A RISKY UNDERTAKING
"I must notify the marshal at once!" Nancy Drew told herself as she
recognized the three robbers.
Turning away from the window, she crept noiselessly from the porch and
as soon as she was a safe distance from the inn, broke into a run. As
she stepped into her roadster, a sudden thought occurred to her.
"Those robbers must have parked their van in the garage back of the
inn. If only I could get my hands on the clock before I notify the
police! Once the marshal takes charge of the stolen goods, I'll have no
opportunity."
Motivated by the impulse, Nancy drove on down the road a short
distance, and, rounding a bend, came up on another side road which led
into the woods directly behind the inn. Stopping the roadster where
it would be hidden by the trees, she got out and hurried through the
timber. Before leaving the car, she had secured her flashlight, for
already it was growing dark.
Cautiously, she approached the inn from the rear. Reaching the garage,
she found the doors closed, but investigation disclosed that they had
not been locked.
She opened one of the doors and looked inside. There was no sign of a
truck--only a battered old Ford car.
"They must have parked the van in the barn," she decided.
As she opened the stable door, it squeaked in an alarming fashion.
Anxiously, she glanced toward the inn, but so far as she could tell her
actions were unobserved. There was no one in sight.
Flinging the door wide, the girl peered hopefully into the dark
interior. A low cry escaped from her lips.
There in front of her stood the moving van!
"What a piece of luck!" she exclaimed, as she viewed the truck which
the robbers had left in the barn. "Now if I can only find the clock!"
With a last cautious glance in the direction of the roadhouse, she
hastily closed the barn door lest it swing in the wind and attract
attention. With the doors shut, the interior of the barn was dark.
As Nancy switched on her automobile flashlight and played it over the
moving van, she was disappointed to note that it was a covered one.
The rear doors were closed. Nevertheless, although she could not see
inside, she was certain the truck contained the goods stolen only a few
hours before from the Topham bungalow.
Securing a firm grip on the door handle, she gave it a quick turn. To
her surprise, the door did not open.
With an exclamation of disappointment, Nancy turned her flashlight on
it and for the first time noticed the keyhole. The robbers had locked
the van!
"Oh, dear, now what shall I do?" she questioned frantically. "I'll
never be able to break the lock."
Desperately, she glanced about. She dared not remain many minutes in
the barn lest the robbers return and find her there. Yet she could not
admit defeat.
"Perhaps the keys were left in the ignition switch," she thought
hopefully.
She rushed to the front of the van and clambered into the driver's
seat. An examination of the dashboard did not reveal the keys hanging
from the ignition switch.
"The robbers must have taken the keys with them," she told herself.
Nancy was discouraged. She was on the point of admitting defeat when a
thought came to her.
Among her acquaintances there were a number of persons who upon
occasion hid their automobile keys under the front seat. It was barely
possible that the robbers had done likewise.
Nancy hastily pulled up the leather seat and looked underneath. A ray
of her flashlight illuminated a small object in one corner. Eagerly,
she snatched it up and saw that it was a key ring.
"Luck was with me once," she murmured, as she ran back to the rear of
the van.
After trying several of the keys, she at last found one which would
fit the lock. Turning it, she jerked open the door. As she flashed her
light about inside the truck she saw that she had made no mistake. The
van contained the stolen goods and it was loaded nearly to the top.
[Illustration: AS SHE FLASHED HER LIGHT ABOUT SHE SAW THAT SHE HAD MADE
NO MISTAKE.]
"What shall I do if the clock is on the bottom?" Nancy groaned as
another problem occurred to her. "I'll never find it."
Dexterously, she swung herself up on the load. She flashed the light
about on chairs, tables, rugs and boxes. There was no sign of the
Crowley clock.
Then the beam rested for a moment upon an object in a far corner, and
with a low cry of delight Nancy saw that her search had been rewarded.
Protected by a blanket, an old-fashioned mantel clock rested on top of
a center table in the very front of the van!
She scrambled laboriously over odd pieces of furniture as she tried
to reach the clock. Her dress caught on something sharp and tore, but
Nancy did not heed it. She snatched at the blanket and swept the clock
toward her.
One glance at the timepiece assured her that it fit the description
Abigail Rowen had given her. It had a square face and the top was
ornamented with a crescent. Nancy was almost certain that it was the
Crowley clock.
But as she stood staring at it, her keen ears detected the sound of
voices outside the barn. The robbers were coming back!
"I'm lost!" flashed through her mind.
Clutching the blanket and the clock tightly in her arms, Nancy Drew
partly crawled and partly fell over objects as she struggled to get out
of the truck before it was too late. She was afraid to think what would
happen to her if the robbers discovered her in the van.
Reaching the door, she leaped lightly to the floor. She could now hear
heavy footsteps coming closer and closer.
Nancy slammed the truck doors shut and searched wildly for the keys.
"Oh, what did I do with them?" she thought frantically.
She saw that they had fallen from the door to the floor and snatched
them up. Hurriedly inserting the right key in the lock, she secured the
doors.
The deed was not accomplished a minute too soon. As Nancy wheeled about
she distinctly heard the murmur of angry voices outside. The robbers
were quarreling among themselves, and already someone was working at
the fastening of the barn door.
Escape was cut off. Nancy felt that she was cornered.
"Oh, what shall I do?" she thought in despair.