All at once, however, the water appeared to deepen; and by going upon their knees they could no longer surmount the waves, even with their eyes. By moving on towards the beach, they might again get into shallower water; but just at this point the commotion caused by the breakers came to a termination, and the flakes of froth, with the surrounding spray of bubbles here bursting, one after another, left the surface of the sea to its restored tranquillity. Anything beyond a cork, or the tiniest waif of seaweed, could scarce fail to be seen from the strand, though the latter was itself, constantly receding as the tide flowed inward. The submerged middies were now in a dilemma they had not dreamed of. By holding their ground, they could not fail to "go under". By advancing farther, they would run the risk of being discovered to the enemy. Their first movement was to get up from their knees, and raise their heads above water by standing in a crouched attitude on their feet. This they had done before, more than once, returning to the posture of supplication only when too tired to sustain themselves. This they attempted again, and determined to continue it to the last moment, in view of the danger of approaching nearer to the enemy. To their consternation they now found that it would no longer avail them. Scarce they had risen erect before discovering that, even in his position, they were immersed to the chin, and after plunging a pace or two forward, they were still sinking deeper. They could feel that their feet were not resting on firm bottom; but constantly going down. "A quicksand!" was the apprehension that rushed simultaneously into the minds of all three. Fortunately for them, the Arabs, at that moment, yielding to their fatalist fears, had faced away from the shore; else the plunging and splashing made by them in their violent endeavours to escape from the quicksand could not have failed to dissipate these superstitions, and cause their pursuers to complete the capture they had so childishly relinquished. As it chanced, the Saaran wreckers saw nothing of all this; and as the splashing sounds, which otherwise might have reached them, were drowned by the louder sough of the sea, they returned toward their encampment in a state of perplexity bordering upon bewilderment. CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. ONCE MORE THE MOCKING LAUGH. After a good deal of scrambling and struggling, our adventurers succeeded in getting clear of the quicksand, and planting their feet upon firmer bottom, a little nearer to the water's edge. Though at this point more exposed than they wished to be, they concealed themselves as well as they could, holding their faces under the water up to the eyes. Though believing that their enemies were gone for good, they dared not as yet wade out upon the beach. The retiring pursuers would naturally be looking back; and as the moon was still shining clearly as ever, they might have been seen from a great distance.