Cambridge Inset: Swimming Hole (Location Key)

The three boys with whom Quentin talks at the bridge in The Sound and the Fury argue about whether to go to "the Eddy" and fish, or to "the mill" and swim (121). When he next sees them, they are swimming (136). They call the mill "Bigelow's"; if it is like the other mills built along the river to take advantage of water power, there is a dam across the river behind which the water would likely be quiet and deep. The mill is a popular swimming spot - one of the boys mentions "a lot of fellows splashing" there (121); Quentin and the little girl get there later, after walking "almost" a mile down a road with no houses on it (135). It is here too that Quentin is assaulted by the girl's brother, and taken into custody by the marshal.