Finally the girls were on their way to Mapleton.

"It's going to be pretty dark tonight," Bess commented. "There'll be no moon."

"So much the better," Nancy declared. "Mr. Raybolt probably wouldn't venture to return if he thought there would be any danger of his being detected."

"Your plan sounds dangerous to me," Bess remarked. "What if Mr. Raybolt should come and make trouble?"

"We'd be three to one," Nancy returned. "Of course it would be better if we had a man along. I'm going to stop at Ned's house and see if he can come with us."

"Good!"

The sun was sinking low when Nancy swung into Mapleton. The girls stopped at the Nickerson residence which was on their route, but were disappointed to learn that Ned had not returned home after driving Mrs. Swenson and Honey to Sandy Creek.

"Who knows-maybe he's off hunting for Foxy Felix," Nancy said to her friends. "I'll leave a note for him, and if he should get back in time, he might follow us to the estate."

She quickly wrote a message and gave it to Ned's mother. Mrs. Nickerson promised to deliver it the moment her son came home.

As they drove away from the Nickerson home, Bess said nervously, "I have a feeling something dreadful is going to happen tonight. It wouldn't be so bad if there only were other houses close by, but they're so far away, the neighbors wouldn't hear us even if we screamed for help."

"Calm down," Nancy advised. "Three strong, capable girls like ourselves shouldn't need any help."

"I'd be a match for Foxy Felix myself," George boasted. "Look at my arm muscles. I a.s.sure you I haven't wasted all the time I spent in the gym."

Dusk was just settling when the girls came within sight of the burned mansion. The Raybolt estate looked unpleasantly lonely. Even George felt less inclined to joke as she realized that within a few moments it would be dark.

Nancy drove past the estate and hid the convertible in a dense clump of trees.

"We'll leave the car here," she said, "and go quietly up the driveway."

The girls armed themselves with flashlights, a pick, and two lightweight shovels. Then they went cautiously along the road and turned into the estate. No one came to challenge them as they reached the ruined house. A few charred beams which had not fallen to the ground stood like sentinels guarding the wreckage. In the dimness the girls could easily imagine that they were ghostly figures.

"This is going to be spookier than I figured," Bess chattered nervously. "Nancy, you do have the wildest ideas."

The girl detective did not reply to this. When she was fairly certain no one else was around, she turned on her flashlight and played it on the stone walls of the house's foundation. Nancy realized it would be a herculean task to move the debris away to inspect them. Nevertheless, she set the light on a pile of rubble and began to shovel away a heap of plaster.

"What do you expect to find?" George asked, turning on her flashlight and setting it down. "And tell me how I can help."

"A safe," Nancy answered. "And how about you girls taking turns with the pick and shovel? The other one act as lookout."

Bess posted herself as guard while the others worked. Nancy and George uncovered several feet of wall but found no loose stones or anything indicating a section to open. The stones were tightly cemented.

Suddenly Bess whispered hoa.r.s.ely, "Put out the lights! I hear someone coming!"

The flashes were clicked off and the three girls crouched down. They could hear nothing now.

"I'm sure I wasn't mistaken," Bess said.

"I believe we had better quit this work and hide," said Nancy. "If Mr. Raybolt is coming, he'll probably be here soon."

"Maybe he's the person I heard," Bess whispered.

"All the more reason for us to pretend to be leaving in case he's watching us," George spoke up.

The girls left the ruins without turning on their lights, stumbling and falling over the debris. They went down the driveway, but before reaching the end, Nancy said, "Let's leave the tools here, go into the woods, and sneak back toward the ruins."

They hid the pick and shovels and retraced their steps. Nancy found a place behind a clump of bushes only a short distance from the ruins. The shrubs concealed the girls, yet disclosed a view of the driveway and the woods. Nancy and her friends settled themselves as comfortably as possible. But from the first, insects made it plain that they resented the intrusion.

A half hour pa.s.sed, then an hour. The girls were startled several times as twigs crackled or dead limbs of trees crashed in the breeze.

"The bugs have nearly eaten me up," Bess complained, "and my back feels as though it were broken."

"You'll become paralyzed after another hour or so." Nancy grinned.

"How long do you propose staying here?" George demanded. "It must be almost midnight now."

"It isn't ten o'clock yet." Nancy laughed.

"Well, I don't think Mr. Raybolt is coming or he'd have been here by this time," Bess said sleepily. "Why don't we go home?"

"I want to stay a while longer," Nancy returned quietly.

Again the girls became silent. Bess and George, having accustomed themselves to their hiding place, stretched out and left Nancy to keep watch. They were no longer nervous or afraid-only weary of an adventure which had gone stale.

Presently George became very quiet and then fell asleep. Bess's eyes closed, too, and soon she was in a deep sleep.

How long the cousins slept, they had no idea. But suddenly they were awakened by a scream, and the sound of running feet on the driveway.

"Nancy!" cried George, jumping up. "What has happened?"

There was no answer.

"Nancy!" called Bess, grabbing George by the arm.

Still there was no answer, and the two girls realized that their friend was no longer with them. Where was she? Who had screamed? Who was coming up the road in such haste?

CHAPTER XX.

A Surprising Victory

WHILE the cousins had been asleep, Nancy had taken matters into her own hands. Her mind had been too active for her to feel sleepy. As she watched, first the woods, then the driveway, then the burned house, she suddenly became aware of footsteps.

"Maybe that's Ned," she thought hopefully.

The masculine figure was still too far away for Nancy to be able to discern who it could be. While she waited with bated breath, the man paused. She was about to awaken Bess and George when it occurred to her that they might speak aloud and warn the oncoming figure of their presence.