Dust rose in clouds from all around.

The sand appeared to open and let him sink to his knees.

The rattle of gravel was drowned in a soft roar.

Then he shot down swiftly, holding the lassoes, keeping himself erect, and riding as if in a boat.

He felt the successive steps of the slope, and then the long incline below, and then the checking and rising and spreading of the avalanche as it slowed down on the level.