Mystery of the Glowing Eye - Carolyn Keene [13]
“Hello! Who is this?” she asked.
“Never mind who I am. What I want to know is, where are Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans?”
Nancy was instantly alert. Instead of giving the information, she said, “I won’t answer your question until you identify yourself.”
She waited for an answer but none came. There were several seconds of silence, then the caller hung up.
As Nancy came back to join the group, she began to worry about Burt and Dave. She asked the boy who had originally taken the call if the speaker had asked for either Burt or Dave.
“Yes, he did. When I said they were not here, he wanted to speak to you. Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know, but the man wouldn’t give me his name,” Nancy replied.
Bess and George were upset when they heard what had happened. Bess, who was frantic with worry, said, “I’m sure the caller was Crosson. He isn’t satisfied with having kidnapped Ned. Now he’s going to get Dave and Burt!”
George did not share her cousin’s fears. “I’m sure Burt and Dave will know how to take care of themselves if he arrives.”
“But suppose,” said Bess, “that he brings along some pals and they overpower Dave and Burt?”
There was a discussion about whether or not the girls should notify the police, but they had confidence in their friends’ resourcefulness and strength to meet any emergency.
George said, “Let’s get some sleep and go out there early in the morning.”
The girls said good night to Ned’s fraternity brothers and went to bed. None of them slept well and were up at six o’clock.
The friendly blond boy Tom Rankin was also up. It was his turn to be on kitchen duty. Nancy, Bess, and George helped him and the four had breakfast together.
“Where are you off to?” he asked.
“To get Burt and Dave,” Nancy replied, but gave no other information.
When the girls reached the farmhouse, it appeared to be deserted. Nancy opened the front door and called out. There was no answer. Quickly the three made a search of the place and George even got the ladder from the closet and went to the cellar. She looked in the clothes chute. Burt and Dave were not on the premises.
Moments later Nancy, Bess, and George stood in the middle of the living room, staring at one another, the same thought going through their minds. Had Burt and Dave been kidnapped?
“Oh, I can’t stand it!” Bess wailed, tears welling up in her eyes. “Why did we ever let the boys stay here?”
“Shush!” George commanded. “Crying over the situation isn’t helping any. Put on your thinking cap, Bess, and help us figure out—”
Nancy interrupted to ask a pertinent question. “George, were there clothes in the chute?”
George admitted that she had not noticed. Once more she climbed down the ladder to the cellar, then slid back the door to the chute. There was nothing in it.
“Now I know Crosson was here!” she thought.
George was not the kind of girl to give in to tears, but it was difficult for her to come back up the ladder and tell the others of her suspicion.
“I’m going outside and look around,” she said.
Nancy and Bess began to hunt in the house for anything which might give them a clue to the boys’ whereabouts. They hoped that Burt and Dave might have managed to leave some kind of message. But their search revealed no leads.
George, who had just finished scrutinizing the ground in front of the farmhouse for clues, saw a State Police patrol car coming. She was about to hail it, when the car pulled in and stopped. The uniformed driver opened the door on the passenger side and shouted to George, “Is Nancy Drew here?”
“Yes, she is,” George replied, wondering whether the man was bringing bad news.
George rushed up to the front door and called to Nancy. She came downstairs with Bess at her heels.
“I’m Anthony Russo,” the policeman said.
The girls introduced themselves and Nancy said, “Do you