When he looked at the broken and sagging bridge he had suddenly thought of a trick he had seen performed in a circus that had exhibited in Cresville. This was where a man on a bicycle had started down a steep incline of boards to accomplish what was billed as “A Leap For Life!” The incline was broken about three-quarters of the way down, making a gap. Just before the gap was reached there was a dip, or curve in the incline. Across the gap the incline was continued at a slight angle.
The principle on which the feat was performed was, that the man on the bicycle, rushing down the incline, would get momentum enough to shoot across the gap. To prevent the wheel and rider from falling from the attraction of gravitation while it was flying across the space, the end of the incline was curved upward. This served to shoot the machine and man into the air, and overcame, for the time necessary to speed across the gap, the pull of the earth.
And, in a crude way, Jerry saw before him all the elements that went to make up the trick as it is performed in many circuses.
The hill made the incline. The sag in the middle of the bridge, and the little rise at the further abutment, gave the necessary upward curve that would throw Jerry and his motor far enough into the air to prevent him tumbling into the stream. The missing span was the gap corresponding to the one in the inclined plane of boards, and the road on the farther shore would make a good landing place.
“I guess I can do it as well as that man in the circus!” exclaimed Jerry. “It’s a risk, I know, but I can’t stay here and wait two hours for that man to bring the planks.”
He was soon at the top of the hill. He looked around to see if any one was in sight to aid him in case he failed. But the roads were deserted.
“I must put on full speed,” thought the boy. “I’ll need all the momentum I can get.”
He turned his machine to face down the slope. For a moment he hesitated as he looked at what was before him. But, steeling his heart, and uttering a short prayer, he leaped into the saddle.
“Here I go!” thought Jerry. He turned the motor to full speed, and soon was racing down the hill at a fearful pace. “There’s no stopping now!” he murmured.