"Oh, I feel like fainting!" sighed Grace.

"Don't be silly!" exclaimed Nan. "Nothing is going to happen!"

It was a good thing Nan felt this way, though, as a matter of fact,
something dreadful might happen at any moment. If the cracked beams of
the bridge should break all the way through, the auto would slide down
into the water. And, though the creek was not very deep, still many
would be hurt in the crash.

The Bobbsey twins, being nearest the rear of the auto, were among the
first off. They did what the driver told them--walked quietly off the
bridge.

At the farther end they joined the picnic party that had gotten off the
first truck. And there, almost breathless, they watched the work of
rescue going on.

One by one little boys and girls were lifted down off the truck, and
then, when the last had reached safely the far shore, Mr. Blake, Mrs.
Simpson, and the other men and women made their way carefully to land.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Mr. Blake of the truck driver, for the man
was still close to his big car, looking at it and the sagging floor of
the bridge.

"I want to see if I can get this truck off," he answered. "The machine
isn't damaged any--it's only the bridge. I guess the load was too heavy
for it."