Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1863-02-27
A Living Death.

II s)metim-s happens, on certain
coasts Of Brittany or Scotland that 9
man, traveller, or fisherman, walking on
the beach al low tide far from the bank,
suddenly notices that for several min
utes he has been walking with some d'fi
Guilty. The strand beneath his feet is
like pitch bis soles stick to It; it's sand
no longer, il is glue. The b h is per-
tectly dry, but at every step he takes
as soon as he lifts his foot, the print fills
with water. The immense strand is
smooth and Tranquil, all the sand has the
came appearance, nothing Distinguishes
the surface which is solid from the sur
face which is no longer so; the joyou,
little cloud of sand d.as continues to lean
tumutuously over the wayfarer's feet.
The man pursues his way, goes forward
inclines towards the hnd. endeavors 10
get nearer the upland. He is not anx-
ious. Anxious about what? Only, he
feels somehow as il the weight of his
feet increased with every step which be
takes. Suddenly he sinks in. lie
sinks in two or three inches. Decidedly |
he IS not on the right road he stop |
and takes his head 'ngs. All at once, he
looks a, bis feet. His feet have disap-
peard. The sand covers them. He
draws his feet out of the sand, he will
retsaoo his steps, he turnes back, he
sinks in deeper. The sand comes up to
his ankles, he pulls himself out and
throws himself to the left, the sand
comes up TO bis shns. lie then recog-
nizes with unspeakable terror that he is
caught in the qlicksand, and that he has
beneath him the fearful medium in which
man can no more walk than the fish can
swim. He throws Of his load if he has
one, he Lighters himself like a ship in
distress; it is already too late, the sand i,
above his knees.
He calls, he waves his hat or bandker-
Chief the sand gains on him more and
more; if the beach is deserted, if the
land is too far eff, if the sand bank is OF
too i'll repute, if there be no hero in sight
it is all over, be is condemned to enlize-
ment. He is condemned to that appal-
ling interment, long, infallible, implaca.
BILE, impossible 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 its 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 villages ii
the plain, the sails of the ships upon the
sea, the birds flying and singing, the sun
shine, the sky. Enlizement is The grave
become a tide, and rising from the depths
of the earth towards a living man. Each ,
minute is an memorable enshroudress.-
The victim attempts 10 sit down, to lie
down, TO creep; every movement he
makes, inters him; he straightens up, he q
sinks in; he feels that be is being swal.
loved up; he bowls, implores, cries to
The clouds, wrings his hands, despairs.-
Behold him waist deep in the sand the
and reaches bis breast, he is now only a
lust. He raises his arms, utters furious A
yroans, clutches the beach with his nails.
would hold by that straw, leans upon his a a
Ibows TO pull himself out of this soft P
heath, sobs Greuziedly; the sand rises.