"Oh, make haste!" cried Amy; and they all noticed that she was trembling.

But a few minutes sufficed to tie the horses and return to a point of
safety near the bridge. "I did not mean to expose you to the slightest
danger," Burt whispered, tenderly, to Amy. "See, the bridge is safe
enough, and we might drive over it again."

Even as he spoke there was a long grinding, crunching sound. A great
volume of black water had forced its way under the gorge, and now lifted
it bodily over the dam. It sank in a chaotic mass, surged onward and
upward again, struck the bridge, and in a moment lifted it from its
foundations and swept it away, a shattered wreck, the red covering
showing in the distance like ensanguined stains among the tossing cakes
of ice.

They all drew a long breath, and Amy was as pale as if she had witnessed
the destruction of some living creature. No doubt she realized what would
have been their fate had the break occurred while they were crossing.

"Good-by, old bridge," said Leonard, pensively. "I played and fished
under you when a boy, and in the friendly dusk of its cover I kissed
Maggie one summer afternoon of our courting days--"

"Well, well," exclaimed Burt, "the old bridge's exit has been a moving
object in every sense, since it has evoked such a flood of sentiment from
Len. Let us take him home to Maggie at once."

As they were about to depart they saw Dr. Marvin driving down to the
opposite side, and they mockingly beckoned him to cross the raging
torrent. He shook his head ruefully, and returned up the hill again. A