She had no luck; but presently she discovered
something decidedly worth while--a fallen tree trunk, not too large, and
near enough to the bank to be handled without help. A few minutes later
she was floating at ease, and making decidedly better time.
A half-hour of this--during which she caught glimpses of many animals,
large and small, all of which fled precipitately--and she rounded a
sharp bend in the stream, to be confronted with a sight which must have
been strange indeed to her. Stretching across the river was--a network
of rusty wire, THE REMAINS OF A REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGE.
There was no doubt of this. On each bank was a large, moss-grown block
of stone, which the doctor knew could be nothing else than the old
abutments. Seemingly there had been only a single span.
The woman brought the log to the shore, and examined the bridge closely.
Instinctively she felt that the structure argued a high degree of
intelligence, very likely human. A little hesitation, and then she
beached her log, ascended the bank, and looked upon the bridge from
above.
A narrow road met her eyes. Once it might have been twice as wide, but
now the thicket encroached until there was barely room enough, judged
the doctor, for a single vehicle to pass.
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