CHAPTER XXIV--A TERRIBLE PLIGHT

For a few moments both boys were so used up by the terrific mental and physical strain they had been through that they were unable to move. But the danger was still imminent, and how great it was they learned through a call that came from above.

"Hurry up, fellows," came from Joe. "The bridge is giving way up here and the whole thing may go down any minute. I'm coming down to help you get Jimmy up."

"No, don't do that," cried Bob, rousing himself to fresh exertions. "Your weight down here would only help to pull the bridge down the quicker. You and Herb stand by to give us a hand when we get near the top."

"Now, Jimmy," he continued, turning to his comrade, "we've got to brace and get up to the top somehow just as soon as we can. You crawl up alongside of me, grabbing anything you can find to give a hold to your fingers in the cracks of the planking, and I'll boost you along just as much as I can."

Jimmy summoned up the last remnants of his strength, and they commenced their arduous climb up the slippery planks of the bridge.

It was like a nightmare. They would advance a little and then slip back, losing sometimes as much as they had gained. But they kept on with an energy born of desperation. As often as Bob found a secure grip with his right hand, he would reach out with his left and give Jimmy a vigorous boost upward and forward. Every second now was precious, for they could tell from the grinding noise above and the increased swaying of the bridge that its last supports were rapidly giving way. Yet despite their utmost endeavor, they were only gaining inches when they should have been gaining feet.

"Buck up, Jimmy," Bob encouraged his comrade, though his own strength was fast ebbing. "We've only got six feet more to go."

"Not that much," cried a voice that they recognized as Joe's, and the next instant a pair of vigorous arms reached out and two strong hands gripped Jimmy's wrists.

Joe had thrown himself flat, head downward, from the top of the bridge, while Herb at the top held on to his heels.

"Leave Jimmy to me," commanded Joe.

"We'll swing him up and then we'll give you a hand. Pull away, Herb."

Herb, with his feet braced in two deep holes he had dug in the sand, pulled with all his might until Joe's knees were over the top, thus giving him a purchase. The next instant they had Jimmy up and lying on his back on the bank.

Bob in the meantime, relieved of his care for Jimmy, had got close to the top. Joe rushed to him, caught one of his arms with his two and pulled him off the bridge just as the last support gave way and the whole structure, with a hideous crash, went down into the boiling torrent.

For a little while not one of the boys could speak. They had been engaged in a fight with death and they had conquered only by the narrowest of margins. They were spent and breathless, but above all they were supremely grateful.

When at last they had recovered somewhat, they turned their attention to Jimmy, who had been the greatest sufferer in the events of that never to be forgotten night.

"How are you feeling now?" asked Bob, as he clapped the stout boy affectionately on the shoulder.

"About as though I had been drawn through a knothole," replied Jimmy, trying to grin. "I'm as sore as an aching tooth all over, but I guess there are no bones broken. I'm bruised most in my feelings, I reckon. Don't see any signs of my hair having turned white, do you?" he joked.

"No," laughed Bob. "Though in this darkness I couldn't tell whether it was white or black. But you went through enough to turn it white, I'll vouch for that."

"Not much more than you went through for me," replied Jimmy gratefully. "I'll never forget as long as I live, Bob, how you took your life in your hands to come to my help."

"Oh, forget it," returned Bob lightly. "It's just exactly what any one of you fellows would have done for me if I'd been in the same fix. I tell you, Jimmy, our hearts stood still for a minute when we found you weren't with us."

"It all happened so quickly that I don't know just yet how I came to be hanging on to that bit of railing," said Jimmy. "I can just remember a fearful crash, and then I went tumbling down with the same feeling at the pit of my stomach that you feel when you drop down fast in an elevator. Then the water closed in over me, and I just reached out wildly and caught hold of something and held on for dear life. I called out two or three times before you heard me. The water was making such a fearful racket that it's a wonder you heard me at all."

"We'd have come down as soon as we missed you on a chance of finding you, even if we hadn't heard you at all," replied Bob. "But we sure had a close call. That was a dandy idea of Joe's and Herb's of forming a human chain. If they hadn't done it, we would have gone down with the bridge."

"Well, now that we're safe and sound, let's get after Cassey," suggested Jimmy. "We're losing time staying here."

Bob laughed outright, and Joe and Herb joined in.

"You sure have kept your grit, Jimmy, old boy," said Bob admiringly. "But you've done all the chasing after Cassey that you're going to do to-night. It's you for the bungalow and bed just as fast as we can get you there. Then the rest of us will keep up the hunt for that rascal."

Jimmy protested strongly that he was as well as ever, but when he got on his feet he was so weak and trembling from his terrible experience that he could scarcely stand. So he had to give in, and with the other boys supporting him he made his way painfully and slowly to his parents' bungalow.

Their arrival created a sensation with Mrs. Fennington and the girls, who were deeply concerned when they heard of the strenuous doings of the night. Jimmy was taken in charge at once and put to bed. There was grief and consternation also when they heard of the plight of the _Horolusa_ and her precious freight, but the boys allayed this as much as possible by the reassuring news that other vessels had been signaled and were hurrying to her assistance.

"And now," said Bob, after they had briefly recounted the news, "we still have a lot of work to do and we must be off. We're going to head off that Cassey if possible, and then we're going back to the wireless station. We'll let you know all that happens just as soon as we can."

With many adjurations to be careful ringing in their ears, they hurried out. Once again in the open, they hastily laid out the plan of their further campaign.

"Suppose, Herb, you go right on to the police station," suggested Bob. "Tell them just what has happened and urge them to get busy in sending out messages to surrounding towns and try to have Cassey rounded up. In the meantime, Joe and I will go to the garages and try to find out whether Cassey has been to any of them trying to get a car. That would be the thing he'd most likely do, since there are no trains that he could get away on."

They all made haste, and in a few minutes reached the town. Herb made a bee line for police headquarters, while Bob and Joe hurried to make inquiries in the three garages of which the town boasted.

At the first two they got no clue. But they were luckier at the third.

"Any one inquiring for a car?" repeated the owner of the garage. "Yes, there was one fellow not fifteen minutes ago. Wanted to get to Allendale, where he said he could catch a train."

"Did the man stutter?" asked Bob eagerly.

"Should say he did!" replied the garage owner, grinning. "Got so tangled up that he had to whistle to go on."

"Cassey!" cried the boys in one breath.