way, and
righted himself with a numb feeling in his arm and only the pistol stock
in his hand. It was several minutes before he recovered sufficiently
from the shock to discover that he had received no serious injury. He
found the pistol barrel had exploded into countless fragments and the
wonder was that he had not been wounded by some of the flying pieces.
The thought of the horrible predicament he would have been in had some
of those fragments struck his eyes and left him blinded in those
lonely wilds, almost sickened him. It was a providential escape and he
kneeled on the bar and earnestly thanked the Almighty.

The incident so weighed on his mind, that he concluded not to build a
fire, but to push right along. Seeing that the belt was properly
fastened, he resumed the journey. That seemed to be his unlucky day,
however. As night was coming on he was driving along at double
speed trying to get up temperature enough to dry his underclothing.
Between eleven and twelve o'clock, he found himself in a place where
there was no current and realized that he had lost the channel. He tried
to stand upright to see where he was; but his feet struck the slimy,
working mud at the bottom. It appeared to grasp his legs and he
immediately threw himself on his back again, putting forth extra
exertions to extricate himself. He could make no headway and the mud
seemed to get thicker all around and he could feel it touching the under
side of the band of his dress. He then realized that he was in one of
the dreaded mud sucks that are numerous on the Missouri. They are
something in the nature of quicksand or quagmire and it is seldom
anything escapes from their slimy embrace. Seeing no way out, he grew
exceedingly nervous. He beat around in every direction without
success. Now and then he put his hand down and could feel the deadly
suction right under him. He had turned and twisted so much that he had
no idea where the channel was. The shore seemed near at hand but
impossible to reach. A cold perspiration started from every pore as
he began to realize the frightful situation. Then he thought of the
tactics he had employed in the quicksands of the Loire and he inflated
every chamber of his dress to its utmost capacity. That raised him
higher, but he could not get out. Then he thought he would remain
perfectly still until daylight, when he might see his way clear and get
the direction of the