The Secret of Red Gate Farm Read online

  “That sounds wonderful,” Bess declared.

  Jo declined, but at two o’clock Nancy, Bess, and George set off in bathing suits. For two hours they swam, floated, and sun-bathed on the shore. Every once in a while Nancy or George would mention some angle of the colony, Hale Syndicate, or counterfeiting mysteries.

  But immediately Bess would say, “Shush! We’re relaxing. We may have a big night tonight.”

  Finally the girls started for the farmhouse. To reach it they had to cross a field in the corner of which lay a heap of large stones, apparently raked there when the acreage was cultivated.

  George, grinning, climbed across the stones, saying, “This life is making me rugged. I—Oh, ouch!” she cried loudly, then added, “A snakel It bit me!”

  CHAPTER XV

  Masqueraders

  NANCY and George turned just in time to see a brownish snake slither off in a wiggling motion and disappear among the stones.

  “Oh, George!” Bess cried. “Was it a poisonous one?”

  “I’m not sure,” she answered, “I—I hope it wasn’t a copperhead.”

  “We’d better not take any chances,” Nancy declared, whipping a handkerchief from her beach robe. “Let’s put on tourniquets, Bess.”

  Like lightning the two girls tied their handkerchiefs tightly above and below the puncture marks made in George’s calf by the snake’s fangs.

  Then Nancy took a tiny pair of scissors from her bag. “I wish I had something to sterilize these with,” she said.

  “Will perfume do?” Bess asked, and took from her bag the tiny bottle of Blue Jade.

  The liquid was poured onto the scissors, then Nancy deftly made a crosscut incision near the punctures. Blood spurted out, and with it, she hoped, any serum the snake might have injected.

  George stoically had not made a sound, but finally she said, “Thanks, girls. Your quick first aid probably made it possible for me to go to the ceremonies tonight—if they have them.”

  “I think you’d better not step on your foot, or stimulate circulation,” Nancy advised. “Suppose Bess and I carry you.”

  George started to protest but finally consented. Seated on a “chair” made by the intertwined hands of Nancy and Bess, George was carried toward the farmhouse.

  The trip, though awkward and slow, went at a steady pace. George maintained her Spartan attitude. She not only refused to complain but teasingly asked Bess, “Aren’t you glad I don’t eat as much as you do?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Bess replied, puzzled.

  “Well, if I loved desserts as you do,” George teased, “I wouldn’t be such a featherweight to carry!”

  Bess gave her cousin an indignant glance. “How do you like that for gratitude! Next time I lug you all the way home—!”

  Nancy interrupted with a grin, “I guess we all do our share of eating dessert. Anyhow, we’ve made it, girls. Red Gate Farm is just ahead!”

  As they came up to the house, Mrs. Salisbury, who was in the garden, exclaimed, “Oh, gracious! What happened?” Mr. Abbott and Mrs. Byrd hurried from the house.

  “Just a precautionary measure,” Nancy explained, and told of the snake incident.

  George was carried indoors and laid on a couch. Mrs. Byrd quickly called the family physician. He arrived shortly, and examined George’s wound.

  The doctor nodded approvingly as he bathed it with an antiseptic and removed the tourniquets.

  “Excellent first-aid treatment,” he announced. “You’ll be fine, young lady. I’d advise you to rest for several hours.”

  “Thank you. That’s good news.” George gave a relieved grin.

  For the remainder of the afternoon she was made to lie inactive. When dinnertime came, George got up, declaring, “I never felt better!”

  “But take it easy in case we go out tonight,” Nancy pleaded with her.

  To allay suspicion on the part of the other boarders, Bess and Joanne were posted as guards across the road. If they saw the beginning of rites on the hill, the girls were to give birdcalls. In the meantime, Nancy and George waited in George’s room, the costumes ready to be picked up at a moment’s notice.

  Suddenly Nancy leaped from her chair and flew into her own bedroom. “What’s eating you?” George called.

