As Nancy Drew recognized Stumpy Dowd in the racing car directly ahead, she remembered her promise to her father and pulled to the side of the road. Carson Drew flashed by in the brown sedan. He, too, had recognized Stumpy.

Keeping close behind her father’s automobile, Nancy kept her eyes on the red tail light. Stumpy, becoming aware that he was being followed, made a sudden burst of speed, and the distance between the cars was increasing.

“Oh, he’s getting away,” Laura cried anxiously.

“He’ll not escape!” Nancy returned grimly. “Dad is speeding up, too!”

She, too, increased the speed of her roadster to keep in the race. And what a race it was! With utter disregard for safety, Stumpy’s car lunged over the rough roads, closely followed by Carson Drew’s sturdy sedan. To Nancy and Laura, who maintained the reckless pace, it seemed a miracle that the three automobiles remained between the fence posts.

“We’re gaining again,” Nancy observed a minute later.

Just then a shot rang out.

Carson Drew had fired as a warning for Stumpy to halt. Instead of stopping, he answered in kind.

There came a vivid flash of fire from his car, and an instant report. Stumpy had not shot into the air. A bullet whizzed dangerously close to the windshield of the brown sedan.

“Keep back, Nancy!” Carson Drew shouted.

The warning was lost in the roar of the wind. On and on the three cars raced. Stumpy gained ground, and then lost it again. Carson Drew approached nearer and nearer. He would soon be within gun range, and this time he intended to shoot at the automobile tires and force Stumpy to halt.

Nancy sensed that the end was drawing near, for it was apparent that the racing car had reached its maximum speed. Stumpy was making his last stand, and knew it. He looked back over his shoulder frequently now. Nancy had never seen such reckless driving. Where would the mad race end?

Suddenly, a look of horror came into Nancy’s eyes. Straight ahead she saw a huge black and white checkerboard sign at the side of the road. Its significance sent a cold chill over her body. There was a sharp curve to be made! At the rate the three automobiles were traveling they could never stay on the road!

Instantly, Nancy cut her throttle and slammed on the brakes. But to her terror, she saw that her father and Stumpy Dowd were racing on. In their eagerness, they had failed to see the warning sign.

Speeding up again for an instant, Nancy leaned her head out the window and tried to attract her father’s attention.

“Stop!” she screamed frantically. “A curve!”

Whether her father heard her or had seen the danger himself she did not know, but he slammed on his brakes. The sedan skidded sideways, and for a moment Nancy held her breath, fearful lest it turn turtle into the ditch. By skillful manipulation of the steering wheel, Carson Drew recovered control.

The moment she had warned her father, Nancy tried to bring her own roadster to a stop, but she had gained so much momentum that she dared not slam on her brakes suddenly. Shutting off her gasoline and easing on the foot brake gradually, she saw the curve ahead and estimated that she would be able to make it without overturning. Laura, her face pale and drawn, gripped the seat fearfully, but no cry escaped her.

It was Nancy who gave a frightened exclamation.

In the racing car ahead, Stumpy Dowd was oblivious of approaching danger. He looked back over his shoulder and waved tauntingly as he saw the distance between Nancy’s car and his own rapidly increase.

“Look! Look! The curve!” Nancy shouted.

She had shouted the warning involuntarily, for a moment’s reflection would have told her that Stumpy could not hear. Too late the man saw the danger.

He slammed on his emergency brake, but already the sharp curve was at hand.

The racing car turned turtle at the edge of the road, wavered an instant, then plunged over the side of a steep cliff!

“Oh!” Laura screamed. “He’ll be killed!”

As Nancy rounded the curve in safety and brought the roadster to a quivering halt, she avoided for the moment looking down into the valley.

But for only an instant did she hesitate to view the wreck of the racing car. Springing from her roadster, she rushed to the edge of the road and courageously looked down over the cliff. Laura came running after her, and Carson Drew, who had just brought his sedan alongside of the roadster, was close behind.

In horror, the three gazed down into the valley. The car had rolled nearly to the bottom of the little valley, and had overturned against a boulder. A wheel had been torn loose from its axle and the body had been mashed in. There was no sign of Stumpy Dowd, but it was inconceivable that he could still be alive.

A silence held the trio as they gazed down upon the wreck and realized that their own fate might have been similar. At last Carson Drew found his voice.

“I guess it’s all over with Stumpy now.”

“Oh, he may be alive!” Nancy cried hopefully. “We must get him out of the wreckage!”

“You girls stay back,” Mr. Drew said quietly, for he did not wish to expose them to a horrible sight. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“No, father, you’ll need me to help if he’s still alive. I’ll go too,” Nancy insisted.

Following her father, she lowered herself over the cliff and grasped the branch of a tiny tree to keep from falling. Laura hesitated a moment, and then, summoning all of her courage, scrambled after her friend.

The three rescuers half slid, half stumbled down the slope. There was no sound from the vicinity of the wreck.

“Stay back until I’ve had a look,” Carson Drew warned the girls again.

Nancy intended to obey, for she had no desire to be the first to investigate the wreckage. But as she scrambled down the side of the cliff she saw a red flame flash up from the front end of the car.

She knew what that meant. The automobile had caught fire. With the gasoline tank in close proximity, there would soon be an explosion!

“Hurry! Hurry!” she urged her father.

Carson Drew had seen the flames, and he, too, realized the need for haste. Unless they worked quickly it would be impossible to get Stumpy’s body from the wreck.

Sliding and falling down the slope, Nancy caught up with her father and together they rushed toward the automobile. Flames were leaping up from the front end. At any moment there might be an explosion.

The car was half overturned and rested against a large boulder. Stumpy was pinned beneath the wreckage. With frantic haste, Nancy Drew and her father reached under the automobile and dragged the man out. He lay limp in their arms and it was with difficulty that they carried him away from the burning car.

“We got him out just in time,” Mr. Drew gasped as he carefully placed Stumpy on the ground.

Nancy looked back at the burning car and gave a little scream.

“The money! Laura’s fortune!”

Before Carson Drew could restrain her, she ran back toward the wreck.

“Come back!” her father shouted.

Nancy did not pause. Throwing caution to the wind, she reached the wreck and groped about frantically. Her hand struck a suitcase and she dragged it out.

The heat was now almost unbearable, but Nancy would not be defeated. She knew there was another suitcase, and she was determined to save it.

Diving under the car for a second time, she found the bag and triumphantly brought it out, only to be jerked from the scene by her father.

“Nancy! Nancy!” he cried. “Are you mad! Those suitcases aren’t worth your life!”

There was a sudden explosion. Instantly the combustible parts of the car ignited and the dry grass in the immediate vicinity began to burn.

As Nancy Drew realized what a narrow escape she had had, she trembled slightly.

“Oh, Nancy!” Laura clung weakly to her. “If anything had happened to you⁠—”

“Well, I wanted to get those suitcases,” she defended her action.

“What if they had burned?” Carson Drew demanded.

“Then Laura would have been without her fortune. All her money is in those two suitcases, unless I miss my guess.”

“My money?” Laura gasped. “Then I do have a fortune?”

“You certainly have,” Nancy assured her.

“And you risked your life to save it for me? Oh, how can I ever repay you?”

“Don’t think about that now,” Nancy said quickly. “I have a long story to tell you, but it must wait. Our first duty is to look after Stumpy.”

Carson Drew had already turned his attention to the inert form which lay on the ground. A deep gash had been cut in Stumpy’s forehead, and his right arm had been badly broken. His face was deathly white, and he did not appear to be breathing.