nk under his weight. Had he
been older and more sensible, he would have known that this need not mean
danger to him, for the smallest board was buoyant enough to hold his head
above water, and he could have worked his way to land with such support.
But the sight of the structure breaking apart threw him into a panic. He
made a frenzied leap as far out as he could, came up instantly, blew the
water from his mouth and swam so easily to where I was standing that I
never dreamed he was in peril. I should have said that never before had
he tried to swim.

The explanation of what seems unaccountable is simple. Now and then it
happens that when a sudden demand is made upon a person to save his life
by swimming he instinctively does the right thing. He adjusts his body
correctly, and uses his legs and arms properly--his action being exactly
like those of a bullfrog when he starts on a voyage to the other side of
the spring where he makes his home.

This thing does not often occur, but, as I have said, it does now and
then. Let me beg you never to make the experiment unless it is forced
upon you, for I dread what the result would be.

You have already guessed that this is what took place with Mike Murphy. I
cannot think of a more startling awaking than that of a sleeping person
who is flung into a deep stream of very cold water. Mike's momentum took
him several feet below the surface, but he quickly rose again, shook the
water from his eyes, blew it out of his mouth, and then swam straight for
land with the skill that you would show in a similar situation. Even in
taking the right direction he was providentially guided, for at first the
dense fog shut everything from sight, but after a few strokes, he saw the
dim outlines of the trees, and never stopped the vigorous swimming until
he reached up, grasped an overhanging limb of a near-by tree and felt his
feet touch bottom.

And then he was so overcome by what had taken place and it was so beyond
his comprehension that he believed it was a miracle. Standing on the bank
in his dripping clothing, he was mute for a full minute. Then he sank on
his knees and looking reverently upward said:

"I thank Thee, my Heavenly Father, for saving me life when I didn't
desarve it. Why Ye took the trouble is beyond me, but I niver can thank
Thee enough. I'm going to try me bist to be more desarving of Yer
kindness, and now if it's all the same to Yer blissed silf, plaise give
me a chance at t