The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-10-26
A BOttOmless Bog.

Some Few evenings since Post re-
porter made the acquaintance, at the
Lindell Hotel, of Mr.. James Laffon,
an old resident of this city, who related
to him curious incident. Mr.. Laffon
is a man about thirty-fve years of age,
of a fine, imposing appearance, and
having physique indicating frequent
and continued exercise Mr.. Laffon.
without being mighty hunter" is,
nevertheless, very fond of making Jour-
neys upon horseback throughout the
surrounding country of Illinois and
Missouri, and, with his gun by his side,
passes many hours in picking off the
smaller game, in which pursuit he very
frequently wanders quite a distance
from the regular highways of travel.
He says that in the spring, having oc-
casion to make a visit to Cairo upon
business, he determined to proceed
thither in his favorite manner, and,
mounting a good, strong horse, he
started upon his journey through the
bottom lands of Illinois. Nothing of
consequence happened until within
about forty miles of Cairo; there, in
a swamp overgrown with jungles of
blackberries and shrubbery common to
such spots, he espied flock of birds,
a few of which he determined to carry
into Cairo as specimens of his skill in
shooting. The birds, however, were
shy, and, the anxious sportsman perss,
vering in the ardor of the pursuit, he
penetrated further and further into the
swamp. Presently he came upon q spot
much more open than the rest-no
shrubbery of any size grew upon it, but
kind OF coarse grass, intGSpersed
with clumps of bulrushes, covered the
entire surface. The birds hal settled
upon the most remote point ofthis open
space, on to which he urged lis horse
so as to approach near enough to be
within good range. No sooner had the
horses feet touched the sod than he
sank Immediately above his fetlocks.
Floundering out of what his lider sup
posed to be only mud hole, the animal
leaped forward with considerable force,
and this time sank almost to lis knees.
His rider touched the beast with the
whip to hurry him out of the lad place.
The horse raised himself by main force
u
again, apparently as anxious as his
rider to get out of the bog. This time.
however, he sank almost Up to his
girth, and the most powerful Efforts on
his part could not result in eytricating
his feet from the mud. The more he
struggled the further he sanl, and in a
few seconds he ceased altogether to
make any efforts to release himself, but
remained perfectly quiet, trembling in
every joint Mr. Laffon now began to
feel considerable alarm; he was obliged
to extend his own legs out parallel with
the body of the horse to keep them from
sinking in the bog. His mind instantly
reverted to all the tales of quagmires
! and quicksands that he had ever read,
and he began to suspect he had struck
something of the kind himself. The
situation 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 beast was beyond
the power of helping himself. Already
part of his body was in the black,
jelly-like mass of mud, which evey-
where surrounded them. And Mr..
Laffon discovered, to his horror. that
he was slowly, but surely, getting
nearer in level with the ground. He
felt certain now that unless help came
he must surely disappear with his poor
horse in this lonely bog and his fate for
ever 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 sparselv settled and the last habi-
tation he had passed was several miles
back. As he feared, therefore, no an
swer was returned to his repeated
halloOings, and cold fear for one mo-
ment overcame him. Determined not to
give way to despair, he glanced once
more anXiouSly around, and this time
noticed, not more than two or three
yards distant, the branches of a tolera-
bly, large tree, which, with roots still
partially in the firm ground beyond,
had fallen across the bog. Its wide
spreading boughs had prevented its
sinking into the mire, and he now felt
that to reach that tree was the 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 of the branches
An idea seized him. He took the bri-
die from the horse and hitching-strap
which he carried with him, bound them
tightly together with some Irvine he
found in his pocket, and, forming a
sort of nooze, threw his impromtu
lasso toward a stout dead branch
which projected from the fallen 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 ewes
back toward his master, every once in a
while uttering pitiful cries. With few
last tender pats Mr.. Latfon said farewell
to his poor horse, and leaped from his
back as far out as possible He sank
several feet, but, keeping firm hold of
the line, he began to draw himself
out hand-over-hand, and after hard
struggling finally succeeded in reaching
the tree, into which he quickly drew
himself and crept carefully across its
trunk to terra trina, thankful of his
miraculous escape from horrible death.
His first thought now was to go for
help and try to rescue his horse. For
this nurnose he started off IN foot 90