I tried to hurry, but I could not go fast, for the water
sucked me back, while Dalfin waded close behind me. Then I heard
Bertric shout, and I knew what was coming. The knee-deep water
gathered again as the next roller stayed its ebb, swirled and
deepened round me, and then with a sudden rush and thunder the wave
came in, broke, and for a moment I was buried in the head of it,
and driven forward by its weight. I felt Gerda clutch me more
tightly, and Dalfin was thrown against me, gasping, and he steadied
me.
It passed, and I could see again, and struggled on. Then the
outward flow began again, and wrestled with me so that I could not
stem it, and together Dalfin and I, he with one arm round my
shoulder, and in the other hand the oar which he held and used as a
staff, fought against it until it was spent. The rounded pebbles
slipped and rolled under my feet as they were torn back to the sea,
but the worst was past. Up the long slope through the yeasty foam
we went, knee deep, and then ankle deep, ever more swiftly with
every pace, and the next wave broke far behind us, and its swirl of
swift water round my waist only helped me. Through it we climbed to
the dry stretches of the beach, and were safe.
I heard Gerda speak breathless words of thanks as I set her down,
and then I looked round for Bertric.
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