Part 23 (2/2)

”You're not going to drive in there?” Bess cried out. ”Nancy, you'd ruin your car!”

”I guess you're right,” Nancy conceded, ”but I think we should investigate.”

She parked, locked the ignition, and climbed out. The other girls followed. The woods road was rutty and full of stones.

”I hope we don't have to go far,” said Bess presently. ”These stones hurt my feet. We should have worn hiking boots.”

Nancy forged ahead. The road went on and on, with no sign of a cabin, or the shabby car or its owner. After the girls had walked for fifteen minutes, Bess called for a rest period. They dropped to the ground.

”It's certainly quiet in here,” George remarked. ”You could hear a pin-oh!”

All three girls were startled by the distant buzz of a chain saw. As they listened, there came a tremendous crash.

”Timber!” exclaimed George, grinning.

”You're a little late with your warning. The tree's already fallen,” Bess chided her cousin good-naturedly. ”Well, I'm sure Mr. Raybolt isn't doing any lumbering if he's trying to hide, so let's go back.”

Nancy felt that they were not a long way from the tree-cutting site. ”Whoever is working there may have seen Mr. Raybolt or his old car. Let's find out,” she said.

As the girls plodded on over the rough ground, the sounds of trees being felled grew louder. Finally they came to a spot where they could see a good distance ahead. A large area of the woods was being cleared for a housing development. They a.s.sumed that the entrance to it was at the far end, for in the distance they could see several new houses.

”There's a man who looks as if he might be the foreman,” Nancy said, and walked toward a tall, husky young man. She introduced herself, then asked him if the lane was used by the real-estate developers.

”No, that's on someone else's property,” he replied. ”My name's Tim Murphy. I'm in charge of the clearing operation. Are you looking for someone?”

”Yes, a shabbily dressed man who has an ancient hot rod.” Nancy grinned. ”We thought he might be staying in a shack in these woods.”

Tim Murphy's reply startled the girls. ”I think your friend was here but left mysteriously. This development has been held up, and we just resumed work a couple of days ago. There's a little shack not far from here. It was empty, so whenever we had a downpour, my men and I used it for shelter.

”Two days ago we went there. What a surprise we got! A man came out with a shotgun and ordered us away! He was tall and thin, and his clothes were very shabby.”

”Was there a car around?” George asked.

”Yes, a black crate that sure was beat up. Think this is the man you're looking for?”

”Yes,” said Bess, ”but if he has a shotgun, we're not going near him!”

Tim Murphy laughed. ”You needn't worry. He's gone.”

This revelation shattered Nancy's hope that her quest was nearing an end. ”When did he leave?”

”During the night, and he hasn't come back. I have an idea he won't, either. I got the impression he wanted to be alone, and an expanding housing development is no place for a recluse. Say, do you mind telling me why you girls are interested in such a peculiar guy?”

They were spared the necessity of answering Murphy when a worker called him away. He went off hurriedly, and the girls started back to the lane. They were silent until they came to the spot where they had rested before.

”Do you think the man with the shotgun really was Mr. Raybolt?” George asked Nancy.

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