We must find the other part of the paper,” Nancy said.

Ned led her to the dimly lighted parking lot.

“The note was lying on the ground by this black sedan, ” he pointed out. “There was no other paper anywhere around.”

“This car looks like the one that stopped at the Struthers’, ” Nancy said. “Maybe if we wait, we’ll see who the owner is. And if he should turn out to be Anton or Nitaka....”

“Hey, not so fast.” Ned laughed.

He and Nancy searched the ground for the missing part of the receipt but did not find it. Presently they heard someone coming.

“It may be Anton or Nitaka! ” Nancy whispered.

They slipped behind another parked car and saw a young man walk over to the sedan and unlock the door. Ned came out of hiding.

“Just a minute, sir, ” he said. “May we ask you a few questions? ”

Startled, the fellow whirled around. Then Ned burst into laughter.

“Bill Jones! ” he exclaimed, recognizing a college friend whom Nancy also knew.

“From the way you spoke, I take it you thought I was a crook! ” Bill grinned after he had greeted Nancy and her escort.

“Something like that, ” Ned admitted. “Is this your car? ”

“It will be when I finish the payments on it. What are you and Nancy doing here? Sleuthing? ”

“We came to see the carnival, ” Nancy explained, “but now we’re looking for some thieves.”

“Sorry I can’t oblige you, ” Bill teased. “Want a lift to River Heights? ”

“No, thanks, Bill, we have a car, ” Ned replied.

He and Nancy waited for the owners of the other black sedans, but did not see Anton, Nitaka, or any other gypsies.

“Well, I failed on all my clues tonight, ” Nancy said as she and Ned walked to their car. “Or did I? Maybe learning who those suspects are will be worthwhile.”

Nancy’s exciting visit to the carnival did not prevent her from sleeping soundly. At breakfast she said to her father, “Dad, have you a date tonight? ”

“No. Why do you ask? ”

“Will you go somewhere with me? ”

“With you? ” Mr. Drew replied, chuckling. “I’d be delighted.”

“Maybe you won’t be so pleased when you hear where it is. I’d like to take Rose to the carnival.”

“Oh, no! ”

“Only to have her look at Anton and Nitaka to see if they’re the ones who stole the fan doll.”

“That’s different, ” said Mr. Drew. “All right.”

Mrs. Struthers consented to the plan, and Rose was thrilled. When she and the Drews reached the fairgrounds, she insisted on trying all the rides. Nancy joined her on a few but soon begged to stay on the sidelines with her father.

The carnival manager passed by as Rose was on The Whip. Nancy asked him where the gypsies had gone. To her disappointment he said the group had moved out early that morning.

“That old fellow Zorus was a strange guy, ” the manager remarked. “Never even said they were leaving.”

“How about Anton and Nitaka? ” Nancy queried. “Did they go with the others? ”

“I didn’t know any of them except their king.”

“King? ” Mr. Drew inquired. “Was Zorus their king? ”

“That’s what they called him, ” the manager explained. “And treated him like one, too.”

On the drive home Rose fell asleep in the back seat. Nancy reflected on the information she had received from the carnival manager. Were the couple she suspected of stealing Mrs. Struthers’ doll subjects of Zorus? Had he, perhaps, instructed Anton and Nitaka to take it?

Mr. Drew broke in on his daughter’s thoughts. “Guess you scared the gypsies away, ” he said.

“I’ll keep on looking for Anton and Nitaka just the same, ” Nancy replied.

When the Drews delivered Rose to her home, Mrs. Struthers requested that Nancy attend a sale of dolls in another state the following week. She suggested that George and Bess go with her. Nancy agreed.

At nine o’clock Monday morning, she and her friends met at the River Heights airport and boarded a plane for Jefferson. When the girls were seated and ready for takeoff a last-minute passenger rushed inside. She flopped into an aisle seat several rows ahead of Nancy, Bess, and George.

Nancy nudged her friends. “Nitaka just got on the plane! ” she whispered.

“You mean that carrot-haired woman? ” Bess asked. “She isn’t wearing gypsy clothes.”

