I could feel the current swirl me and I stayed under until I thought I could never come up.
The minute I came up I took a breath and went down again.
It was easy to stay under with so much clothing and my boots.
When I came up the second time I saw a piece of timber ahead of me and reached it and held on with one hand.
I kept my head behind it and did not even look over it.
I did not want to see the bank.
There were shots when I ran and shots when I came up the first time.
I heard them when I was almost above water.
There were no shots now.
The piece of timber swung in the current and I held it with one hand.
I looked at the bank.
It seemed to be going by very fast.
There was much wood in the stream.
The water was very cold.
We passed the brush of an island above the water.
I held onto the timber with both hands and let it take me along.
The shore was out of sight now.
31
You do not know how long you are in a river when the current moves swiftly.
It seems a long time and it may be very short.
The water was cold and in flood and many things passed that had been floated off the banks when the river rose.
I was lucky to have a heavy timber to hold on to, and I lay in the icy water with my chin on the wood, holding as easily as I could with both hands.
I was afraid of cramps and I hoped we would move toward the shore.
We went down the river in a long curve.
It was beginning to be light enough so I could see the bushes along the shore-line.
There was a brush island ahead and the current moved toward the shore.
I wondered if I should take off my boots and clothes and try to swim ashore, but decided not to.
I had never thought of anything but that I would reach the shore some way, and I would be in a bad position if I landed barefoot.
I had to get to Mestre some way.
I watched the shore come close, then swing away, then come closer again.
We were floating more slowly.
The shore was very close now.
I could see twigs on the willow bush.
The timber swung slowly so that the bank was behind me and I knew we were in an eddy.
We went slowly around.
As I saw the bank again, very close now, I tried holding with one arm and kicking and swimming the timber toward the bank with the other, but I did not bring it any closer.
I was afraid we would move out of the eddy and, holding with one hand, I drew up my feet so they were against the side of the timber and shoved hard toward the bank.
I could see the brush, but even with my momentum and swimming as hard as I could, the current was taking me away.
I thought then I would drown because of my boots, but I thrashed and fought through the water, and when I looked up the bank was coming toward me, and I kept thrashing and swimming in a heavy-footed panic until I reached it.
I hung to the willow branch and did not have strength to pull myself up but I knew I would not drown now.
It had never occurred to me on the timber that I might drown.
I felt hollow and sick in my stomach and chest from the effort, and I held to the branches and waited.
When the sick feeling was gone I pulled into the willow bushes and rested again, my arms around some brush, holding tight with my hands to the branches.
Then I crawled out, pushed on through the willows and onto the bank.
It was halfdaylight and I saw no one.
I lay flat on the bank and heard the river and the rain.
After a while I got up and started along the bank.
I knew there was no bridge across the river until Latisana.
I thought I might be opposite San Vito.
I began to think out what I should do.