water; and
there the colossus, becoming all at once agile and swift, succeeded in
rolling over upon him. Forced thus to loose his grip, he gave one
long, ripping lunge with his horn, deep into the victim's flank, and
then writhed himself from under. The breath quite crushed out of him,
he was forced to rise to the surface for air. There he rested,
recovering his self-possession, reluctant to give up the combat, but
even more reluctant to expose himself to another such mauling in the
depths. As he hesitated, about a hundred feet away he saw the mild
little head of the colossus, apparently floating on the tide, and
regarding him anxiously. That decided him. With a crashing bellow of
rage and a sweep of his powerful tail he darted at the inoffensive
head. But it vanished instantly, and a sudden tremendous turmoil,
developing into a wake that lengthened out with the speed of a
torpedo-boat, showed him the hopelessness of pursuit. Turning
abruptly, he swam back to the shore and sulkily withdrew into the
thickets to seek some less unmanageable quarry.

The colossus, so deeply wounded that his trail threw up great clots
and bubbles of red foam, swam onward several miles up the estuary. He
realized now that that patch of sunny beach was just a death-trap. But
in the middle of the estuary, far out from either shore, far removed
from the unseen, lurking horrors of the fern forests, spread acre upon
acre of drowned marsh, overgrown with tall green reeds and feathery
"mares' tails." Through these stretches of marsh he ploughed his way,
half-swimming, half-wading, and felt that here he might find a safe
refuge as well as an unfailing pasturage. But the anguish of his
wounds urged him still onwards.

Beyond the reed-beds he came to a long, narrow islet of wet sand,
naked to the sun. This appeared to him the very refuge he was craving,
a spot where he could lie secure and lick his hurts. He dragged
himself out upon it eagerly. Not until he had gained the very center
of it did he notice how his ponderous feet sank in it at every stride.
As soon as he halted he felt the treacherous sands sucking him down.
In terror he struggled to free himself, to regain the water. But now
the sands had a grip upon him, and his efforts only engulfed him the
more swiftly. He reared upon his hind legs, and immediately found
himself swallowed to the haunches. He fell forward again, and sank to
his shoulder-blades. And then, the convulsive thrashings of