  “Oh, why didn’t I think of it before? How stupid of me!” Nancy said, returning with a piece of paper in her hand.

  “What are you talking about?” George demanded.

  “That snake today. The way he wriggled. It looked just like the mark over the numeral 2 in the coded message!” Nancy cried excitedly. “The 2 we think means B!”

  George sat up. “You mean the B with the wavy line over it might signify the Black Snake Colony?”

  “Yes. Oh, George, this connects the Hale Syndicate with the nature cult here. Now the message reads: ”Maurice Hale calling Black Snake Colony meeting—”

  “And the 18. How about that?” George asked.

  “Not too hard to guess, George. The 18 is the letter R, and could stand for Red Gate Farm.”

  “Nancy, you’re a whiz, as I’ve often told you,” her friend declared.

  The young sleuth smiled, then said wistfully, “If I could only have had another second to copy the next few numbers, I might have known the exact time.”

  “What happens now? Will you notify the police?”

  At that instant Nancy and George heard soft birdcalls. “No time to phone now,” Nancy said.

  She grabbed two of the costumes and dashed from the room. George followed with the others. As prearranged, the girls left by the kitchen door to avoid the boarders. Mrs. Byrd had been told that the girls might go up the hillside to watch if the nature cult put on a performance.

  Nancy and George joined the other girls and they all scurried toward the woods. It was very dark beneath the dense canopy of trees, and Bess gripped Nancy’s arm. Joanne was familiar with every path and led the way toward the hillside.

  A weird cry broke the stillness. Involuntarily the girls halted and moved closer together.

  “What—was—that?” Bess chattered.

  “Only some wild animal,” Nancy reassured her. “Come on!” she urged. “We must hurry or we’ll miss the ritual!”

  The girls went through the dark forest as fast as they could. The moon was rising, and ghostly rays of light filtered through gaps in the foliage overhead. A faint breeze stirred the leaves into what seemed like menacing whispers. The girls finally reached the river trail and followed it.

  “We must be careful now,” Nancy warned in a low voice. “We’re drawing near the colony. The cult may have a lookout stationed during the night ceremonies.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Joanne murmured.

  “I almost wish I hadn’t come,” Bess whispered nervously. “I had no idea it would be this dark.”

  “What were you expecting at nine-thirty at night?” George chided in as low a tone as possible.

  “It will be lighter when the moon rises higher,” Joanne told her. “Still—if you want to turn back—”

  “No, I’m going through with this masquerade if the rest of you are!” Bess retorted stalwartly.

  Nancy hoped fervently it would remain a masquerade. She was firmly convinced now that the Black Snake group were unscrupulous people working with, or at least friendly with Maurice Hale. Nancy now felt convinced that the mystic rites were nothing but a sham.

  Fortunately, for Nancy’s purpose, the hillside was covered with large rocks as well as dense shrubs which would provide temporary hiding places. As the girls stole cautiously up the steep path, they could see cult members still congregating.

  “We’re in plenty of time,” she thought.

  The girls separated, George and Bess crouching behind a huge rock. Joanne and Nancy took cover behind a heavy growth of shrubs and tall grass.

  For nearly ten minutes the girls watched as figures milled about the hillside. Then they heard the sound of cars approaching.

&nb
sp; “They must be coming up through the pasture again,” Joanne said, listening intently.

  An instant later she and Nancy saw the headlights of three automobiles.

  “Look!” Joanne tugged at Nancy’s sleeve. “More members are coming out of their tents!”

  The two girls watched the white-robed figures walking slowly toward the brow of the hill, where the three automobiles had parked.

  “I wonder if one of the newcomers is Maurice Hale,” Nancy thought.

  She and Joanne were too far away to hear what was being said, but they could see distinctly. They watched as a group of men and women, twelve in number, stepped from the cars. Nancy could not distinguish any of their faces.

  The new arrivals quickly donned white garments and headgear similar to the outfits Nancy and her friends had made, then joined the other members of the cult.

