o
the boys below, gasped out:

"Come along, boys! It's as easy as winking."

Not to be outdone, several others made the attempt and succeeded also.
Then came Bert's turn. Although so many had got up all right, he somehow
felt a little nervous, and made one or two false starts, climbing up a
little way and then dropping back again. This caused those who were
waiting to become impatient, and while Bert was about making another
start, one of them who stood behind him gave him a sharp push, saying:

"Hurry up there, slow coach."

As it happened, Bert was just at that moment changing his grip upon the
rope, and balancing himself upon the extreme edge of the stringer, which
formed the edge of the wharf. The ill-timed push caught him unawares. He
threw out his arms to steady himself, and the rope slipped altogether
from his grasp. The next instant, with a cry of fear that was taken up
by the boys standing helplessly about, he fell over into the dark,
swirling water, between the vessel's side and the wharf.

Down, down, down he went, while the water roared in his ears with the
thunders of Niagara, and filled his mouth with its sickening brine, as
instinctively he opened it to cry for help. He could not swim a stroke,
but he had a good idea of what the motions were, and so now, in a
desperate effort to save his life, he struck out vigorously with his
hands. It must have helped him, too; for out of the darkness into which
he had been plunged at first, he emerged into a lighter place, where,
through the green water, he could see his hands looking very white, as
they moved before his face.

But this did not bring him to the surface; so he tried another plan.
Doubling his sturdy legs beneath him, he shot them out as he had seen
other boys do when "treading water." A thrill of joy inspired him as the
effort succeeded, and, his head rising above the surface, he got one
good breath before sinking again. But the pitiless water engulfed him
once more, and, though he struggled hard, he seemed unable to keep
himself from sinking deeper still. Then the desire to struggle began to
leave him. Life seemed no longer a thing to be fiercely striven for. A
strange peace stole over his mind, and was followed by a still stranger
thing; for while he floated there, an unresisting prey to the deep, it
appeared as though all the events of his past life were crowding before
him like some wonderful panorama. From right to left they followed one
ano