He released his grip of the wheel, and again Ida took it in a firm
grasp. But the change was not skillfully enough made, and the next
moment the Streak cut diagonally across the road, right in front of
the Whirlwind.

"Oh!" screamed Cora, in spite of herself, and Bess and Mary added
their frightened cries. Cora swung the wheel as far to the right as
it would go. There was a grinding sound as she threw on the
emergency brake, and the powerful clutch of it held the rear wheels
in so firm a grip that the big rubber tires fairly slid along the
road.

"Sid," cried Ida, "they'll collide with us! Do something! Do it
quick!"

He stood up and tried to take Ida's hands from the wheel again, but
she seemed to have lost her head. The big car was still careening
toward them, though the brakes were slowing it up. Then Ida, with a
flash of instinct, did the only thing possible. Instead of putting
on brakes and trying to stop, she pressed the accelerator pedal, and
the little car shot forward at a momentarily increased speed.
Between them Ida and Sid managed to steer it into a ditch, and
brought up with a crash against a fence, splintering the rails. Ida,
with more force than she thought she possessed, jammed on the
brakes, and the Streak, with a groan and a jar, came to a stop.

Then there came a jolt, a ripping sound, and Cora's big, four-
cylindered machine banged into the Streak, for, in spite of all Cora
and Walter could do, the Whirlwind could not be stopped in time.