“I’m glad we didn’t take the hard climb,” Judy commented as she and Kathleen paused a moment to wait for Betty and Beverly to catch up. “The going will be tough enough before we reach Hermit’s Ridge.”
At the next sharp bend in the highway, the Scouts were able to look down at the table top some distance below. Not a single patrol seemed to have followed them.
“I knew it!” Beverly exclaimed. “All the others have taken the shorter routes!”
“Let them,” Judy replied cheerfully. “It hasn’t been proven yet that our judgment was poor. We’ve been making fast time.”
“We haven’t caught that ride yet,” Beverly reminded her. “Not a single car has passed us on the road. And we’ve met only one truck.”
Resting only momentarily, the four went on, doggedly determined to be the first to reach Hermit’s Ridge. Soon they lost all view of their competitors who had been swallowed up by the dense forest foliage.
“Say, I think I hear a truck coming now!” Betty presently exclaimed. She paused to cock an attentive ear. “Wow! It’s coming fast, burning up the road!”
“We’ll never flag down that driver!” Judy exclaimed, moving hastily off the pavement.
The heavy freight carrier roared past the girls, its massive tires screaming as it went around a bend.
“What does that driver think this road is—a speedway?” Beverly demanded. “Why, it’s dangerous—”