Some poor fellow who got too far out and had a cramp, perhaps.

Or his strength may have given out.

He didn't seem very rugged." "He was struggling when first I saw him," said Maud.

"It seemed dreadful to watch the poor boy drowning when hundreds of people were laughing and playing in the water within earshot of him." "That was the trouble," declared Arthur Weldon.

"All those people were intent on themselves and made so much noise that his cries for help could not be heard." The tragedy, now generally known, had the effect of sobering the bathers and most of them left the water and trooped to the bathhouses to dress.
Mrs.Montrose advised the girls to get their clothes on, as all were shivering--partly from nervousness--in their wet bathing suits.
They were ready an hour before Mr.Merrick returned, and his long absence surprised them until they saw his smiling face as he drove up in his car.
It gave them a thrill of hope as in chorus they cried: "Well--Uncle John ?" "I think he will live," returned the little man, with an air of great satisfaction.