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  “Do as you please,” Thorne said coldly.

  Nancy, her arms pinned behind her back, was shoved out onto the porch and toward the buildings beyond the house. Just outside the pigeon loft, Thorne stooped and jerked at an iron ring in the ground. It was attached to a round steel lid about three feet in diameter. Beneath it gaped a black hole.

  “Well, down you go, Nancy Drew!” Thorne laughed.

  Nancy looked around desperately. There was no escape. As the nurse pushed her, the trapped girl was forced to start down a swaying, flimsy wooden ladder into the dark, damp hole. Down, down, ten or twelve feet Nancy went, until she could feel the slimy bottom under her feet.

  “This is worse than I bargained for,” she thought ruefully.

  The ladder was jerked up and Thorne called, “Don’t worry. You may have it back.”

  There was a series of splitting noises, and pieces of the ladder came raining down around Nancy’s head. As she threw up her arms to protect herself, she heard Thorne laugh sardonically.

  Then the lid clanged shut!

  CHAPTER XIX

  Caught!

  DESPAIR filled Nancy’s heart and she shivered. The dampness of the old cistern covered her like a clammy hand.

  She took a deep breath. “Come on now,” Nancy scolded herself. “Brace up and try to find a way out!”

  Stretching her arms wide, Nancy could feel nothing, so she knew her prison was wider than its three-foot lid. When her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she noticed tiny gleams of light coming from above. Perhaps the lid did not fit tightly.

  “Or maybe it’s a phosphorescent glow from some decaying thing,” Nancy thought with distaste. “Whatever it is, I must find out.”

  Balancing herself with outstretched arms, she walked cautiously across the slippery floor. It was uneven and Nancy stepped ankle-deep in cold water. A moment later her fingers brushed the moist stone wall. She stared upward and saw light coming through chinks in the wall directly above her.

  “I must try to reach those openings, but how?” Then Nancy remembered the pieces of ladder Thorne had mockingly thrown to her.

  “Maybe I can use them after all,” she thought. Repressing a shudder, Nancy slid her fingers over the slimy floor for the fragments. “Now’s no time to be squeamish.”

  Finding a piece of wood, Nancy fingered it anxiously for a nail. Feeling one, she pulled it loose from the rotten wood and noted that it was long and strong.

  “Maybe this will work, and maybe it won’t,” she said half-aloud.

  To her horror, she was answered by a throaty chuckle. Nancy gasped. As the sound was repeated she dropped the nail, unnerved. Then, fighting for control, the desperate girl located the noise—it was coming from above. Was someone watching through the chinks?

  “Kel-ek-koo-oo-oo!” As the new noise blended with the chuckles, Nancy suddenly grinned in relief.

  “Pigeons! The light must be coming from the loft!”

  Frantically she sought the lost nail. Locating it, Nancy began to dig vigorously at the loose mortar. Soon she had hollowed out space enough to give herself one toehold. A little farther above, Nancy dug again, and repeated the process until she could reach no higher on the wall.

  Then she climbed up and chipped out another hold. The mortar was hard and her fingers, clutching the nail, grew cramped. The higher she went, the more difficult the task became.

  Finally the imprisoned girl was forced to cling to the damp wall, her toes and the fingers of one hand digging into the niches she had scooped out. With her free hand she scraped a higher grip for herself.

  At last Nancy’s fingers found the openings through which the light filtered. A big stone rocked under her hand!

  Mingled excitement and alarm shot through her. Here was the way out! “But suppose I can’t move the stone or I fall!” she thought. About eight feet below was the stone floor of the cistern.

  Nevertheless, Nancy forced herself to try pushing the stone aside. She failed, but suddenly it came loose and fell inward over her head. As the stone plummeted down, it grazed her shoulder, but Nancy managed to grab the top edge of the hole and hold tight.

  With a sigh of relief she pulled herself through the enlarged opening and up to freedom! On the earthen floor of the pigeon loft, the young sleuth fell back exhausted and closed her eyes. A few moments later she opened them to the sound of fluttering wings and sleepy cooing. The loft was lighted by a large bright bulb under a small cage containing a pigeon.

