A TERRIBLE SITUATION*. 219 



'it will be better to despatch her at once;' and, 

 with a faltering hand, I again levelled the piece 

 and fired. My nerves were steady enough to do 

 the work. When the smoke floated aside I could 

 see the little creature bleeding upon the grass, her 

 head resting upon the body of her murdered mate." 



Shouldering his rifle, he was about to move for- 

 ward, when, to his amazement, he found himself 

 caught by the feet ; held firmly, as if his legs had 

 been in a vice. He made an effort to extricate 

 himself ; another, more violent and equally unsuc- 

 cessful, and, with a third, lost his balance and fell 

 back upon the water. Half suffocated, he regained 

 his upright position, but only to find that he was 

 held as fast as ever. Again he struggled to free 

 his limbs. He could neither move them backward 

 nor forward, to the right nor the left, and he be- 

 came sensible that he was gradually going down. 

 The fearful truth flashed upon him he was sink- 

 ing in a quicksand ! A feeling of horror came over 

 the hapless prisoner, as, with a feeling of despe- 

 ration, he renewed his efforts, leaning to one side, 

 then to the other, almost wrenching his knees from 

 their sockets. His feet, despite all, remained as 

 fast as ever. He could not move an inch ! 



He has thus thrillingly narrated the issue. 

 " The soft, clingy sand already overtopped my 

 horse-skin boots, wedging them around my ancles 



