Keene, Carolyn – Nancy Drew 006 – The Secret of Red Gate Farm

and stood quietly waiting for the worst to come.

“Good thing you got her. Hank,” Maurice

Hale called. “The little wildcat! We’ll give her

a double dose for this smart trick! No girl’s go-

ing to put anything over on me!”

At the entrance of the cave it was nearly as

bright as day, for the moon was high. Maurice

Hale glanced nervously about, as though fearing

observation by unseen eyes.

“Get back inside!” he sharply ordered his fol-

lowers. “It’s a clear night and some wise bird

might see us without our costumes and wonder

what’s up. We must destroy the evidence as

quickly as we can and clear out of this placel”

Even as the leader spoke, Nancy thought she

heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. She told

herself that it probably was only the wind stir-

ring the leaves. Rescue was out of the question,

for no one knew that she and her friends had

planned such a dangerous mission. How foolish.

of them not to have revealed their full plans to

someone!

Nancy made no protest as she was dragged back

into the cavern. Bravely she tried to meet the

eyes of her friends, for she saw that they were

even more discouraged than she. Poor Bess was

trembling with fright.

“Th-the perfume did it!” she wailed. “I knew

this masquerade was far too dangerous for us to

try!”

“Cheer up,” Nancy whispered encouragingly.

“We’ll find some way to get out of here!”

Bess only shook her head. She was not to be

deceived.

“And to think I was the one who couldn’t wait

for a spooky adventure on the hillside,” George

moaned regretfully. “I really ought to have my

head examined!”

The members of the syndicate were furious.

There would be no second opportunity for these

intruders to break away. At an order from the

leader, Al Snead found several pieces of rope and

bound Nancy and her friends hand and foot. He

seemed to take particular delight in making

Nancy’s bonds cruelly tight.

“I guess that’ll hold you for a while.” He

grinned, gloating over the girls’ predicament.

“Get to work!” the leader commanded his men

impatiently. “Do you think we have the rest of

the night? If we don’t hurry up and get out of

here, the cops are apt to be down on us! Don’t

know what this girl’s done.”

All colony members, except Mrs. Hale, went

to work with a will; the fear of the law obviously

had affected them. With a sinking heart, Nancy

realized the men planned to destroy all the evi-

dence of their counterfeiting operations.

“The machines that we can’t take with us we’ll

wreck,” Maurice Hale ordered. “If we save the

plates we can start up again in a new place. Get

a move on!”

He stood over the men, driving them furiously.

His wife had slumped down in a chair and had

buried her face in her hands. She appeared

crushed. Only once did she summon her energy

to speak.

“Maurice,” she murmured brokenly, “why

won’t you give up this dreadful life-always run-

ning from the police? We were happy before you

got mixed up with such bad company.”

Her husband cut her short with a sarcastic re-

mark. She did not try to speak again, but sat

hunched over, looking sorrowfully at the girls.

Nancy knew that she wanted to help them, but

did not have the courage for further defiance.

The work of destroying the counterfeiting ma-

chinery went on, but several times Maurice Hale

glanced impatiently at his watch.

“No use waiting until we’re through here,” he

observed after a time. “Let’s get the prisoners

out of here pronto. The sooner we’re rid of them,

the safer I’ll feel. Al, you start on ahead with one

of the automobiles. You know the way to the

shack, don’t you?”

“Sure,” Al Snead agreed promptly.

“Then take Hank along to keep guard and get

going!”

Nancy and her chums were jerked to their feet.

The cords around their ankles were removed to

permit them to walk, but their arms were kept

tied securely behind them.

“Move along!” Al Snead ordered Nancy, giving

her a hard shove forward.

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