The plane was wobbling badly, making a forward and backward rocking motion. Nancy began to feel a little squeamish.
“We must get out of here!” Bruce said, his jaw set grimly.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Nancy asked presently.
He did not reply for several seconds. Then he said, “Yes, I want you to work on something. You take the stick and follow my directions while I try to find out what’s wrong with our flight instruments and the lights.”
“Okay.”
“Try to keep her straight and level!” he said.
Nancy did her best, but the magnetic influence from the inner cloud continued to toss the plane about like a balloon.
Two dreadful thoughts came to the young sleuth’s mind. Had the sky phantom deliberately lured them into the great cloud with the thought of causing them to crash? Or was it possible that they would remain prisoners of the magnetic mass until they died? The latter possibility made her wince, but she kept her mind on what she was doing
Nancy tried to remain at the same speed and stay straight and level. She seemed to be standing still alongside the black formation.
“Anyway, that’s better than falling out of the sky,” she thought, trying to keep up her own spirits.
Meanwhile, Bruce frantically tapped the instrument panel with his fist in an effort to unstick the indicator needles.
“Any luck?” Nancy asked.
“No,” Bruce replied.
“I’m beginning to lose control of the plane!” the girl detective warned. “You’d better take over and do it fast!”
“Try to hold on for just a bit longer,” Bruce pleaded. “I have an idea. Most of our instruments are electrically operated. The magnetic force of this cloud must be interfering with the circuitry.”
“What can we do?” Nancy asked.
“A couple of our flight-altitude instruments have an alternate source for operation,” the apparently calm instructor declared. “It works on a vacuum system rather than an electric one.”
Bruce leaned forward and located the selector switch. He quickly turned it clockwise to where the selector dial was marked “vacuum.”
Nancy watched the panel with relief as the gyro compass and artificial horizon suddenly came to life and then stabilized. A second later her instructor took over the controls.
“We’re out of the cloud!” Nancy cried gleefully. “To tell you the truth, Bruce, I was never more frightened in my life! I really thought this would be the end for both of us.”
Her teacher looked at the girl and said, “One thing you must never do in a plane when you’re in a tight spot is to panic. Instead, assume that you are master of the situation and that you’ll get out of your predicament all right.”
Nancy nodded. “I’ll try to remember that, but you have to admit this was really scary.”
“Yes,” Bruce conceded, “but during the years you’ll be flying you’ll be in many ticklish situations. You must be ready for every one as it comes along.”
As they flew toward the Excello School, Nancy wondered whether or not she had actually learned more about flying or about the attitude one should have in order to be a good pilot.
After she taxied to the main building to report on her lesson, Nancy told everyone about the magnetic black cloud inside the great white one. Everybody standing around was amazed to hear of the vapory giant and lion that had nearly devoured the pair.
One of the pilots chuckled and said, “It sounds like a fairy tale.”
“But it’s true!” Nancy said.
Others in the room began to tease Bruce and his pupil, admitting that they thought the couple were trying to spoof them.
An Indian mechanic at the field, who had been seated in a corner of the room, now got up from his chair and walked forward.
“Bruce is telling the truth,” he said. “My grandfather said that the big cloud is bewitched. Sometimes fire shoots out of it!”
All eyes turned in the Indian’s direction. The pilots agreed that perhaps there was something to the story after all!
Nancy asked him, “Was this due to a sudden lightning storm?”
The Indian said he did not know. “I think not,” he replied. “If this had been so, I believe my grandfather would have told us that. He was a student of the stars and of storms.”
As soon as Nancy and Bruce had filed their report, he drove her to the ranch. Pop Hamilton and some of the cowboys standing around listened with interest to Nancy’s story, but none of them believed it.
Chuck said, smiling, “You should have brought us a souvenir!”
The girl sleuth said, “Next time,” and went to her room. In a few minutes Bess and George came in.
When Nancy described her adventure, Bess shivered. “What an awful experience!” she said. “Didn’t you just about die?”
Nancy admitted that for a few minutes she had thought she and Bruce were finished. “It’s a horrible feeling.”
George spoke up. “You’d better not let your Dad hear about this,” she advised. “He might forbid you to take any more flying lessons with Bruce, even if he is an expert.”
Nancy did not reply, and Bess changed the subject. “Have you heard about the great party that’s planned for tonight?”
“No,” Nancy said.
“There’s to be a masquerade,” Bess went on. “They just decided on it.”
Nancy glanced at her watch. “They haven’t given us much time to think of costumes. I’m afraid my wardrobe is a bit meager to try doing something original with it.”
There was silence for a while as the girls searched for both clothes and inspiration.
At last Bess had an idea. “I’ll go as a gypsy,” she decided. With a giggle she added, “I’ll borrow the bedspread from my cot for a gown, and take two rings from the drapery pole to hang over my ears. And I’ll use my own bracelets.”
George left the room and returned in a little while with a pair of cowboy boots three times too big for her.
