Look out, George!” Bess cried out

Nancy backed away quickly, but through the moss-draped oaks she could see a powerful-looking man running toward them, snapping a long whip.

The cracking of it finally had an effect on the animals. All of them slunk back except the leopard. He had almost reached the top of the fence and might spring over at any second!

“Get down! ” the man thundered at him.

He wore a khaki suit and helmet like those used on African safaris. Now he swung the whip against the fence. It made a ringing sound and vibrated the wire mesh.

The leopard looked at his keeper balefully, then slowly climbed down. The man kept cracking the whip in the air and against the ground until all the animals loped off among the trees.

Their master turned his attention to the girls. He asked angrily, “What are you doing here? ”

“Just looking, ” Nancy replied.

The man stared hard at each one of them before speaking again. “I guess I don’t have to tell you this is a dangerous place. Stay away! ”

From a little distance Bess called back, “You bet we will.”

George said nothing, but Nancy asked, “Why do you have such dangerous animals here? ”

“I train them and sell them to a circus.”

The young detective was surprised to hear this. She knew that few circuses own the animals which are shown. They belong to the trainers who perform with them.

“What circus do you sell them to? ” she queried.

Once more the big man stared at the girl until his eyes were only slits. Finally he opened them wide and said, “Tripp Brothers.”

“Thank you, ” said Nancy. “How do we get to the main road from here? Follow this fence? ”

The trainer replied shortly, “Go back the way you came.”

Nancy would have preferred walking alongside the enclosure all the way to the street, but the man stood watching.

After they had traversed the full distance to where the fence turned, Nancy looked over her shoulder. The trainer was gone. She said eagerly, “Let’s turn around and follow this side to find out what we can.”

“Oh please don’t! ” Bess begged. “Those animals may come after us again and the leopard jump over the fence! ”

“I’m willing to take the chance. George, are you? ” Nancy asked.

“Sure thing.”

Nancy took the key to the Webster house from her pocket. “Bess, ” she said, “if you don’t want to come with us, why don’t you go on and wait in the house? ”

Bess could see that there was no talking Nancy and George out of learning more about the jungle-like property. With a great sigh she said, “Oh, all right. I’ll tag along. But if anything happens, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The girls began their trek up the peninsula through the woods, following the fence. A distance ahead it suddenly turned to the left.

“The fence ends at a house! ” Nancy whispered.

She and the others approached carefully and stared at the building. It was a very old mansion but large and well preserved. The walls were covered almost entirely with clinging vines and green moss. Great oak trees with long streamers of Spanish moss surrounded it, giving a weird and forbidding effect.

“A real spook house! ” Bess said in a low voice. “Well, Nancy, have you seen enough? Let’s go! ”

Nancy inched closer to the wire fence and peered through. She could see several large cages attached to the rear of the house. The animals that had tried to attack the girls were now in them and sleeping. At the moment the breeze was blowing toward the girls, and the animals could not pick up their scent.

Bess tugged at Nancy’s arm. “Let’s not tempt fate, ” she begged. “Please come on.”

Nancy could feel Bess trembling and nodded in agreement.

Nancy wondered how far it was to the street. There seemed to be no road leading out, but she concluded there must be some way for cars and people to get in and out of the grounds.

Presently she spotted a truck off to one side. There was no name on it but she jotted down the license number.

“Here’s what I’ve been looking for, ” she whispered, and pointed to a narrow road which zigzagged among the moss-covered trees.

As the girls walked along it silently, they listened for sounds of anyone approaching and watched the ground to avoid any holes. George, however, sank down in a soft spot. Her feet were sucked in so quickly she could not pull them out.

After trying for several moments she called out, “Girls, come and help me! I’m stuck! ”

It took the combined efforts of Nancy and Bess to pull George out of the oozy mass. She looked down at her shoes which had changed from white to brown.

“I’m sure a mess! ” she said. “The sooner I can get into a tub the better I’ll like it.” She thanked her rescuers who could not help laughing at George’s appearance. Mud was splattered over her clothes, hair, and face.

A few feet farther on, the ground was harder and the girls quickened their pace. As they zigzagged along the curving road, the three grew careless about being watchful.

Nancy suddenly pulled back and bumped against George. The others looked to see what had startled her. A snake had begun to unwind itself from a tree branch and was trying to reach Nancy with its forked tongue!

She recovered her wits quickly and said, “He won’t harm us if we don’t bother him.”

“I hope you’re right, ” said Bess, and took a circuitous route to avoid the reptile.

In a few moments the girls came to a small orange grove. As they hurried through it, Bess picked one of the luscious-looking fruit and put it into her pocket.

“In case I get hungry, ” she explained to the others.

A few minutes later the girls reached another bit of jungle-like area. If it had not been for the roadway, they would have found it hard going through stout reeds and brier bushes. At last the street came into sight.

Nancy, in the lead, suddenly called back in a whisper, “Hide! ”