He grasped the slippery side of the skip and felt the shackle loop.

With some trouble he got the rope through, and then tried to put his feet on the bottom.

They were swept away and he came up gasping, knowing he had made a mistake that might cost him dear.
He held the end of the rope, but had been carried several yards down-stream, and the lost ground must be regained.

The rope was rather a hindrance than a help, since the men on the bank could only haul him back to the skip and drag him under water, while he must pull the slack through the loop as he struggled to land.

If he got out of the eddies he would be swept past the island, but he did not mean to let the rope go yet.
A revolving eddy swung him in-shore, but the reflux caught and drove him a few yards lower down.