“This is the first part of my clown costume,” she announced. “I think Pop will lend me his big red shirt. ”I’ll let the long sleeves hang down and cover my hands completely.” The usually conservative girl said she would fix up her face with rouge and powder to complete the outfit.
The other girls laughed, and Nancy said, “You’ll look great. I’m going to wear this long white dress, or nightgown, whichever you want to call it, and borrow some white cheesecloth to wind around and around me.”
“Are you trying to be the great white cloud?” George teased.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Nancy answered. “Actually I thought I’d call myself the blithe spirit, but maybe strange cloud would be better.”
There was still an hour before suppertime, so again the three girls sat down to decode the balance of the symbols engraved into the medal.
After a little while George called out, “I have one!”
“What is it?” Nancy asked eagerly.
George replied, “We know the first word on the second line is ‘under.’ I have the next one. I think the word is ‘great.’ ”
The other girls were excited. “Now we’re getting someplace,” Nancy said.
Just then the telephone rang. She was next to it, so she picked up the instrument.
“It’s Ned!” Nancy exclaimed, “and Burt, and also Dave—Come and listen!”
The three girls crowded together as Ned said, “We have a surprise for you girls. We’ll be out very soon to visit!”
“How soon?” Nancy asked.
“Any day now,” Ned replied.
“Hi!” came Burt’s voice. “We can’t wait to see you girls.”
George said that the ranch was a great place for a good time and she would be glad to see them. “I’ll show you all around.”
“Hi, Bess!” Dave called into the phone. “How is everything?”
When Bess did not answer immediately, he asked, “Are you there, Bess? And are you all right? I’m coun
ting the hours until I see you!”
Bess mumbled into the phone, saying “Yes. Here I am. I’m fine. B-bring your r-riding clothes!” she stuttered.
Ned came back on. “Can’t talk any longer. Our three minutes are over. He hung up, and so did Nancy. She and George turned to look at Bess. Why had she stuttered on the phone?
“What’s the matter with you?” her cousin asked.
Bess was very pale. “What am I going to do about Chuck?” she murmured.
George said abruptly, “You shouldn’t have been so super nice to him. He thinks now that you’re in love with him!”
“Maybe I am!” Bess said and burst into tears.
CHAPTER XI
Masked Intruder
BESS flopped on her cot and buried her face in the pillow. She sobbed convulsively.
Nancy sat down on the edge of the cot and patted Bess’s back. “Be honest with George and me,” she said. “Are you more fond of Chuck than you are of Dave?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” Bess mumbled in reply.
George, who tended to be less gentle with Bess than Nancy was, said tartly, “Get hold of yourself! You’re old enough to make up your mind.”
Bess turned over and looked at the other two girls with sad eyes. “You simply don’t understand, George.”
“I admit that,” her cousin agreed. “You’re acting like a big cry baby.”
Bess tried to defend herself. “How would you act if Range should ask you to marry him and stay out here to live, as Chuck asked me?”
The question and disclosure were so surprising that George was taken off guard. She stopped chastising her cousin but refused to answer the question.
“I’m going outdoors,” she said abruptly and left the room.
Nancy began to stroke Bess’s hair. “Why don’t you wait,” she said, “until Dave and the others get here? Then you can compare them. Offhand, I’d say both are fine boys. Dave has eastern ways, and Chuck has a western outlook. You have to make up your mind which appeals to you more.”
Bess looked at Nancy gratefully. “You always seem to know the right way to decide everything,” she said. “You’ve helped a lot. I feel much better.”
Nancy stood up and smiled. “I hope your remark about my decisions will apply to this mystery we’re trying to solve. We’ve had so many false leads it seems to me we’re not making much headway.”
“But you’ll do it,” Bess said reassuringly. “I wish I had your will power.”
Nancy was embarrassed and said she was going outside too for a little while.
“I’m so sorry you have this problem, Bess. Probably you should be alone to think. Why don’t you take a shower and a shampoo? I’m sure it’ll make you feel better,” Nancy suggested. “When George and I come back, we’ll all go to dinner.”
As Nancy reached the ranch-house lobby, she was hailed by the desk clerk. “If you and your friends don’t have your masks for tonight, you’re to go to Pop’s office and get them as soon as possible.” he said. “The pretty ones are being chosen fast.”
Nancy thanked him and went to the rancher’s private office. Several guests were there, trying on various types of masks. Most of them covered just the eyes and nose, but there were a few that hid the whole face.
Nancy chose a half mask, thinking it would go well with her filmy white costume. Then she picked out a dark tan mask, which she felt would be appropriate for Bess’s gypsy outfit. Perhaps she would tell fortunes.
“George has already been here,” Pop said, “and chosen hers.”
When Nancy returned to the room a little while later, Bess was asleep. George had not returned but she came in soon. She had picked up a red mask to go with her clown costume. She put it on.
Bess awoke with a start. “Oh!” she exclaimed.
“Feeling better?” George asked.
Her cousin looked around the room wildly. “Oh, I had the most horrible dream!” she said. “Dave and Chuck were having a duel!”
George laughed. “They probably will do just that after Dave gets here.”
