Then, as if from a long distance away, Nancy thought she heard voices. Two men seemed to be arguing violently. Or was she dreaming?

Pulling herself up to a sitting position with great effort, Nancy gazed about her. She could see no one.

Then she fell back and drifted off into unconsciousness.

CHAPTER V.

A Warning Message

DEEP in slumber, Nancy dreamed that she lay cushioned upon a soft, sweet-smelling meadow. Nearby a flock of sheep grazed peacefully, and the faint tinkle of bells came to her ears.

Presently two little brown elves crept from beneath a bush and stared at her as if she were an intruder. Nancy heard one of them say:

"We can't allow her to stay here."

"We certainly can't," agreed the other elf, whose voice was deeper. "We must move her before she wakes up."

Nancy tried to resist, but the elves seemed to have cast a spell over her. Powerless to move, she attempted to open her eyes but the lids felt as heavy as stones.

Borne upon the shoulders of the elves, she was carried a long distance. Then they put her down, but the couch was not a comfortable one. Something sharp cut into her back. Nancy rolled over, and suddenly was wide awake.

Sitting up, she gazed about her in bewilderment. Her clothing had dried in the sun but was very crumpled, reminding her of the struggle she had gone through to keep from drowning.

Nancy listened for the roar of the surf but all was quiet. She was not on a couch but in a roadside ditch strewn with sharp rocks and pebbles. Bayberry and other bushes covered the distance between her and a narrow dirt road.

"How did I get here?" Nancy asked herself, rubbing her eyes. Dimly she recalled the dream in which elves had transported her from her resting place on the cliff. Had someone actually carried her to the roadside?

"Either I wandered in my sleep, or I'm having hallucinations. Perhaps I struck my head in the cave."

Getting to her feet, Nancy gingerly tested her arms and legs. They were stiff and cramped, but she did not have a single scratch.

"Who knows, I may have been lying in that ditch for an hour or longer," she reasoned, not trusting the time on her water-soaked watch. "I wonder what Bess and George thought when I didn't show up. Probably they went home. I must find a phone and call them!"

Though confused by her experience, and frightened that another lapse of memory might overtake her, Nancy tramped quickly down the road. She kept hoping a car would pa.s.s, but none came along.

At length she reached a farmhouse. Seeing a well in the yard, she crossed a cinder path to draw herself a cool drink. A woman, wearing a faded gingham ap.r.o.n, peered curiously out the screen door.

"Goodness!" she exclaimed, coming outside. "You look all tuckered out! Have you walked far?"

Nancy hung up the long-handled dipper from which she had been drinking.

"Yes, I've walked a long distance," she said quietly. "My friends and I had an accident with our boat. May I use your phone?"

"Bless you, we haven't one. The nearest phone is at the Gladstone Dairy, half a mile down the road." Nancy looked so discouraged that the woman added kindly, "Do sit down and tell me what happened. Are your friends safe?"

"I think so. We became separated. Where am I now? Far from Candleton?"

The woman stared at the girl curiously. "Don't you know?"

Nancy shook her head, dropping into a chair near the kitchen door. "I'm a stranger here. After the accident, I became confused."

"You're about three miles from Candleton, and a quarter mile from the bay. You weren't by any chance near Bald Head Cave when the accident occurred?" The woman's eyes opened wide.

"How did I get here?" Nancy asked herself.

Nancy could see that the farmer's wife was terrified of the cave. The young sleuth realized she must be careful of what she said.

"Is Bald Head Cave near here?" she countered innocently.

"Over there." The woman pointed in a south-easterly direction. "Fishing's good thereabouts," she added, "but you got to be careful. Once my husband was in his boat near the cave entrance when a flood o' water came rushing out. He was lucky to get away alive."

Bald Head Cave was a subject Nancy did not care to discuss any further. After declining the woman's offer of a gla.s.s of lemonade, she asked if there was anyone at the farmhouse who could drive her to Candleton.

"I'll pay him well," she added.

"Bless you, it's not a matter of money. My husband went to town and he isn't back yet. He'll likely drive in about sunset."

Nancy felt she could not wait. She thanked the woman for her kindness, then started off. Presently a car came speeding down the road toward her. It looked familiar.

"Why, that's my convertible!" she exclaimed.

As she shouted and waved the driver braked and the car came to a halt. At the steering wheel was Ned Nickerson, a friend of Nancy's, who was staying nearby to sell insurance to parents of two college friends. Bess and George were with him.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Nancy!" Ned cried, swinging open the car door and jumping out.

Bess and George also jumped out and rushed up to Nancy. "We were worried sick!" exclaimed Bess.

"We all had a narrow squeak," George said grimly.

Ned explained that he had stopped at Mrs. Chantrey's cottage. Learning from June that the girls had gone to Bald Head Cave, he had driven to the waterfront intending to rent a boat and find them. There he had met Bess and George.

Ned took Nancy's arm and led her toward the car.

"Has my father arrived?" she asked eagerly.

"Not yet." George shook her head.

"Any word from him?"

Again the answer was no.

"I'm sure your father is all right," Ned told them. "Maybe he sent a message that never reached you."

"I hadn't thought of that," Nancy conceded. She smiled at the young man beside her. "I'm sorry you found me looking so disheveled."

"Well," he said, laughing, "you look all right to me. But suppose you tell us about your experience after you left the cave."