The girls made their way through the undergrowth and came out on the shore of a very large pond dotted with rank grass. George hurried ahead to look at it.
"Why do you suppose someone pointed the statue to this? It doesn't look like any-"
Her words ended in a little scream as the soft bank beneath her feet gave way. Before Nancy could grab her, George had slipped into the water. It was not deep but she was soaked.
"Hypers! Look at me! I'm a mess!" George cried out. "And say, this water is kind of salty."
Nancy helped her friend scramble up the slippery bank. She gazed about her and noticed a stone house nearby. Apparently it once had been used as a tool shed.
"Go in there and get out of your wet clothes," she advised George. "I'll lay them in the sun. They shouldn't take long to dry."
Quickly George ducked into the stone house. She tossed her slacks, shirt, and sneakers through an open window. Nancy spread them on the bank in the sun, then started walking around the pond. Suddenly she noticed something shiny on the bank. It was the shell of a whelk.
"How beautiful!" she thought, picking it up. The mother-of-pearl lining gleamed with a blend of delicate pink and purple.
After a moment's hesitation Nancy stripped off shoes and socks and waded into the shallow water. When she dipped her hands into the sand, she discovered that the bottom was thick with mussels. Among them were discarded shells with the same lovely blending of colors. Nearby on the shore she spotted a large pile of cracked shells and went to examine them.
"Why are they here?" she wondered. "These are seashore whelks." Then Nancy remembered what Salty had told her about dye being obtained from this type of shellfish and that Walter Heath had spent much of his time on scientific experiments. "Suppose he was using the whelks to make a special kind of dye!"
Nancy tucked two unbroken shells into her shirt pocket. As she put on her shoes she thought of the hacked stone columns and the explosion at the factory. "Someone may be looking for a secret connected with Walter Heath's experiments!"
"Nancy!" George called. "Are my clothes dry?"
Nancy rose and felt them. "Not yet."
"I'm getting hungry," George complained. "And Bess will have a fit if we don't go back soon."
At that moment Bess was fuming in Nancy's concealed car. As the sun climbed high overhead and the girls failed to return, she became hungry and annoyed.
"Guess they've forgotten me," she thought. To add to her irritation, the hounds would dash back to the gate whenever she walked over to look through it. They bayed savagely.
"Oh," Bess fretted, "wait until I see Nancy and George. I'll-"
Just then she heard a car coming up the road. Bess barely had time to hide herself in the bushes before it swung around the bend. She was glad that she had followed her instinct for she was sure from Nancy's description that the driver was Daniel Hector. He was alone.
The lawyer stopped in front of the gate but did not shut off the engine. He got out of his two- door car, leaving the door on his wide open.
"He's going to drive into the grounds!" Bess thought. "Nancy and George will be caught! I must warn them!"
Her anxiety mounting, Bess tried to think what to do. Mr. Hector still had his back turned toward her as he unlocked the big gates. The car was less than ten feet away from her hiding place. There was little time for Bess to think or plan. Impulsively she darted to the car. After climbing into the back, she crouched on the floor. Hector returned to the automobile. Unaware of his passenger, he drove through the opening into the estate grounds!
CHAPTER VIIILocked In!
"George, would you mind if I do a little exploring?" Nancy asked. "I'll be back by the time your clothes are dry."
"Okay," George called.
"I'm not going far. I've found some whelk shells, and I think they may indicate something important. Maybe dye made from them is hidden in containers nearby."
"They're not in here," George said.
Nancy moved off, looking about carefully for any possible place where dye might have been stored. She found none, and in her search wandered farther than she had intended.
Nancy paused abruptly as she became aware of a low rumble which shook the earth. "What's that?" she wondered.
She stood still and waited for more sounds, but there were none. In the distance, however, a cloud of white, powdery dust caught her attention.
"Another explosion!" she murmured excitedly.
Cautiously Nancy went toward the area, but soon her path was blocked by a high brier hedge. After following the bushes some distance to find an opening, the young detective was startled to hear a car.
"Somebody with a key to the gate padlock must have driven into the estate grounds!" she thought.
As the sound drew nearer, Nancy decided to find out who was coming. She plunged through the woodland and reached a weed-grown clearing just as Daniel Hector drove up and stopped. Nancy backed quickly into the shelter of the 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 discern a steady beat to her right. She hastened on. Presently the trail branched off in three directions. Again Nancy was baffled. When she flattened 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 Hector'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 waiting 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 impatiently. "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.