How did I get here?” Nancy asked herself.

“Either I wandered in my sleep, or I’m having hallucinations. Perhaps I struck my head in the cave.”

Getting to her feet, Nancy gingerly tested her arms and legs. They were stiff and cramped, but she did not have a single scratch.

“Who knows, I may have been lying in that ditch for an hour or longer, ” she reasoned, not trusting the time on her water-soaked watch. “I wonder what Bess and George thought when I didn’t show up. Probably they went home. I must find a phone and call them! ”

Though confused by her experience, and frightened that another lapse of memory might overtake her, Nancy tramped quickly down the road. She kept hoping a car would pass, but none came along.

At length she reached a farmhouse. Seeing a well in the yard, she crossed a cinder path to draw herself a cool drink. A woman, wearing a faded gingham apron, peered curiously out the screen door.

“Goodness! ” she exclaimed, coming outside. “You look all tuckered out! Have you walked far? ”

Nancy hung up the long-handled dipper from which she had been drinking.

“Yes, I’ve walked a long distance, ” she said quietly. “My friends and I had an accident with our boat. May I use your phone? ”

“Bless you, we haven’t one. The nearest phone is at the Gladstone Dairy, half a mile down the road.” Nancy looked so discouraged that the woman added kindly, “Do sit down and tell me what happened. Are your friends safe? ”

“I think so. We became separated. Where am I now? Far from Candleton? ”

The woman stared at the girl curiously. “Don’t you know? ”

Nancy shook her head, dropping into a chair near the kitchen door. “I’m a stranger here. After the accident, I became confused.”

“You’re about three miles from Candleton, and a quarter mile from the bay. You weren’t by any chance near Bald Head Cave when the accident occurred? ” The woman’s eyes opened wide.

Nancy could see that the farmer’s wife was terrified of the cave. The young sleuth realized she must be careful of what she said.

“Is Bald Head Cave near here? ” she countered innocently.

“Over there.” The woman pointed in a south-easterly direction. “Fishing’s good thereabouts, ” she added, “but you got to be careful. Once my husband was in his boat near the cave entrance when a flood o’ water came rushing out. He was lucky to get away alive.”

Bald Head Cave was a subject Nancy did not care to discuss any further. After declining the woman’s offer of a glass of lemonade, she asked if there was anyone at the farmhouse who could drive her to Candleton.

“I’ll pay him well, ” she added.

“Bless you, it’s not a matter of money. My husband went to town and he isn’t back yet. He’ll likely drive in about sunset.”

Nancy felt she could not wait. She thanked the woman for her kindness, then started off. Presently a car came speeding down the road toward her. It looked familiar.

“Why, that’s my convertible! ” she exclaimed.

As she shouted and waved the driver braked and the car came to a halt. At the steering wheel was Ned Nickerson, a friend of Nancy’s, who was staying nearby to sell insurance to parents of two college friends. Bess and George were with him.

“Thank goodness you’re safe, Nancy! ” Ned cried, swinging open the car door and jumping out.

Bess and George also jumped out and rushed up to Nancy. “We were worried sick! ” exclaimed Bess.

“We all had a narrow squeak, ” George said grimly.

Ned explained that he had stopped at Mrs. Chantrey’s cottage. Learning from June that the girls had gone to Bald Head Cave, he had driven to the waterfront intending to rent a boat and find them. There he had met Bess and George.

Ned took Nancy’s arm and led her toward the car.

“Has my father arrived? ” she asked eagerly.

“Not yet.” George shook her head.

“Any word from him? ”

Again the answer was no.

“I’m sure your father is all right, ” Ned told them. “Maybe he sent a message that never reached you.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, ” Nancy conceded. She smiled at the young man beside her. “I’m sorry you found me looking so disheveled.”

“Well, ” he said, laughing, “you look all right to me. But suppose you tell us about your experience after you left the cave.”

Rather self-consciously Nancy related her strange dream and told of awakening in the roadside ditch. “I must have been completely out of my mind, ” she ended dismally.

“Perhaps you didn’t wander in your sleep, ” Ned suggested. “You may have been carried.”

“By elves? Oh, Ned! ”

“By two man-sized elves. Notice anyone near the cave after the accident? ”

“I wasn’t in a state to observe anything.” Nancy’s blue eyes clouded with thought. “But I do recall—those voices—they sounded human! ”

“Why do you suppose anyone would have carried you from the cliff? ” George asked disbelievingly.

Nancy shrugged, declaring, “All I know is that when I investigate Bald Head Cave again, I’ll go—”

“Alone! ” Bess finished darkly. “So far as I’m concerned that mystery is welcome to remain forever unsolved.”

Then, seeing a roadside stand, she reminded the others that they had not eaten since breakfast. After a quick meal, Ned again took the wheel.

During the rest of the ride to Candleton, the three girls exchanged accounts of their strange and terrifying experience inside the cave.

“Why don’t I try my luck there tomorrow? ” Ned proposed.

“Don’t even think about it! ” Bess said, and was vigorously supported by George. “The cave is too dangerous! ”

When they reached Candleton, Ned picked up his car. Then Nancy, eager to learn if her father had written, suggested that they stop at the post office.

“Nothing for any of us, ” she reported in disappointment a few minutes later.

“Maybe there’s word at the house, ” Bess suggested.

When they reached the cottage the young people heard the phone ringing. As they hurried up the steps, June came to the door.

“Phone for you, ” she told Nancy. “A gentleman.”

“There! ” Bess exclaimed triumphantly. “It’s sure to be your father, Nancy! ”

Nancy dashed into the hall.

“Hello, Dad? ” she said eagerly.

But it was not her father who answered. The voice was that of a stranger.

“Listen carefully, ” he directed in clipped tones. “Your father requests that you meet him this afternoon at Fisher’s Cove Hotel. Come as quickly as you can—alone.”

“Who are you? ” Nancy asked. “Why are you calling for my father? ”

There was no answer. The man had hung up.

As Nancy turned slowly from the phone she found Ned standing behind her. After repeating the conversation, she asked for his advice.

“Don’t go, ” he said instantly. “It’s a trick.”

“I’m afraid so myself, Ned. On the other hand, Dad may have a special reason for wanting me to meet him there. I must take a chance and go! ”

“In that case I’ll join you.”

“The man’s instructions were that I come alone.”

“Why alone, Nancy? ”

“I had no chance to ask any questions.”

“If you insist upon going, I’ll follow in my car.”

While Nancy changed her clothing, Ned drove to the village to have her car’s gas tank filled. By the time he returned to the house, she was ready.

Just as Nancy was about to drive away the phone rang again. This time George answered it.

“Hello? ” inquired an agitated feminine voice at the other end of the line. “Has Nancy Drew started for Fisher’s Cove yet? ”

“Why, no, she’s just leaving, ” George replied.

“Then stop her! Don’t let her go! ”

Before George could reply, the receiver clicked and the line went dead.