The lad struck out manfully, swimming with long, easy strokes,
aided considerably by the current which was sweeping him
downstream much faster than he thought.
"I'm glad I have only my pajamas on," decided the lad. "If I
had all my clothes on I fear I should have a pretty tough fight.
It's bad enough as it is."
Talking to himself, in order to keep up his courage, he swam
steadily on, now and then pausing to swim on his back to
rest himself. He had gone on for nearly an hour when the
lad began to wonder why he had not reached shore.
"Surely the river cannot be so wide at this point. I must have
drifted downstream considerably. Perhaps I haven't been going in
the right direction at all."
He tried to find out which way the drift was, in order to make
up his mind as to the direction in which the shore lay. In the
darkness, however, he was unable to determine this, so he began
swimming again, trusting to luck to land him on something solid,
sooner or later. He knew that this must occur, but whether his
strength would hold out that long he could not say.
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