  “This is the sick bird,” Nancy conjectured, “and it is being kept warm.”

  Capsules for messages lay on a shelf. “Good,” Nancy thought. She took a pencil and small pad from her blouse pocket and wrote three identical messages: “SP at once.” Nancy inserted them in the capsules, then caught a pigeon and attached the capsule to its anklet. Quickly she caught another bird, then a third.

  “I’d better turn out the light for a few minutes so I won’t be seen releasing these pigeons,” she decided, and unscrewed the bulb.

  Nancy now felt her way to the door, opened it, and released the birds. “Fly straight to Ned,” she muttered. “He’s waiting at the Tooker estate.”

  Hoping no one had seen the light go off, Nancy turned the bulb on again and fled from the coop to the carriage-house garage.

  Here she considered her next move. Nancy knew there must be lights on the landing field, because the gang used their plane at night. “But how do they turn them on? Perhaps at a switchbox in here?”

  She opened the door wide enough to squeeze through and saw two large sedans. One was the old car used to kidnap Dr. Spire. Walking past it, Nancy glanced inside and stopped short. She had glimpsed a white blur! Was it a face she saw?

  Nancy turned quietly and stepped nearer. As she stared, a figure in one corner of the back seat moved. Someone was seated there, bound and gagged. Quickly Nancy opened the car door. Removing the gag, she asked, “Morgan, how did you get here?”

  “They brought me down,” he said hoarsely. “Thorne’s going to finish me off to keep me from talking. But they’ll do it where no one will find me.” He breathed heavily. “The gang’s ready to escape. Tooker has given the signal to clear out.”

  “How soon?” asked Nancy as she quickly worked at his bonds.

  “I don’t know,” he whispered. “Soon.”

  “What about the patients?”

  “They’ll herd ’em into the cellar.” Anger gave the weakened man strength to continue. “The gang isn’t worried about them. They figure the shock’ll kill some of the old ladies and the rest’ll be too confused and terrified to be much help to the police.”

  “Those men are brutes!” Nancy exclaimed. “They mustn’t get away!”

  Quickly she climbed from the car and took the nail from her pocket. Nancy inserted it into a tire valve, holding it open until all the air had hissed out. She did the same to the rest of the tires on both cars, then hurried back to Morgan.

  “Do you know how they turn on the landing-field lights?” she asked.

  “Big oak,” he said weakly, “at the edge of the field. Switch box nailed to the tree.”

  “I must turn them on,” she said. “I’ll be back!”

  Nancy dashed from the carriage house and ran down the hill toward the level field at the bottom. The moon was coming up and the sloping lawn was bathed in pale light.”

  “If only they don’t see me!”

  From somewhere behind Nancy came the deepthroated bark of the Great Dane. Was he loose on the grounds? she wondered.

  At one end of the landing field, Nancy could see the plane and at the other a clump of trees. She angled left and pounded down toward them.

  Reaching the shadow of the trees, she stopped and tried to spot the oak. Again, she heard the dog’s bark—this time closer.

  Nancy looked back.

  The huge beast was silhouetted on the brow of the hill, straining against a leash held by the gatekeeper. He began pulling the man down the slope.
r />   “Does he scent me?” Nancy tried not to think about it, and pressed deeper into the clump of trees.

  There was the oak! And gleaming in the moonlight a metal box nailed to the trunk! Nancy darted to it, opened the door, and pulled the single switch inside.

  Out on the field, spots of light were coming up through the short grass. “Clever,” she thought. “They’re sunk in the earth, and aren’t noticeable in daylight. Now for the plane!”

  The far side of the landing area was bordered by woodland. Nancy ran from her shelter to the woods, then hastened along the edge of the field, keeping within the tree line. At the far end, she crouched low, dashed across the clearing, and crept under the low wing of the small plane.

  Nancy knew that the fuel drains were on the underside of the wings. She felt along the surface until her fingers encountered a T-shaped metal valve.

  “This must be it,” she decided, and pressed upward. A stream of fuel flowed to the ground! Nancy found that by turning the valve slightly she could lock it open. Then she hurried to the other wing and did the same thing.