“Don’t say that!” Bess cried out. “In my dream they killed each other!”
“Hypers! You sure are letting your imagination run away with you,” George commented. “You’d better get up and dress for dinner. Remember, tonight is the masquerade.”
Nancy had made no comment about Bess’s dream, but she was a little concerned about how Dave would view the situation when he arrived. She fervently hoped there would be no real trouble between the two boys, who did not yet know they were rivals.
The three girls put on dresses and were soon joining the other guests who were walking to the dining room. Streamers festooned the ceiling, and pictures of Hamilton Ranch ponies, past and present, hung on the walls. To each one had been attached a bow and long, hanging ribbons in various colors.
The girls walked around quickly to look at them, wondering if Speed Boy’s photograph might be there, and if so, what color ribbon would be on it. They could not find it.
“I thought for sure Speed Boy would be here,” Nancy said.
A waitress, overhearing her remark, said, “Pop took the picture away. He told us it would have to have a black ribbon, and he thought no note of sadness should be displayed at the party tonight.”
“Thank you,” Nancy said.
She and her friends went to their table and found party menus awaiting them. The whole dinner was a gala one, and an excellent preparation for the dance, which would commence in about two hours.
“It ought to be fun,” George declared.
After dinner, the girls went to their room to change into the costumes they planned to wear. When they arrived at the dining-room door, the trio found that all the tables had been removed. Chairs lined the walls and an open double door at one side of the room led to a garden beyond. A band was playing a lively march.
“The parade is about to start,” Pop warned, and the girls hurried to get in line. There was loud applause as they passed various groups of watchers. After everyone had walked all the way around the room, the march ended and the dance music started. Chuck had recognized Bess and immediately claimed her as a partner. Range was on hand to ask George.
She looked at him in surprise. “How did you manage to spot me so quickly?” she asked.
He grinned as they danced off. “Who else but you would think of being a lady clown? You look great! ”
At the same moment Nancy was claimed by a stranger wearing a sailor’s work clothes and a full face mask.
“You sure look mighty purty tonight,” he said.
Nancy thought his voice sounded familiar, but she could not identify it.
“Do I know you?” Nancy inquired.
“I don’t guess you do, but let’s dance.”
Nancy was puzzled. It always bothered her when she could not recognize a voice at once.
The stranger swept her around the room in long strides, but stopped abruptly at the door that led to the garden.
“It’s too bloomin’ hot in here,” he said. “Come on outside.”
Nancy did not trust the man. She suddenly recalled the time she had been kidnapped from a masquerade party at her friend Ned Nickerson’s fraternity house.
“I’d rather not,” she said.
“Aw, come on!” the man said.
He began yanking her by the hand. When he could not budge Nancy, the stranger put an arm around her shoulders and pushed her toward the doorway.
This was enough for Nancy. With a quick jerk, she removed his mask!
“Ben Rall!” she cried out. “You don’t work here any more. You weren’t invited to this party.”
“Never mind that, you little tartar. You’re going to come with me!”
“I am not!” Nancy shouted at the top of her voice. “Let me alone!”
Other dancers, hearing the argument, rushed to the girl’s side. The men hustled the unwanted, obnoxious Ben outdoors and Nancy heard one of them say, “Get away from
here and stay away! You understand? You don’t belong here!”
The men’s partners gathered around Nancy. One of them said, “I’m glad you got rid of that pest!”
At this moment another man came up. Though he wore a half mask, Nancy immediately recognized the man dressed in a soldier’s uniform.
“Bruce!” she cried out. “Am I glad to see you!”
He led her onto the dance floor and said, “I guess I got here just in the nick of time, and I suppose you’re surprised to see me. Pop Hamilton invited several of the instructors at Excello to come to the party.”
Nancy said she was happy to hear this. When the music stopped, Bruce remarked, “It’s warm in here. Would you mind walking outside with me?”
“Of course not,” Nancy replied.
Bruce said, “I’d like to talk to you about tomorrow morning’s flying lesson. Also, I wanted to tell you that the school telephoned Roger Paine’s home again. His parents still have not heard from him, and I think they’re getting the FBI to make a search. So you may have company in your sleuthing.”
Nancy said she thought the Paines were certainly doing the right thing. “As you know, I suspected foul play from the start,” she added.
Bruce asked if she had had any new hunches. “Most of yours turn out to be correct guesses.”
Nancy thanked him for the compliment, then said she would never forget the amazing experience of flying inside the big cloud, with the fantastic magnetic black formation.
“That giant was like a sky phantom,” she said. “He could change shape whenever anything disturbed him.”
Suddenly she realized that Bruce was not listening attentively. She looked sideways at him.
He apologized. “I was just thinking about something I’d like to do tomorrow in our lesson,” he said. “We’ll try a new spot, where the winds and terrain are different from any place where we have been.”
“That sounds interesting,” said Nancy. “I’ll be on time.”
Bruce looked at her intently. “I have a surprise for you, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Yes, the secret will have to wait until tomorrow.”
CHAPTER XII
Breaking the Code