"Silence!" Maurice yelled, and turned to Joanne. "So you thought you'd get a job at our office and spy on us! And your meddling friend Nancy Drew was in cahoots with you."
"No, oh no!" Joanne cried out. "It was only by accident. I wanted to find a job and help my grandmother. Nancy was just trying to help me locate the office-"
"Don't expect us to believe a trumped-up story like that," the leader said harshly. "We know all about why you two have been snooping around ever since Al had Pete trail you from Riverside Heights. What's more, we know how to deal with such people!"
Hale turned menacingly to Nancy. "You'll wish you'd taken Pete's advice when he called your pal"-he indicated George-"and warned her that you'd better mind your own business."
"Oh, Maurice, please don't be too harsh with the girls," a timid voice pleaded. "They didn't mean any harm." As she finished, the speaker removed her mask.
Nancy turned quickly to see the woman she had helped in the woods and later had taken to town.
"So she's a counterfeiter!" Nancy told herself incredulously. "I can't believe it!"
"Didn't mean any harm?" Maurice drawled sarcastically. "Oh, no, of course not. They only wanted to land the whole Hale Syndicate in jail! Not that you would care! If I had known what a whiner you are, I'd never have married you! Mind your own business and let me take care of this!"
In spite of the seriousness of her own situation, Nancy felt pity for the woman. Undoubtedly as the wife of such a tyrant as Maurice Hale she had stayed with him against her will. She had hated the life that he had forced her to lead, but evidently she had been powerless to escape from it.
"No wonder the poor woman took a chance and slipped away from time to time," Nancy thought.
Frightened by the harsh words of her husband, Mrs. Hale moved back into a far corner of the room. Nancy wished she could help her in some way, but realized that the woman dared not say more.
"What'll we do with these girls?" the leader demanded. "We can't let 'em go. They know too much!"
On all sides angry mutterings arose. Yvonne Wong heartlessly proposed that the girls be tied up and left prisoners in the cave. But Maurice Hale ruled down that suggestion.
"We'll have to get 'em out of here," he said. "They'll be missed and a searching party might visit this joint. How about the shack at the river? It's in such a desolate spot no one would think of looking there until after-"
He did not finish the sentence, but from the sinister expression on his face. Nancy and her friends guessed his meaning. He intended to lock them up in the cabin and leave them without food!
A cry of anguish came from the leader's wife. Rushing forward, she clutched her husband frantically by the arm. "Oh, Maurice! You couldn't be that cruel!"
Mr. Hale flung her away from him with a force that sent the woman reeling against the wall. She uttered a little moan of pain and sank to the floor.
"Oh!" Bess screamed.
Even the cult members were startled.
"Be quiet!" ordered their chief.
The cruel action aroused Nancy. For an instant all eyes were centered on the woman, and Nancy thought she saw her opportunity. Quick as a flash she made a rush for the exit. Bess and George, equally alert, darted after her.
Al Snead, who stood in the opening, was taken completely by surprise. He tried to hold his ground but the girls were too strong for him. He managed to detain Bess and George, but Nancy wriggled from his grasp. She hesitated when she saw her friends had failed.
"Go on, Nancy!" Bess shrieked. "You must escape!"
Nancy darted into the next room, while George and Bess struggled with their captor, trying to block the door and give their friend more time.
"Stop that girl!" Maurice Hale shouted angrily. "If you let her get away, I'll-"
Nancy plunged into the tunnel and was swallowed up by darkness. She ran for her life and for the lives of her friends, realizing this probably was her only chance. The long white robe hindered her, but there was no time to tear it off. She held it high above her knees. Once she stumbled, but caught herself, and rushed on frantically.
The tunnel seemed to have no end. Behind her. Nancy could hear pounding footsteps and angry shouts. She thought the men must be gaining. If only she could reach the mouth of the cave! The tunnel wound in and out and several times Nancy brushed against the rough stone wall. The route was so circuitous that she began to think she had taken a wrong turn.
Then, just as she was giving up hope, Nancy spotted a dim light far ahead and knew she must be nearing the mouth of the cave. No one appeared to be left guarding the entrance. Her only chancel In a moment more she had reached the open air.
"Saved!" Nancy breathed.
At that instant a dark figure loomed up from the grass. Nancy felt a heavy hand on her shoulder!
CHAPTER XIXDestroyed Evidence
"Not so fast there!" The man leered as he clutched Nancy firmly by the arm and whirled her around. "What's the big rush, anyway?"
Nancy, staring into his hard face, saw that he was the man who had been addressed as "Hank," one of the three men she had seen at the filling station. Frantically she struggled to free herself.
"So-" he muttered in satisfaction, "the pretty blond spy the boys were telling me about. I thought you were warned by the guard to keep away from here! This time, I take it, you're lookin' for something besides a stray cow!"
"Yes, and I'm going to find it!" Nancy said bravely.
"Oh, yeah? You're going to find what? The police?" Hank looked at her costume. "You're a spy. But your little game is up."
Nancy's pulse was racing. How could she get away? She could hear running footsteps coming through the tunnel, and knew her chance of escape would be over in another instant. In desperation she tried to jerk herself free from Hank. But her captor gripped her more securely and laughed as she cried out in pain, "Let me go!"
Nancy twisted and squirmed, "but her efforts Only made Hank tighten his grip. By the time the others reached her, she had given up the struggle and stood quietly waiting for the worst to come.
"Good thing you got her. Hank," Maurice Hale called. "The little wildcat! We'll give her a double dose for this smart trick! No girl's going to put anything over on me!"
At the entrance of the cave it was nearly as bright as day, for the moon was high. Maurice Hale glanced nervously about, as though fearing observation by unseen eyes.
"Get back inside!" he sharply ordered his followers. "It's a clear night and some wise bird might see us without our costumes and wonder what's up. We must destroy the evidence as quickly as we can and clear out of this place!"
Even as the leader spoke, Nancy thought she heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. She told herself that it probably was only the wind stirring the leaves. Rescue was out of the question, for no one knew that she and her friends had planned such a dangerous mission. How foolish. of them not to have revealed their full plans to someone!
Nancy made no protest as she was dragged back into the cavern. Bravely she tried to meet the eyes of her friends, for she saw that they were even more discouraged than she. Poor Bess was trembling with fright.
"Th-the perfume did it!" she wailed. "I knew this masquerade was far too dangerous for us to try!"
"Cheer up," Nancy whispered encouragingly. "We'll find some way to get out of here!"
Bess only shook her head. She was not to be deceived.
"And to think I was the one who couldn't wait for a spooky adventure on the hillside," George moaned regretfully. "I really ought to have my head examined!"
The members of the syndicate were furious. There would be no second opportunity for these intruders to break away. At an order from the leader, Al Snead found several pieces of rope and bound Nancy and her friends hand and foot. He seemed to take particular delight in making Nancy's bonds cruelly tight.