well,” he continued.
Nancy nodded. “We’ve been going together
for a long time.”
“Too bad,” Jack said with a charming smile.
“If Ned weren’t such a nice guy, I’d ask you to
the square dance tomorrow night at the Old
Faithful Inn.”
“That’s where we’re staying,” Nancy re-
marked.
“Then you’ve got no excuse for missing it,”
he said, casually draping an arm across the
back of Nancy’s chair.
“Are you sure I can’t tempt you to go with
me?” Jack asked teasingly.
Nancy felt flattered but shook her head. “I
have a feeling Ned wouldn’t like that too
much,” she answered lightly. “But maybe I’ll
see you there.”
Jack gave a mock sigh of disappointment.
“Too bad. Ned’s a lucky guy.”
From the doorway Ned said, “I sure am. The
doctor says I’ll be fine. No concussion or
anything-but I had to have a few stitches.”
He gestured to the bandage wrapped all the
way around his head. It gave him a roguish
look.
Just then Bess came rushing up. “Are they
done with you already?” she asked. “Can we
go now?”
“I’d like to meet Brad,” Nancy replied. “If
they’ll let us in to see him.”
“Good idea,” Ned said.
They asked for Brad’s room number at the
front desk, then filed into the elevator. At the
nurse’s station they learned that he was con-
scious and able to receive visitors. A couple of
minutes later the group piled into Brad’s
room. His face and arms were heavily ban-
daged, but his eyes lit up when he saw them.
“Ned, Jack!” he said, and grinned. “It’s
great to see you!” He turned his gaze to Nancy
and Bess.
“This is my girlfriend. Nancy Drew, and her
friend Bess Marvin,” Ned explained.
“Nice to meet you,” Brad said. Then he
noticed Ned’s bandage. “Hey, guy, what hap-
pened?”
Ned told him.
“We are some hard luck bunch,” Brad said.
“First me, and now you.”
“Don’t forget that marmot that nipped me
on the nose last week,” Jack interjected with a
laugh.
“That’s right,” Brad replied. “Maybe you
should watch your step if you’re going to hang
around with us. Nancy.”
Ned filled Brad in about the missing mar-
mots. “After the stove exploded I asked Nancy
to come out to look into it. She’s a detective,
and if anyone can figure out who’s causing all
the trouble, she can.”
“Tell me about your accident, Brad,” Nancy
began.
“There’s not much to tell. The first thing I
did when I went on duty was make a cup of
coffee.”
“Of course,” Ned said, grinning. “He’s a
caffeine addict.”
Brad smiled back, then continued. “When I
went to light the stove, there was a whoosh,
and then flames were everywhere. The next
thing I knew, I woke up here.”
“How terrible!” Bess exclaimed.
Brad’s face hardened. “Yeah, well, I’m not
so sure it was an accident. I saw someone
sneaking out of the hut as I walked up the
path.”
Nancy leaned forward eagerly. “Could you
tell who it was?”
Brad stared up at the ceiling for a long time.
Finally he said, “I hate to say it, but it looked
an awful lot like Dan Trainey.”
Chapter Five
No way,” Ned said. “How could you even
think that the professor had anything to do
with it?”
Brad shook his head. “All I can tell you is
that whoever it was was wearing a dark green
hat and a green coat like the professor’s. And
considering the way he ran behind the hut, I’d
say he didn’t want to be seen.”
“Well, it wasn’t Professor Trainey,” Ned
insisted. “And that’s that.”
Reluctantly, Nancy told them about finding
the professor’s Phi Beta Kappa key.
Ned scowled. “There’s bound to be an ex-
planation. Did you ask him about it?”
“Yes,” Nancy told him. “He said he noticed
he lost it a few days ago.”
“Well, there you are,” Ned concluded. “It
was probably on the floor all this time.”
Nancy glanced at Ned, who looked upset.
She decided to drop the subject for a while.
Turning back to Brad, she asked, “Can you
think of any reason why anyone would want to
hurt you?”