  “Now,” Nancy said to herself, “that should ground the gang! I’ll get back to Morgan and hide him before the men go to the cars.”

  As she started to move, however, Nancy heard the Great Dane growling. Coming down the field were the dog and the gatekeeper, with four men running behind them. Nancy recognized Thorne, Bell, and Luther, but the fourth was a tall stranger. As they drew nearer, she saw he had a gaunt, cruel face, and guessed he was Adolf Tooker.

  “I’m telling you I didn’t turn on the lights,” came Luther’s voice.

  “Well, somebody did,” Thorne growled. “Jones, can’t you shut that dog up?”

  “There’s a prowler down here,” replied the gateman. “That’s what’s the matter with him.”

  As the party reached the plane, they stopped less than thirty feet from Nancy. The dog strained toward her hiding place, whining.

  Nancy took a deep breath. “I’m really in a tight spot!” she thought. If she moved from the shadow of the plane’s wing, the men would see her. If she didn’t, the dog would attack her!

  Suddenly shouts came from the hillside and Nancy saw the bobbing rays of flashlights. “Wait for me!” called Miss Tyson. “Something’s gone wrong!” her shrill voice warned.

  The tall man said sharply, “Jones, take that dog and find out what the trouble is! We’ll search down here for the prowler.”

  As the gatekeeper pulled the dog away, louder shouts came from the hillside and the four men looked up toward the moving lights.

  “It’s now or never!” Nancy thought. Crouching low, she ran out on the moonlit field.

  CHAPTER XX

  The SP

  NOT daring to look back, Nancy raced for the shelter of the woods, wondering if she could make it before being detected.

  Suddenly she heard a hoarse shout. “Look, chief! There goes a girl!”

  The young sleuth’s heart sank.

  “Catch her!” Thorne yelled.

  “No, you fool,” barked Bell. “We haven’t time! Into the plane, everybody! Go ahead, Adolf!”

  “Wait!” came the tall man’s hard voice. “I smell gasoline.”

  Thorne gave an angry exclamation and Bell said, “I do, too. Where’s it coming from?”

  “There’s probably a leak in one of the fuel tanks,” said Luther. Quickly he ducked under the wing. “One drain valve is open!” he shouted.

  “Open?” thundered Bell. “Who did that?”

  At once Thorne climbed into the plane. In a moment he gave an angry yell. “We have no fuel!” he cried and jumped out. “The gauges read empty!”

  Miss Tyson raced up to them with three men and a girl at her heels, followed by the gatekeeper and his barking dog.

  “Everything’s gone wrong!” she exclaimed.

  At that moment a plane swooped soundlessly out of the sky. Before it taxied to a full stop, several armed State Police officers jumped out and surrounded the criminals. A powerful searchlight was turned on the confused gang.

  A voice over a loudspeaker ordered, “Stand where you are! No one move!”

  “Ned!” Nancy cried out.

  She raced from the woods and reached the plane as he leaped from it, followed by Dave, her father, and the pilot.

  “Dad!” Nancy exclaimed as Carson Drew caught her up in his arms.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked quickly.

  “No, Dad, but I’m so glad to see you! Ned, you’re just wonderful!”

  “Oh, Nancy, you take such chances,” he said. “But I was sure happy I could come to the rescue.”

  In a moment a second noiseless plane skimmed down onto the field. Out jumped Burt, Lieutenant Mulligan, and two members of his detective squad. They joined the others in the circle of light, where the officers began snapping handcuffs on the prisoners.

  “Miss Drew,” Lieutenant Mulligan said, “Ned Nickerson informed me of your plan and I called the State Police.”

  “I’m glad the mystery is solved, Lieutenant,” said Nancy, then turned to Thorne. “Where are the old ladies?” she asked anxiously.

  The gang members had been staring at Nancy in disbelief. “You!” Thorne sputtered. “How did you get out of the cistern?”

  “First answer my question,” said Nancy.

  “They’re in the cellar,” Bell replied shortly.

