Doodle's Brother takes Doodle to Old Woman Swamp because he is ashamed that his brother cannot walk. He anticipates being embarrassed when people find out that he has a disabled brother so he is determined to make Doodle normal by teaching him to walk, row, and run--things that "normal" boys do. Doodle is happy that his Brother takes an interest in him even if it is for his brother's own selfish gain, so he goes along with the plans and exercises even though it is pushing his poor crippled body to the limit.
Doodle does not have a specific reaction to the swamp herself, he is simply happy to have the opportunity to make his Brother proud of him. The swamp is significant though because it is where the brother taught Doodle how to be normal and it was also the place where Doodle's decline into death begins.
Doodle is so tired after his brother made him row through Old Woman Swamp to beat a storm that he couldn't keep up with his brother running away. Lightning struck a tree, the branch fell, and Doodle was crushed beneath it--his neck reminiscent of the fallen scarlet ibis the boys had seen earlier.
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