bove the knees, had disappeared into the
river bottom!

As she straightened, a chilling fear clutching at her heart, she felt the
cold water of the river splashing against her booted legs. And now
knowledge came to her in a sudden, sickening flood. She had ridden her
pony fairly into a bed of quicksand!

For some minutes she sat motionless in the saddle, stunned and nerveless.
She saw now why there were no tracks or hoof prints leading down into the
crossing. She remembered now that Duncan had warned her of the presence of
quicksand in the river, but the chance of her riding into any of it had
seemed to be so remote that she had paid very little attention to Duncan's
warning. Much as she disliked the man she would have given much to have
him close at hand now. If he had only followed her!

She was surprised at her coolness. She realized that the situation was
precarious, for though she had never before experienced a quicksand, she
had read much of them in books, and knew that the pony was hopelessly
mired. But it seemed that there could be no immediate danger, for the
river bottom looked smooth and hard; it was grayish-black, and she was so
certain that the footing was good that she pulled her feet out of the
stirrups, swung around, and stepped down into the water.

She had stepped lightly, bearing only a little of her weight on the foot
while holding to the saddle, but the foot sank instantly into the sand and
the water darkened around it. She tried again in another spot, putting a
little more weight on her foot this time. She went in almost to the knee
and was surprised to find that she had to exert some little strength to
pull the foot out, there was so great a suction.

With the discovery that she was really in a dangerous predicament came a
mental panic which threatened to take the form of hysteria. She held
tightly to the pommel of the saddle, shutting her eyes on the desolate
world around her, battling against the great fear that rose within her and
choked her. When she opened her eyes again the world was reeling and
objects around her were strangely blurred, but she held tightly to the
saddle, telling herself that she must retain her composure, and after a
time she regained the mastery over herself.

With the return of her mental faculties she began to give some thought to
escape. But escape seemed to be impossible. Looking backward toward the
bank she had left, she saw that the pony must have come fifteen