"You'll be sorry! You'll regret this!" the caller stormed. He came out the screen door, slamming it viciously behind him.
Nancy stared in surprise. Mr. Kent certainly was one of the most ill-mannered men she had ever seen! And also, she thought wryly, one of the most tenacious! Why was he so determined to buy the Byrd home?
Mr. Kent, his face red with anger, stepped into his car and sped off, but not before he gave Nancy and her friends a baleful look.
"Nice disposition," George commented sarcastically.
"I hope he never shows up again," Bess said firmly.
The girls found Mrs. Byrd and Joanne quite shaken. "I can't understand that man's persistence," the woman said. Nancy was sure the matter was tied in with the cult on the hillside but did not mention this theory. She merely said, "Try not to worry about Mr. Kent. I doubt that he'll return."
Soon the incident was forgotten as preparations for supper were started and the farm animals were fed. George elected to take care of gathering eggs from the henhouse. Bess gave the horse hay and water.
"I'll get the cow," Nancy offered, and went off toward the pasture to drive Primrose in. But the cow was not there. Nancy walked around the fence surrounding the field to see if there was any opening through which the animal might have wandered. Finally she found one, and saw hoof prints leading toward a patch of woods.
Nancy dashed off among the trees. She had never been that way before, but there was only one path to follow. Several times she paused to listen and thought she heard the faint tinkling of a cowbell somewhere ahead of her. It was rapidly growing dusky in the woods and Nancy hurried on. Again she stopped to listen. She could hear the cowbell distinctly now.
Primrose can't be far ahead," she thought in relief, and went in that direction. Nancy finally caught sight of the Jersey contentedly munching grass on the hillside beyond. Nancy stopped short and gave a gasp of astonishment-the sound of the cowbell had brought her to the mouth of the cave!
"I can hardly believe it!" she almost exclaimed aloud. This must be the other opening near the nature camp Jo told me about!"
Eagerly Nancy rushed toward the cave. But no sooner had she peered into the dark entrance than she was startled by the crackling of a twig behind her. Nancy wheeled to find a man standing not three feet away from her!
He seemed to have risen from the bushes which half hid the opening of the cave. Instantly it flashed through Nancy's mind that he had been stationed there to see that intruders did not enter.
"What're you doing here?" he asked, his voice as cold as steel.
Nancy recoiled. The man stood in the shadows of the shrubbery so that she could not see his face distinctly. But at the sound of his voice she knew instantly she was in danger.
"I must persuade him I wasn't spying," she thought desperately.
"Better speak up!" the man snarled. "What're you doin' here, girlie?"
"I was hunting for that cow," Nancy replied as casually as possible. She pointed to the Jersey, which was grazing a short distance away.
She held her ground defiantly. There was a moment's silence. Nancy could feel that the man was staring at her, as if undecided whether or not to believe her.
"So you were after the cow?" the lookout growled. "Then why are you by this cave?"
"Why, I was just wondering what was inside," Nancy said innocently. "Surely there's no harm in looking."
"You've no business around here!" the man snapped. "This property belongs to the members of the Black Snake Colony."
Oh!" Nancy exclaimed in pretended awe. "Then you must belong to the colony. How very interesting!"
The man made no response to Nancy's remark. Instead, he muttered:
"Round up that old cow of yours and get out of here! And don't come trespassing again!"
Nancy knew she would gain nothing by arguing. Obediently she overtook the cow and headed her back toward Red Gate. The man watched until Nancy disappeared into the woods.
As soon as she had started the cow down the path, however. Nancy quietly retraced her steps. She reached the edge of the woods just in time to catch a glimpse of the man entering the cave.
"That proves he's one of the Black Snake group," she told herself. "He was acting as a guard for them."
For an instant Nancy was tempted to follow, but common sense told her not to press her luck. The lookout seemed determined enough to make trouble for her if she took the chance. Reluctantly, the young sleuth turned back toward the farm.
It was clear to Nancy that the entire business of the Black Snake group was anything but open and aboveboard! Obviously they were afraid that some of the country folk would attempt to investigate.
When Nancy finally reached the barn and Joanne began to milk Primrose, the other girls plied their friend with questions.
"We were beginning to worry," Joanne said in relief. "I wouldn't have let you go alone if I'd known this cow of ours would stray so far."
"I'm glad I went," Nancy said quickly.
She then told the others what had taken place near the mouth of the cave. They gasped in astonishment upon hearing of her encounter with the lookout.
"Weren't you frightened when he sprang up out of nowhere?" Bess asked, giving Nancy an admiring glance. "I'd have fainted on the spot!"
"That's an easy way out if I ever heard one!" Nancy commented with a laugh.
"Girls don't faint these days," George scoffed. "Probably you'd have screamed and brought all the members down on you. They'd have dragged you off and put an end to you!"
"Thanks, George," Bess muttered. "You say the nicest things!"
"Well, girls, talk all you like," Nancy added, "but don't lose your nerve altogether. I still want to get a closer look at that cave!"
"Not tonight!" Bess said firmly.
Nancy smiled. "I hope there won't be a ritual on the hillside tonight. We've been too busy to get our costumes ready."
The girls watched but the distant landscape remained dark. Finally they went to bed. Not long afterward. Nancy was roused from a fitful slumber by the stopping of a car not far from her window. She hopped from bed and went to peer out. A tall, slender woman who wore her hair piled high was walking to the front door. Nancy leaned out the window and called,
"What is it you wish?"
"Nancy Drew. Is she here?"
"Yes, I'm Nancy."
"I have a letter for you." Nancy did not recognize the woman's voice. But she might be disguising it.
"From whom?"
"Your father."
"Why are you bringing it now?"
"It's an urgent message," the strange woman said. "I'll leave it on the doorstep." She dropped the letter, hurried into the car, and the man at the wheel drove off. Heart pounding, Nancy put on her robe and slippers and hurried down to the front door.
CHAPTER XIISecret Service Agents
The stopping of the car at the house had awakened Mrs. Byrd who slept on the first floor. She met Nancy in the hall and asked what was happening. Quickly Nancy told her, then opened the door. On the porch lay a plain envelope with Nancy's name typed on it.
"This seems like a peculiar way for your father to get in touch with you," Mrs. Byrd remarked. "Why didn't he phone if it's urgent?"
"I don't understand it myself," Nancy answered, as she tore open the letter.
The message was typewritten and was succinct.
Nancy was to return home at once. Her father needed her. She was not to try to communicate with him. He could not explain why. It was signed "Dad."
Nancy read the letter to Mrs. Byrd. "Oh, I couldn't let you start out at this time of night alone," the woman said at once. "You must wait until morning."
"This whole thing doesn't seem like Dad," Nancy reflected. "He wouldn't send a terse note like this even if he were in some kind of trouble."
Mrs. Byrd was very much concerned. "It seems to me he would have called you on the phone in an emergency," she offered thoughtfully.