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.