Rather self-consciously Nancy related her strange dream and told of awakening in the roadside ditch. "I must have been completely out of my mind," she ended dismally.

"Perhaps you didn't wander in your sleep," Ned suggested. "You may have been carried."

"By elves?Oh, Ned!"

"By two man-sized elves. Notice anyone near the cave after the accident?"

"I wasn't in a state to observe anything." Nancy's blue eyes clouded with thought. "But I do recall-those voices-they sounded human!"

"Why do you suppose anyone would have carried you from the cliff?" George asked disbelievingly.

Nancy shrugged, declaring, "All I know is that when I investigate Bald Head Cave again, I'll go-"

"Alone!" Bess finished darkly. "So far as I'm concerned that mystery is welcome to remain forever unsolved."

Then, seeing a roadside stand, she reminded the others that they had not eaten since breakfast. After a quick meal, Ned again took the wheel.

During the rest of the ride to Candleton, the three girls exchanged accounts of their strange and terrifying experience inside the cave.

"Why don't I try my luck there tomorrow?" Ned proposed.

"Don't even think about it!" Bess said, and was vigorously supported by George. "The cave is too dangerous!"

When they reached Candleton, Ned picked up his car. Then Nancy, eager to learn if her father had written, suggested that they stop at the post office.

"Nothing for any of us," she reported in disappointment a few minutes later.

"Maybe there's word at the house," Bess suggested.

When they reached the cottage the young people heard the phone ringing. As they hurried up the steps, June came to the door.

"Phone for you," she told Nancy. "A gentleman."

"There!" Bess exclaimed triumphantly. "It's sure to be your father, Nancy!"

Nancy dashed into the hall.

"h.e.l.lo, Dad?" she said eagerly.

But it was not her father who answered. The voice was that of a stranger.

"Listen carefully," he directed in clipped tones. "Your father requests that you meet him this afternoon at Fisher's Cove Hotel. Come as quickly as you can-alone."

"Who are you?" Nancy asked. "Why are you calling for my father?"

There was no answer. The man had hung up.

As Nancy turned slowly from the phone she found Ned standing behind her. After repeating the conversation, she asked for his advice.

"Don't go," he said instantly. "It's a trick."

"I'm afraid so myself, Ned. On the other hand, Dad may have a special reason for wanting me to meet him there. I must take a chance and go!"

"In that case I'll join you."

"The man's instructions were that I come alone."

"Why alone, Nancy?"

"I had no chance to ask any questions."

"If you insist upon going, I'll follow in my car."

While Nancy changed her clothing, Ned drove to the village to have her car's gas tank filled. By the time he returned to the house, she was ready.

Just as Nancy was about to drive away the phone rang again. This time George answered it.

"h.e.l.lo?" inquired an agitated feminine voice at the other end of the line. "Has Nancy Drew started for Fisher's Cove yet?"

"Why, no, she's just leaving," George replied.

"Then stop her! Don't let her go!"

Before George could reply, the receiver clicked and the line went dead.

CHAPTER VI.

Suspicious Actions

WITH mingled emotions, Nancy thought over the second telephone call. Common sense warned her she might be courting danger by driving to Fisher's Cove, but on the other hand, she was extremely anxious about her father.

"I'll carry out the first instructions, but I'll keep my wits about me," she decided. "If things look suspicious when I reach the hotel, I'll call the police."

After telling Bess and George to explain to their hostess what had happened, Nancy drove away. Ned kept close behind her in his own car. As they approached Fisher's Cove, however, he wisely put more distance between them.

Alone, Nancy parked near the front of a shabby, unpainted three-story building which bore the name Fisher's Cove Hotel.

"Dad never would have registered at such a run-down hotel as this," she thought hesitating.

Ned's car rounded the street corner. Rea.s.sured that she would not be alone, Nancy entered the building.

She walked up to the desk and asked the clerk for the number of Mr. Drew's room. The clerk was about to reply when a flashily dressed man appeared. He rudely interrupted with a complaint that he had reserved a large room with bath and had been given a small room with only running water.

Since Nancy did not wish to call attention to herself by protesting against the man's rudeness, she sat down and waited for the clerk to finish. To Nancy's relief, Ned soon sauntered into the lobby and seated himself on the opposite side of the stuffy room.

At that moment an elderly woman, with a ma.s.s of gray hair and wearing a flowered print dress, pushed close to her chair. As she pa.s.sed, the stranger dropped a sc.r.a.p of paper into Nancy's lap. Without speaking or giving any sign that she had noticed the girl, the woman walked on quickly, vanishing through a side exit.