Page 232 - The snake's pass

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220 — THE snake's pass.
make an effort to further aid us by any mechanical
appliance. The rope lay beside us in seemingly an
endless coil. I began to wonder if it would ever end.
Our breath began to come quickly, our hands were
cramped. There came a new and more obstinate re-
sistance. I could not account for it. Dick cried
out :
is under the roots
" It of the bog ; we must now
take it up straight. Can you two hold on for a
moment ? and I shall get on the plank." "We nodded,
breath was too precious for unnecessary speech.
Dick slacked out after we had got our feet planted
for a steady resistance. He then took a handful of
earth, and went out on the plank a little beyond the
centre and caught the rope. When he held it firmly with
his clay-covered hands, he said :
" Come now, Art. Murdock, you stay and pull." I
ran to him, and, taking my hands full of earth, caught
the rope also.
The next few minutes saw a terrible struggle. Our
faces were almost black with the rush of blood in
stooping and lifting so long and so hard, our hands
and backs ached to torture, and we were almost in
despair, when we saw the bog move just under us.
This gave us new courage and new strength, and with
redoubled effort we pulled at the rope.
Then up through the bog came a large mass. We could
not see what it was, for the slime and the bog covered
it solidly; but with a final effort we lifted it. Each