But he preferred the pool to the books, especially when Jill and Miriam and Larry and Anne and the rest were all splashing each other.  He had not learned at once to swim as they did, but had discovered the first time that he could do something they could not.  He had simply gone down to the bottom and lain there, immersed in quiet bliss - where upon they had hauled him out with such excitement that he had almost been forced to withdraw himself, had it not been evident that they were concerned for his welfare.