"Inch by inch the line of wet crept up, but the spending of his strength
went on more swiftly. It seemed to him as if his inside were being
gripped and torn slowly out: his whole body cried out to him to let it
sink and lie in rest at the bottom.
"At length his unconscious burden opened its eyes and stared at him
stupidly, then closed them again with a sigh; a minute later opened them
once more, and looked long and hard at him.
"'Let me go,' he said, 'we shall both drown. You can manage by
yourself.'
"He made a feeble effort to release himself, but the other held him.
"'Keep still, you fool!' he hissed; 'you're going to get out of this with
me, or I'm going down with you.'
"So the grim struggle went on in silence, till the man, looking up, saw
the stone coping just a little way above his head, made one mad leap and
caught it with his finger-tips, held on an instant, then fell back with a
'plump' and sank; came up and made another dash, and, helped by the
impetus of his rise, caught the coping firmly this time with the whole of
his fingers, hung on till his eyes saw the stunted grass, till they were
both able to scramble out upon the bank and lie there, their breasts
pressed close against the ground, their hands clutching the earth, while
the overflowing water swirled softly round them.
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