Ottumwa weekly courier., 1878-10-30
The Wondertul Escape ofa Teature-
some Hunter-His Horse S,cdllo,c-
ed I'm.
From the st. Louis Post,

pecimens OF his skill in shooting.
The birds, however, were shv, ana
he anxious sportsman following
hem, penetrated further and further
nto the swamp. Presently he came
lpon . spot much more open than the
est. No shrubbery of any size grew
lpon it, but kind of coarse grass. in
'erspersed with clumps of bulrushes,
covered the entire surface. The
birds had settled upon the most re-
mote point of this open space, upon
which he urged his horse, so as to ap-
proach near enough to be within
good range. No sooner had the
horses feet touched the cod than he
sank immediately above his fetlocks.
Floundering out Of what his rider
supposed to be only a mud hole, the
animal leaped forward with force. and
this time sank almost to his knees.
The rider touched the horse with the
whip. The animal raised himself by
main force from the mire and leaped
forward again, apparently as anxious
as the rider to get out of the bog.
This time, however, he sank almost
up to his girth, and the most power
full efforts on his part could not result
In extricating his feet from the mud.
The more he struggled the further he
sank, and In few seconds he ceased
altogether to make any efforts to re-
lease himself, but remained quiet,
trembling in every joint.
Mr.. Laffon began to feel consider
able alarm. He was obliged to ex-
tend his own legs out parallel to the
body of the horse to keep them from
sinking in the bog. His mind revert
ed to oil the tales of quagmires and
quicksands that he had ever read, and
he began to think he had struck some
thing of the kind himself. The situ-
alton was looking gloomy; he must
do something. So he spoke to his
horse again to induce him to make
one more effort; but the poor animal
was beyond the power of helping
himself. Already part Of his body
was in the black, jelly-liks mass Of
mud which everywhere surrounded
them, and Mr.. Laffon discovered, to
his horror, that he was slowly getting
nearer on level with the bog. He
felt certain new that unless help came
he must disappear with his poor horse
in this lonely bog, and his fate forev-
er remain mystery. His first i'm
pulse was to shout for help, although
the probabilities were that no one
would hear him, as the country
around was very sparsely settled, and
the last habitation he had passed was
several miles behind. As he had fear
ed, no answer was returned to his
hallooings, and a cold fear for q mo-
ment overcame him. Determined
MOTTO give way to despair, he glanc.
ed once more anxiously around, and
this time noticed, not more than two
or three yards distant, the branches
of large tree, which, with roots still
partially in the firm ground beyond,
had fallen across the bog. It's wide
spreading boughs had prevented it
from sinking into the mire, and he
now felt that to reach that tree was
his only hope of salvation. He could
not reach it from his position, and he
dared not leap lest the added impetus
should only send him deeper into the
bog, without enabling him to get
hold CT the branches. An idea seized
him. He took the bride from the
horse, and hitching strap which he
carried with him. and bound them
firmly tightly together with some
twine he found in his pocket, and,
forming . sort of a moose, threw his
impromptu lasso toward stout dead
branch which projected from the fal.
len tree. His first trial failed, also the
second and the third, but the fourth
succeeded, and he had only to make
the attempt to draw himself TO the
tree. He was now standing upon the
back of his doomed horse, which had
sunk several inches further, and, with
head raised was looking with terror
stricken eyes back towards his mas
ter, every once in while uttering
pitiful cries. With few last tender
pats, Mr.. Laffon said farewell to his
poor horse and leaped from his back
as far out as possible. He sank sew
eral feet, but, keeping firm hold OF
the line, he began to draw himself
out hand-over-hand, and after hard
struggling, finally succeeded in reach
ing the tree, into which he quickly
drew himself, and crept carefully
across it's trunk to terra firma.
His first thought was to go for help
and try to rescue his horse. For this
purpose he started off for the nearest
cabin. After q walk Of several miles
he encountered couple of farmers
who were astonished to learn of the
existence of such q spot in the neigh.
borhood, and, quickly procuring 9TH
er aid and providing themselves with
ropes, they accompanied Mr.. Laffon
back to the bog. Several hours
elapsed before he reached the treach-
erous spot again, and not sign Of his
horse remained. The animal had to.
tally disappeared in the black ooze,
and only the lack of scant verdure on
one particular spot marked the place
where he had met with a living
death. Mr.. Laffon was obliged to
procure another horse and con tinue
his journey.