The four hikers halted abruptly, frozen by the fearful sound of screeching brakes. They could not see beyond the next sharp curve, but the sickening thud was unmistakable. The speeding truck had missed its turn and had skidded off the road!
Chapter 8
VALUABLE CARGO
ROUNDING the bend at a run, the four Scouts saw that the big truck had missed plunging over the ravine by mere inches.
The heavily loaded vehicle had skidded wildly, bringing up at a sharp angle against a rocky embankment. Shattered glass lay on the pavement.
Judy was the first to reach the tilted truck cab. She could not at first get the jammed door open, but suddenly it gave, swinging back so hard, she nearly was thrown off balance.
The driver was slumped over the wheel, stunned and bleeding from flesh cuts. He was a heavy-set man with a beak-like nose and square jaw which sagged to give him a stupid appearance. His eyes were glazed and unseeing.
The only other occupant of the truck, a thin man with two front teeth missing, sprawled half off the seat, moaning and using foul language.
“My neck!” he screamed. “It’s like killing me! Don’t stand there! Do something! Get a doctor!”
He pulled himself out of the cab, pushing angrily at Kathleen when she tried to help him. Despite the rebuff she took his arm to steady him.