Karl Driscoll dragged in Susan, who was also tied up, and the three girls were forced roughly down the cellar stairs, through the passage, and into the beach house. Raskin locked the cellar door from the inside and pocketed the key. Jake swung open the exit to the beach. As the heavy door closed behind the men and was locked from the outside, Karl rasped, "You girls will never see daylight again!"

CHAPTER XX.

A Rewarding Hunch

WHEN Raskin, Karl, and Jake dragged the girls away, Mrs. Driscoll grabbed the twins by the hand and pulled them out the front door. As they stepped onto the porch, Bess and George ran up. The woman attempted to brush by them, but George caught hold of Kathy. Kevin pulled loose and ran to Bess.

At that moment Ned and Burt dashed up the steps. "Where are Nancy and Cecily?" Ned asked.

Bess and George turned questioningly to Mrs. Driscoll. The woman's lips tightened firmly and she glared at the young people.

"The bad men took the pretty ladies to the cellar!" Kevin sobbed.

"The door is in the kitchen," George called as Ned and Burt raced into the house. They dashed down to the cellar and ran along the passageway. It took only a minute for them to break down the door at the end.

"Ned! Burt!" Nancy and Cecily exclaimed when the boys burst into the beach house.

"Oh, Ned," Nancy cried, "I've never been so glad to see you!" Quickly she introduced the boys to Susan and told them the high points of her story.

As soon as the ropes had been removed from the girls, Susan ran to the door. "I must get my babies!" she declared.

By the time the five young people reached the front hall, they found Dave, Chief Stovall, and two policemen there. With them, handcuffed together, were Karl Driscoll, Neal Raskin, and the man called Jake. Bess had the twins by the hand while George firmly held Mrs. Driscoll's arm.

"We found these men trying to escape in a boat," Chief Stovall told Nancy, "but they refuse to talk. Perhaps you can help us."

Susan ran up to the children and put her arms around them. Before she could speak, the little girl said, "Are you Mommy?"

"Yes, darling," Susan said gently. "Come into the living room with me and I'll tell you all about it."

The little boy and girl smiled happily. "I'm glad," Kathy said shyly. "You're nice!"

Bess and George were amazed by this revelation and overjoyed at the happy reunion. When Susan and the twins had left, Nancy told Chief Stovall the conversation she and Cecily had overheard in the beach house. "I'm sure you'll find a load of counterfeit records in the truck outside."

"Good for you, Miss Drew!" the chief said. "You're an excellent detective and I apologize for not taking your reports more seriously. Now tell me about these children."

Nancy repeated Susan's story. "I don't know how the Driscolls got the children," she admitted, "but I suspect it was done illegally."

"Well, Driscoll, would you like to tell us or shall we book you on a kidnapping charge?" the chief said sternly.

Mrs. Driscoll spoke up. "Tell him, Karl. We didn't know the twins had a mother living. It was all a terrible mistake." She sank into a chair and hid her face in her hands.

All the fight seemed to have gone out of Karl Driscoll. He explained that he and his wife had discovered the children at the edge of a campsite one morning over a year before. There was no one else around and they decided the twins had been abandoned.

"We had been talking about using some children in the acrobatic act my brother Vince and I had," he went on. "So we decided to train these youngsters, just sort of informally adopted them. The act didn't work out very well though, and a few months ago we decided to see if we could find the children's family and maybe collect a reward.

"The name Pudding Stone Lodge was burned into the top of a little trunk we found with the kids. I made some inquiries and learned of such a place on Misty Lake, so we came here. It was empty, but it looked like a good place for another project of ours, so I rented it. We were getting along okay until these busybody girls moved into that cottage."

"But what happened to the Talbots' car and all their luggage?" Nancy asked.

"We had to have money to take care of the kids," Karl replied sullenly. "We sold the car and the rest of the stuff."

"Driscoll," the chief said sternly, "you could not possibly have believed that those children were abandoned with the car and the luggage there. There's plenty you'll have to clear up for us. You come along now and join your pals in jail." The policeman led the four prisoners away.

"I want to thank you young ladies for helping rid Misty Lake of these disreputable characters," the chief said, "and solving the mystery of the phantom launch. Please say good night to Mrs. Talbot for me and tell her I'm delighted she has found her children."

A few minutes later Susan came into the room, a happy smile on her face. "The twins are in bed," she announced. "They have really taken all this excitement very well."

"Do sit down, Susan," Nancy urged, "and clear up a few more puzzles for us. Did you try to sig. nal from the bull's-eye window?"

"Oh, did you see me? My hands were tied and I was gagged, but I managed to get hold of a small mirror and move it in the sunlight. But Mrs. Driscoll caught me and took the glass away."

Susan continued, "They untied me and removed the gag when they brought me food, but one of them always stayed to guard me. One evening Vince was called away and I was left alone for a few minutes. He had taken the lamp, but I still had my handbag and got a flashlight from it. I signaled from the window, then with my nail file managed to push the key out of the lock, and pull it under the door with my fork. I escaped and ran into the woods but they caught me again."

"That's the night I saw you and called to you," Nancy put in. "But we know now you were too frightened to trust anybody."

Susan nodded, shivering a little. Then she brightened and turned to Cecily. "But I haven't forgotten that you have the other half of my locket and we're cousins! My father told me the story of the Delaroy brothers, our great-great-grandfathers, and how Simon's share of the family fortune was found in the beach house after the war. But Dad never knew what had happened to William."

Enthusiastic, Susan suggested that all the girls stay at the lodge and search for Cecily's treasure. They agreed.

Ned stood up. "I think we fellows had better go. If you girls are going to stay here, perhaps we can sleep at the cottage."

"Of course," said Cecily, and Nancy added, "Come back early in the morning. We'll all have breakfast together and then hunt for the treasure!"

Bess and George went with the boys and soon returned with overnight things for the four girls. It seemed they had just fallen asleep when they were awakened by a pounding on the front door. It was morning! They scrambled into their clothes and ran downstairs. There were Ned, Burt, and Dave-and Niko was with them!

"I wanted to find out what was going on here so I drove down after my performance last night," he explained. The girls welcomed him eagerly.

"We'll have breakfast ready in a jiffy!" Bess promised.

"I'm interested in Karl Driscoll's phantom launch," Ned remarked. "While you girls are rustling up the food, we fellows will go down to the beach house and take a look at his equipment."

When the boys returned a half hour later, an appetizing meal of melon, bacon and eggs, toast and milk was ready.

"Did you find out exactly how Karl made the phantom launch appear?" Nancy asked.

"Yes. It is an ingenious arrangement of wires, sound projector, and a film clip. The picture was projected through the hole in the door onto the mist which gave it that eerie appearance. No wonder he had everyone around here scared silly!"

"All but Nancy!" Bess reminded him proudly.

"None of you really believed it was real," Nancy insisted. Then she said, "I vote we look right now for Cecily's treasure. It must be hidden around here some place!"

"Where shall we start?" George asked briskly.

Nancy replied that she had been mulling over the location of the cupboard mentioned in Simon's note. She had come to the conclusion that the present dining room could have been the old kitchen because it had the largest fireplace.

"When Simon wrote that he had hidden the treasure in the kitchen cupboard, it sounded too easy. The cupboard must have been camouflaged in some way. So I think we should investigate that niche where the vase stands."