The suck of the water as it took the beginning of the last steep pitch was frightful, and Thornton knew that the shore was impossible.

He scraped furiously over a rock, bruised across a second, and struck a third with crushing force.

He clutched its slippery top with both hands, releasing Buck, and above the roar of the churning water shouted: "Go, Buck! Go!" Buck could not hold his own, and swept on down-stream, struggling desperately, but unable to win back.

When he heard Thornton's command repeated, he partly reared out of the water, throwing his head high, as though for a last look, then turned obediently toward the bank.

He swam powerfully and was dragged ashore by Pete and Hans at the very point where swimming ceased to be possible and destruction began.
They knew that the time a man could cling to a slippery rock in the face of that driving current was a matter of minutes, and they ran as fast as they could up the bank to a point far above where Thornton was hanging on.