TURNED TURTLE
Joe Strong had run at top speed, and had traveled a goodly distance
from the bridge in a comparatively short time, for he realized that the
big automobile was going fast and would require space in which to stop.
And now the former circus performer leaned up against the mud-guard of
the car to rest and recover his breath.
"What's the trouble?" asked the man on the seat with the driver. He did
not appear to have heard what our hero had said. The driver had opened
the side door of the car, for the automobile was one of the enclosed
type.
"Bridge is shaky," said Joe again, breathing less laboredly now. He had
wonderful lung capacity, as one must who could stay under water for
nearly five minutes at a time.
"Dangerous bridge, eh?" repeated the driver. "Much obliged to you for
warning us, young fellow. We'd have been on it in another minute or
two. There ought to be a warning sign up."
"That's what I thought after I nearly went through it," Joe said. "I
knocked off a plank, and I was looking for that to replace it, and also
trying to figure out how I could put up a sign, when I saw you coming
and started down the road toward you."
"Yes, we saw you," observed the driver with a grim smile. "At first
my friend here thought you were a constable trying to arrest us for
speeding, but we weren't exceeding the limit, though we are in a great
hurry."
"It is most annoying just when we are in a rush to have to turn back
because of a dangerous bridge," put in the other man. "Don't you think
we could make it if we went over it slowly?" he asked of Joe.
The former circus performer shook his head.
"I wouldn't chance it," he said. "It almost shook to pieces when I went
over on my motor-cycle. Why, it even vibrated dangerously as I walked
over it to warn you."
"Then we can't think of taking this car across," put in the driver. "It
weighs nearly two tons, and it would crash through at once. Is there
another bridge around here?"
"I don't know," was Joe's reply. "I'm a stranger in these parts, and I
had to inquire my own way. I'm going to Hertford."
"Well, we're going farther than that," the driver said. "That is, we
are if we can make it. But I don't know," he added doubtfully. "I
guess we'd better turn back and inquire for the nearest road to the
next bridge."
He looked questioningly at his companion, who asked Joe:
"Can't we cross the stream? What sort is it--very deep?"
"It seems to be only a shallow brook," was the answer, "but I don't
know anything about it. I never saw it before. It looks as if you might
ford it, but don't take my word for it."
"We won't, thank you," the driver said. "It was mighty good of you to
warn us. Let's have a look at this stream and see what it's like," he
proposed to his fellow-traveler.
"Yes, that's our best plan. We must keep on, and we're late as it is.
Ford the stream even if we do get a bit wet. There's nothing in the car
that can spoil. I shan't mind wet feet nor will you, and the car has
been out in the rain enough not to be damaged by a little more water."
The machine was a fine one, but it bore evidences of having been driven
far and hard.
"Well, you might try it," said Joe. "The bridge certainly won't hold
you. It's hardly safe to walk across. I'm going to look for the plank I
jarred out, and see if I can't rig up a warning sign. It would be too
bad if an accident happened."
"Jump in and ride back to the bridge with us," said the driver. "We'll
help you put up a sign, though we really oughtn't to delay."
"Oh, I can manage the sign, I guess," Joe said. "My business isn't very
pressing, and I've got a speedy motor-cycle."
"We'd take you and your machine with us, only we're not going your
way," said the other man. "That is, we might if we can get across the
stream. That's the first question to be settled."
Joe got into the car. It was luxuriously fitted up, and the men in it
seemed to be wealthy. Joe wondered what their business was, and why
they were in such a rush to get on. It could hardly be that they were
traveling for pleasure, or they would not have minded going some other
way to look for a safe bridge.
"Yes, I think we can easily ford that stream," the driver of the
automobile said, as he brought the car to a stop not far from the
bridge. There was a gradual slope from the highway down to the stream
on either side of the road, and there were marks that showed where
wagons had been driven across.
Farmers will often ford a stream near a bridge to give their horses a
drink, or to soak the wheels of the vehicles which become dried out in
long spells of drought.
"Yes, we can ford that," was the opinion of the other man, as he and
the driver got out to take a close look. "How about the other side,
though? Can we get up there?" and he pointed across to the opposite
bank.
"I'll go take a look if you like," offered Joe.
"I wish you would," the man said. "Meanwhile I'll back up to a place
where I see it's a little easier to get down."
Joe crossed the bridge, which again trembled from even the slight
vibration of his steps, and found that the other slope of the ford was
even better than the one on the opposite side.
"It's all right!" he cried. "You can make it as far as this shore is
concerned. But I don't know what sort of a bed that stream has. Maybe
you'd better test it with a long pole."
"Oh, we'll take a chance!" cried the driver. "We haven't time to
experiment. I've got lots of power. Anyhow, it isn't likely we'll get
bogged, as it looks to be a gravel bottom."
The car was by this time ready to go down the slope to ford the stream.
Joe crossed the bridge again and saw the plank he had jarred out caught
on the shore a little distance below.
"I'll get that and put it in place," he said. "I don't know about
making a sign though. I could put fence rails across the road at either
end of the bridge, and that ought to be warning enough except at night.
They need red lanterns then. I may have to tell some farmer along the
road."
Joe was walking toward the plank when the automobile started down the
slope. The man drove carefully, and was soon at the edge of the brook.
"Give her a little more gas," Joe heard the driver's companion say.
"Take it on high gear too."
"Yes, that's what I'm going to do," was the answer.
Joe heard the thunderous roar when the man opened the throttle and cut
out his muffler. There was a dash of spray as the front wheels struck
the water. The car fairly shot half way across the brook.
"I guess they'll make it all right," thought Joe.
And then, as he looked, he saw the big automobile hesitate and sway. It
seemed to turn partly around. Then one side went down suddenly.
"Look out!" cried the driver's companion. "She's going over!"
But his warning came too late. The next instant the big machine lurched
farther to one side and then suddenly turned turtle in the mud and
water, sinking, upside down, into a deep hole near the bridge, the
big-tired wheels spinning around in the air.