CHAPTER XVII.

An Important Clue

NANCY could hardly wait for her father to proceed. She left the arm of his chair and seated herself on a couch opposite him.

"As you recall," the lawyer began, "I mentioned that Felix Raybolt practically had stolen my client's invention-an improvement for an automatic elevator."

Nancy leaned forward, listening intently as her father continued, "Mr. Simpson also feels that Raybolt may have decided matters were getting too hot for him and he'd better disappear. The other day Mr. Simpson's wife happened to stop at a country store and gas station a few miles outside of Mapleton.

"A run-down old car with a shabby-looking driver was just pulling away. Mrs. Simpson had only a fleeting glimpse of the man, but she thinks he may have been Mr. Raybolt."

"How exciting!" Nancy exclaimed. "Did she follow him?"

"No, but she asked the attendant about him. The man bought a large quant.i.ty of canned goods -including bread in tins."

"Which makes it appear," said Nancy, "that the man was going camping."

"Exactly. Of course he may not have been Mr. Raybolt. The clerks in the store said the shabby-looking customer was a stranger to them. But I think the clue is worth investigating."

"Oh, I agree. The man might have been Mr. Raybolt in disguise!" said Nancy eagerly. "I'll get right to it and start by going to that store first thing tomorrow morning."

"But not without Bess and George," Mr. Drew insisted.

Nancy called the cousins at once. Both were enthusiastic about accompanying the girl detective, although Bess as usual said she hoped there would be no danger involved.

"Oh, by the way, Ned was here," Nancy told her. "He's going to deliver our gifts to Honey, then take her and her mother to see Mr. Swenson."

"Good!" Bess giggled. "I see you're starting this friendship with Ned correctly-make your date work for you!" She hung up before Nancy could retort.

The following morning the girls drove to the country store, made a few purchases, then asked if the stranger in the old car had ever come back.

"No, he never did, but he had no reason to," one of the clerks said. "The tank of that old crate was full to the brim, and there was enough food in the back seat to last the guy a month."

"Which way did he go?" Nancy asked.

The man pointed in a direction opposite to the one where the burned Raybolt home was located. After Nancy had received a full description of the old car, she followed the road it had taken.

Presently she said, "Girls, if you were coming along here and planning to hide, where would you go?"

"If I knew about that cobwebby cabin we saw I'd go there," George replied.

"But we were in it after Mr. Raybolt's disappearance," Nancy spoke up. "n.o.body has been in it for a long time. Bess, what's your guess?"

"Another cabin. One that's closer. Maybe Mr. Raybolt has a small hunting lodge somewhere."

Nancy was driving very slowly now. Finally she said she was looking for a little-used side road. If there were tire tracks on it, she would see where they led.

Suddenly Nancy stopped. On her left was a narrow, gra.s.sy lane, almost obscured by overhanging trees. There were two distinct tire tracks.

"You're not going to drive in there?" Bess cried out. "Nancy, you'd ruin your car!"

"I guess you're right," Nancy conceded, "but I think we should investigate."

She parked, locked the ignition, and climbed out. The other girls followed. The woods road was rutty and full of stones.

"I hope we don't have to go far," said Bess presently. "These stones hurt my feet. We should have worn hiking boots."

Nancy forged ahead. The road went on and on, with no sign of a cabin, or the shabby car or its owner. After the girls had walked for fifteen minutes, Bess called for a rest period. They dropped to the ground.

"It's certainly quiet in here," George remarked. "You could hear a pin-oh!"

All three girls were startled by the distant buzz of a chain saw. As they listened, there came a tremendous crash.

"Timber!" exclaimed George, grinning.

"You're a little late with your warning. The tree's already fallen," Bess chided her cousin good-naturedly. "Well, I'm sure Mr. Raybolt isn't doing any lumbering if he's trying to hide, so let's go back."

Nancy felt that they were not a long way from the tree-cutting site. "Whoever is working there may have seen Mr. Raybolt or his old car. Let's find out," she said.

As the girls plodded on over the rough ground, the sounds of trees being felled grew louder. Finally they came to a spot where they could see a good distance ahead. A large area of the woods was being cleared for a housing development. They a.s.sumed that the entrance to it was at the far end, for in the distance they could see several new houses.

"There's a man who looks as if he might be the foreman," Nancy said, and walked toward a tall, husky young man. She introduced herself, then asked him if the lane was used by the real-estate developers.

"No, that's on someone else's property," he replied. "My name's Tim Murphy. I'm in charge of the clearing operation. Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes, a shabbily dressed man who has an ancient hot rod." Nancy grinned. "We thought he might be staying in a shack in these woods."

Tim Murphy's reply startled the girls. "I think your friend was here but left mysteriously. This development has been held up, and we just resumed work a couple of days ago. There's a little shack not far from here. It was empty, so whenever we had a downpour, my men and I used it for shelter.

"Two days ago we went there. What a surprise we got! A man came out with a shotgun and ordered us away! He was tall and thin, and his clothes were very shabby."

"Was there a car around?" George asked.

"Yes, a black crate that sure was beat up. Think this is the man you're looking for?"

"Yes," said Bess, "but if he has a shotgun, we're not going near him!"

Tim Murphy laughed. "You needn't worry. He's gone."

This revelation shattered Nancy's hope that her quest was nearing an end. "When did he leave?"

"During the night, and he hasn't come back. I have an idea he won't, either. I got the impression he wanted to be alone, and an expanding housing development is no place for a recluse. Say, do you mind telling me why you girls are interested in such a peculiar guy?"

They were spared the necessity of answering Murphy when a worker called him away. He went off hurriedly, and the girls started back to the lane. They were silent until they came to the spot where they had rested before.

"Do you think the man with the shotgun really was Mr. Raybolt?" George asked Nancy.