Nancy Drew could scarcely believe her ears when she heard an answering shout from the automobile which had halted near her roadster. She recognized the voice of her father.

With a cry of joy, she sprang from the car and ran across the road toward the sedan.

“Father!” she cried.

“Nancy!”

As Carson Drew recognized his daughter, he hastily climbed out of the sedan and welcomed her into his arms.

“What a relief to find you safe and sound!” he exclaimed. “When Laura told me why you had gone to Melrose Lake, I was afraid for you. What has happened?”

“Oh, everything! I guess I’m lucky to be alive! But there’s no time to tell you now. We must capture Stumpy Dowd first. He’s escaping with Laura’s fortune. Tell me, did you meet a racing car between here and River Heights?”

“Not that I recall.”

“We met only two automobiles,” Laura added, “and both were family cars.”

“Then Stumpy didn’t head for River Heights after all.”

“He’s probably striking for the state line,” Carson Drew declared.

“The police will look for him on the River Heights road. Stumpy will escape unless we can pick up his trail ourselves. I was almost positive he took this road.”

“Perhaps he turned off before he had gone very far,” Carson Drew suggested. “We passed a branch road down here about five miles. He may have taken that.”

“Where does it lead?”

“To Hamilton, and from there across the state line.”

“Then he probably took that road. Oh, if we can catch him! He has such a head start!”

“Come on! We can do it!” Carson Drew cried. He turned quickly to Laura.

“Get in the roadster with Nancy,” he ordered. “If it comes to a battle, you girls can drop back and be out of range of the bullets.”

With alacrity, Laura obeyed. Nancy sprang in beside her. The motor of the roadster was already running, and she had only to shift gears to be off. She must pull out of the way before her father could turn his sedan in the road.

“I’ll go on ahead,” she shouted.

“All right. But if you see Stumpy’s car, slow down and let me take the lead.”

Shifting gears, Nancy was off at top speed. A few minutes later, Laura looked back and reported that Carson Drew was rapidly making up the distance he had lost.

Her eyes focused upon the road, Nancy Drew clung grimly to the wheel. The little figured ribbon in the speedometer crept higher and higher until the car wavered in the road. Reducing the speed slightly, she held her foot steady on the gasoline pedal.

A sharp curve would have been Nancy’s undoing, but she was fairly familiar with the road and knew that for several miles she had a straight stretch before her.

“If only there isn’t another wretched detour to be made!” the girl exclaimed.

But there was no detour and for that straight stretch Nancy did some of her fastest traveling, a rate of speed that often made Laura gasp in alarm.

“Oh, dear! don’t jump the fence or climb a tree,” gasped the girl.

“I won’t,” answered Nancy. “But hold tight.”

Yet, even at the rapid rate she was traveling, she doubted that it would be possible to overtake Stumpy Dowd. She figured that he must have from fifteen to thirty minutes start, and his automobile was equipped with a special racing motor. Nancy’s roadster was high-powered, but it was not reasonable to suppose that she could overtake the man unless luck favored her.

Removing her eyes from the road for one brief instant, Nancy glanced anxiously at the gasoline gauge on the dash. To her relief, the tank registered nearly three-quarters full. There was no need to worry on that score.

“Look!” Laura cried sharply.

Nancy’s eyes came back to the road. Straight ahead she saw a small red light.

“It must be the tail light of an auto,” Laura declared uneasily. “Can it be Stumpy?”

Nancy did not reply at once, for she was too intent upon watching. Although she promptly reduced the speed of her engine, she noticed that the light was gradually becoming larger. At first she thought she must be gaining on a car ahead. Then she decided that the light was not moving.

“I don’t believe it can be Stumpy,” she told Laura, “but we’ll take no chances.”

As the roadster slowed down, Carson Drew came closer in his sedan. Nancy was about to permit him to pass when she looked again at the red light. She was now close enough to see that it was a lantern. Speeding up, she came to an obstruction across the road and was forced to halt. Carson Drew pulled up alongside.

“We can take the road to the right,” he shouted. “It leads to Hamilton. Stumpy must have taken it.”

Nancy was staring at a sign which read:

Road under construction.

Travel at your own risk.

“How about this road straight ahead?” she demanded of her father.

“It’s a shortcut to Hamilton.”

“Then why not take it?”

“It’s closed for construction work.”

“But it’s not impassable, is it?”

“Probably not. But at night⁠—”

“It’s our only chance, father. We’re so far behind Stumpy we’ll never catch him unless we risk this shortcut.”

“You’re right,” Carson Drew said, with quick decision.

“We’ll try it, but we must drive carefully.”

Springing from the sedan, he moved the barrier from the road and Nancy drove through. At first the highway seemed no different from the one she had been following, but before she had gone a mile, she saw the danger signs which were in the form of steam shovels, wagons, and machinery parked along the roadside.

“Be careful!” Laura warned her.

Soon the little roadster was wallowing in soft dirt, and each instant Nancy half expected the wheels to sink to the hubs. The engine pulled hard but did not stall. Nancy handled the wheel dexterously, weaving her way around objects in the road. Laura, who clung to the side of the car for dear life, was bounced roughly about.

At last, as the worst of it seemed to be over, Nancy relaxed slightly.

“Is father still coming?” she asked.

Laura looked back.

“Yes, he’s right behind.”

“Then I guess we’re through safely. I can see a straight stretch ahead.”

Again she stepped on the accelerator and the roadster responded with a burst of speed. In a few minutes she reached the end of the road. Laura hastily climbed out, and pulled away the barrier, permitting the two automobiles to enter the main road.

“We’ve cut off ten miles!” Nancy cried joyfully as Laura stepped back into the roadster. “If we’re ever going to overtake Stumpy it ought to be in the next few minutes!”

As the little blue car plunged forward over the rough highway, the two girls kept gazing alertly into the darkness beyond the glare of the headlights, hoping to see the red tail light of Stumpy’s automobile. As the minutes passed and still nothing appeared ahead, Nancy Drew began to grow alarmed.

After all, was it possible that she had made a mistake? Perhaps Stumpy had taken another road and even now was across the state line speeding toward the northern border. Laura expressed the fear.

“I’m afraid we’re too late, Nancy.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Laura!” Nancy’s voice was electric.

“What do you see?” Laure demanded eagerly, as she saw her friend bending low over the wheel.

“A light! I think we’re approaching a car!”

“I can’t see anything.”

“Just a minute. I think it went down behind that hill just ahead.”

There was a long moment of suspense, and then Laura gave a little excited cry.

“Oh, now I see it!”

“And we’re gaining,” Nancy announced grimly. “I hope it’s Stumpy!”

“Your father must have seen the light too,” Laura informed Nancy, looking back. “He’s coming closer. Hadn’t we better let him go ahead?”

“Yes, I’ll drop back in just a minute. But first I want to see if it is Stumpy.”

Nancy could not increase the speed of the roadster, for already she was going as rapidly as she dared. She was elated to observe that little by little she was creeping up on the car ahead.

Soon the headlights of her roadster played upon the back of the vehicle, and she observed that it was indeed a racing car. Even as she made the observation, the driver looked back. For an instant, his face was clearly illuminated. It was Stumpy Dowd!