The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-11-08
4 Living Death.

1t sometimes happens on certain coasts
of Britatny or Scotland, that a man, trav-
eller or fisherman, walking on the beach
at low tide far from the bank, suddenly
notices that for several minutes he has
been walking with some difficulty. The
strand beneath his feet is like pitch his
soles stick to it it is sand no longer, it is
glue. The beach is perfectly dry, but at
every step he takes as soon as he lifts his
foot, the print which it leaves fills with
water. The eye, however has noticed no
change; the immense strand is smooth
and tranquil, all the sand has the same
appearance, nothing distinguishes the sur
face which is solid from the surface which
is no longer so; the joyous little cloud OF
sand.fieas continues to leap tumultuously
over the wayfarer's feet The man pur-
sues his way, goes forward, inclines towards
the land, endeavors to get nearer the up
land. lie is not anxious. Anxious about
what? Only, he feels somehow as if the
weight of his feet increased with every
step which he takes. Suddenly he sinks
in. He sinks in two or three inches. De-
cidedly he is not on the right road; he
stops to take his bearings. All at once,
he looks at his feet The sand covers
them. He draws his feet out Of the sand,
he will retrace his steps. he turns back, he
sinks in deeper The sand comes up to
his ankles, he pulls himself olt and throws
himself to the left, the sand is half leg
deep, he throws himself to the right, the
sand comes up to his:knees. Then he re-
cognizes with unspeakable terror that he
is caught in the quicksand, and that he
has beneath him the fearful medium in
which man can no more walk than fish
can swim. lie throws of his load If he
has one, he lightens himself like ship in
distress it is already TOO late, the sand is
above his knees.
He calls, he waves his hat or his hand
kerchief The sand gains on him more
and more if the beach IS deserted If the
land is too far off if the sand bank is of
too ill-repute, II there is no hero il sight,
il is all over, he Is conde mned to that ap-
pallins interneUt, long, infalliole, impla-
cable, impossible 10 s!acken or TO hasten,
which cndures for hours, which Will not
end, which SEXES you erect, free and IN
full health, which draws you by the feet,
which, at every effort that you attempt, at
every shout that you utter, drags you a
little deeper, which appears to punish you
for your resistance by a redoublng Of its
grasp, which sinks the mau SLOWLY into the
earth while it leaves him all the time TO
iODEN Tue liOE Tue bEtcs.
fields, the smoke of the village Ia the
plain, the sails Of the ships upon the sea,
tue birds Tying and singing, the sunshine,
the sky. Enlizement !, the grave become
tide and rising from The depths of the
earth towards living man. Each minute
is an inexorable enshroudress. The vic
tim attempts 10 sit down, to lie down, to
creep; every movement he makes inter
ests him; he straighteus up. he sinks in
he feels that he is being swallowed up: he
howis Implor"s, cries To the clouds, wrlngs
his hands, dcspairs. Behold him waist
deep in the sand the sand reaches his
breast, he is now only a bust. He raises
his arms. utters furious grOans, clutches
the beach with his nails would hold by
that straw, leans upon his elbows 10 pull
himself out OF this soft sheath. sobs iren-
zl.y; the sand rises. The sand reaches
has shoulders, the sand reaches his neck,
the face alone is visible now. The mouth
cries, the sand fills IT. silence. The eyes
still gaze, the sand shuts them; night.
Then the forehead decreases, little hair
ilutters above the sand; "A hand protrudes,
comes through the surface OF the beach,
moves aud shakes, and disappears. SIMS
ter ehacemcnt 0! a han lctor Huge.