The Scarlet Slipper Mystery by Carolyn Keene Page B

leading to the Nickerson cabin. Nancy had to drive slowly because of the twists and turns on the winding trail.
    Rounding a sharp curve, Nancy almost ran into a barrier across the road. A bridge over a stream was down and sawhorses had been set up to warn motorists.
    As Nancy jammed on the brake, George said in disgust, “Well, of all things! Why didn’t they put up a sign where we entered this road?”
    “What’ll we do, Nancy?” Bess asked. “Walk the rest of the way?”
    “I suppose so,” Nancy said.
    She had her hand on the door handle to turn it when a voice behind the girls called in a heavy French accent, “Do not turn around! You are my prisoners and will do exactly what I tell you!”

CHAPTER XIII
    “Officer, Help!”
    THE unseen speaker hopped into the rear seat of Nancy’s convertible.
    Obeying his instructions, the three girls had not turned around, but in the rearview mirror Nancy had caught sight of the cruel-looking man. He was the person she had come to know as Judson!
    “Clever of me, wasn’t it, to pick up your trail?” he boasted. “I’ve been following you for miles, hoping for a chance to stop you. I thought you might turn in here, because you’ve done so before. I knew the bridge was out and hurried ahead of you to take down the warning sign at the entrance to the road.” He laughed sardonically.
    The next moment Bess screamed. Judson had shoved a sharp palette knife between her face and Nancy’s! He withdrew it, then said, “One false move and I’ll use this to advantage! You’d better believe me so don’t test your luck.”
    Bess looked faint and George’s jaw was set grimly. Nancy, after the first shock was over, said evenly, “What do you want us to do?”
    “You are going to be nice young ladies and lead me to the Fontaines!”
    Nancy thought quickly. Her first idea was to get the man out of the convertible.
    “What about your car?” she asked, wondering where it was. She could not see it in the mirror.
    Judson laughed harshly. “I know how clever you are, Nancy Drew. I am not falling for your trick to get me out of this car so that you and your friends can escape. Now back up and don’t get any crazy ideas.”
    Nancy nudged Bess and murmured, “Don’t worry!” She put the car into reverse and backed out of the winding road. Judson’s car was hidden just beyond the bend.
    In spite of their predicament, the young sleuth felt a sense of satisfaction. Judson’s desperate action clearly indicated that he did not know where the Fontaines were hiding!
    Nancy sensed, too, that one of the reasons he wanted to ride in the car was that he did not care to walk through the woods with the three girls. In a struggle to get free, his prisoners would be more than a match for him!
    At the main road, Nancy decided to stay on the highway as long as Judson would allow it, hoping to meet a State Police patrol car. But she had driven only a short distance when Judson said, “I know the Fontaines aren’t hidden along the highway. Get off it and lead me to them! Be quick about it!”
    George had surmised Nancy’s plan. Carefully concealing her action, she slipped a note pad and pencil out of her purse. Holding it on her lap where Judson could not see it, George wrote, “Do you want Bess and me to tackle him?”
    Nancy glanced at the note. Slowly taking her right hand from the wheel, she wrote, “Not yet.”
    As she continued to drive with one hand, Judson evidently noticed her right hand was out of sight. He placed the point of the palette knife between Nancy’s shoulders and barked, “Keep both hands on the wheel, where I can see them!”
    Nancy complied immediately and turned into a side road. The knife was removed. The young detective knew the countryside around River Heights well. She recalled that Bert Fraser, a state trooper, lived on one of the back lanes in the vicinity.
    “I’ll head for his house and hope he’ll be there,” she said to herself.
    Nancy took the road