The Haunted Bridge Part 14

"Oh, let's not go so fast!" Nancy protested.

"This is the way I like to travel," Barty told her.

"Well, I don't. If you refuse to slow down, I'll never go out with you again."

"All right," he grumbled, and grudgingly reduced the speed of the car.

For some minutes they rode in silence. Nancy was wondering how to broach the subject of Miss Allison's accusation about cheating. Finally, with a pretense of being facetious, she suggested that perhaps he had not really seen her hit the ball out of the woods.

"You were just coming to my defense, weren't you?"

"I guess maybe you're right," Barty admitted. "Did you cheat?"

"Certainly not!"

"It wouldn't make any difference to we if you had or hadn't," Barty replied.

Nancy was not flattered. She wanted to tell him how important and enjoyable it was to play any compet.i.tive game honestly and with a good sportsmanlike att.i.tude. But she decided she would gain nothing by revealing her true feelings. Taking a different tack, she cajoled her escort into a pleasant mood and casually asked him if he knew Miss Judson whose house had burned.

"Margaret Judson?" he inquired indifferently. "Oh, I met her in Europe three years ago. A pretty woman, but boring."

"Where is she living now?"

"She doesn't wish to have her address revealed."

"I thought she might be staying near here," Nancy said, watching him closely.

"Perhaps she is." Bartescue smiled.

Another silence followed, which was not broken until they reached Hemlock Hall. Nancy excused herself to go to the powder room. She stayed there hoping to see Margaret Judson among the persons who came and went. Bess and George arrived and she left the room with them.

"Try not to lose Barty's car going back to the hotel," Nancy urged. "In the meantime keep your eyes open for a woman with a jeweled compact. If you see one, please report to me instantly."

"Will do," Bess promised.

The music was excellent, but Nancy did not enjoy dancing with Bartescue. Finally she went to the ladies' lounge. There she maintained an alert watch for a woman with a jeweled compact.

"This night will be entirely wasted," she thought in disappointment. "Miss Judson isn't here and there's not a single clue to help Dad's case."

Reluctantly Nancy returned to dance with her date. When the music stopped, he took her to a chair and excused himself. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, and went off.

Nancy got up and wandered into a small room adjoining the ballroom to get some fresh air. The place was vacant. Nancy turned to leave but halted when she heard a low murmur of voices.

Two women seated on the porch outside were conversing earnestly near an open window. Their words reached Nancy clearly.

"But I tell you I have no money to give you for the compact," the one said in a hara.s.sed tone. "Please try to understand."

"How do I know you didn't sell it?" the other asked harshly.

The women lowered their voices so Nancy was unable to hear anything. She moved swiftly toward the window to listen.

"I must learn who they are," Nancy thought excitedly. "One of those women may be Margaret Judson!"

CHAPTER X.

Telltale Photograph

APPARENTLY the two women on the porch heard someone coming. They arose and moved away, walking hurriedly toward the garden.

By the time Nancy came outdoors, they were too far away for her to distinguish either woman in the darkness. But the young detective observed that one was dressed in a flowered silk gown which hung in long, loose folds from her shoulders.

"Could she be Margaret Judson?" Nancy asked herself.

In a few moments they had vanished. Nancy ran down the steps into the garden, sure that the women had taken one of the winding paths leading from the hotel.

"I must find them!" she thought.

A number of couples were enjoying the moonlight, some idling near the fountains. Others were walking slowly up and down as they listened to strains of music from the dance orchestra. Nancy darted here and there, searching frantically.

Suddenly, far ahead of her, she thought she saw the woman in the flowered silk dress. Nancy rushed forward. Just then a young couple came from among the trees. Nancy, unable to stop, ran full tilt into them.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she apologized. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No," the man replied, "but watch your step."

Nancy took another path, this time more slowly. But she could not find the woman in the flowered silk and her companion. Finally Nancy gave up and went back to the hotel lobby. One of the women she sought was just entering an elevator!

"Now's my chance!" Nancy decided.

She was too late to catch the elevator but raced upstairs. Nancy reached the next floor just as the elevator stopped there. The woman in the flowered dress alighted. But she was not Margaret Judson.

On a sudden hunch Nancy said to her, "Pardon me, but do you know where Miss Judson is?"

The woman gazed at the girl in surprise but replied, "Probably she has gone to her room."

Nancy was amazed to hear Miss Judson was registered at the hotel. The other day the young woman had said that she was not staying there. "Do you know the number of her room?"

"No"

Nancy hurried downstairs to ask the desk clerk. "She just left here," he reported. "Decided not to stay after all."

"Oh!" Nancy gasped. "Can you tell me her forwarding address?"

"She left none."