It’s one of Mrs. Strikers’ stolen dolls!” Nancy exclaimed.

Amid a display of fine old porcelain figurines stood the dainty little lady on a velvet box, holding her fan and bouquet. Nancy hurried into the shop. A pleasant elderly woman came forward. At Nancy’s request she took the doll from the window.

“Normally I handle only porcelain figurines, ” she explained, “but when this doll was offered to me, I couldn’t resist her.”

“Would you mind telling me whom you bought it from? ” Nancy asked. “The doll is really a collector’s piece, isn’t it? ”

“Indeed it is. The woman who sold it said she had bought it in Paris. She’s disposing of her collection.”

“Did the woman have olive skin and carrot-colored hair? ” Nancy asked.

“Yes, she did, ” the shopowner replied.

“Then I’m afraid you were sold a stolen doll by a gypsy named Nitaka, ” Nancy said, sorry to have to reveal such unpleasant news. “When did you buy it? ”

“Only yesterday.”

Nancy turned to Bess and George. “That might mean Anton and Nitaka are somewhere near here, as well as Romano! ” she exclaimed.

The shopkeeper was confused by the girl’s reference to persons she did not know. “It never occurred to me that the doll was stolen, ” she said nervously.

Nancy looked about for a phone. “I think we’d better call the owner of the doll, ” she said.

“I hope she won’t blame me for buying it, ” the shopkeeper said nervously.

“I’m sure she won’t, ” Nancy assured her. “Mrs. Struthers is very kind. I’ll explain everything to her.”

Bess spoke up. “You’ll probably be hours on the phone, Nancy. Suppose George and I get sandwiches and bring them back to the car.”

“All right, ” Nancy said, and picked up the phone. She placed her call, and presently heard Mrs. Struthers’ voice. Instantly she knew from the woman’s tone that something had gone wrong.

Before she could mention having found the stolen doll, Mrs. Struthers cried, “Oh, Nancy, the most dreadful thing has happened! I’ve been trying to get hold of you. Rose has disappeared! We’re afraid she may have been kidnapped.”

“How terrible! ” Nancy exclaimed. “When did this happen? ”

“Just this morning. Oh, what’ll I do? What’ll I do? ”

“Maybe Rose went to visit one of her playmates, ” Nancy suggested, trying to soothe the woman.

“No, we’ve looked everywhere.”

“Did you call the police? ”

“Yes. Everyone is searching for her, but no one’s seen her since she went out to play in the yard this morning. Oh, I’m desperate. If anything should happen to that child...”

“Mrs. Struthers, it’s just possible Rose ran away of her own accord, ” Nancy suggested quickly.

“Why would she do that? ”

“Rose has talked a good bit lately about going into television and movies, ” Nancy said. “She may have taken a train to New York to try for an audition.”

“Nancy, you may be right. Her violin is gone too.”

Actually Nancy did not think this was what had happened. Rather, she felt that Mrs. Struthers’ first guess was correct—that Rose had been kidnapped.

After promising Mrs. Struthers she would do everything possible to find her granddaughter, Nancy was in a quandary. Should she go back to River Heights or keep on trying to locate Romano? It was just possible, she decided, that there was a connection between the two disappearances!

Nancy arranged with the owner of the shop to keep the doll until plans could be made for Mrs. Struthers to claim it. Then Nancy hurried back to the Acme Taxi Company.

As she arrived a dusty cab turned into the garage. The girl wondered if this could be the one Thomas Smith had hired. Impulsively she stopped the driver to inquire if he were Gus Frankey. When he said he was, Nancy asked if he had picked up a violinist by the name of Thomas Smith at the studio the night before.

“I sure did, ” the man answered. “Worse luck for me! ”

“What do you mean? ”

“I’d rather not say.”

“It’s important that I find Mr. Smith, ” Nancy said urgently. “Where is he? ”

“You’d need a map to find the place.”

Nancy wondered why the man was so evasive. It was maddening when time was short. Rose had disappeared, and Romano might be within reach!

“Listen, ” said Nancy, “this may be a life-and-death matter. If you don’t think I can find the place where you taxied Mr. Smith, you’ll have to take me there yourself! ”

“Hold on, miss. I can’t go back there now. I’ve been out all night.”

“You wouldn’t want to be responsible for harm coming to an innocent person—”

The man’s eyes opened wide. “ ’Course not. Just the same, I won’t go unless the company manager gives his okay. I’ve got reasons.”

Nancy called the manager from his office.

“This girl, ” said the driver, “wants me to make another long trip. I’ve been out all night and had a tough time.”

“It’s vital that I find the passenger this man carried last night, ” Nancy interposed, excited.

“I’ll pay well for the trip. But please hurry.”

“Take her, Gus, ” the manager ordered. “You can have time off later.”

As Gus went unwillingly to fill the gas tank of the cab and phone his wife, Nancy glanced anxiously down the street for Bess and George. They were not in sight. She told Gus she would be right back, then jumped into her own car and quickly rode around several blocks in the town. She could not find the cousins.

“I can’t wait for them much longer, ” Nancy decided. “Gus may change his mind.”

When Nancy reached the garage, she found the girls still had not returned. The taxi driver was fuming.

“If you don’t go now, ” he said, “I’m going home to bed, boss or no boss.”

“All right.”

Quickly she wrote her friends a note of explanation and left it on the front seat of her car. Then, having asked the manager to keep his eye on the automobile until the girls came, she hopped into Gus’s taxi and they rode away.

“How far are we going? ” she asked, as they turned into the country. “And where? ”

“To that gypsy camp on the mountain south of Aiken, ” he replied. “And, believe me, if the boss hadn’t ordered me to do this, you wouldn’t get me near that place with a ten-foot pole! I had the scare of my life there! ”