members of the cult.
The ghostly figures soon began dancing about
in the moonlight, and Nancy felt that the time
was right for her daring attempt to join the
group. Before she could tell Joanne, there was a
slight stir in the bushes directly behind her.
Involuntarily Nancy jumped, fully expecting
to come face to face with one of the cult mem-
bers. Instead, Bess and George emerged.
“Isn’t it about time for us to do something?”
they asked, almost simultaneously.
“Yes,” Nancy agreed, “we’d better get into our
robes as quickly as we can.”
The girls were well hidden by the rocks and
bushes. They donned their costumes and pulled
the headgear over their faces. For the first time,
Nancy noticed the scent of Blue Jade on Bess. “I
wonder if that was wise,” Nancy thought. “If it
attracts attention to Bess it might increase her
danger, but it’s too late now to do anything about
it.”
As George, overeager, started off. Nancy
caught her friend’s arm. “Wait!” she warned.
“We must slip quietly into the circle one at a
time.”
“My knees are shaking now,” Bess admitted.
“I don’t know how I’ll be able to dance.”
“Stay here if you like,” Nancy told her. “I
think we should leave someone to keep guard,
anyway.”
“I’ll stay,” Joanne offered. “I know the way
back through the woods better than you girls do.”
“Come on!” George pleaded. “If we don’t
hurry we’ll be too late!”
“Good luck!” Joanne whispered as the girls
crept away.
Inch by inch, the three girls made their way
up the hill. They crouched behind a clump of
bushes a stone’s throw from where the cult mem-
bers were dancing. Nancy indicated that she
would make the first move. Bess and George
nodded.
“The slightest mistake will mean detection!”
Nancy thought, her heart pounding.
Waiting for the right moment, she suddenly
slipped out among the white-robed figures and in-
stantly began waving her arms and making gro-
tesque motions.
CHAPTER XVI
Startling Commands
Relieved that her entry into the group had not
been noticed. Nancy marched along with the
other ghostly figures. If only George and Bess
were as successful!
Nancy watched her disguised companions and
saw that the girls would have no trouble in fol-
lowing the motions, since each person was ap-
parently making them up on the spur of the
moment.
“So far, so good,” Nancy told herself.
Satisfied now that her own position was tem-
porarily secure, she tried to help her friends. De-
liberately moving toward the shrubs behind
which George and Bess were hiding, she shielded
them from the view of the cult members, all the
time continuing her grotesque motions.
George realized what the young sleuth was try-
ing to do and made the most of the opportunity.
Choosing her time, she slipped out and joined
the group on the hillside.
Bess was more timid. Several times at the criti-
cal moment she lost her nerve, but she finally
managed to summon enough courage and made
the plunge.
“Keep close together,” Nancy warned in an un-
dertone. “If we lose each other, it may be dis-
astrous.”
By this time the girls had made up their minds
that there was nothing the least bit mystic about
the queer rites of the Black Snake Colony. Dis-
guised persons on all sides of them were making
crude remarks which assured the girls that the
cult members did not take the ceremony seri-
ously.
“This ought to give the country yokels an eye-
full” Nancy heard one man mutter.
“How much longer do we have to do this?” an-
other grumbled. “I’m getting sick of flapping my
arms around like a windmill!”
“This cult idea was all foolishness, anyway!”
still another said.
“Foolishness, is it?” someone caught him up.
Nancy thought she recognized the voice but was
not certain. “Let me tell you a girl was prowling
around here only a few days ago! I guess the
Chief knew his business when he thought up this
crazy cult idea.”
“Well, enough of this!” a loud voice an-
nounced. Nancy decided the man must be one of
the leaders. “We may as well go into the cave and