It was a great day for a picnic and a picnic was a great way to start the summer holiday. Fred brought his classmates John and Betty to a wonderful picnic place. After lunch, John said they should play football. When the ball came to Fred, he kicked it into some long grass. "I'll get it," he said and hurried off to find the ball. Moments later after there was a shout and out came Fred holding his leg. "I've been bitten by a snake!" As the others rushed over to help, Fred laughing. "Ha! I'm not really hurt." But Betty didn't laugh, "I can't believe you did that, Fred. I was really frighten for you." The friends then decided to go for a swim. John and Betty jumped into the water. Fred was standing on a long rock by the riverbank and said, "Watch and jump" They shouted excitedly as he went under the water, but as the seconds passed he didn't come back to the top. The friends became worried. Suddenly they heard Fred's laugh. "Won't you ever learn? I swam behind this tree when I jumped." "Very funny, Fred?" said John angrily. "Anyway, I'm feeling tired and I'm going for a sleep." Betty joined him. Fred, however, moved to a narrow part of the river and jumped in. Although he was a good swimmer, the water there was moving much faster and Fred found himself being _ away. He managed to catch hold of a tree, but he was very tired now and with the water still moving fast, couldn't pull himself out. Back at the picnic place, as Betty and John were preparing to sleep, they heard Fred's cries for help. John looked at Betty and said, "Does he really think we're so foolish? Wake me up in an hour. It'll be time to go back home then." At the end of the story, why didn't John and Betty go to help Fred?
They couldn't hear his cries for help. They thought Fred was a good swimmer. They didn't believe that Fred was really in trouble. They were too tired and needed to rest.