new friends was far more important to her than
any other plans the girls might have had.
“I agree one hundred per cent!” George an-
swered happily as she stepped into the car.
“And I’ll be so glad to get out of this heat,”
Bess chimed in with a sigh. “I spent practically
the whole night dreaming about the cool, re-
freshing breezes in the country.”
As Nancy steered the convertible in the direc-
tion of Round Valley, she said with an eager
smile, “We’re off to rescue Red Gate Farm!”
Nancy and her friends thoroughly enjoyed the
scenic route to Round Valley. They stopped for
a quick lunch and then continued their drive.
The winding roads led through cool groves and
skirted sparkling little lakes. Each hilltop
brought a different and beautiful view.
Gradually the worried expression completely
left Joanne’s eyes, and color came into her thin
face. She began to laugh heartily at the antics of
Bess and George. As they rode along she told the
girls a great deal about her home.
“You’ll like Red Gate, I’m sure,” she said en-
thusiastically. “We haven’t any riding horses,
but there will be plenty of other things to do. We
can explore the cave, for one thing.”
“Cave?” Bess questioned with interest. “How
exciting! What kind is it? A home for bears or a
pirate’s den?”
Joanne laughed. “There’s a large cavern lo-
cated on the farm. No one knows how it came to
be there, but we think it must have been made a
long time ago by an underground river.”
“You must have explored it before this!”
Nancy exclaimed.
“Oh, yes, of course, though I’ll admit I never
did very thoroughly, and I haven’t been near
the cave for years. As a child I was always afraid
of the place-it looked so dark and gloomy.
Lately I’ve been too busy working around the
farm.”
“We’ll have to put that at the top of our list!”
George declared. “I love spooky things.”
“Well, I’m not so sure I do,” Bess admitted.
Nancy laughed. “We may even find hidden
treasure in the walls.”
“I wish you could.” Joanne sighed. “It cer-
tainly would come in handy.”
The hours passed quickly as the travelers al-
ternately sang and chatted. “Why, it’s almost
four o’clock!” George announced in surprise.
“We’ve made good time,” Nancy remarked.
Bess spoke up plaintively. “I’m half-starved.
It’s been ages since lunch. I could go for a gooey
sundae.”
The others laughed, but agreed they were
hungry too.
“Let’s watch for a roadside stand,” Nancy pro-
posed. “I’ll have to stop soon for gas, anyway.”
“We’ll come to one soon,” Joanne spoke up.
“We’re in Round Valley now.”
A few minutes later she pointed out a com-
bination filling station and lunchroom which
looked clean and inviting. Nancy turned the con-
vertible into the driveway and parked out of the
way of other drivers who might want to stop for
gasoline.
The group entered the lunchroom and took
seats at one of the small white tables. They all
decided on chocolate nut sundaes topped with
whipped cream.
“Here goes another pound.” Bess sighed as she
gave her order. “But I’d rather be pleasantly
plump than give up sundaes!”
Though there were few customers in the room,
the woman in charge, who also did the serving,
was extremely slow in filling the orders. Twice
Nancy glanced at her watch.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, “I’ll step out-
side and get the gasoline. It will save us a little
time in getting started. Don’t wait for me if our
sundaes come.”
She drove the car over to the pump and
asked the attendant to fill the tank. Before he
could do so, however, a large, high-powered sedan
pulled up to the other pump, coming to an
abrupt stop almost parallel to Nancy’s car.
“Give me five and make it snappy!” a voice
called out impatiently.
The attendant glanced inquiringly at Nancy
Drew. “Do you mind?” he asked.
“Wait on them first if you like,” she said gra-
ciously.
Nancy observed the passengers with interest.
There were three rather coarse-looking men, ac-
companied by a woman.
Nancy could not see the face of the driver, for