EVEN as he sank in the river, Antony perceived that he was in the grip of a terrible current. He struck out with all his strength against it for a moment, instinctively, before he realised that it was folly to combat it; and as he rose to the surface, staring eagerly along the course of its tugging compulsion, he saw, as he had hoped to see, a sleek small head several yards in advance of him. With a shout of encouragement he made for the small, floating dot, and swam as he had never swam before, marking its distance each second in order to be able to dive when it should disappear. But it did not disappear. To his delight it floated serenely along, and as he caught up with it, still yelling in his excitement, it turned towards him. "Don't you think you might as well stop that noise, now?" said Nette calmly. "We seem to be saved. Is it far to the shore?" Antony's jaw dropped and he swallowed more of the river water than was conducive to his comfort. "I--I don't know, really," he gasped, "but it can't be, of course, if this beastly current will only let us land. Shall I hold you a little? Aren't you tired?" "Not yet" she answered briefly. "I'll let you know. Of course my clothes make a dif----" She paused abruptly and devoted her breath to keeping up with him. Antony was a strong and rapid swimmer and had had more than one occasion to practice the art when fully dressed. Rising on his stroke, he glanced about him and saw with joy that the current was sweeping them gradually, though not directly, to the left bank of the river. He could in fact discern their course in the different texture of the water as it sparkled in the sun. "Just put your hand on my shoulder," he begged. "There's no use wasting your strength. I think we ought to be there in five minutes, at this rate. It must be awfully hard in those skirts." Her breath came short and hard now; with a slight motion of her head she indicated her assent, and placed her hand on his shoulder, and they slid in silence through the water. The bank, which now loomed clearly over them, was quite high at this point, and Antony deliberately neglected more than one place where a brief effort would have got them out of the current, in order to make sure of an easy slope by which to land. Suddenly his eye lit on what he had been waiting for, a winding, easy path up through the cleared underbrush, with a rough, three-sided shanty near it. "Here we are!" he cried encouragingly. "I think I can get you across--by Jove, it's taking us there!"