appealingly, but the detective was not yet ready to go.
“Do Oriental women live here with you?”
The Lavender Sister gave Nancy a searching look. “No. Why do you ask?”
“Because of the symbol on the chimney,” Nancy replied.
“The symbol?” the woman asked, puzzled. Then she added quickly, “Oh, yes, the symbol. I had forgotten.”
She gave no further explanation, and again ordered the girls away.
“Help me carry the ladder, George,” Nancy said.
With Nancy carrying one end of the ladder and George the other, the girls started back through the woods. The woman watched them for a while, then she quickly re-entered the wooden enclosure and latched the gate behind her.
“What a strange place for a religious colony,” Bess said, ducking under a low-hanging branch.
“Go away and never return!” the woman ordered
“I’m not convinced it is a religious colony,” Nancy replied.
“Me neither!” George declared. “Most of the things the woman said sounded like a lot of mumbo jumbo! I think she’s funny in the head!”
“You can’t tell,” Bess observed seriously. “I’m just as glad we’re going away from the place.”
“Say!” George exclaimed when they reached a dirt lane. “This isn’t the way we came, but maybe it connects with the gravel road.”
They had gone about two hundred feet when Nancy stopped short and stared fixedly at something directly ahead of them in a small clearing.
It was Nancy’s car!
“Hypers!” George cried in disbelief.
The girls dropped the ladder and rushed forward. The convertible was undamaged.
Nancy opened the door and looked inside the car. Everything was just as she had left it, but the ignition switch was locked and the keys were missing. On the floor lay an old pair of elevator shoes.
Nancy turned and faced her friends.
“I don’t know about you two,” she declared, “but I’m going back to the enclosure and get inside! It’s no coincidence that we’ve found my car and these shoes here. I’m sure the car was stolen by some friend of Manning-Carr, and I’ll bet that enclosure is their hideout.”
“That’s why the Lavender Sister didn’t want us around,” George added. “I’ll go back with you, Nancy, and see what we can find out.”
“But we mustn’t get caught,” Bess warned.
The sunlight was hidden by an overcast as the girls again emerged from among the trees and went toward the fence. Nancy placed the ladder in a different spot from where she had put it before and quickly climbed to the top.
“Keep watch!” she whispered. “I’ll come out the gate.”
It took only a moment to break the rusted strands of barbed wire. Then, taking a final look to make certain she was unobserved, the young sleuth carefully dropped the ten feet down inside the enclosure.
She crept cautiously to the edge of a clearing. To the right was the stone wall and the front of the old brick building with the leaning chimney.
Just as Nancy had decided to leave the concealment of the shrubs, she saw the Lavender Sister come through a small wooden door in the stone wall. At her side trotted a huge mastiff!
Nancy moved back farther into the bushes, hoping that her movements would go undetected in the failing light. The huge dog raised his head as if listening but did not look in her direction.
The woman with the mastiff strode toward the gate in the fence. As they came closer to Nancy, she saw that the dog was held by a long chain attached to his collar.
Nancy watched with sudden apprehension as the woman went up to the gate. Suppose she should leave the enclosure? She would surely see Bess and George waiting outside!
But luck favored the girls. Stepping to one side of the gate, the Lavender Sister hooked the leash to an iron ring attached to one of the boards. Leaving the mastiff to stand watch, she started back toward the brick building.
So relieved was Nancy at her friends’ escape from detection, she had not given any thought to her own
“Do Oriental women live here with you?”
The Lavender Sister gave Nancy a searching look. “No. Why do you ask?”
“Because of the symbol on the chimney,” Nancy replied.
“The symbol?” the woman asked, puzzled. Then she added quickly, “Oh, yes, the symbol. I had forgotten.”
She gave no further explanation, and again ordered the girls away.
“Help me carry the ladder, George,” Nancy said.
With Nancy carrying one end of the ladder and George the other, the girls started back through the woods. The woman watched them for a while, then she quickly re-entered the wooden enclosure and latched the gate behind her.
“What a strange place for a religious colony,” Bess said, ducking under a low-hanging branch.
“Go away and never return!” the woman ordered
“I’m not convinced it is a religious colony,” Nancy replied.
“Me neither!” George declared. “Most of the things the woman said sounded like a lot of mumbo jumbo! I think she’s funny in the head!”
“You can’t tell,” Bess observed seriously. “I’m just as glad we’re going away from the place.”
“Say!” George exclaimed when they reached a dirt lane. “This isn’t the way we came, but maybe it connects with the gravel road.”
They had gone about two hundred feet when Nancy stopped short and stared fixedly at something directly ahead of them in a small clearing.
It was Nancy’s car!
“Hypers!” George cried in disbelief.
The girls dropped the ladder and rushed forward. The convertible was undamaged.
Nancy opened the door and looked inside the car. Everything was just as she had left it, but the ignition switch was locked and the keys were missing. On the floor lay an old pair of elevator shoes.
Nancy turned and faced her friends.
“I don’t know about you two,” she declared, “but I’m going back to the enclosure and get inside! It’s no coincidence that we’ve found my car and these shoes here. I’m sure the car was stolen by some friend of Manning-Carr, and I’ll bet that enclosure is their hideout.”
“That’s why the Lavender Sister didn’t want us around,” George added. “I’ll go back with you, Nancy, and see what we can find out.”
“But we mustn’t get caught,” Bess warned.
The sunlight was hidden by an overcast as the girls again emerged from among the trees and went toward the fence. Nancy placed the ladder in a different spot from where she had put it before and quickly climbed to the top.
“Keep watch!” she whispered. “I’ll come out the gate.”
It took only a moment to break the rusted strands of barbed wire. Then, taking a final look to make certain she was unobserved, the young sleuth carefully dropped the ten feet down inside the enclosure.
She crept cautiously to the edge of a clearing. To the right was the stone wall and the front of the old brick building with the leaning chimney.
Just as Nancy had decided to leave the concealment of the shrubs, she saw the Lavender Sister come through a small wooden door in the stone wall. At her side trotted a huge mastiff!
Nancy moved back farther into the bushes, hoping that her movements would go undetected in the failing light. The huge dog raised his head as if listening but did not look in her direction.
The woman with the mastiff strode toward the gate in the fence. As they came closer to Nancy, she saw that the dog was held by a long chain attached to his collar.
Nancy watched with sudden apprehension as the woman went up to the gate. Suppose she should leave the enclosure? She would surely see Bess and George waiting outside!
But luck favored the girls. Stepping to one side of the gate, the Lavender Sister hooked the leash to an iron ring attached to one of the boards. Leaving the mastiff to stand watch, she started back toward the brick building.
So relieved was Nancy at her friends’ escape from detection, she had not given any thought to her own
Similar Books
