Chris summoned up his courage and plunged into the woods. He located Nancy"s ball in a hollow spot by a tree.
"It"s almost unplayable," he told her when she caught up to him. Ruth Allison had walked on, a self-satisfied expression on her face.
Nancy asked Chris for her mashie and struck the ball with all her strength. The shot was remarkable. The ball flew up and sailed cleanly out of the woods.
"Marvelous!" George called out.
Despite Nancy"s remarkable play, her score was one point higher than her opponent at the end of the hole.
As they walked to the next tee, Nancy remarked, "I"m one down now, and-" She started to add that her hand was paining her but quickly broke off.
Nancy had no intention of giving up easily, and managed to tie Ruth Allison on the seventeenth. As they played toward the last green, she put all her strength into each shot, wincing with pain every time.
"A tie isn"t enough here," she said to herself grimly. "I must win by a stroke or I"ll lose the match and be out of the tournament!"
A small crowd had gathered by the green to watch the players come in. Ruth Allison, with victory so near, became excited and made a wild putt. Nancy dropped her ball into the cup, tying the match again.
According to the rules, the players had to keep on until one or the other had a lower score. Nancy wondered how much longer her hand could endure the strain.
As the two players went back to the first tee the crowd followed. An audience seemed to bother Ruth Allison. Her drive was short, and her next shot went into the rough. She lost the hole by two strokes. It was Nancy"s match!
"Oh, you were great!" Bess praised her friend gleefully, while George hugged her.
Ruth Allison, instead of offering congratulations, turned on her heel and stalked angrily toward the golf clubhouse office.
"What a poor sport she turned out to bel" George said in disgust.
When the applause of the crowd was over, Nancy and her friends walked away slowly. They noticed a man who was on the tournament committee hurrying toward them. It was evident from the expression on his face that something was amiss.
"Miss Drew, will you come with me, please?" he requested her quietly. "There seems to be a little misunderstanding. Your opponent claims the match."
"Why? I won it fairly," Nancy replied as she followed the man. "There were witnesses."
"Miss Allison claims the match on account of the sixteenth hole," the man told her gravely. "She says that you moved your ball after it went into the woods."
Nancy was stunned by the false accusation. In the office she faced Miss Allison and demanded, "How can you say such a thing? You know it isn"t true."
"It certainly is," the woman retorted. "I"m sure you moved your ball. Otherwise you never could have reached the fairway in one shot. I distinctly heard your caddy tell you that the shot was unplayable."
"Nevertheless, I made it."
Bess and George had followed their friend to the golf office. Unable to remain quiet, they flew to her defense.
"Nancy has never cheated in her life!" George burst out angrily. "You"re just mad because she beat you!"
"Now, let"s be calm about this," the tournament chairman said anxiously. "We"ll try to decide this matter fairly-"
"What"s the trouble?" asked a masculine voice behind them.
The girls turned. Martin Bartescue was standing in the doorway. He repeated his question and the tournament chairman reluctantly explained the difficulty.
"Why, Miss Allison"s accusation is utterly false," he stated firmly. "It so happens that I was walking along the woods as the match was being played. I saw Miss Drew drive into the trees, and I watched her execute her shot onto the fairway. It was a beauty."
"Oh, thank you," Nancy gasped gratefully. For the first time she decided that Barty had his good points.
"If everyone defends Miss Drew I may as well drop the charge!" Ruth Allison said haughtily and left the office.
"Don"t mind her," the tournament chairman said to Nancy. "She always loses hard. I"m sorry to have embarra.s.sed you."
Bartescue followed the girls outside, smirking with pleasure.
"Did you really see me play my shot?" Nancy asked him.
"Why certainly," he returned, his eyes twinkling. "Didn"t you see me?"
"No, I didn"t."
"You must have been looking in another direction. By the way, did you get my note?"
"Yes," Nancy admitted and politely accepted his invitation to the dance at Hemlock Hall.
He said good-by and walked off. Nancy could not rid herself of the suspicion that Bartescue had lied about being in the woods. Later that afternoon, while the three girls were in the soda shop, they were amazed to have the boy at the counter mention Bartescue to them.
"He"s a funny guy," the boy said. "Spent a long time in here earlier this afternoon. He wrote out a telegram, but crumpled it up. As a matter of fact, he wrote out two or three, but couldn"t seem to get one that suited him. He left one wadded up on the counter and I read it."
"You did?" Nancy said.
"Sure, see, here it is." The boy took a crumpled paper from his pocket and waved it. Nancy was able to make out two words in the quick glance she got of the message-Margaret Judson.
"Nancy has never cheated in her life!" George burst out
"Want to read it?" the boy asked.
Nancy shook her head. "No, I"m not interested in Mr. Bartescue"s private affairs."
The boy thrust the paper into his pocket again and a moment later was called away to wait on another customer. Nancy left the shop with Bess and George.
She wondered if she had made a mistake in declining to read the telegram. What connection could Barty have with Margaret Judson?
"I caught only a glimpse of the writing," she said, "but I"m sure it wasn"t the same as any of the other samples of Barty"s." She paused, then continued, "About the dance tonight. I"d like you and your dates to follow us closely in your car."
"We"ll do our best to keep you in sight," Bess promised.
"I hope I won"t need to send out an SOS." Nancy laughed.
Shortly before nine o"clock the boys who were to escort Bess and George arrived in their car. Nancy was worried that Barty would ruin her plans by being late, but to her relief he appeared within a few minutes.
As he a.s.sisted her into his car, Nancy glimpsed her friends in a nearby convertible, waiting to follow. For a time her escort drove at a moderate pace. When the road straightened out he speeded up until the other car was left far behind.