He put the bus in first gear and ran at the hole. The water splashed away with a rushing hiss. The rear wheels went into the hole. The bus slipped and floundered. The rear wheels spun and the motor roared and the spinning wheels edged the bumbling body slowly across and slithered it out on the other side.
The bus jerked to a stop. They were coming near to the foothills now and the green billows of land were dimly visible through the rain. Juan half stood up to look down at the roadbed. There was a hole in the road, a hole full of water, no telling how deep. It might drop the bus clear out of sight. He glanced quickly at the Virgin. “Shall I take a chance?” he said under his breath. His front wheels were on the edge of the pool. He grinned, put the bus in reverse, and backed up twenty feet.
Van Brunt said, “You going to try a run for it? You’ll get stuck.”
Juan’s lips moved silently. “My dear little friend, if you only knew,” he whispered. “If all of the rest of you only knew.” He put the bus in first gear and ran at the hole. The water splashed away with a rushing hiss. The rear wheels went into the hole. The bus slipped and floundered. The rear wheels spun and the motor roared and the spinning wheels edged the bumbling body slowly across and slithered it out on the other side. Juan slipped the gears to second and crawled on.
“Must have been a little gravel mixed in with that,” he said over his shoulder to Van Brunt.
“Well, you wait till you start up the hill,” Van Brunt said ominously.
“You know, for a man that wants to get through you put more things in the way,” Juan said.
