thin its meshes. He now gave up beating the
water and ran to make sure of the prey. On approaching the strait, he
perceived that a very large fish had been caught. It was near the
middle of the net, and Ossaroo, wading out, soon "grabbed" and secured
it. The strong creature struggled hard, and endeavoured to escape from
the grasp of its captor; but the latter put an end to its efforts, by
giving it a sharp knock on the head with one of the stones which he
still carried.

He next proceeded to release it from the meshes; but these, on account
of the desperate struggles which the fish had made, were warped and
twisted around its gills and fins, and worked into such a labyrinthine
puzzle, that Ossaroo found it no joke to get them clear. He was full
ten minutes in accomplishing this feat, but he at length succeeded, and,
holding the huge fish triumphantly in his hands above the surface of the
water, he uttered a shout of victory.

He was about to wade out to the bank with his prize, when, to his
astonishment, he found that he could not move a step! He tried to lift
first one leg and then the other, but without success. Both were held
as fast as if screwed in a vice! At first he was only puzzled and
astonished, but his astonishment soon changed to dismay, when he found
that, exert himself as he might, he could not move a limb! He at once
perceived the cause, for there was no mystery about that. He perceived
that both his legs were fast in a quicksand, into which, while engaged
with the meshes of the net, he had been gradually sinking. The surface
of the sand was already above his knees, so that he could not even bend
the joints, and there he stood as firmly as if he had been planted!

For some time he struggled to relieve himself, but his struggles were of
no avail--he could not drag out one foot or the other. The sand was
wedged around his limbs, and held him as firmly as if it had been Roman
cement. He could not stir from the spot!

At first, I have said, Ossaroo felt only astonishment, but this feeling
soon changed to dismay. It became absolute terror when he perceived
that he was _still gradually sinking_!--yes, beyond a doubt, he was
going down deeper and deeper. The sand was already up to his thighs,
and, as the water was nearly a yard in depth, his chin almost touched
the surface. Six inches more, and _he would drown_! Drown, thus
standing erect, with part of his head above the surface, and his eyes