Inside Sonia’s limousine events followed each other with dramatic swiftness. Tom Bob, a marvel of presence of mind, a miracle of coolness, had not lost his head for an instant. The moment the princess broke off to scream, the moment he felt the ground slip from under the wheels, he realized what was happening. In a flash he concluded at first that the princess’s driver, deceived by the darkness, had misjudged his turn, and cried out instinctively: “We are over.” But the limousine itself was struck heavily by the car behind, and the detective and the princess were thrown forward and bruised against the sides. Then the whole horror of the situation was revealed. Sonia had fainted, and the dark, surging waters of the lake were pouring into the vehicle in icy torrents through the broken windows. The limousine was sinking! “Damnation!” roared Tom Bob; then, quick as lightning, gripping the princess by one arm, he forced open the door in spite of the weight of water and struck out. He was a powerful swimmer, and in a few seconds more he and his precious burden had reached the bank of the lake. There, the wildest confusion reigned. The first four cars had plunged in one on top of the other; fortunately those following, being a short distance behind, had been able to brake and pull up in time. At the cries of the drivers all with one accord had sprung to the ground, and were now asking names, counting numbers, uttering exclamations of surprise and fear. The panic was indescribable. It was indeed a most lucky chance there was no fatality to deplore. Sonia’s car, the first in the line, was as a matter of fact the only one that, by reason of its speed, had rolled far enough into the lake to be half submerged. The drivers of the vehicles behind, seeing the accident, had sheered off to one side, had more or less jammed down their brakes and, thanks to their reduced speed, had been able, not indeed to avoid the disaster altogether, but at any rate to diminish its ill consequences. The cars had come to a stand on the very verge of the water. Help was soon organized, and brave men sprang into the lake to the rescue. Half an hour after the catastrophe, it could be said for certain that it would have no very serious sequel, apart of course, from any effects that might ensue on the violent agitation all had experienced, and the painful bruises some of these “shipwrecked mariners” had received. Only the Princess Sonia Danidoff, imprisoned in a vehicle that had actually sunk, was ever in positive danger of death; and so, when the first bewilderment was over, it was round the young Russian lady that the crowd gathered thickest, questioning and congratulating. Meanwhile Tom Bob, his brow knit in anxious thought, had drawn some of the men apart and was demonstrating to them the causes of the accident.