disappeared.
“Was that Mrs. Putney on the back seat?” George asked, highly excited.
“I didn’t get a good enough look to be sure,” Nancy replied. “I got the car license number, though. Let me write it down before I forget.”
“Hurry!” George urged as Nancy wrote the numbers on a pad from her purse. “We have to follow that car!”
“But not too close,” Nancy replied. “We’d make them suspicious.”
The girls waited three minutes before backing out into the main highway and then turning into the adjacent road. Though the automobile ahead had disappeared, tire prints were plainly visible.
The road twisted through a stretch of wood-land. When finally the tire prints turned off into a heavily wooded narrow lane, Nancy was sure they were not far from the cabin. She parked among some trees and they went forward on foot.
“There it is!” whispered Nancy, recognizing the chimney. “Bess, I want you to take my car, drive to River Heights, and look up the name of the owner of the car we just saw. Here’s the license number.
“After you’ve been to the Motor Vehicle Bureau, please phone Mrs. Putney’s house. If she answers, we’ll know it wasn’t she we saw in the car. Then get hold of Dad or Ned, and bring one of them here as fast as you can. We may need help. Got it straight?”
“I—I—g-guess so,” Bess answered.
“Hurry back! No telling what may happen while you’re away.”
The two watched as Nancy’s car rounded a bend and was lost to view.
Then Nancy and George walked swiftly through the woods toward the cabin. Approaching the building, Nancy and George were amazed to find that no car was parked on the road in front.
“How do you figure it?” George whispered as the girls crouched behind bushes. “We certainly saw tire marks leading into this road!”
“Yes, but the car that passed may have gone on without stopping. Possibly the driver saw us and changed her plans. Wait here, and watch the cabin while I check the tire marks out at the end of the road.”
“All right. But hurry. If anything breaks here, I don’t want to be alone.”
From the bushes George saw Nancy hurry down the road and out of sight around a bend.
For some time everything was quiet. Suddenly George’s attention was drawn to a wisp of smoke from the wide stone chimney.
“There’s someone in there, that’s sure,” she concluded. “Somebody’s lighted a fire.”
Overpowering curiosity urged George to find out what was going on inside the cabin. She could see nothing through the black-draped windows. Trying to decide whether to wait for Nancy or to make some move of her own, she noticed smoke seeping through the cracks around the door!
“The place must be on fire!” George exclaimed. When still no sound came from inside, she could stand the strain no longer. “I’m going to break in!” she decided.
She flung herself against the locked door, but it scarcely budged. Looking about, she found a rock the size of a baseball. She let it fly at the window nearest the door. The glass splintered and the stone carried with it the black curtain that had covered the window. With a stick she poked out the jagged bits of glass that still clung to the pane. When the smoke had cleared, George stuck her head through the opening.
The one-room interior was deserted, and there was no fire, not even in the big stone fireplace! A few wisps of smoke remained. But it did not smell like wood smoke.
“I didn’t dream up that smoke,” George thought, growing more uneasy all the time. “But the door was locked and I saw no one leave.”
Time dragged on, and still Nancy did not return. Finally, after an hour had elapsed, George, alarmed, tramped back to the road where they had taken leave of Bess.
She was about to start for River Heights on foot when the convertible came into view around a bend. Bess pulled alongside.
“Do you know anything about Nancy?” George asked quickly.
“Why, no.”
Her cousin
“Was that Mrs. Putney on the back seat?” George asked, highly excited.
“I didn’t get a good enough look to be sure,” Nancy replied. “I got the car license number, though. Let me write it down before I forget.”
“Hurry!” George urged as Nancy wrote the numbers on a pad from her purse. “We have to follow that car!”
“But not too close,” Nancy replied. “We’d make them suspicious.”
The girls waited three minutes before backing out into the main highway and then turning into the adjacent road. Though the automobile ahead had disappeared, tire prints were plainly visible.
The road twisted through a stretch of wood-land. When finally the tire prints turned off into a heavily wooded narrow lane, Nancy was sure they were not far from the cabin. She parked among some trees and they went forward on foot.
“There it is!” whispered Nancy, recognizing the chimney. “Bess, I want you to take my car, drive to River Heights, and look up the name of the owner of the car we just saw. Here’s the license number.
“After you’ve been to the Motor Vehicle Bureau, please phone Mrs. Putney’s house. If she answers, we’ll know it wasn’t she we saw in the car. Then get hold of Dad or Ned, and bring one of them here as fast as you can. We may need help. Got it straight?”
“I—I—g-guess so,” Bess answered.
“Hurry back! No telling what may happen while you’re away.”
The two watched as Nancy’s car rounded a bend and was lost to view.
Then Nancy and George walked swiftly through the woods toward the cabin. Approaching the building, Nancy and George were amazed to find that no car was parked on the road in front.
“How do you figure it?” George whispered as the girls crouched behind bushes. “We certainly saw tire marks leading into this road!”
“Yes, but the car that passed may have gone on without stopping. Possibly the driver saw us and changed her plans. Wait here, and watch the cabin while I check the tire marks out at the end of the road.”
“All right. But hurry. If anything breaks here, I don’t want to be alone.”
From the bushes George saw Nancy hurry down the road and out of sight around a bend.
For some time everything was quiet. Suddenly George’s attention was drawn to a wisp of smoke from the wide stone chimney.
“There’s someone in there, that’s sure,” she concluded. “Somebody’s lighted a fire.”
Overpowering curiosity urged George to find out what was going on inside the cabin. She could see nothing through the black-draped windows. Trying to decide whether to wait for Nancy or to make some move of her own, she noticed smoke seeping through the cracks around the door!
“The place must be on fire!” George exclaimed. When still no sound came from inside, she could stand the strain no longer. “I’m going to break in!” she decided.
She flung herself against the locked door, but it scarcely budged. Looking about, she found a rock the size of a baseball. She let it fly at the window nearest the door. The glass splintered and the stone carried with it the black curtain that had covered the window. With a stick she poked out the jagged bits of glass that still clung to the pane. When the smoke had cleared, George stuck her head through the opening.
The one-room interior was deserted, and there was no fire, not even in the big stone fireplace! A few wisps of smoke remained. But it did not smell like wood smoke.
“I didn’t dream up that smoke,” George thought, growing more uneasy all the time. “But the door was locked and I saw no one leave.”
Time dragged on, and still Nancy did not return. Finally, after an hour had elapsed, George, alarmed, tramped back to the road where they had taken leave of Bess.
She was about to start for River Heights on foot when the convertible came into view around a bend. Bess pulled alongside.
“Do you know anything about Nancy?” George asked quickly.
“Why, no.”
Her cousin
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