Shortly after eleven o'clock the girls heard Mr. Drew enter his room directly across the hall. Nancy lost no time in showing her father the carved bra.s.s chest. She threw open the lid, enjoying his look of amazement as he beheld the dazzling display of gems.

"Nancy, have you robbed a jewelry store?" he teased.

His daughter laughed and explained briefly how the chest had come into her possession. She climaxed the startling story by thrusting the jeweled compact into his hand.

"Dad, could this be the article we've been trying to trace?"

Carson Drew carefully examined the gleaming object.

"It certainly fits the description. And there's no question about the quality of the jewelry."

"Dad, the chest may have been hidden by a member of the gang of thieves."

"Yes, that's very possible. This discovery may change all our plans."

"And to complicate them, it will be harder to track down the mysterious woman since she won't be carrying the telltale compact."

Carson Drew gave a sigh and suppressed a yawn. He said, "If this compact belongs to her-yes. We have no other clue. Suppose I keep this jewelry in my possession until I communicate with New York City detectives. I'll telephone immediately and give a description of every piece in the chest. Possibly they can identify the jewelry as stolen property."

Before saying good night, Nancy told her father that she was scheduled to play in the first round of the golf tournament the following day. Then she kissed him and went off to bed.

Nine o'clock the next morning Nancy was waiting at the first tee for Miss Amy Gray, whose name had been drawn with her own for the initial match.

Bess and George were on hand to see their friend's first drive. They had decided against following her over the course, fearing that their presence might prove distracting. Nancy had arranged for Chris to caddy for her. He smiled encouragingly as she took a few practice swings.

"How does your hand feel?" George inquired.

"Oh, fine," Nancy answered.

Amy Gray, about thirty and slightly plump, soon arrived with her caddy. She drove a ball which sped two hundred yards straight down the fairway. Calmly Nancy stepped to the tee and sent her own ball within a few feet of that of her opponent.

Bess and George were delighted at the beautiful shot. From the first tee, they watched the pair play the hole and were almost certain that Nancy had won by a stroke.

"She's starting off pretty well even if her hand does bother her," Bess declared gleefully.

Amy Gray was an able player and did not waste strokes. She took the second hole and the third, leaving Nancy on the defensive. After that, it was a grim fight with first one player having the advantage, then the other. Finally when Amy shot a ball into the river on the fifteenth fairway Nancy knew that she herself would win the match.

"You're playing a beautiful game," Amy congratulated her.

"I'm afraid my final score won't be as low as I'd like," Nancy replied. "That is, not unless I make pars on the last three holes. Number sixteen isn't my favorite, either."

She smiled significantly at Chris, who averted his eyes in embarra.s.sment. He was still ashamed because he had refused to search for her lost ball near the haunted bridge.

Nancy sent a long ball flying down the fairway, and was glad it did not enter the woods. As she walked along with her caddy, she told him she had investigated the ravine.

"Your bridge has no ghost, Chris."

"But I've seen the-the thing moving about," the boy said defensively.

"What you saw through the trees was a white scarecrow."

"A scarecrow?" He laughed. "Well, that's a good joke on me and the other guys. We were sure it was a ghost because we could hear the thing screaming. How do you explain that?"

"I can't yet, Chris," said Nancy, "But I'm sure that the screams are not supernatural."

The boy looked doubtful. "I'm sorry I wouldn't look for your lost ball the other day," he apologized. "If I were sure you're right about the ghost I'd search for it later."

Nancy smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt because she saw that Chris was torn by conflicting emotions. He wanted to find the golf ball, but he could not rid himself of the fear he felt about looking for it.

Nancy said, "I'd especially like to recover that ball because it was autographed by Jimmy Harlow."

"Wow, no wonder you want to get it back," Chris murmured enviously. "I'll look for it."

"Have you always lived near Deer Mountain Hotel?" Nancy asked him as they were walking together toward the last hole.

"Sure." Chris grinned. "All my life."

"Then you must know nearly everyone for miles around. Tell me, did you ever hear of a house near the hotel that burned recently?"

The caddy looked slightly puzzled a moment, then he smiled.

"Oh, you must mean the Judson mansion. It stood over there."

With a sweep of his arm, Chris pointed back toward the woods. He said, "It was kind of close to the bridge-on the other side of the ravine. It burned more than two years ago in the middle of the night. No one knew how the fire started."

"You say a family named Judson lived in the house?"

"Not a family. Only Miss Margaret Judson."

"And is she an old lady?" Nancy inquired.

"Oh, no, she'd be about twenty-three or four now. Her parents died, and she was engaged to marry some guy-a professor at a college near here. But they never did get married. After the fire she ran away and no one heard much about her after that."

"It was odd that she disappeared directly after the fire," Nancy remarked.

"Yes, but the Judsons were strange. My mother could tell you a lot more about the family."

Nancy was elated. This was the first tangible clue she had had to the ident.i.ty of the young woman with whom she had talked at Hemlock Hall. Would Chris's mother be able to tell her more regarding Margaret Judson-facts perhaps which would connect her with the bra.s.s chest discovered near her former home?

"Where do you and your mother live?" Nancy asked the caddy.

Chris gave his address and Nancy wrote it down. "I'll go to see her," she said.

CHAPTER VII.

Ravine Riddle