As she spoke she skillfully manipulated her levers and pedals and brought the car to a stop against the curb as neatly as any driver could have accomplished it.

The car had hardly come to a stop before the bank door flew open and Fanning Harding emerged, his features drawn up into what he meant to be a pleasing smile, but which more resembled a smirk.

Jess, ignoring his proffered hand, leaped lightly to the sidewalk and, responding somewhat frigidly to his pleasantries, made her way into the bank. A cold nod was all that had pa.s.sed between Fanning and Roy, though young Harding had looked astonished at beholding the other in Jess's car.

Before long the girl tripped out of the building once more. But this time she carried with her a black leather case. Fanning was once more at her side and insisted on helping her into the car, holding her arm rather tightly as he did so.

"I wish I could accompany you," he said. "Ten thousand dollars' worth of jewels is a rather risky thing to carry about."

"Oh, I have a splendid escort, thank you," spoke up Jess, frigidly. She drew on her gauntlets and began fumbling with the levers. Roy was already out of the car and cranking up.

"It would be the pleasure of the ride," said Fanning, in a low voice. "If I were with you I could almost wish somebody would try to hold us up so that I could show you what I could do in your defence."

"Just as you did that day at school when poor little Henry Willis was being beaten by that big bully Hank Jones?" asked Jess, quietly.

Fanning's glances, and the emphasis he threw into what he said, were very distasteful to her, and she took what proved an effectual means of squelching him.

"You know I had a sore wrist that day and couldn't get into a fight with Hank," said Fanning, but his eyes were downcast and he had not much more to say. Presently the auto chugged off, leaving the disgruntled youth standing on the sidewalk following it with his eyes.

"So you're trying to win out Jess Bancroft, are you?" the over-dressed lad thought to himself. "Well, Roy Prescott, I guess that settles you.

I've never liked you, and now that I've a chance to get the upper hand of you I'm going to use it. You'll regret this auto ride to-day in days to come, or I'm very much mistaken."

He turned and reentered the bank, but presently emerged again in a leather coat of black material, black leggings and black cap and goggles.

Hauling out his motor-cycle from a rack in front of the bank he wheeled it into the street, and with an admiring crowd of small boys looking on, started the swift, four-cylindered machine. In a cloud of dust he vanished in the same direction as had Jess Bancroft's car.

Jess, once the confines of the village were past, "let the car out." They sped along, chatting merrily. The roads about Sandy Bay were ideal for automobiling, and perhaps neither of the young occupants of the car noticed how fast they were going when the vehicle topped a small rise and began descending a long steep grade at the bottom of which the railroad, which approached on a curve, was visible in two shining parallel streaks of metal.

Suddenly there came a shrill, long drawn whistle.

"Hullo, a train!" exclaimed Roy. "Must be a freight; there's no regular pa.s.senger scheduled to run at this time of day."

"That's right," agreed Jess. "I guess I'll slow down a bit till we see how close it is to the crossing."

She pressed her foot on the brake pedal and shoved hard.

But to her astonishment there was no diminution in the speed of the car.

It plunged forward down the hill, gaining impetus every second.

"Better slow up, Jess," warned Roy, who had not noticed the girl grow white and faint, as the possibility of what might occur if she could not control the car flashed before her.

"I--I can't!" she gasped.

"The emergency brake!" almost shouted Roy. Below them he had seen a swiftly moving column of white smoke. It was the approaching train. Now it whistled once more. That meant it was close upon the crossing toward which the car was racing at terrific speed.

"I've--I've tried it. It's jammed or something! Oh, Roy! the train!"

Before she could say any more Roy had risen from his seat, and gently, but firmly, removed the girl's trembling hands from the steering wheel.

With might and main he tried to check the car. But all he did was in vain. Drops of perspiration stood out upon his forehead. Jess, utterly unnerved, sank back in her seat and hid her face with her gloved hands.

Above the roar of the on-dashing car could be heard the sharp puffing of the approaching locomotive. Roy tugged as if he would tear his muscle out at the brake lever, but it refused to budge. A sort of desperate coolness came over him. But Jess, who had uncovered her eyes for an instant, gave a sudden shrill scream.

"Oh, we'll be killed! Look,--the train! We'll crash into it!"

"Sit down, Jess," ordered Roy, sternly, for the excited girl had seemed to be on the point of jumping from the car as it swayed and b.u.mped toward what seemed certain annihilation, at a terrific rate.

Roy glanced desperately about him. The hill was enclosed by steepish banks with hedgerows at the top. But at one point he thought he saw a chance of escape.

As he despairingly changed the direction of the car two figures sprang from behind the hedge and gazed in amazement at the runaway auto.

"They'll be killed to a certainty!" cried one.

Indeed it seemed so. With Jess in a dead faint and Roy looking straight into the dark face of danger the uncontrolled car tore onward toward the train. The engineer saw it now and blew his whistle shrilly.

CHAPTER V.

A NARROW ESCAPE.

But Roy's quick eye had noted one loophole of escape,--a gap in the bank.

Truly it was taking a terrible risk to dash the car through it. The boy did not know what lay beyond, and in taking the chance he was running almost as great a risk of annihilation as if he kept straight on. But to have done the latter would have been to crash into a solid wall of moving freight cars as they b.u.mped across the grade crossing.

It was almost certain that they would be thrown out and maybe injured.

But Roy did not hesitate. With a quick twist of his steering wheel he sent the car spinning on two wheels for the gap. For an instant it seemed as if the vehicle would capsize under the sudden change of direction. But it did not, although it tilted over at a dangerous angle.

Whiz-z-z-z-z!

In a flash they were through the gap, the landscape blurring, so terrific was the speed.

The next instant there was a sickening shock. Instinctively Roy threw out an arm to protect his fair companion. Hardly had he done so before he felt himself impelled through the air as if from a catapult, and all grew blank.

When Roy came to himself his head ached as if it would burst. It was some few seconds, in fact, before he realized what had occurred. When he did he looked about him. A few paces away lay the still form of Jess Bancroft. She was stretched out on a cushion upon which she must have fallen. For an instant, as he gazed at her features as pale as marble, and her closed eyes, a dreadful thought flashed across Roy's mind. What if she were dead?

But to his great relief he speedily ascertained that the girl was breathing. An ugly bruise on her forehead may have accounted for her continued swoon although she had fainted with terror the instant the train appeared beneath them on the crossing.

The car, its hood crumpled up as if it had been made of paper instead of metal, stood at the foot of a tree not far off.

"No wonder we were thrown out," thought Roy, as he gazed at the wreck and considered the speed at which they had encountered the obstruction. "The wonder is we escaped with our lives."

After a brief and ineffectual attempt to arouse the girl the boy looked about him for some means of a.s.sistance. The cowardly train crew had not stopped when they saw the accident. Visions of damage suits and summary discharges may have drifted through their minds, for extra freights were supposed to send flagmen to the crossing to warn all traffic of the train's approach.

Suddenly Roy recollected the two men he had seen spring from behind the hedge as the runaway auto approached the gap. What had become of them?

Apparently they had taken to their heels also, for not a sign was to be seen of them.

"Odd," thought the boy to himself; "one would think the first instinct of a human being at seeing an accident like this would be to stay and help.

But, hold on, maybe they've gone for a doctor. A retired physician, Dr.

Mays, lives not far from here. In the meantime if I could only get some cold water."