It's rather sad, but we'll find the answer here:
"The boys were gathering up their bits of clothing and running off along the shore to another promontory. They were leaving to get away from him. He cried openly, fists in his eyes. There was no one to see him, and he cried himself out."
According to the narration, the boys are leaving to get away from Jerry.He's younger than they are, too pale,...
It's rather sad, but we'll find the answer here:
"The boys were gathering up their bits of clothing and running off along the shore to another promontory. They were leaving to get away from him. He cried openly, fists in his eyes. There was no one to see him, and he cried himself out."
According to the narration, the boys are leaving to get away from Jerry. He's younger than they are, too pale, really bad at speaking their language, and just a drag to be around--so these much cooler boys are leaving so they don't have to deal with Jerry hanging around them anymore.
Sad? Yes. But are they justified? Well, maybe. Look at how babyish and irritating Jerry's behavior was when he was desperate to get their attention and play with them. You'd think he was five years old instead of eleven:
"Through his hot shame, feeling the pleading grin on his face like a scar that he could never remove, he looked up at the group of big brown boys on the rock and shouted, 'Bon jour! Merci! Au revoir! Monsieur, monsieur!' while he hooked his fingers round his ears and waggled them."
Just in case you weren't sure, Jerry was saying in French, "Hi! Thanks! Bye! Mister, mister!" In other words, he was shouting all the French words he could think of, desperate to engage with the older boys, and making a fool of himself.
This event is important to consider as we move forward in the story. Somehow, Jerry will need to recover his dignity and prove to himself that he's worthy of hanging out with those older boys. It's a major reason for his obsession with the challenge of swimming through the underwater tunnel.
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