The incident occurred at a point where there is a submerged cliff with a sudden drop. George and three young friends were bathing near this place when the girl, eleven years old, suddenly found she was in deep water, and on an ebb tide she was being carried away. Her screams attracted George and although only twelve himself, he swam after her and reached her forty yards from the shore. She struggled violently and dragged him under more than once, but he did not let go, and he managed to bring her back to shallow water whence both of them were helped ashore in a state of complete exhaustion, and were then treated in the hospital tent of the Northampton Battalion Camp near by.