Haunches deep in the wet sand that held him fast, the red stallion swelled to greater fury at the nearness of this foe, who had tracked him down. He sensed the sucking death behind him, yet his forelegs still trod upon solid ground and his untamed heart would not admit defeat. But now this new enemy approached him, when he was unable to fight back! He bared his teeth, waiting. And all the time he heard the soft sounds this foe uttered as he approached him. He had never heard such sounds before, nor seen a foe who walked on hind legs only. His eyes met the newcomer’s. Shaking his head, the stallion snorted repeatedly in rage and fear. Now his foe was directly in front of him. He saw the long, thin object close to his forefeet. It looked and moved like a snake. Furiously he struck at the thing and it passed quickly under his legs. Another frantic plunge at it, and it swept clear of him and entwined itself about his belly! The two-legged foe had moved away, too far for him to reach with teeth or hoofs. He screamed and pounded upon the ground in front of him, and then he felt the weight of the wet sand pulling more heavily on his hindquarters.

Carrying the lower part of the noose, Steve hurried around the rim of the pit, his heart beating wildly. He had the noose about Flame! He pulled it as far back to the sinking hindquarters as possible, then dropped it and ran over to the crane. Reaching the wheel, he took hold of the handle and breathed a short prayer before turning it. The handle moved, turning the wheel and winding the chain about it.

The chamber resounded to the long-unheard noise of the iron chain passing through the crane’s tackle and moving down the supporting pole to the wheel. Anxiously Steve watched the end of the chain ascend until the rope became taut about the stallion’s body. He knew the chain would not slip back, for the wheel was fitted with teeth into which a metal hook from the handle slipped as he turned, thus locking it and preventing the wheel from turning in reverse unless the metal hook was released.

Now that the slack had been taken up, it was harder to turn the wheel. Steve bore down on it with all his strength, knowing that with each click of the wheel’s teeth Flame’s hindquarters were being lifted from the quicksand. He stopped to rest only when he saw that Flame’s flanks were clear. And then he realized that he would need Pitch’s help to raise Flame all the way out of the quicksand and swing him clear of the pit. After making certain the wheel was locked, Steve went over to the red stallion.