The next second, the earth caved in around her and she went down with it!

CHAPTER XIII.

The Attic's Secret

"HELP! I'll be smothered!" George called out. The terrified girl was sinking lower and lower into the hole.

Thoroughly alarmed, Nancy and Bess hurried toward George, but stopped a short distance away.

"Careful, Bess," Nancy warned. "We can't help George if we fall in too. Some of this other ground may be treacherous."

The two girls tested the ground before taking each step. Meanwhile, George kept giving urgent cries, for she had now sunk up to her waist in the earth. The more she struggled, the deeper she went!

"Try to keep calm, George!" Nancy cried. "We'll get you out in a minute!" She turned to her other friend. "Bess," she directed, "lie down on the ground behind me."

While Bess did this, Nancy quickly stretched out full length on her stomach at the edge of the hole. She reached out toward George.

"Grab my ankles, Bess!" she called again. "When I count three, start wriggling backward."

Taking hold of George's wrists, Nancy said, "Lock your hands over my wrists. Ready! One, two, three!"

Instantly, Bess began squirming backward across the ground. Nancy did the same. But their efforts accomplished little to free George.

"Pull a little harder, Bess," Nancy called.

Bess glanced backward. Almost directly behind her was a small tree. She hooked one ankle around it to give her better leverage. When she and Nancy tried a second time, they were able to heave George a foot out of the pit!

The girls rested briefly, then repeated the operation. A few more tugs and George was free, sprawled on the ground, a safe distance beyond the edge of the hole. A moment later the earth on both sides of the hole fell away.

"Good night!" she shuddered. "You were just in time. What a close call!"

"What could have caused the cave-in?" Bess asked.

"I think there may have been a sluiceway here long ago," Nancy declared. "Probably at this point there was a water wheel and a little dam. It has partially filled in, but the water keeps the ground above it soft."

Nancy went on thoughtfully, "Since n.o.body came out of the house when you cried for help, George, it must be deserted. Let's find out!"

The others nodded and the three advanced cautiously toward the one-story dwelling. When they reached it, Nancy knocked on the door. There was no reply and finally she turned the k.n.o.b. To her surprise, it opened easily and the young sleuth led the way inside. All was quiet.

"I doubt that anyone is here," said George, as the friends wandered from room to room, noting that not one had a piece of furniture.

Finally they reached the kitchen, which did not even contain a stove. Nancy pointed out a trap door leading to an attic. They were about to turn away when suddenly they heard a thud overhead.

Nancy put her fingers to her lips, and the girls stood in complete silence. The sound was not repeated as they gazed steadily above them.

Finally George whispered, "I guess it was nothing."

Nancy shook her head and again put a finger to her lips. Pointing upward, she indicated that she was going to investigate the attic.

She motioned for Bess to bend down. The plump girl groaned as Nancy climbed on her shoulders, reached upward, and tilted the trap door open.

The next second a shower of dusty newspapers dropped down. Nancy lost her balance and fell to the floor. Bess was bowled over, her eyes full of dirt. Almost at the same instant, a heavy bundle of papers landed squarely on George!

The room was a cloud of dust. Coughing and choking, the three girls ran to the front door. After clearing their lungs outdoors, Bess and George asked Nancy if she had hurt herself in the fall.

"Not much," Nancy replied, "but I don't believe those papers tumbled down by themselves."

Bess became alarmed. "You mean someone was in the attic and pushed them down on us?"

"Yes, I do," Nancy said. "Come on. We're going to find out who it was!"

When the girls returned to the kitchen, they saw that the back door was open. Also, someone had jumped down from the attic. Footprints were evident in the heavy dust.

"They lead out the door!" George cried.

"I'm going to follow them," Nancy said tensely. "Bess, you come with me. George, will you stay here as guard?"

"Sure."

As Nancy and Bess ran through the rear exit, George fixed her eyes on the trap door, wonder- ing uneasily if there could be a second person in the attic. She decided to find out.

A shower of dusty newspapers poured down.

Going to the front door, George slammed it hard, then tiptoed back, peeking around the door to the kitchen. She waited for several minutes but no one appeared in the trap-door opening.

At last George went outside. She walked around the house, but found nothing suspicious. The girl's attention was suddenly arrested by a gnarled old cherry tree in the nearby woods. From its limbs hung rows of a parasitic whiplike growth, giving the tree a grotesque appearance. Several branches crossed so that they resembled a witch on a broom.

"A witch tree!" George exclaimed.

As she stared at the tree, the girl became convinced it must have something to do with the hex symbol.

Suddenly a woman's shrill scream split the silence. George turned in the direction from which it had come, but could see no one. She paused.

The scream might mean that George's friends needed help, or it might have been uttered by someone else as a ruse to get her away from the old house. She decided to stand her ground.

A few moments later Nancy and Bess emerged from among the trees. George asked if either of them had screamed.

"No," Nancy replied. "That was an Amish woman we saw in the woods. For no apparent reason, she screamed and ran off as fast as she could."

Bess continued, "We decided she was probably some farm girl picking berries or wild flowers. Maybe a noise in the underbrush startled her."

"Did you discover anything?" George asked.

"No," Nancy answered. "We couldn't find any trail or clues in this wooded area so we decided to turn back. Any more visitors?"