“The woman who stole Mrs. Struthers’ doll wasn’t wearing them at the time, either, ” said Nancy. “The gypsies left the carnival, but evidently they didn’t move very far away, ” she guessed.

“Where do you suppose Nitaka’s going? ” George asked.

“I have no idea, but I mean to follow her, now that I have a chance, ” Nancy decided. “If she doesn’t get off at Jefferson, I’ll stay on the plane until she does.”

“Oh, please don’t, ” Bess begged. “You might get into troublel”

“What about the doll sale? ” George asked.

“You girls will have to go to it.” As the cousins groaned and insisted they could not do the job without her, Nancy replied, “If Nitaka is a thief and she could lead me to something important, you wouldn’t want me to give up the chase, would you? ”

“I suppose not, ” George said grudgingly.

Not once during the flight to Jefferson did Nitaka glance over her shoulder. She seemed indifferent to the scenery and devoted herself to a booklet, which she read many times.

The girls were the first passengers off the plane when it landed at Jefferson. They kept out of sight and watched to see if Nitaka would alight also.

Nancy had just about decided she was not going to, when the woman appeared. She hastened through the terminal and jumped into a cab.

“Hurry, or we’ll lose her! ” Nancy cried out to her friends.

After a little delay the girls found a taxi. By this time Nitaka’s cab was far down the road.

“Will you please try to overtake that taxi? ” Nancy asked their driver.

The elderly man was not willing to do so. As they reached the heart of Jefferson, they realized they had lost the trail of the other vehicle.

“It turned down a side street somewheres, ” the driver mumbled. “I was watching sharp, but I didn’t see which way it went.”

“Never mind.” Nancy sighed. “Please drive us to the Jefferson Galleries.”

It was now after eleven and Nancy feared many of the dolls might have been sold.

“We’ll have to hurry or we’ll be too late, ” she declared. “I hope I haven’t failed Mrs. Struthers.”

Ten minutes later the girls were at the galleries. The salesrooms were thronged with customers. Nancy was relieved to learn that while nearly all the fine old silver and jewelry had been sold, few of the dolls had been.

“Why did Mrs. Struthers want you to come to this particular sale? ” Bess asked as the girls walked toward the counter where the dolls were displayed.

“Most of the dolls are old and valuable, so there’s a chance the stolen fan doll is here, and even the one Mrs. Struthers’ daughter wanted her to find, ” Nancy explained.

She examined the dolls carefully, but found none that she wanted. Nancy asked a salesman if he had any others for sale that were not on display —any that lighted up or had gems sewed on their costumes.

“The most attractive dolls have been sold, ” he answered. “One like the one you mention was among them. A king with a jeweled robe.”

“Just my luck! ” Nancy groaned. “Who bought the doll? ”

“The woman didn’t give her name. She paid cash. Oh, there she is—leaving with her package.”

Nancy turned and caught a glimpse of the retreating figure who was now outside the galleries. Nitaka!

Nancy ran after the gypsy, but was too late to stop her. Nitaka entered a taxi and already was far down the street before the girl reached the sidewalk.

“This is the worst yet! ” Nancy said when she returned to Bess and George. “That woman may have bought the very doll I’m trying to find! ”

The manager overheard Nancy’s remark. He introduced himself and said, “If you’re interested in fine dolls, perhaps you’d like to see one that is more valuable than any sold here today.”

“Is it for sale? ” Nancy asked, hope reviving in her.

“No, and we never have displayed the doll. Wait here and I’ll bring it from the back room.”

The manager was gone at least ten minutes. When he returned, the girls saw at once that something was wrong.

“What became of that doll we kept in the office safe? ” he asked several salesmen.

“You removed it this morning, ” one of the men reminded him.

“Yes, one of the doll’s hands needed repairing. I took it out of the safe and put it on my desk. Now it’s gone! Someone must have sold it by mistake! ”

Each of the salesmen denied taking part in such a transaction.

“Then the doll has been stolen! ” the manager cried. “In the hands of the wrong person, it can be a very dangerous thing! ”