CHAPTER III
A SUDDEN ACQUAINTANCE
Despite the tense moment of anxiety, the almost certainty that the auto would crash into the train, Cora's quick eye had seen something that she hoped would enable her to avert the accident.
She knew that she could not stop the machine in time, by any means at her command. There was but one other thing to do. That was to steer to one side.
To the left there was a solid stone wall. To dash into that would mean almost as horrible an accident as if she collided with the train. To the right there was a field, but it was fenced in, and between it and the road was a little miry, brook.
In some places the brook widened almost into a pond. The bottom was treacherous, and to steer into it meant to sink down deeply into the mud. To run into the fence might mean that one of the rails would become entangled in the mechanism of the motor, tearing it all to pieces. Or one of the long pieces of wood might even impale the occupants of the car.
Cora's eyes swept down the length of the barrier with a flash.
There was just what she wanted! A gap in the fence!
She could go through that in safety. But suppose the machine was brought to too sudden a stop in the mud? They would all be thrown out and perhaps injured. But it was the only thing to do.
With a firm grasp of the wheel Cora sent the auto from the road.