costume making. She confided in me you might
have done just what you did. She asked me to try
and stop you.”
“Yes. Go on,” Nancy urged.
“Well, I’ve been suspicious of this hillside
ceremony stuff, and after talking further with
Mrs. Byrd, I decided to get in touch with the
Secret Service men she said you had told her
about. They couldn’t come, but the chief agent
in this area sent some of his other men.”
“How marvelous of you to have put two and
two together!” Bess exclaimed.
“By the time we all got here,” Karl went on,
“no one was around. I sneaked inside just as all
of you were coming out. Mr. Horton thought you
girls would not be harmed if you walked outside
before the gang was captured.”
“Thanks for that,” said George. “I’ve had
enough!”
Just then Secret Service Agent Horton came
over to Nancy’s group and extended his hand to
her. “Miss Drew,” he said earnestly, “I want to
thank you for your work which has resulted in
the solution of one of the most baffling cases of
counterfeiting the United States Government has
ever had. How did you do it?”
Nancy blushed at the praise. “It was sort of a
chain reaction, I guess,” the young sleuth replied,
and told of the various circumstances that had led
to tonight’s adventure.
When she finished, the agent shook his head in
amazement. “You cracked a code this gang had
thought was unbreakable. My congratulations.”
It was late when the four girls, escorted by
Karl Abbott, left the cave. As they neared the
farmhouse, Joanne observed that the lights were
on. “I hope Gram hasn’t been too worried.”
Before the girls reached the porch, Mrs. Byrd
came hurrying toward them. She clung tightly to
Joanne for an instant.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she murmured in
relief. “And you girls are all right. I was terribly
afraid those members of the Black Snake Col-
ony-”
She was interrupted by Mrs. Salisbury’s voice
from the dark porch. ‘”You had us so worried we
couldn’t go to bed. The idea of girls running
around the country at this hour! That nature cult
is all foolishness, anyway!”
“Absolutely!” Mr. Abbott agreed. “The less
you meddle with their affairs, the wiser you’ll
be!”
“You’re wrong this time. Father,” Karl Jr. an-
nounced. “If the girls hadn’t meddled, those
counterfeiters would have operated indefinitely.”
“Counterfeiters!” the two boarders and Mrs.
Byrd exclaimed together.
They were tense as Karl Jr. related every-
thing that had happened. In fact, it was not until
the next day that Mrs. Salisbury recovered from
the shock sufficiently to boast:
“Well, I always said those girls were up and
coming!”
Mr. Abbott was very proud of the part his son
had played in the case, and said so several times.
Mrs. Byrd had nothing except praise for Nancy
and her friends. “And who would think,” she said
incredulously, “that Bess’s innocent purchase of
a bottle of perfume would lead you girls to a
mystery right here at Red Gate Farm!”
However, the removal of the Black Snake Col-
ony from her property left her a serious financial
problem. “I’m glad they’re gone,” she said, “but
I’ll miss the money. I can’t hope to rent the land
again. It isn’t fertile enough for farming. All this
talk about counterfeiters is apt to give Red Gate
a bad name, too. I’ll probably lose those other
boarders who were coming!”
“Publicity is a queer thing,” Nancy said
thoughtfully. “Sometimes one can work it to
one’s advantage. That’s what we’ll do now.”
“How?” Joanne asked.
“We’ll advertise that counterfeiters’ cavern to
sightseers and make enough money to lift a
dozen mortgages!”
The others were enthusiastic. During the next
week the girls, with Karl Jr.’s assistance, placed
in the cave for public display an imitation setup
of the counterfeiting operation. There were sev-
eral old printing presses, and some dummy
figures arranged before them as if “at work.” Scat-
tered about the cave floor were stacks of home-
made “money”-to represent counterfeit bills.
The following week Mr. Drew came to Red
Gate Farm. A few miles away he halted his auto-
mobile at the side of the road, and with an