Carolyn Keene - The Secret of Red Gate Farm

"It was the only twenty we took in that day," the waitress retorted.

Nancy's thoughts raced. "I'll take your word for it," she said quietly. Opening her purse she took out another twenty-dollar bill. The woman snatched the money and handed it to one of the Secret Service men. "Is this good?" she asked crisply.

The agent examined the bill. Then he looked at Nancy. "Where did you get this?"

"From my father. He gave me both bills, as a matter of fact. One was for car emergencies." Instead of giving the bill to the woman, the man put it into his pocket. "This is serious business, young lady. The bill you just gave me is also counterfeit!"

Nancy was thunderstruck. Bess and George gasped. Before any of them could speak, the lunchroom woman cried out, "She's one of the gang! Arrest her!"

For the first time the station attendant spoke up. "Take it easy, Liz. These girls don't exactly look like counterfeiters."

Liz sniffed. "People don't usually go around paying for sundaes with twenty-dollar bills!" she said tartly.

"My father gave me the money because I was going on a vacation."

"A likely story!" the woman sneered.

"It's the truth!" George spoke up indignantly. "The idea of accusing my friend of passing bad money on purpose! It's ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous, is it?" the woman retorted angrily. "You'll sing a different tune when you're in jail!"

"You can't have Nancy arrested. She didn't realize it was counterfeit money!" Bess protested. "George and I have some cash. We'll pay you twenty good dollars to make up for the bad one."

As the cousins pooled their funds and handed over the money, the woman quieted down.

"Maybe I was a little hasty," she admitted. But she was not entirely cowed. "How about your father?" she asked Nancy. "How come he had counterfeit bills?"

Nancy said she did not know, hut certainly he had not acquired them dishonestly. One of the Secret Service men said, "Suppose you tell us who you are, and-"

"I'll tell you who she is!" came an authoritative voice from the doorway.

CHAPTER XIII A Hesitant Hitchhiker

Unobserved by the girls, an automobile had driven up and parked near the filling station. A tall young man had alighted and started for the lunchroom. Upon hearing the amazing conversation inside, he had halted. Then, realizing Nancy was in need of help, he had stepped inside.

"Karl!" Nancy cried out. She had never before been so glad to see anyone!

"It looks as if I just got here in the nick of time." Karl Abbott Jr. smiled.

"They're trying to arrest us!" Bess exclaimed.

"You're kidding!" Karl cried in astonishment.

"It's no joke," Nancy returned earnestly, then told him of her predicament.

"Look here," Karl said bluntly, turning to the two Secret Service agents, "you can't hold these girls."

"Who are you?" one of the agents demanded.

"My name is Karl Abbott, and these girls are friends of mine. As it happens, my father is living at Red Gate Farm in Round Valley, where they also are staying. I was on my way there when I thought I'd stop for a bite to eat. Lucky I did, too!"

"These girls may be friends of yours," the unpleasant woman spoke up shrilly, "but this girl had better explain why she gave me counterfeit money!"

"If you're accusing these girls of deliberately trying to pass counterfeit money, you're crazy!" Karl Abbott cried out.

"You're willing to vouch for the honesty of this young lady's father as well?" the agent asked.

"Most definitely. This is Nancy Drew. No doubt you've heard of her father, the famous lawyer. If you haven't, you soon will!"

"Not Carson Drew of River Heights?"

"Yes," Karl replied.

"Why didn't you tell us who you were?" the restaurant owner asked.

"You didn't give me a chance to tell you anything!" Nancy retorted. "And you didn't seem ready to believe what I did have to say."

The two agents looked at each other. One asked to see Nancy's driver's license, then with a smile he said, "Too bad you have such a loss because of the counterfeit money. The outfit which is distributing the twenty-dollar bills is a clever one.

"The money is turning up in many places. I'll get in touch with your father to find out where he was given the bills. Incidentally, we understand a few women are mixed up in the racket. That's why we detained you."

"Let's get out of here!" George urged.

The girls hurriedly left the lunchroom with Karl. The government agents leisurely followed them outside.

As Nancy was about to step into her car, she thought of something. It occurred to her that by some remote chance the investigators might be interested in the phony message which she had brought with her.

"This may or may not have anything to do with the case," she told them, handing over the scented note. "But the signature is a forgery, and the perfume has some mystery to it."

She gave a brief account of her own involvement with the mystery, beginning with her encounter on the train with the man who had mentioned "the Chief," and ending with the code.

"If the rest of the code can be deciphered," Nancy concluded, "that might give us the answer to everything, including the Hale Syndicate's whereabouts."

"So you're the young detective Chief McGinnis mentioned in his reports to us," one of the agents said admiringly. "What you've done so far is really astounding. Chief McGinnis didn't mention you by name. He probably figured you would prefer him not to.

"Your deductions seem very sound. Miss Drew, and I'd advise you to be careful. That Hale gang may think you know too much already. I'll take this note and pass it along to a handwriting expert. Perhaps Yvonne Wong was the person who delivered it."

Nancy shook her head. "From what I could see of the woman, I know she wasn't Yvonne."

After the agent had wished Nancy luck on the solution of the mystery, she said good-bye to the men, and, with the others, went back to her car. Although Karl Abbott was eager to continue on to Red Gate Farm to see his father, he expressed concern about the three girls and their upsetting experience. He asked for a detailed account of the events which had led to Nancy's predicament. He was most interested and sympathetic when the girls told him the whole story.

"Well," he said admiringly, "I guess I won't worry too much about you girls. You certainly aren't easily daunted by emergencies."

After Karl Jr. and the trio had exchanged goodbyes, the young man got into his car and drove on to the farm.

Bess turned to her companions. "Where to? I'm more starved than ever."

"It's only a short way to town from here," Nancy replied. "We can get breakfast there and then do our shopping."

Soon the girls reached Round Valley. When they finished eating, Nancy looked at Mrs. Byrd's list.

"There's really not much on it," she commented. "Two of us could do the shopping. Suppose you girls take over and I'll go buy the material for our costumes."

"Material?" Bess queried.

Nancy laughed. "If we're going to join the Black Snake group in one of their rites, we'll need ghost costumes, and I've decided it wouldn't be fair to Mrs. Byrd to ruin four of her sheets and pillowcases."

Suddenly George said, "What are we going to use for money?"

Nancy had only two dollars. Bess and George between them counted six.

"That will pay for the meat and groceries," Bess said. "I guess our costume material and the other errands will have to wait."

The food shopping was soon finished and the girls returned to Red Gate Farm.

Joanne met them at the kitchen door. "Guess what?" she burst out. "The telephone repairman was here. He said our line had been cut!"

Nancy nodded. "By those people who were here last night."

"I suppose so. Oh, Nancy, I'm so worried for you. And Karl Jr. tells us you've had another adventure this morning. He said you'd explain."