The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene Page A

order, then given the note to the couple? The woman might have carried the letter in a handbag which contained a purse-size bottle of the Oriental perfume.
    “In that case I ought to start for River Heights,” Nancy thought. But a feeling of suspicion about the whole thing overpowered her. It might be a trap. The telephone line could have been cut. One or more persons might try to capture her on the road.
    “But why?” Nancy asked herself repeatedly. She came to the conclusion that the Hale Syndicate was back of the incident. They must have found out she had reported her suspicions to the police and somehow had learned where she was staying.
    She turned to Mrs. Byrd and said, “I’ll wait until seven o’clock, then try the phone again. If it still isn’t working, I’ll go to town and call Dad.”
    “Thank you, dear.” Mrs. Byrd patted Nancy on the shoulder. “But don’t go anywhere alone. Take Bess and George with you.”
    “I will.”
    Promptly at seven o’clock Nancy tried to get in touch with her father but the phone still was not working. Joanne was already up, but Nancy roused Bess and George. The three girls were astounded to learn about the note.
    “We’ll get breakfast in town,” Nancy told Mrs. Byrd as she prepared to drive off with her friends. “And if I don’t have to go to River Heights, I can do your shopping, too. Suppose you give me the list.”
    Halfway to town, George said suddenly, “Nancy, isn’t your gasoline tank nearly empty?”
    Nancy nodded. “I’m glad you reminded me. Watch for a station and we’ll stop.”
    Presently Bess sighted one on the main road. “It’s the same place we stopped to eat on our way to the farm,” she said.
    “So it is,” George remarked.
    “I can phone from here,” Nancy decided.
    She turned in at the gravel driveway, but as two other cars were ahead of her, she drew up some distance from the pump.
    “How about getting breakfast here after you phone?” Bess suggested.
    The girls agreed. Bess and George entered the lunchroom while Nancy went to an outdoor phone booth. She had her father on the wire in a few moments.
    “Dad, did you send me a note last night?”
    “Why, no.”
    Quickly his daughter explained her question. The lawyer said grimly, “It’s plain to see someone wants to harm you in one way or another. Please be very careful.”
    Nancy promised and said, “Anyway, I’m glad you’re all right.”
    After Nancy hung up, she dialed the phone company to report that the Byrd line was out of order. A few minutes later she joined Bess and George at a table and whispered the result of her conversation with Mr. Drew.
    “Oh, Nancy, this means you’re in danger!” Bess said worriedly.
    “I thought at least I’d be safe at Red Gate Farm,” Nancy said.
    “I wonder,” George muttered.
    The girls were the only customers in the restaurant. No one came to wait on them. From an inner room, evidently used as an office, they could hear excited voices.
    “Something’s wrong,” Nancy said to her companions.
    Just then two men came out of the office in company with the gasoline-station attendant and the woman who served as waitress of the restaurant. The woman was talking excitedly.
    “We found the twenty-dollar bill in the cash register at the end of the day. It looked like any other money, and we didn’t suspect anything was wrong until John took the day’s receipts to the bank. And of all things they said the bill was counterfeit and they’d have to turn it over to the Secret Service!”
    “Yes,” one of the agents spoke up, “we’ve just come from the bank and it’s a counterfeit all right. There’s been a lot of this bad money passed lately. The forgery is very clever.”
    “What am I going to do?” the woman cried. “We were cheated out of twenty dollars! It isn’t fair to hard-working people like John and me. Aren’t you Secret Service agents going to do something about it?”
    “We’re doing all we can,” one of the