There, the wildest confusion reigned. The first four cars had plunged in one on top of the other; fortunately those following, being a short distance behind, had been able to brake and pull up in time. At the cries of the drivers all with one accord had sprung to the ground, and were now asking names, counting numbers, uttering exclamations of surprise and fear. The panic was indescribable.
It was indeed a most lucky chance there was no fatality to deplore. Sonia’s car, the first in the line, was as a matter of fact the only one that, by reason of its speed, had rolled far enough into the lake to be half submerged. The drivers of the vehicles behind, seeing the accident, had sheered off to one side, had more or less jammed down their brakes and, thanks to their reduced speed, had been able, not indeed to avoid the disaster altogether, but at any rate to diminish its ill consequences. The cars had come to a stand on the very verge of the water.
Help was soon organized, and brave men sprang into the lake to the rescue. Half an hour after the catastrophe, it could be said for certain that it would have no very serious sequel, apart of course, from any effects that might ensue on the violent agitation all had experienced, and the painful bruises some of these “shipwrecked mariners” had received. Only the Princess Sonia Danidoff, imprisoned in a vehicle that had actually sunk, was ever in positive danger of death; and so, when the first bewilderment was over, it was round the young Russian lady that the crowd gathered thickest, questioning and congratulating.
Meanwhile Tom Bob, his brow knit in anxious thought, had drawn some of the men apart and was demonstrating to them the causes of the accident.
“It is beyond belief!” he declared, “... just look over yonder!... the thing was a criminal attempt! They have masked the turn in the road by laying down the bogus grass lawn over a length of ten yards, and extended the road itself in a straight line right up to the waterside. The footway is cut through! the wire fencing removed! Why, they have even chalked over the rammed earth to make it look as white as the road! For sure, no blame attaches to the chauffeur; in the glare thrown forward by the lamps he was bound to make a mistake; he could not possibly see the trap laid for him, and so, quite naturally, he drove straight on till the final crash came.”
Tom Bob was going to say more when suddenly a cry burst on the silence of the night, a cry of stupefaction, of tearful distress. The detective flew to a group standing round the Princess Danidoff, who still lay on the ground inhaling a restorative.
“What ... what is it? what is happening now?”
The English Ambassador replied to the American detective’s question.
“It is atrocious,” he cried, “the Princess Sonia Danidoff has just discovered she has been robbed of articles of very considerable value.”
For the moment the American stood stock still, as if paralysed with amazement.