bushes. The lawyer did not see her. He parked
his car under a gnarled maple, got out, and set
off on foot.
“I’ll follow him,” Nancy decided.
Mr. Hector walked so fast that she could
scarcely keep him in sight. He seemed thoroughly
acquainted with the layout of the trails, for he
never hesitated when he came to a turn.
Before long the man vanished from view.
When Nancy came to a fork in the path, she
wondered which way he had gone. Fearful she
would lose track of him entirely. Nancy pressed
her ear to the ground and very faintly could dis-
cern a steady beat to her right. She hastened on.
Presently the trail branched off in three direc-
tions. Again Nancy was baffled. When she flat-
tened herself on the ground this time, she could
hear nothing.
“I’ve lost him!” she thought in dismay.
Nancy chose a path at random and went on
doggedly. She was so intent on her sleuthing she
completely forgot about George and Bess.
Meanwhile Bess, still hidden in Daniel Hec-
tor’s car, was wondering what to do. “I’d better
find George and Nancy,” she decided.
She cautiously climbed out and started up the
trail the lawyer had taken. Bess had not gone far
when the dogs began to bark. They were coming
closer each moment!
“They’ve picked up my scent!” Bess was in a
panic.
The hounds leaped into view. In terror, Bess
shinned up a tree and hoped the dogs would pass
by. Instead they took up a vigil at the base of the
trunk.
By this time George had grown tired of wait-
ing for Nancy to return to the tool house. From
the window she could see her clothes, apparently
dry, on the sunny bank of the pond.
“I can’t wait another minute!” she thought im-
patiently. “I’ll get them myself!”
George went to the door and stopped short. A
boy in faded overalls had emerged from among
the trees. He seemed to be eleven or twelve years
old.
George slipped out of sight behind the door
and watched him. He suddenly snatched up her
clothes and hurried off.
“Hey, you! Those are mine!” George cried
angrily from the window.
The boy paid no attention.
“Hypers!” George thought in despair. “Now
what’ll I do? Nancy’s done a disappearing act, and
I’m stranded here without any clothes!”
Nancy, unaware of her friends’ problems, was
intent on another subject. The trail she had
chosen had not led her to Daniel Hector, but to
Heath Castle. She could not resist the temptation
to see the wonderful building at close range.
Its beauty, even at a distance, awed her. It was
constructed of massive gray stone covered with
ivy. The roof line was broken by several turrets,
a large one at each end of the residence, with
smaller ones in between.
“It’s a perfect copy of an old English castle,”
Nancy thought, “only smaller.”
Curious, she began to circle the castle walls.
“What a pity this stately home has to stand in the
midst of ruined gardens!” she mused.
A massive side door of the big house stood ajar.
Nancy wondered if Mr. Hector had opened it.
Quietly she slipped inside.
She found herself in a long corridor which
twisted and turned crazily. Large rooms lined
with beautiful paneled wood opened from it.
Many were empty, others contained a few pieces
of fine old mahogany furniture. At a glance it
was apparent to Nancy that nearly everything of
value had been removed from the place.
“Odd,” she said to herself. “I thought the castle
was left to Juliana intact. Did thieves break in or
did Hector sell the furniture?”
The inside wooden shutters in the gloomy
rooms were closed, lending a ghostly appearance
to the few sheet-draped chairs. The unexpected
sight of herself in a long mirror gave Nancy a
start.
Before long she found steps leading to the sec-
ond floor. A search of the rooms there, including
the many closets, revealed nothing of special in-
terest.
“The only places left to visit are the towers,”
Nancy thought. “But how do I get into them?”
She could locate no entrance. Then, glancing
from a window, she realized that the castle was