CHAPTER II
A Suspicious Groom
On the far side of the ring Señor Roberto had witnessed the accident in alarm and dismay. He rushed toward Nancy, who lay still on the turf where she had fallen. As he reached her, the girl’s eyelids flickered open.
“Miss Drew!” the riding master cried.
He knelt beside her, hoping that she had broken no bones and that she had not hit her head.
“Miss Drew!” he murmured over and over. “Are you all right?”
Nancy nodded slowly and struggled to a sitting position. Then, with Señor Roberto’s assistance, she got to her feet. To the man’s amazement, her first words were:
“Is Belgian Star all right?”
It was typical of Nancy not to think of herself first. She had been in many tight spots while solving the various mysteries that had come her way, but the safety of the innocent persons involved had always been her chief concern. Starting with The Secret of the Old Clock, she had proved herself adept in handling difficult situations and bringing many criminals to justice. This had been particularly true in her most recent case, which had come to be known as The Clue of the Velvet Mask.
“Miss Drew,” said Señor Roberto, “you look very pale. We’ll go into my office and I’ll fix you some tea.”
Nancy was not to be sidetracked in her concern for Belgian Star. The horse had left the ring and was now out of sight.
“Where did Star go?” she asked. “Is she all right?”
“Well,” said Señor Roberto, raising his eyebrows high, “my first concern is for you. But if you insist upon knowing about the horse, we’ll find out.”
Nancy managed a wan smile. “I didn’t mean to seem ungrateful,” she said, “but someone hurled a rock at Star’s head. It may have injured her.”
The riding master stared in amazement. “You say someone threw a rock at the horse?” he asked.
Nancy nodded. “A man was lying on the ground outside the fence. I saw him toss the rock. There it is over on the grass.” She pointed.
Señor Roberto looked worried. “I understand now why you were anxious about the mare,” he said. “We’ll look into this at once. Have you any idea who the person was?”
“No, I haven’t,” Nancy replied. “I didn’t see his face.”
Suddenly the riding master bellowed, “Hitch! Hitch! Come here at once!”
The stableman did not appear instantly. But after the third summons he ran from the building.
“Were you out here when Miss Drew fell?” the riding master asked him.
“Why, no, sir,” the groom replied. “I didn’t even know there’d been any trouble.”
“Did you see anyone outside the fence?”
“No, sir.”
“Did Belgian Star run into her stall?” Roberto questioned him.
“Yes, she did. Star seemed pretty excited. I’ve been tryin’ to calm her down.”
While the riding master explained to his hostler about the accident, Nancy noticed that Hitch was wearing the same kind of clothes and old soft hat as the figure she had seen on the ground. And his suit had fresh dirt on it! Nancy’s suspicions were instantly aroused. She gazed beyond the fence to determine whether the man might have had time by now to make a circuitous route back to the stable.
“He could have done it easily,” she told herself, staring at the thick woods which came up almost to the fence of the riding ring. “And Hitch, is out of breath from running.”
The man who had caused the accident could have crawled into the woods and returned to the academy without being seen.
Nancy turned to Señor Roberto, “How long was I unconscious?” she asked.
“Oh, twenty or thirty seconds—that’s all,” the riding master replied.
Then Nancy turned to Hitch. “How did you get all that fresh dirt on the front of your clothes?”
Hitch suddenly looked uncomfortable. He did not reply for a few seconds. Instead he countered, “I’ve heard you’re a detective. Is it true?”
Nancy, somewhat taken aback by his question, acknowledged that she was known as an amateur sleuth.
“Then I guess I’d better tell the truth—seein’ as how you’ll find it out in the end,” Hitch said. “I walked around through the woods to watch you do the circus stunts. While I was lookin’, I seen a feller lyin’ on the ground by the fence. The next thing I knew he threw somethin’ at your horse. Then when I seen you fall off I got so scared I beat it. That’s when I tripped and fell down in the dirt.”