A Terrible Coward | George Manville Fenn

A Terrible Coward is set in a small Cornish fishing village. There is a dangerous swimming feat which is used as a rite of passage among the boys and young men. One young man has not yet dared to do this feat. Another young man, annoyed by the hero's apparent lack of courage, does something very nasty and unkind which very nearly drowns our hero.

However, shortly afterwards in A Terrible Coward, events so pan out that the tables are turned, and it is seen that our hero is not the coward, while his enemy is.