“You see everything,” said Philip, admiringly; “you’re a wonderful little motorist! I never saw anybody drive better than you do; and so easily, too. Merciful Heavens!”
Patty gave a jump at Philip’s excited exclamation, and saw, straight in front of her, an immense red car at full speed. It had swung around a sharp angle, and could not possibly have been seen by them until it burst on their vision not twenty yards away. They had heard no signal, which was culpable carelessness on the part of the driver of the big car, and perhaps Patty was equally culpable in not having sounded her own horn.
But this was no time to think of such matters, for they were really in perilous danger. The driver of the big car did nothing to avert disaster. It could not be he was indifferent to the awful situation; he looked more as if he were stunned by the sudden realisation of it.
Patty was absolutely paralysed with fear. She realised fully their plight, she knew that nothing could save them from instant and terrible collision, and her muscles were absolutely powerless to move.
The short distance between the two cars diminished like lightning, and neither car had swerved from a straight line leading to the other.
Patty tried to shriek, but her stiffened tongue gave forth no sound.
At sight of the big car, Philip Van Reypen was stunned also. But, in an instant, he recovered his senses, and, in another instant, he had shot out his right hand and, seizing the controller handle, pushed it backward with a force that nearly crushed Patty’s hand that held it. Then, grasping the steering bar with his other hand, he swerved the car over to the right, blindly trying to find the reverse lever with his foot.
Then happened what Philip knew would happen. The Camilla banged into a sheer cliff of rock, but took it sideways. He grasped Patty as the car stopped, and they were both jolted backward.
By presence of mind and quick action, he had run the car into the cliff, causing thereby a minor smash-up, instead of meeting the big red car in a head-on collision, which would surely have meant fatality.
Patty was very white, but she did not faint. The shock restored her numbed senses, and she turned to Philip with a glance of perfect understanding of what he had done.