#1 The Secret of the Old Clock

10/7/2016 The Secret of the Old Clock
A Tense Chase
CHAPTER XIV
"WHICH way is Melborne?" Nancy asked the caretaker when they reached the highway.
"Down there." He pointed.
"That's the direction the thieves took," Nancy told him, noting the dust and tire marks which revealed the van's
exit onto the highway. "But," she added, glancing at the dashboard clock, "they're probably too far away by this
time for us to catch them."
"Yes, ding it," Jeff muttered.
Nancy drove as rapidly as the law permitted toward Melborne. All the while, Jeff Tucker peered from one side
of the road to the other.
"Those rascal thieves might just have nerve enough to stop an' count their loot," he said to Nancy. "So I'm
keepin' a sharp eye peeled."
Nancy smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation. "Maybe," she replied. "Though I doubt that those men
would be so reckless."
"Oh, I don't mean out in plain sight. They might have pulled off the road, back o' some o' these closed­up
summer places."
"We'll watch for their tire marks on any dirt side road," the young sleuth said.
Jeff became so absorbed in looking for the van's tire marks that he never asked Nancy why she had come to see
him at the Topham house.
"Those fake movers," he said, as they neared the outskirts of Melborne. "I wonder how far they went."
Nancy did not reply until they came to a crossroad, then she pointed. "They turned north here on this dirt road.
How much farther is it to Melborne?"
"Only a mile."
As they came into the little town, Nancy asked her companion, "Which way to State Police headquarters?"
"Go right down Central Avenue to Maple Street. Turn left, and there it is."
Reaching headquarters, Nancy parked the car and hopped out. Jeff Tucker followed as she walked briskly into
the office.
"I want to report a robbery," she told the desk sergeant after identifying herself.
For a moment the officer, taken aback, looked in astonishment at Nancy. "You've been robbed?" he asked. "In
our town?"
"No, no!" Nancy cried out. She then gave a quick but complete resume of what had taken place at the
Tophams' cottage. Jeff Tucker added his account.
The police officer needed no further urging. Immediately he summoned four men and issued orders. "Now," he
said, turning to Nancy, "have you any idea which road the thieves took?"
"Yes, Officer. When we passed the road crossing a mile outside of town, I saw their truck tracks on the dirt
road leading north. I'll be glad to show you."
"Good. Lead the way. But first I'll send out a general alarm."
"Hurry!" Nancy begged as she started out. "Those thieves have at least an hour's head start!"
Jeff Tucker had been advised to return to his home. Accordingly he telephoned his son to come and pick him
up in his car.
"Good luck!" he called, as the others pulled away. "I sure don't know how I'm goin' to break this to the
Tophams."
Nancy was sorry for him, but she felt a thrill of excitement as she proceeded up the street, the police car
following close behind.
Beyond the town, Nancy chose the road which she felt certain the thieves had used. The two cars sped along
until Nancy unexpectedly came to a fork. Both branches were paved and no tire marks were visible. Nancy
stopped. The police car pulled up alongside.
"What's the matter?" asked the officer in charge, whose name was Elton.
"I'm not sure which way to go now."
The policemen sprang from their automobile and began to examine the road. Officer Elton said that if a
moving van had passed that way, its tire marks had been obliterated by other vehicles. It was impossible to tell
which route the thieves had traveled.
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