Nancy asked, "Are you Grumper? And where's your partner?"

"No, I'm not Grumper, but that's all you're going to find out."

"You're the one who helped carry me from the cliff!" Nancy accused him. "You and your friend put me to sleep with a gas which came up through crevices in the rocks!"

"Let me up!" the little fellow cried out in anguish. "You're crushing my chestl"

Nancy and George tied the man's ankles together with the belt from George's slacks, then released their hold. They stood him against the wall and placed themselves between him and the outside door.

"You haven't answered my questions," Nancy reminded the man as his shifty gaze darted about the room.

The captive muttered some unintelligible words. He leaned against the wall, his hands behind him. Suddenly, from far away, seemingly deep beneath the house, a gong sounded.

Nancy was startled. A sardonic grin spread over the elfin man's face.

"It was a signal!" Nancy thought instantly, observing his pleased expression. "He must have an accomplice somewhere!"

Recalling how the little man had many times bought food at the Salsandee Shop for his wife, Nancy concluded that was who his accomplice might be. Then, too, there was the possibility no wife existed, and that actually the food had been carried to another man.

"Perhaps he took it to that second elf I thought I saw in my dream!" she reasoned. "Grumper, I'll bet. If he's anywhere near here, then George and I had better be on our guard!"

Nancy was convinced that the man before her had managed to sound the warning gong by pressing a b.u.t.ton or pulling a hidden cord. Even at this moment his accomplice might be coming to his aid!

The outside door behind Nancy creaked on its hinges. Frightened, she turned swiftly. A shadowy figure loomed large in the entrance.

Nancy laughed aloud in relief. Ned Nickerson stood there!

"h.e.l.lo, Nancy, George. Are you girls safe?" he called anxiously. "Bess told me you came here. I was afraid-" He stopped short and stared at the girls' prisoner. "Who-?"

Briefly Nancy told him what had happened. The story was cut short by the sullen little man.

"It's a lie! You'll not take me to the police!" he shouted. "I won't leave this house!"

The elflike figure flayed out with his fists, losing his balance. As he went down, Nancy said:

"Ned, can you take this man to the State Police alone?"

"With one hand!"

"Then go as quickly as you can and come right back. George and I will stay here. I must find out more about this place!"

Ned was reluctant to leave the two girls.

"Don't worry," said Nancy. "If this man had an accomplice who heard that gong, he'd probably have been here by now."

"I guess that's right," said Ned.

He agreed to drive the prisoner to Candleton and return immediately.

"I'll hurry," he promised. "Don't take any risks while I'm gone."

He bound the man's hands behind him, released his feet, and ordered him to walk to the car. The captive had no choice as Ned prodded him from the rear.

George felt somewhat uneasy when she and Nancy were alone. As Ned and the prisoner disappeared, she glanced nervously about her.

"That gong-" she whispered to Nancy. "Don't you think it means someone else is here? Perhaps in the bas.e.m.e.nt?"

"I'm sure our prisoner hoped so," said Nancy. "Let's see if we can find out how he sounded the warning."

She began to explore the wall inch by inch. The young detective found a thin cord, shorter than her little finger, not far from where the fishnets hung. As she pulled on it, a gong sounded far off.

"That's how he did it!" Nancy cried. "But where is the gong? It sounds so m.u.f.fled-as if it were underground!"

Apparently the house had no bas.e.m.e.nt, for the girls could find no steps or pa.s.sageway leading downward. The only door seemed to be the one through which they had entered.

Puzzled, Nancy wondered how the elfin man had entered the house. Certainly not through the outside door. She recalled the sudden manner in which he had appeared and his terse order, "March straight ahead!"

"Why, to march straight ahead would mean I'd have to walk through a solid wall," she thought. "Or at least through those fishnets!"

Nancy stared speculatively at the wall, almost completely covered with old cord nets to which dried seaweed still clung. On a sudden inspiration she tore away a portion of the covering.

"What are you doing?" George asked curiously.

"Look!"

Nancy had uncovered a door hidden behind the netting. George stared in amazement.

"The house must have a secret room or pa.s.sageway!" she whispered. "We've found the entrancel"

Cautiously Nancy twisted the k.n.o.b, making no sound. The door was not locked. Slowly it swung inward on its hinges. Leading down were stone steps into utter darkness.

CHAPTER XIX.

Trapped!

"GEORGE," Nancy whispered, "do you have my flashlight?"

"Yes, but it's too dangerous for us to investigate below. Let's wait until Ned returns."

Nancy flashed on the light. It revealed that the stairs led down to a dark narrow tunnel beneath the old house.

"I'll go alone," said Nancy. "You stay here and wait for Ned."

"Aren't you taking too much of a chance?" George asked anxiously.

"I'm sure our prisoner has an accomplice," Nancy whispered. "And I'm also convinced there's some tie-in between the Mon Coeur gang and the little man we found here. If that gong was a warning, someone may be downstairs destroying valuable evidence right now."