“Good gracious, but this is reckless!” Amy gasped.
Just then Jessie suddenly seized her arm in a grip that hurt.
“Amy, look! Look!” she screamed. “Right ahead of us! The bridge is down!”
CHAPTER VII
THE WRECKED BRIDGE
“We’ll go into the river!” gasped Nell.
“We can never stop!” came from Amy. “Oh, what shall we do?”
“Keep your seats, girls. Don’t try to jump out,” came crisply from Miss Alling. “Hold tight, all of you!”
The bridge spanning a small river at the foot of the hill had collapsed, leaving an unprotected embankment and a four-foot drop to the water below. At the rate of speed at which the car was going, it seemed as though nothing short of a miracle could prevent a tragedy.
The girls clutched each other frantically, and Miss Alling’s fingers tightened on the wheel. With swift presence of mind the lady swerved the big car from the road, driving it into the woods, crashing recklessly through bushes and undergrowth. They had missed the drop to the river by the narrowest of margins.
Behind them they heard Darry cry out, heard another car crash through the bushes. Their own car, still commanded resolutely by Miss Alling, bumped along for several yards, careening drunkenly over boulders and bushes in its path, bringing up finally in about a foot of water and soft oozing mud. They had met the stream again where it changed its course and wandered through the forest.