"Hold fast! Don't try to jump!" commanded Miss Elting without the least
trace of excitement in her voice. Hazel placed a firm hand on the arm of
the terror-stricken Tommy.
The right forward wheel of the wagon collided with a tree. The wheel was
shattered, and the end of the axle broken off short. At the same instant
the horse sprang sharply to the left evidently in an effort to get back
into the log road, facing almost in the opposite direction.
Jasper being on the downhill side when the wheel collapsed, plunged head
first from the seat, landing heavily on the ground. His head coming into
contact with the base of the tree, Jasper sank over on his side,
unconscious.
Harriet had not lost her head for a second. As the driver fell she
snatched at the reins. She caught one of them, the other falling to the
ground on the wrecked side of the wagon.
The thills of the wagon broke off short with reports like the explosions
of a pistol. Then the horse bolted. Harriet grasping the one rein with
both hands shot over the dashboard of the wagon as though she had been
projected from a cannon. Hazel and Tommy were also pitched from the
vehicle, Miss Elting and Margery clinging to the seats as the wagon
toppled over on its side.
"Let go!" shouted Miss Elting. "You'll be killed!"
But Harriet clung to the single rein, the frantic animal dragging her away
at a frightful rate of speed.
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