Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1869-07-21
f1uried IA the auickSand.

Iti0metimes happens, on certain coasts
of b itain or Scotland, that man-a trav-
eller or q f>herman-walking at low tide
on the strand, far from shore, suddenly
perceives that for several minutes he has
been Walking with difficulty. The shore
is like ritch under his feet The soles of
his feet cling to it +; it Is no more like sand,
it is ike glue. The coast Is perfectly dry
but in every step that he takes, as soon As
he has raised his feed, the print that it
leaves !, filed with water. The eye, be-
sides tais, perceives no other change; the
immense expanse is smooth and tranquil,
all the and has the same aspect, nothing
distinguishes the sand which is solid from
that watch is not; the little joyous crowd
Of puc-ronS continue to leap tumultuously
upon b., feet a he passes along.
The man continues his route, passes
along. Gaming towards the shore, seeking
to Approach the upland. He is not uneasy
Why lould he be Only he feels as
though the heayiness of his feet increases
with each step that he takes. Suddenly
he sink. He sinks two or three inches.
Certainy he is not in good route; he
Stops T NaAC us AL dt Nh1O AS
looks a, his feet. His feet have disappear
ed. Tie sand covers them. He lifts his
feet from the sand He wishes to turn
back; ae turns, he sinks more deeply the
sand comes to his ankle he withdraws
and throws himself to the left; the sand
comes still higher. lie leans to the right !;
the sand comes below his knees. Then he
recognizes with an indescribable terror.
that he is involved in quicksand, and
that hi,has under him the frightful ele-
ment in which man cannot walk, and fish
cannot swim. He throws down his burden,
if he has one; he lightens himself like a
ship in distress. 1t 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. Ii the coast Is deserted, if the solid
rTsyf-f ~ var distant, If the sand-bank
is in bad repute, if there are no heroes
within call, it is finished he is condemned
to burial. He is sentenced to this fright
ful interment long, infallible, impliable,
impossible TO retard or to hasten which
lasts for hours; which sees you upright in
full health which draws you by the feet (;
which, to every effort that you make, TO
each outcry that you utter, drags you a
little lower which Furnishes you for your
resistance by redoubled embrace; which
slowly draws the man into the earth,
allowing him all the time to look on the
horizen, the trees, the green fields, the
villages on the plain, the sails of the yes
sells on the sea, the birds that fly and sing,
the sea- the sky.
Burial in a quicksand is sepulchre
which becomes the tide, and which rises
fronflhe depths of the earth toward liv-
ing person. Each minute is an inexorable
undertaken. The miserable person tries to
sit down, to lie down, to crawl every move
ment buries him he stands erect, he sinks
he feels himself engulfed he shouts, i'm
plores, cries to the clouds, wrings hi:
hands, despairs. There he is in the sand
to his waist; the sand reaches his chest,
now he is only bust. He raises his hands
makes furious gestures, crisps his nails or
the sand, wishes to grasp at that straw,
leans on his elbows, wishes to withdraw
from this soft enclosure, sobs frantically
/ The sand rises, it attains his shoulders, il
reaches his neck; his face only is visible
now. Hh cries the sand fills his mouth
silence. His eyes are still open; the sanC
closes them; night. Then the forehead
melts away; a little flying hair is still seeI
above the surface; hand, still out, pierc