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
lorse-skin boots, wedging them around my ancles