, he lay down. I
have camped out some, and can readily anticipate the comfort of the old
gentleman's situation, and not at all disposed was he to go to sleep
mounted upon such guard.

At length the work of destruction and ruin being done, the storm abated,
the rain ceased to _pour_ and the winds to wag their noisy tongues so
furiously. A wolf _howl_, and of all fearful howls, or yelps uttered by
beasts of prey, none can, I think, be more alarming and terrific to the
ear than the _wolf_ howl as he scents carnage. A wolf howl broke
fearfully upon the drover's ear as he lay crouched beneath the sycamore.
It was a familiar sound, and therefore, and _then_ the more dreadful.
The drover carried a good Yeager rifle, knife, and pistols, but a man
laden with arms in the midst of a troop of famished wolves, was as
helpless as the tempest-tossed mariner in the midst of the ocean's
storm. The _howl_ had scarcely echoed over the dark wood, before it was
answered by dozens on every side! And as the drover's keen eye pierced
the gloom around him, the dancing, fiery glare of the wolf's eyes met
his wistful gaze.

The forest now resounded with the maddened banqueting beast, and as the
glaring eyes came nearer and nearer, the drover hugged his Yeager
tightly, and prepared to defend life while yet it lasted. Suddenly the
sharp crack of a rifle was heard, and then a loud scream or cry of
terror burst upon the air, a rushing sound, a man pursued by a troop of
wolves fled by the drover and his cover; scream after scream rent the
air, and the drover knew that a companion had fell a victim to the wolf
in his attempt at self-defence. The night was a long one, and thus,
among the savage beasts, a fearful one. The report of another rifle
again broke upon the ear, and again, and again did the hunting iron
speak, and the wolf howl salute it. A pair of eyes glared hurriedly upon
the drover, and he could not resist the desire to use his Yeager, and
the wolf taking the contents of the rifle in his mouth, rolled over,
while a score rushed up to fill his place. Oh! how dreadful must have
been the suspense and feelings of the drover as he lay crouched under
the old tree, surrounded by this horde of glaring eyes, his ears split
with their awful _howl_, and their hot and venomous breath fairly in his
face! But the wolf is a base coward, and will not meet a man eye to eye,
and so protected lay the drover, with his clenched teeth and unquivering
eye, that