The whole side of it was cut away, and they were all hurled into the sea.
Robert was not conscious of what he did.

He acted wholly from impulse and the instinctive love of life that is in every one.

He felt the water pour over him, and fill eye, ear and nostril, but he was not hurled against rock.

He struck out violently, but was borne swiftly away, not knowing in which direction he was taken.
He became conscious presently that the force driving him on was not so great and he cleared the water from his eyes enough to see that he had been carried through the opening and toward a sandy beach.

His mind became active and strong in an instant.