"All ready?" called Jack again.
Ida shook her head. She looked critically at the clutch lever, from her seat at the wheel, which Sid had relinquished to her. The lever was not properly adjusted, and she called her companion"s attention to it.
Sid shifted it, and then Walter called from his seat beside Cora.
"All ready here!"
"It"s about time," murmured Jack, jokingly.
The cars, which had been cranked, were "chug-chugging" away, and vibrating with the speed of the unleashed motors. Three clutch pedals were released, and the three cars moved forward. There was a grinding of gears, as Ida threw in a higher speed. Her hand and ear were not quite true, but to the surprise of the others her car darted ahead. It was speedier than had been thought.
It was a beautifully clear road, and the machines were now fairly flying along it. Bess clung desperately to the wooden rim of the steering wheel of Jack"s car.
"Keep her straight," he cautioned. "Don"t work so hard at it. An auto is like a horse--a light, firm touch is what it needs."
"Um!" murmured Bess. She was afraid to open her mouth lest she should lose her breath in the wind.
"Look out for that wagon!" Walter suddenly called to Cora.
A clumsy vehicle was some distance in advance, and seemed to be standing still, so slow was the movement. Ida was nearer to it than the others, and as she pa.s.sed it she swung safely to one side, giving several disconcerting blasts on the horn as she did so. She was proving herself a good driver.
Somehow Bess had managed to distance the big car and had swung to second place. Cora thought she had her machine going at full speed, but either it had not "warmed up" yet, or she was not properly feeding the gasolene, and had not correctly adjusted the sparking device.
Just as Cora was about to pa.s.s the wagon, which feat Bess had now safely negotiated, the old man driving it seemed to awaken from a nap. He appeared to remember something he had forgotten and pulled his horses to one side--the wrong side--toward Cora"s car, which was rushing right at him! The Whirlwind was almost upon the wagon!
"Mercy!" screamed. Mary. "We"ll be smashed!"
"Steady!" called Cora, though her face went white.
Walter reached over, as if to take the wheel from the girl. She stopped him by a shake of her head, and then braced herself for what was coming. She screamed at the top of her fresh, clear voice:
"Stop! stop! Don"t turn! stop!"
The farmer heard just in time. He fairly pulled the horses back on their haunches, and the wagon came to a stop. There was barely room for the auto to get past, but Cora managed it.
"Oh!" sighed Mary in thankfulness. "Wasn"t that awful?"
"A narrow escape," a.s.sented Isabel. "But not as bad as the other one was. You should have seen that! We"re safe now."
The Whirlwind careened along the road, from the shelving gutter back into the middle of the highway.
"Why didn"t you let me take the wheel?" asked Walter, looking at Cora in a strange sort of way.
"I couldn"t seem to let go," she said with a nervous little laugh.
"I knew, of course, that you could run it more safely than I could, but somehow I couldn"t seem to let go. My fingers appeared to be glued to the wheel."
"I certainly could not have done better," admitted Walter. "But I thought I might help you. Look at Ida, though! She is going like grim death."
"If she doesn"t encounter another farmer she may be all right," said Cora. "But I wonder why I don"t go faster. Oh, no wonder. I"m on second speed. I forgot to throw in the high gear. Here it goes. Now watch me pa.s.s them."
She advanced the lever, and the car shot forward. It was going at a greatly increased speed, and easily pa.s.sed Bess and Jack.
"Here"s where we leave you," called Cora.
"It"s about time," replied Jack. "I thought something was wrong with you.
"Third gear," answered Cora. "Forgot I had it." Her voice floated back on the wind.
With a merry shout she turned on more gasolene and advanced the spark. She was almost up to Ida.
The race was to end at a bridge, which was only a few rods ahead.
"Careful," cautioned Walter to the fair driver beside him. She was making some rather reckless curves.
"I"m all right," declared Cora.
"I"m sure we"ll win," exclaimed Mary.
The Whirlwind was now close to Sid"s car. He heard it coming and looked around. Then he caught the steering wheel from Ida, leaning over to reach it.
"Foul!" shouted Walter. "That"s not allowed!"
"Never mind!" panted Cora. "I"m not afraid to let him steer. I can beat him!"
Jack stood up in his machine. He was angry, and showed it in his face.
"Stop, sis," he called to Cora. "The race is yours. Don"t pa.s.s him."
"She can"t!" retorted Sid.
"Oh, I"m afraid!" gasped Bess, beside Jack. "He"s steering right in front of her to cut her off. He won"t turn out."
Then, as if realizing that the race would be counted lost to them for Sid"s violation of the rules, Ida tried to displace the hands of her, companion from the wheel.
"Let me steer!" she exclaimed. "I want to! Let me, Sid!"
"No!" he answered angrily. "I"m going to run it now."
The car was swaying from side to side because of the erratic motion imparted to it, due to the struggle between Sid and Ida to gain possession of the wooden circlet.
"Let me take it! I want to beat her!" spoke Ida in a tense whisper, and Sid, with a queer look at her, nodded.
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!"