behalf, and recommenced crawling with renewed
energy and hope, not caring half as much for the ghost as he did for the
vengeance of his chief.

"Here comes this fellow directly on to us," whispered Mr. Brown; "what
can we do to start him in another direction?"

"Groan him away," I replied, recollecting the efficacy of diabolical
sounds in my own case; and forthwith we uttered in chorus the most
hideous noises possible for human beings to produce. So frightful were