  The ghostly figures soon began dancing about in the moonlight, and Nancy felt that the time was right for her daring attempt to join the group. Before she could tell Joanne, there was a slight stir in the bushes directly behind her.

  Involuntarily Nancy jumped, fully expecting to come face to face with one of the cult members. Instead, Bess and George emerged.

  “Isn’t it about time for us to do something?” they asked, almost simultaneously.

  “Yes,” Nancy agreed, “we’d better get into our robes as quickly as we can.”

  The girls were well hidden by the rocks and bushes. They donned their costumes and pulled the headgear over their faces. For the first time, Nancy noticed the scent of Blue Jade on Bess. “I wonder if that was wise,” Nancy thought. “If it attracts attention to Bess it might increase her danger, but it’s too late now to do anything about it.”

  As George, overeager, started off, Nancy caught her friend’s arm. “Wait!” she warned. “We must slip quietly into the circle one at a time.”

  “My knees are shaking now,” Bess admitted. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to dance.”

  “Stay here if you like,” Nancy told her. “I think we should leave someone to keep guard, anyway.”

  “I’ll stay,” Joanne offered. “I know the way back through the woods better than you girls do.”

  “Come on!” George pleaded. “If we don’t hurry we’ll be too late!”

  “Good luck!” Joanne whispered as the girls crept away.

  Inch by inch, the three girls made their way up the hill. They crouched behind a clump of bushes a stone’s throw from where the cult members were dancing. Nancy indicated that she would make the first move. Bess and George nodded.

  “The slightest mistake will mean detection!” Nancy thought, her heart pounding.

  Waiting for the right moment, she suddenly slipped out among the white-robed figures and instantly began waving her arms and making grotesque motions.

  CHAPTER XVI

  Startling Commands

  RELIEVED that her entry into the group had not been noticed, Nancy marched along with the other ghostly figures. If only George and Bess were as successful!

  Nancy watched her disguised companions and saw that the girls would have no trouble in following the motions, since each person was apparently making them up on the spur of the moment.

  “So far, so good,” Nancy told herself.

  Satisfied now that her own position was temporarily secure, she tried to help her friends. Deliberately moving toward the shrubs behind which George and Bess were hiding, she shielded them from the view of the cult members, all the time continuing her grotesque motions.

  George realized what the young sleuth was trying to do and made the most of the opportunity. Choosing her time, she slipped out and joined the group on the hillside.

  Bess was more timid. Several times at the critical moment she lost her nerve, but she finally managed to summon enough courage and made the plunge.

  “Keep close together,” Nancy warned in an undertone. “If we lose each other, it may be disastrous.”

  By this time the girls had made up their minds that there was nothing the least bit mystic about the queer rites of the Black Snake Colony. Disguised persons on all sides of them were making crude remarks which assured the girls that the cult members did not take the ceremony seriously.

  “This ought to give the country yokels an eye-full” Nancy heard one man mutter.

  “How much longer do we have to do this?” another grumbled. “I’m getting sick of flapping my arms around like a windmill!”

  “This cult idea was all foolishness, anyway!” still another said.

  “Foolishness, is it?” someone caught him up. Nancy thought she recognized the voice but was not certain. “Let me tell you a girl was prowling around here only a few days ago! I guess the Chief knew his business when he thought up this crazy cult idea.”

  “Well, enough of this!” a loud voice announced. Nancy decided the man must be one of the leaders. “We may as well go into the cave and get down to business!”

  George was just wondering what the girls had better do when Bess clutched Nancy’s hand and whispered nervously:

  “Do we dare enter?”

  “We must,” Nancy returned quietly.

  The girls stood motionless, watching the white-robed figures march single file toward the entrance to the cave. Finally Nancy signaled, and the three friends followed the group, even though it occurred to them that they might be walking into a trap.

  “Keep close behind me,” Nancy warned her companions in a whisper.

  As they approached the mouth of the opening, Nancy saw a tall figure, robed in white, standing guard. Her heart nearly stopped as she realized that each person was uttering some password.

