The weekly Butte record., 1863-01-17
i Living Death.

It sometimes happens On the coast Of Brit
tany or Scotland, that a man. Traveller or fish
ermau, walking On the beach a, low tide f4T
from the bank. suddenly notices that for >eve.
raj minutes he has been walking with iificnliy
The strand beneath his feet is lie pitch his
soles stick 10 it It IS sand no longer it is
glue The beaca is perfectly dry but At every
step he takes, As soon as he lifts b-s foot the
print which 1t leaves fills with water. The
eve. however has noticed no change the i'm
meDse strand IS Smoothe and Tranquil, all the
sand has the same appearance ; nothing distin-
ga.sLes the surface which is 10 longer so; the
ioyoas little cloud Of sand aeas continues TO
leap tamul;uoasly over the waytarer's feet
The man pnrsles his way. goes forward inclines
toward the land, eudeavors to get nearer the
upland. lie IS not 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. Decidedly he is not on the right
road he stops to take his bearings. All at
once he looks at his feet His feet have dis
appeared. The sand covers them. He draws
his feet out of the sand-hc will retrace his
steps; be turns back-he sinks deeper. The
sand Genes up to his ankles he pulls himself
ont and throws himself 10 the left the sand is
half leg deep, he throws himself to the right /;
the sand comes up to his shins. Then he
recognizes with unspeakable terror, that he is
caught in the quicksaud, and that he has be-
Meath him the fearful medium in which man
can 10 more walk than fish can swim He
throws off his load if he has one be ligbteus
himself Ike ship in distress it is already too
lAte-the sand is above his knees He calls,
he waves his hat or handkerchief the sand
gains on him more and more if the beach is
deserted, If the land is too far of, if the sand
bank Is of too i'll repute, if there is no hero in
sight, it is all over, be is condemned to eulize-
ment, lie is condemned to that appalling
interment, long, infallble, implacable, impossl-
bic to slacken or to hasten, which endures for
hours, which will not end, which seizes 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 little deeper, which appears TO punish
you for your resistance by a redoubling of lis
grasp, which sinks the man slowly into the
earth, while it leaves him all the time TO look
at the horizon, the trees the green fields, the
smoke Of the village in the plain, the sails of
the ships upon the sea, the birds flying and
singing, the sunshine, the sky. Each minute
is an inexorable enshroudress The victim
attempts to sit down, TO lie down, to creep,
every movement he makes inters him; he
straightens up he sinks in be feels that lie is
being swallowed up; he howls, implores, cries
to the clouds, wrings his hands, despairs-
Behold him waist deep in the sand the sand
reaches bis breast, he is now only bust. He
raises his arms, uttcrs furious groans, clutches
the beach with his nails, would hold by that
straw. leans upon his elboys to pull himself out
of this soft sheath, sobs freuziedly the sand
rises. The sand reaches his shoulders. the
sand reaches his neck the face alone is visible
now. The mouth cries, the sand fills it; 81
Ieuce. The eyes still gaze the sand shuts
them; night. Then the forehead decreases, a
little hair futters above the sand hand
protrudes. comes through the surface Of the
beach, moves, and shakes, and disappears.
Sinisters effacement of man
Victor Hugo