Carrying them out of the hut by a back door, they passed through the woods until they came to a glen.

In the middle of it was a small, shallow lake, covering a bed of quicksand, and they paused upon the shore.

"Throw them in!" ordered Jesse.

His men complied.

As the prisoners were bound, they could not help themselves.

One after another they were tossed into the treacherous lake.

No sooner were their bodies upon the sand when they began to slowly sink into it.

The bandits gathered along the shore to watch their unlucky victims perish in the quicksand bed.

CHAPTER XV.
RESCUED FROM DEATH.