  “We’re finished now,” she thought.

  It was too late to turn back. The three girls could do nothing but hope that in some way they might get past the stalwart guard.

  Nancy kept close to the person just ahead of her, and as he muttered the password, she managed to hear it.

  “Kamar!”

  When Nancy’s turn came to pass the guard, she spoke the word clearly. As she had hoped, George and Bess heard, and taking their cue from her, repeated the password. The sentry did not give them a second glance, yet the girls breathed easier when they were safely through the entrance.

  The marchers descended into a cold, damp tunnel. Someone was carrying a torch at the head of the procession, but Nancy and her friends, who were near the end of the line, were in semidarkness.

  “What do you suppose we’re getting into?” George muttered.

  Nancy did not reply, but gave her friend a sharp nudge as a warning not to speak. A moment later Bess tripped over some object in the path and would have fallen if Nancy had not caught her by the arm. They walked farther underground, and then, unexpectedly, stepped into a dimly lighted chamber.

  The members of the cult seated themselves on the floor, and the girls followed their example. Presently they became aware of the strong scent of Blue Jade perfume. Bess was not the only one wearing it tonight!

  “So there is a definite connection between this distinctive perfume and the Black Snake Colony!” Nancy thought. “No wonder that man on the train was startled. Perhaps the women use it, and he couldn’t identify me but took it for granted I was one of the group. If so, it’s just as well Bess has some on.”

  Nancy suddenly recalled the forged note bearing the Blue Jade scent. “The woman who delivered it to me must be a member of the cult!” she thought excitedly.

  After everyone had entered the room, the man who had given the sharp order outside the cave spoke again. He threw off his headgear and glanced over the group appraisingly. Nancy was stunned.

  Maurice!

  The man she had seen the first time she had stopped at the filling station!

  “Is he Maurice Hale?” she asked herself excitedly.

  “Everyone here?” he demanded gruffly.

  He counted the group, and again Nancy and her friends held their breaths. Apparently some of the members of the col
ony were missing, for the leader did not notice that three new recruits had been added to his organization.

  “We may as well get down to work,” the leader announced. “Snead, have you anything to report?”

  At the question one of the disguised persons stood up and threw off his mask. Again Nancy was startled. He was none other than the man she had seen in Room 305!

  “Here’s the good money,” he said, handing over an envelope. “Perfect score this time for our main distribution department.”

  “Very fine. Then nothing’s gone wrong at your new office?”

  “Not yet, Chief,” was the muttered reply, “but yesterday I saw a bird hangin’ around the building—looked like a plain-clothes cop to me. I don’t want you to think I’m backing out, but if you ask me, I’d say it’s about time to blow. This game can’t last forever, you know.”

  “I’ll do the thinking for this outfit!” the leader scathingly retorted. “We’ll stay here another week and then pick a new spot. What makes you think the cops are wise?”

  “Well, they may have got wise to the fact that we’re using Yvonne again—”

  “That’s right!” a shrill, angry female voice interrupted. “Blame me! Every time somebody gets nervous, you bring me into it!”

  Nancy could scarcely restrain herself. She had been right about Yvonne! The girl was mixed up in the Hale Syndicate racket!

  “You deserve blame,” A1 Snead retorted irritably. “First, you didn’t have any more sense than to sell a bottle of that perfume to a perfect stranger—”

  “I told you, that girl insisted upon buying it, and I was afraid if I flatly refused, she and her friends would get suspicious. Besides, I don’t see what harm it did to sell the perfume to a teenager!”

  “No,” Snead retorted sarcastically, “you’re so simple-minded you wouldn’t see it might land us in jail! When Pete was on the train going to River Heights he noticed the scent and thought that the girl was one of the Chief’s agents! Lucky for all of us, he saw his mistake before he spilled anything!”

  Yvonne sputtered back in defense. “Well, at least I phoned Al at his office right away so he could warn the agents about the stray bottle of Blue Jade. It’s not my fault Pete happened to be on the same train as those girls.”