Apparently satisfied that the sound he had heard was made by some wild animal, the hunter slowly walked on again. Moments later the girls heard a loud explosion and saw a sudden flash of fire. They gasped in horror as the man uttered a sharp moan of pain.
"He"s hurt!" Nancy cried and darted forward.
The victim was lying still on the ground when the girls reached his side. Nancy bent anxiously over him and was relieved to find him breathing. A slight trickle of blood oozed from a wound in his forehead.
The young detective glanced at the man"s rifle which lay on the ground a short distance away.
"His gun must have gone off accidentally," Nancy surmised, then added, "We"d better not move him. Let"s get a doctor at once."
"I"ll run back to the hotel," George offered.
"You"re not afraid to cross the haunted bridge alone?" Bess asked quietly.
George shook her head. "Of course not."
As she hurried out of sight, Nancy studied the darkening sky. "I hope the rain holds off, at least until the doctor gets here," she said.
But within a few minutes it began to rain. Nancy and Bess carried the wounded man to his three-room cabin and laid him gently on a bed in the rear room. Bess looked for a clean towel and put a cold compress on his head.
Puddles of water were forming on the floor beneath the open windows. Nancy hurriedly closed them. One of the sashes in the bedroom was stuck fast and she looked about the kitchen for a tool to loosen it.
When she opened a drawer of the high cupboard, Nancy came upon an a.s.sortment of papers. Thinking she might find a letter to identify the unconscious man, Nancy swiftly examined them. Suddenly her hand encountered a faded photograph between two sheets of stiff cardboard.
The picture was of a beautiful young girl. Across the bottom in a bold scrawl were the words:To my faithful friend
Joe Haley
Margaret Judson
Nancy thought of the man who lay motionless on the bed. Was he Joe Haley and was Joe Haley the Judson gardener?
"The girl in the photograph is the one I met in the powder room at Hemlock Hall!" she told herself. "I was right about her ident.i.ty."
"Nancy, aren"t you going to close that window?" Bess broke in on her friend"s reflections. "The wind is blowing directly across the bed."
After putting the photograph back in the drawer, Nancy continued her search for a tool. Finally she found a hammer and using it gently lowered the sash. At the same moment a wild cry came from behind the cabin.
"What was that?" Bess called in terror.
CHAPTER XI.
Telephone Disguise
DETERMINED to learn the cause of the weird scream, Nancy flung open the cabin door.
"Don"t leave me here alone!" Bess pleaded.
Her words fell on deaf ears. The young detective had darted out into the rain. She moved swiftly toward the rear of the cabin, certain the cry had come from there.
Nancy glanced about quickly but could see no one in the well-tended flower and vegetable garden or in the greenhouse. A few feet beyond, among the trees, she caught sight of a gleaming metallic object and hurried toward it.
As she drew closer Nancy was surprised to find that the gleam came from the heavy wire netting of a roofed wild-animal cage. Nancy"s amazement grew as she observed that in it was a young mountain lion. She wondered if it belonged to Joe Haley. The animal stopped pacing to raise its head and give a blood-chilling howl.
"So you don"t trust me?" said Nancy, grinning. "Anyway, you"ve solved the mystery of the terrible screams we"ve been hearing."
She turned and started toward the cabin. Midway across the clearing Nancy saw Bess in the doorway motioning frantically.
"Nancy! Come here quickly!" she called out.
Nancy reached her, thoroughly drenched from the rain and breathless from running.
"What is it, Bess?" she asked.
"He-he," she said, indicating the wounded man on the bed, "started mumbling. I thought it might be important."
"Could you make out any of the words?" Nancy asked.
"He murmured something about a "Miss Margaret" a moment ago," Bess replied.
As Nancy seated herself at the bedside, Mr. Haley began to toss restlessly on his pillow. It was difficult to restrain him. Then for several minutes the patient lay perfectly stilL
His eyelids fluttered open and he mumbled, "Please, Miss Margaret-don"t stay away. I can"t find it-I"ve tried, but I can"t." Mr. Haley"s words ended in an incoherent mumble.
"What do you suppose he"s been trying to find?" Bess asked.
Nancy shook her head.
Just then Bess cried out, "What was that? I thought I heard voices in the woods."
Nancy opened the cabin door, glad to find the rain had stopped. She stared in astonishment as six persons emerged from among the trees. George and Dr. Aikerman were in the lead. Directly behind them were Carson Drew and Ned Nickerson. Then came Burt Eddleton, George"s friend, and Dave Evans, who dated Bess.
"Hi!" said everyone.
Nancy immediately led Dr. Aikerman to the patient, whom he said he did not know. The physician asked her to remain while he made his examination, in case he wanted her to get something for him.
Presently Nancy asked, "Is Mr. Haley badly injured?"
"I don"t think so," he replied, without looking up. "The bullet only grazed him."
Mr. Drew had joined Nancy. Together they watched quietly as the physician dressed the man"s wound. When he was finished, Mr. Haley stirred and moaned.
"He"s coming around now," said the doctor.
"Would it be advisable to transfer him to a hospital?" asked Mr. Drew.