  Miss Tyson spoke up. “They are not in the cellar.” As Bell looked at her, puzzled, she added, “I didn’t have time to put them there! As soon as I saw the air was out of our car tires, I knew something had gone wrong with the plans. I wanted to get away—fast!”

  “What did you do with Morgan?” Nancy asked quickly.

  “Nothing. He’s still in the car.”

  Nancy explained Morgan’s condition to the police, who promised that the houseman would be taken to a hospital.

  Thorne glared at Nancy. “How did you get out of the cistern?”

  “Climbed out,” Nancy said directly. “I used the ladder you gave me.”

  Miss Tyson gasped. “That’s impossible.”

  Briefly, Nancy told how she had escaped and sent for help.

  “‘SP at once,’ ” Ned said with a grin. “Sail-plane at once!”

  “Also, send police,” Nancy added.

  “These aren’t gliders?” Tooker asked.

  “No,” Ned answered. “They’re motorized sailplanes. They were perfect for this job because we flew them here using the motor, then cut it out and landed soundlessly.”

  He grinned at Dave. “All we had to do was find two sailplanes. We finally rented these from an airport in the next county. The State Police provided the pilots.”

  “Dad,” said Nancy, “how did you hear about the plan?”

  “Ned briefed me. He called our house on the chance that I’d returned from Chicago.” Looking at Adam Thorne, Mr. Drew added, “I’m proud of my daughter, Thorne. She planned to take you and your accomplices by surprise, so you couldn’t harm the old ladies before you bolted.”

  Lieutenant Mulligan cleared his throat. “Miss Drew, you’re a fine detective.”

  Nancy smiled and thanked him.

  Adolf Tooker turned to Bell and said angrily, “This is the girl you said would be no trouble?”

  “I warned Bell about her,” Thorne spoke up, “but he wouldn’t listen!”

  “It’s not my fault,” said Bell, his voice rising nervously. “It’s Thorne’s. Ever since he read about the Comings’ jeweled crystal collection he wanted to steal it. Then he dragged us into the scheme and bungled it! My men were doing all his work!

  “Whenever I wanted Tarr and Jackson, they were trailing Nancy Drew in the sedan or spying on that Sylvan Lake place. They even set the dog on her. Twice they snatched Morgan, and Jackson showed the blue fire night after night to scare him. It finally worked. Then suddenly Morgan wouldn’t go along with us, so we had to teach him a lesson.

  “As for Tarr,” Bell went on bitterly, “he
spent days making the firework wheel and rigging up an asbestos-lined box for it.”

  Tarr gave a sickly grin. “All I had to do was shut the door of the box and the blue fire was gone—like magic!”

  Jackson’s face was pale. “We only did what Thorne ordered.”

  “Be quiet, all of you!” barked Thorne. “Don’t you know there are police listening?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Adolf Tooker said wearily. “They’ll find all the evidence they need here.”

  “Is this your whole gang?” Mulligan asked sharply.

  Tooker looked around the group which included the gateman with the dog, the pigeon keeper, and the nurse’s aide whom Nancy had startled in the hall.

  “Yes.”

  Miss Tyson’s assistant was shaking with fright. “I was only doing what Dr. Bell ordered. He told me the patients were too nervous to have visitors.”

  “He’s no doctor,” Nancy told her. “And I find it hard to believe Miss Tyson is a real nurse.”

  The hard-faced woman shot her a venomous look.

  “The police will find out about them all,” Lieutenant Mulligan said grimly.

  At that moment two helicopters appeared, lights flashing. They landed on the field and the rotors were silenced.

  “Last stage of Nancy’s plan,” Ned said. “Reinforcements!”

  “Okay,” called a State Police officer to the arriving troopers. “Load this gang in the copters and take ’em away!”

  An hour later Nancy had the biggest thrill of the evening. As she walked into the Comings’ living room with her father and the boys, she saw Mrs. Eldridge seated in a big chair with little Marie asleep on her lap. At one side stood the child’s mother, on the other a tall stranger.

  “Nancy,” the old woman said happily, “this is my nephew John. Nancy Drew is the girl who—” Tears filled her eyes and she could not go on.