Nancy, mainly concerned about the kindly baker, did not answer immediately. Finally she suggested they ask the baker's a.s.sistant if she knew of anyone who understood Swedish.

The woman gladly called several people, but none were at home. Nancy even phoned her father to see if he could recommend someone. But Mr. Drew was not at his office.

The girls were a little discouraged, but Nancy said, "We can still work on the mystery. My car should be finished by this time. If it is, we can drive over and visit Honey and her mother."

"That's a swell idea!" Bess and George chorused.

When they reached the garage, the girls were overjoyed to find the convertible ready. "Looks almost as good as new!" Nancy said, pleased. "I'll write a check for the amount."

To her chagrin, she had forgotten her checkbook.

"That's all right," the mechanic said. "I'm very busy, anyhow. I'll make out the bill later and drop it off at your home."

"Fine," Nancy said with a smile. Then she and the cousins phoned their homes from an outside booth to report their destination. A few minutes later they set off on the highway for Sandy Creek.

Nancy slowed as she drove past the Raybolt estate. The girls glanced at the charred ruins of the once-beautiful mansion.

"I wish we had time to stop and talk to the men investigating the cause of the fire," Nancy said. "But we'd better get to the Swensons' first."

About ten miles farther on, Nancy came to a sawhorse across the road. "Detour!" George groaned. "It must've been put up yesterday."

"It isn't very long," Bess declared optimistically. "I can see the end of it."

The road had been closed to permit the construction of a new steel bridge. The bypa.s.s wound down into a valley, crossing the Muskoka River a quarter of a mile south.

"We'll lose time on this dirt road," Nancy remarked, turning into the detour. "Poor car! It'll be lucky to get through without jolting to pieces."

The road was ungraded and recent rains had left it rutty. In addition, it was narrow, with hardly any places wide enough for two cars to pa.s.s. Even though Nancy drove slowly, the ride was a b.u.mpy one.

"Good way to break a spring-on a road like this!" she declared.

"Or a bone!" Bess added wryly.

A moment later the girls became aware of a loud, insistent honking behind them.

"Big truck right in back of you, Nancy," George observed.

"I know. Well, the driver will just have to wait. He can't pa.s.s me on this narrow stretch."

But the blowing of the truck's horn continued until Nancy became irritated, then indignant.

"What is the matter with that man?" Nancy increased her speed, hoping to leave the impatient driver behind. But he speeded up, keeping close to the convertible. Honk! Honk!

Honk!

"If he doesn't s-stop that, I'll s-scream!" Bess complained. "And if we g-go any faster, I'll l-lose all my teeth."

The convertible was now b.u.mping up and down unmercifully. George turned around in her seat to glare at the horn-blowing driver. "Don't give him an inch!" she told Nancy.

"Wouldn't do him any good if I did. His truck's too big to pa.s.s, and I'm certainly not going into a ditch to let him get by! He'll have to wait until we reach the end of this detour!"

"What's his big hurry, anyhow?" George grumbled. "Probably just trying to make us nervous."

"Well, he's certainly succeeding so far as I'm concerned," Bess said.

Just then the girls came within sight of a wooden bridge-the end of the torturous road.

"Thank goodness!" Bess cried.

With the truck still bearing down on the convertible, Nancy drove onto the bridge.

"It doesn't look very safe," Bess remarked uneasily. "No wonder they're building a new bridge."

"It doesn't sound safe, either!" George cried out as the loose planks creaked alarmingly under the weight of the car. "If that truck tries to pa.s.s us, we'll all crash through!"

But at that moment the girls heard the heavy truck clatter onto the wooden planks. "He's crazy!" George exclaimed. "This bridge will never hold us both!"

The words were barely out of her mouth when there came a cracking, splintering sound.

"Nancy!" Bess shrieked. "Look out!"

CHAPTER VI.

Nancy's Strategy

AT BESS'S warning, Nancy glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw that the driver of the heavy truck did indeed intend to pa.s.s her! There was only one way for her to avert an accident: take her car full speed ahead.

"Here goes!" she cried out, and the convertible shot forward.

The three girls held their breaths, praying that the bridge would be strong enough to hold both vehicles. The old bridge creaked and groaned but held up despite a plank cracked by the truck.

Nancy had barely reached the far end when the truck sped past her at an alarming rate. It grazed her car and tore off part of the bridge railing. The driver rushed on pell-mell.

"That fellow's a madman!" George exclaimed angrily. "He should be arrested for reckless driving!"

"I wish I had taken his license number so we could report him to the police!" Bess added.

Nancy sighed. "At this point I'm just glad my car doesn't have to go into the repair shop again! I have a lot of work to do trying to solve the mystery of the Raybolt fire."

As the girls drove on toward Sandy Creek, they finally forgot their indignation. When they reached the town, Nancy asked a policeman for directions. Following these, she arrived at a section near the river where small houses were crowded together. Bess and George carefully scanned the weather-worn cottages, searching for one with the name "Riverwood."

Bess caught sight of it first. "I see Honey out front!" she said eagerly. "Look! Isn't she sweet?"