"Save us! Save us!" came in girlish voices from the interior of the touring car. "Oh, Dick! Oh, Tom! Save us!"
"Hurry up—start her up!" screamed Tad Sobber frantically, to the chauffeur. "Put on all power!"
The driver was already in his seat and the motor was humming loudly. He threw in the low gear, and off the touring car started slowly. After it clattered Dick and Tom, still a hundred feet in the rear.
"Let me get out!" screamed Dora. "Oh, let me get out!"
"Yes! Yes!" pleaded Nellie. "Please let us get out!"
"Stop your noise and sit still!" commanded Josiah Crabtree. And he and Sobber and the third fellow forced the two girls back on the seat.
Dick and Tom urged the horses forward with all speed. But before they could reach the touring car, the chauffeur threw in second speed and then quickly changed to high, and away the automobile rattled, over the rickety bridge. The structure had not been built for such a weight, and, just as the machine reached the other side, the bridge went down with a crash.
"Look out!" yelled Dick, and the warning came none too soon, for both he and Tom were almost on the bridge. They turned their horses just in time, came to a sudden halt in some bushes, and stared blankly at each other.
"Gone!" cried Tom, hollowly. "Oh, what luck!"