Part 20 (1/2)

Mr. Esch told the girls that the present owner of the property, Mr. Fuller, had also had bad luck on the farm. No one in his family had disappeared, but his cattle had become ill and died, he had had poor crops and several accidents, and illness had hounded the family.

”Who is operating the farm now?” Nancy asked.

”No one,” the man replied. ”The Fullers have left, but they have not put the property up for sale. I do not know whether they intend to come back.”

Nancy concluded that this might explain why Roger Hoelt and his wife had chosen this particular place in which to hide. He was trying to find out what the secret was. Should he discover it, and learn that the answer might bring him a lot of money, he would undoubtedly offer to buy back the property.

A faraway look came into Groeszdawdi's eyes. Then he said, ”You say that maybe MandaKreutz is hiding on the Fuller property?”

”I'm afraid so,” Nancy answered. ”I'm going to go there and try to find her. Have you any idea what makes the place dangerous, so I could avoid any trouble?”

GroeszdawdiEsch said it was a mystery to him and that he had never heard anything to give him the slightest clue as to what the secret was.

”But the few people who know the story stay away from the place like the plague!” he told them.

Nancy thanked the man for his information and promised to be very careful in her search. He smiled and said he hoped that Manda would be safe at home soon and that her papa would not be too harsh with her.

”Manda is pretty and she is a good worker,” he said. ”She will soon get a husband and her papa will not have to worry,” he added, chuckling.

The girls laughed, recalling that Melinda had said the same thing. They left.

Nancy wanted to start immediately for the Fuller farm, but Bess protested. ”Nancy Drew, after all you've heard, you're going to go there?”

”Yes.”

”Well, you'll take somebody except just me,” she announced firmly. ”We'll collect George and half a dozen other people.”

Nancy laughed. ”Where are we going to get all these people?”

Bess said she did not know, but they were not going alone. The girls continued to discuss the matter as they drove off.

”You're hinting that I call in the police, Bess,” said Nancy. ”I don't want to do that. We haven't one definite thing to go on. Dragging officers out on what may be a wild-goose chase wouldn't be right.

”What I propose to do is find out whether Mr. and Mrs. Hoelt are really hiding at the Fuller farm. And if Manda is there working for them, I want to get her away before I call the police. We don't want Manda to get any bad publicity.”

Bess finally conceded that Nancy was right. ”But it's getting late. I won't hear of your going until tomorrow morning.”

”All right,” Nancy agreed.

Presently she remarked that it was likely the furniture thief and his wife were using Manda as a front. So far as the Amish girl knew, the couple were honest.

”Manda has led a sheltered life,” said Nancy. ”She would probably believe any story the Hoelts might tell her and pa.s.s it on to any unexpected visitors.”

”Of course the unexpected visitors aren't supposed to include you, George, and me,” Bess said. ”Roger Hoelt tried to brain us in that little cabin. No telling what he'll do if we show up at his real hideout.”

Nancy did not comment on this. Instead, she said, ”I'm convinced now that the woman who screamed in the woods and ran away was either Manda or Mrs. Hoelt. With the Amish head covering, it's hard to distinguish faces from a distance.”

Bess looked worried. She suggested that the secret danger connected with the property might have caused the woman to scream. ”Maybe it's some kind of a witch or other hex,” she murmured.