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.