"Over here," her companion said, and led Nancy around a corner.

The next instant the strange woman opened her purse and whipped a handkerchief from a plastic bag. She grabbed Nancy around the neck and held the handkerchief tight over the girl's nose and mouth. It had a peculiar sickish odor.

Nancy struggled to free herself, but within seconds she blacked out.

CHAPTER XX.

Shattered Bells

"I WONDER what could be keeping Nancy?" said Bess nervously when her friend did not reappear. "Our plane leaves in ten minutes."

"We'd better hunt for her," George suggested. "Maybe she's waiting for us at the gate."

Nancy was not at the gate, nor was she in any of the telephone booths.

"She has the tickets, so I'm sure she wouldn't go without us," Bess remarked. "Let's look in the powder room."

The cousins hurried to it. At first they did not see Nancy, but when Bess peered into the nursery, she gasped. Her friend was lying under a crib, covered with a blanket!

"What's the matter with her? Bess asked, frightened.

"I think she's been drugged," George said grimly.

The girls uncovered Nancy and shook her. She did not respond. Quickly they rolled the crib aside and put Nancy on a couch. Bess rushed to get a towel, held it under the cold water, and put it on Nancy's forehead. George chafed her wrists and gently slapped her cheeks. Finally Nancy opened her eyes.

"What happened to you?" Bess asked.

Nancy blinked and took several deep breaths, but did not answer.

"Maybe we'd better call a doctor and forget the trip," said Bess.

Her statement seemed to rouse Nancy to consciousness. "No, no," she said weakly. "Help me up and I'll be all right."

The girls did not question her further. They knew, without being told, that once more Edgar Nixon had tried to intervene in Nancy's plans and keep her from following him. They were more convinced of this than ever when they found her handbag intact.

Supporting Nancy, the two girls managed to walk her to the plane and onto it. By the time she reached her seat, the dazed girl declared she felt better, and whispered to her friends what had happened.

"We guessed as much," George replied. "Now just take it easy until we reach New York."

Nancy dozed during most of the trip, but by the time they set down at the airport, she declared she was all right.

"This is really proving to be a dangerous mission," the young sleuth said. "Are you both sure you want to carry on?"

"Of course we do," said George. "But I have a suggestion for you."

George felt that it might be wise for Nancy to try disguising herself.

Bess suggested, "You have on a reversible coat. You can turn it inside out, and tie a scarf over your hair and wear sungla.s.ses."

"All right. I'll do it," Nancy replied.

As soon as the three girls got into a taxi to transfer them from LaGuardia Airport to Kennedy Airport, Nancy took off her coat, turned it inside out, and put it back on. The paisley pattern scarf which she had been carrying in a pocket was tied around her head, so only her face showed. Just before stepping from the cab in front of the airline building, she put on her sungla.s.ses.

George said, "I never finished telling you my idea. Nancy, pretend you've never met Bess and me. You run ahead and do your sleuthing. We'll follow at a discreet distance."

Nancy said she would go to the ticket counter, while the other girls watched the pa.s.sport desk for Edgar Nixon and Nancy Smith Drew.

"Okay, and if one of us finds out something, we'll raise our handbag in the air as a signal."

By this time Nancy was feeling her normal self and went at once to the airline counter. "Have Mr. Nixon and Miss Drew checked in yet?" she asked.

The clerk consulted his list. "No."

Nancy took a seat nearby where she could watch the arriving travelers. Several who were making the flight to London came to the counter but none was either Edgar Nixon or Nancy Smith Drew.

She was beginning to feel discouraged, when a couple hurried toward the long bench where she was seated. The man told the young woman to sit down and he hurried off to the counter.

"He certainly looks like Edgar Nixon," Nancy thought excitedly.

As she continued to stare at him, she caught a glimpse of a cuff link. It was red with a black star in the center. Instantly Nancy recalled what Mr. Whittier, the River Heights jeweler, had told her-that the man who had purchased a lovely pin for Nancy Drew had bought red cuff links like these for himself!

"I'm sure he's Edgar Nixon!" Nancy decided, and nonchalantly raised her handbag into the air to alert Bess and George.

She now turned her eyes toward the young woman. Was she the English heiress? Was she married?

Nancy's heart began to beat faster as the woman started to take off her gloves. She wore no wedding ring!

Taking a chance that she had spotted the person for whom she had been searching, Nancy moved over and sat down beside her.

"Pardon me, but aren't you Miss Nancy Smith Drew?" she asked.

The young woman jumped in surprise. "Yes, I am. Do I know you?" she asked.

"No, but first of all let me tell you that my name is also Nancy Drew. I must talk to you quickly. Did you ever receive a letter from England telling you that you have inherited a small fortune?"

"Why, no!" the amazed young woman exclaimed. "How did you know about this?"

"Because the letter came to me by mistake and I have been trying for weeks to find you."

"Do you have the letter with you?"

Nancy shook her head. "It was stolen. Miss Drew, it's a long story, but before I tell you everything, I must know this. Is the man with you Edgar Nixon?"

"Yes."

"You're not married to him?"