One day,
Mrs. Boyton, who had a continual dread of his being drowned, was going
on a visit, and she determined to secure Paul against accident. She took
him upstairs, undressed him and removed his clothes from the room. She
locked the door and went away content.
The day was lovely; the water lay clear and blue in sight and Paul could
hear the delighted cries of the boys as they plunged into its
refreshing depths. The temperature was too strong. Paul searched the
room carefully and to his joy, discovered a pair of his father's
drawers. He got into them and tied the waist-string around his neck.
Then forcing a window, he slid down the convenient lightning rod like
a young monkey, and was found in his usual haunt by his astonished
mother some hours later. From this time on, she gave him more liberty to
follow his natural bent. From early May until late in October, when not
at school, Paul spent most of his time in the water.
In those days, driftwood, consisting of slabs, logs and boards, were
continually floating down the river from the headwaters, where the
great forests were being cut down. When he saw a nice piece of wood,
Paul would cut through the water like a young shark, and swim with it
ahead of him to the shore, where his lumber pile was a goodly sized
one.
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