Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-10
Caught in Quicksard.
BY VICTOR HUGO.

Victor Hugo. Iso2-lss5, was a famous
french poet and writer, author OF The
bles," etcD
A quicksand. so called is q most dan
gerouS and treacherous trap for the un-
wary. A quicksand bog is formed of a
deep mass of loose sand mixed with
water in such consistency that 1t IS al
most impossible to extricate from its
sucking greedineSs anything that starts
to sink into its abyss.
1t sometimes happens that a man,
traveller or fisherman, walking on the
beach at low tide, far from the bank,
uteS he has been walking with some
difficulty. The strand beneath his feet
Is like pitch; his soleS stick in It.: 1t
is sand no longer-it is glue.
The beach is perfectly dry, but at
every step he takes as soon as he lifts
his foot the print which it leaves fills
with water The eye, however, has no.
ticed no change; the immense strand is
smooth and tranquil; all the sand has
the same appearance; nothing distin-
cuisines the surface which is solid from
that which is no longer so; the Joyous
little crowd of sandflies continues to
leap unanimously over the wayfarer's
feet.
The man pursues his way, goes for
ward, inclines to the land, endeavors TO
get nearer the upland.
He Is not anxious. Anxious about
what? Only he feels, somehow, as If the
weight of his feet increases with every
step he takes. Suddenly he sinks in.
He sinks in 2 or inches. Decidedly
he Is not on the right road; he stops
to take his bearings; now he looks at
his feet. They have disappeared. The
sand covers them
He draws his feet out of the sand.
He will retrace his steps. He turns
back. He sinks in deeper. The sand
comes up to his ankles. He pulls him
self out and throws himself to the left
the sand half leg deep. He throws him.
self to the right-the sand comes up
higher
Then he recognizes with unspeakable
terror that he is caught in the quick
sand and that he has beneath him the
terrible medium in which man can no
more walk than the fish can swim.
He throws off his load If he has one,
lightens himself as ship in distress. 1t
Is already too late; the sand is above
his knees. He calls, he waves his hat
or his handkerchief; the sand gains on
him more and more. II the beach is de-
serted, If the land is too far of, If
there Is no help In sight, he is doomed.
44C - COAaQCA1AtC0 W O1RNJ ARpA1llIlB
burial, long. infallible, implacable and
impossible to slacken or to hasten,
which endures for hours, which seizes
you erect free and in fun health and
which draws you by the feet: which, at
every effort you make, at every shout
you utter. drags you a little deeper,
sinking you slowly into the earth while
you look upon the horizon. the sails Of
the ships upon the sea. the birds flying
and singing. the sunshine and the sky
The victim attempts to sit down, to
lie down, to creep; every movement he
makes inters him; he Straightens up.
he sinks in; he feels that he is being
swallowed. He howls. implores, cries
to the clouds, despairs.
Behold him waist deep in the sand.
The sand reaches his breast; he is
now only bust. He raises his arms,
utters furious groans, clutches the beach
with his nails. would hold by that
straw; leans upon his elbows, to pull
himself out of this soft sheath; sobs
frenziedly; the sand rises: the sand
reaches his shoulders; the sand reaches