The indian girl, kneeling several feet away, saw August’s arched back as he tried to crawl backwards out of the water. She leaped to her feet and ran toward him. Suddenly her feet flew from beneath her and she pitched sideways into the cold water. Her face broke the surface sputtering, then she went under again. With her hands bound behind her back she floundered in the deep water.
August was a poor swimmer; in his youth, while his peers were learning to swim August was sweeping out O’Leary’s saloon, or else following the teachings of Bo Johnson and learning to be a fast draw, but without a second thought he released his grip on the tall grass and slid back into the water reaching out for her. He grasp her arm, only to lose it as she thrashed about. Then her foot was in his face and he grabbed her ankle, but it slid from his grasp. In desperation he leaped towards her, grabbing a handfull of her long black hair, and with the remnants of his strength he pulled her backward bringing her face up out of the…