Soon but an eighth of a mile separated the pursued and pursuing forces. The occupants of the other car could be plainly seen, and Ned, who was riding beside Jerry, noticed Jack Pender stand up in the rear seat and shake his fist.
“He wouldn’t do that if we were a little closer,” observed Ned.
Jerry now saw victory before him. He prepared to run to one side ahead of Noddy’s machine and so block its further progress.
He was about to press the accelerating lever to give his car a momentary burst of speed when there suddenly sounded a great roaring. It seemed to come from the side of a small mountain along the base of which the plateau road now ran.
Then the air seemed to fill with dust. The very earth trembled and all at once a section of the mountain slipped down right on top of the pursuing auto, fairly overwhelming it.
It was a big landslide, and it had come just in time to catch Jerry and his friends and let the other machine escape, for the auto Noddy and his gang were in got out of the way of the rush of rocks and earth.
There was a resounding crash. Then all seemed to become black to Jerry.