breaking woodwork. It was as if the bridge were collapsing. The
Meadow-Brook Girls were piled in a heap at the forward end of the
vehicle, then hurled straight over the dashboard and on over the
horses, amid shouts and screams. There seemed to be no end to the
crashing and screaming for some moments; then a sudden silence settled
over the darkened structure, broken only by the frightened neigh of a
horse.




CHAPTER IV

AN EXCITING NIGHT

"Girls!" It was Miss Elting who called. "Oh, girls, are you hurt?"

"I'm killed. Thave me!" moaned Grace.

"I think I'm alive, but I'm not sure," cried Jane. "I've scraped the
skin from my nose entirely. What a mess! what a mess!"

"Wait!" The guardian's voice was commanding. "Margery, Hazel!"

"Ye--es," answered two voices in chorus. They sounded far away.

"Harriet!" There was no reply. She repeated the call, but there was
still no answer. Miss Elting became alarmed now. She was still
sitting in the broken carry-all, to which she had clung desperately at
the sudden stoppage, thus preventing herself from being hurled out, as