should reach and sweep away the bridge before they could cross the
river? The thought was in the mind of both Helen and Ruth, whether
Tom, on the rear seat, considered it or not. When they finally shot
out of the woods and turned toward the toll-bridge, all glanced
around. From here the upper reaches of the Lumano were plainly
revealed. And extending clear across the valley was the foam-crested
wave charging down upon the lowlands, but a number of miles away.

Here was the first house, too. They saw a man and woman and several
children out front, staring at the automobile as it raced down the
road. Perhaps they had been called from the house by the vibration of
the bursting dam.

Tom sprang up in the car and pointed behind him, yelling:

"The flood! The flood!"

It is doubtful if they heard what he said; and they, too, were on a
knoll and likely out of the reach of the water. But the three in the
automobile saw the whole family turn and run for the higher ground
behind their house. They understood the peril which menaced the whole
valley.

In a flash the auto had turned the bend in the river road, and the
occupants saw the toll-bridge and the peaceful hamlet of Culm Falls.
There was no stir there. The toll-bridge keeper was not even out of
his cottage, and the light and flimsy gates were down across the
driveway at either end of the bridge. The bend in the river hid the
advancing wall of water. Perhaps, too, it deadened the sound of the
bursting dam and the roar of the waters.