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An Unexpected Face






 

If Nancy and her chums expected to meet a defiant, overbearing Baylor Weston they were mistaken. He was a short, wiry man whose every movement disclosed that he was intensely nervous. He did not look in the least well.

Baylor Weston recognized Nancy, and it was not necessary for her to state her mission. Evidently her visit had been anticipated.

He motioned the girls to be seated, and still without speaking the manufacturer reached for the yellow bill which Nancy held in her hand. He glanced at it and a look of relief came over his face.

" Well, that's not half bad, " he remarked, relaxing from the tense attitude. " I fully expected to be held up for much more."

" It's an honest bill, " Nancy said rather primly. " We didn't charge you a cent more than it cost us to have the car fixed up."

" Oh, I'm not questioning—I'm not doubting your word, " Mr. Weston assured her hastily. " I'm decidedly pleased that the bill is so small. The last time I crashed into a car it cost me two hundred dollars, to say nothing of the threatened lawsuit."

" The last time? " Nancy echoed with a smile.

''I'm very nervous—excitable, " the manufacturer explained. " Doctor says I shouldn't drive a car."

He reached for his check-book, and with a flourish and speed which astonished the girls wrote out a check and handed it to Nancy.

" That covers everything? "

" Yes, " Nancy returned, " and thank you. I hope you'll have no more accidents."

" So do I, " Baylor Weston returned with a grimace, " but very likely I shall, unless I get a chauffeur. H-m, that's an idea! I'll make a note of it! "

He reached for a pad, and to the amusement of the girls scribbled down the memorandum. They arose to depart, and the manufacturer accompanied them to the door.

" By the way, " he remarked to Nancy, " did you hear how much Raybolt lost in the fire? "

" I don't believe the loss has been estimated. Mrs. Raybolt visited the ruins today. She was quite overcome.''

" The Raybolts always did hate to lose a penny, " the manufacturer grunted.

" It wasn't that, " Nancy told him. " Mrs. Raybolt declares that her husband was in the house at the time of the fire. She believes he was burned to death."

Baylor Weston shook his head doubtfully.

" Can't make me believe that Felix Raybolt was caught in that fire. He's too foxy for that! If he's disappeared you may wager it was for a purpose."

" Mrs. Raybolt's grief seemed to me to be genuine, " Nancy commented.

''No doubt. Raybolt wasn't the fellow to confide in his wife about anything. He kept his own council."

" You knew him well? "

" Not I. We broke off business relations years ago. Raybolt was too tricky—mean and unfair in all his dealings. He made most of his money by cheating honest workmen. He’d steal ideas without a qualm."

" So I've heard, " Nancy returned dryly.

She was thinking of Joe Swenson. Unquestionably, he was one of a number who had been cheated.

The girls said goodbye to the manufacturer and left the factory.

" Well, collecting that bill was easier than I anticipated, " Nancy said in relief when they were in the roadster. " We learned more about Felix Raybolt, too, so the trip served a double purpose."

" Everything we learn makes it look blacker for Joe Swenson, '' George commented gloomily.

" Even if Felix Raybolt were an old scoundrel it makes the crime none the less wicked.''

" You're assuming that Joe Swenson is guilty, " Nancy stated.

" You don't mean to say you think he isn't? " Bc3s demanded in astonishment.

" I don't know what to think."

" Mrs. Swenson told you that Felix Raybolt cheated her husband. It's easy to reconstruct the scene. Joe Swenson made an appointment with Raybolt at his home, hoping to induce him to pay the money which rightfully was his. Raybolt refused and that started the fight. Perhaps Raybolt was knocked unconscious. At any rate, Swenson was frightened and ran off. Whether he set the house afire deliberately or accidently, I shouldn't venture to say."

" You're a regular detective! " George cried admiringly. " When did you figure all that out? "

" Well, I've been thinking about it off and on, " Bess admitted modestly. " Isn't my idea logical, Nancy? "

" Yes, " Nancy admitted with a smile, " but it strikes me that that is the chief defect. As you reconstruct the scene, it's too logical."

" I don't see what you mean, " Bess declared, crestfallen. " In trying to solve a case you want the clues to fit in, don't you! "

" Of course. Don't look offended, Bess. You may be perfectly right in everything, only I've heard Dad say that frequently the obvious deduction is wrong."

" I see, " Bess murmured. " You thought of all this a long time ago, only you discarded it."

" I didn't discard it, " Nancy corrected, " but I am reserving judgment until I hear both sides of the case."

" How can you hear both sides unless you find Joe Swenson? " George questioned.

" I can't, and that brings me to what I intended saying. We must find him! "

" How do you propose to do it? " George asked. " If you intend to search the woods, count me out! "

" I haven't any plan, " Nancy confessed, " but I certainly don't care to turn my evidence over to the police."

" I don't see any other way if Joe Swenson is to be captured, " Bess argued. " Unless he communicates with his wife we haven't a chance of running across him."

" I have a hunch he may have found work at some factory which manufactures electrical parts, " Nancy said thoughtfully. " It occurred to me that perhaps we could get trace of him that way."

" You mean to visit all the factories around here? " George demanded incredulously. " Why, it might take weeks and weeks! "

" I suppose that idea isn't very practical, " Nancy admitted with a sigh, as she stepped on the electric starter. " Shall we travel? "

The girls had decided to take a longer route back to River Heights rather than return over the same road by which they had come. The Weston factory was located at the edge of Stanford, and as Nancy reached the main highway she found the traffic dense.

" Everyone must be coming to town for the street show, '' Bess observed. ''I saw the hand­bills when we drove through Stanford. There's to be some sort of parade."

" Just our luck to get into it, " Nancy grumbled.

A steady stream of traffic held the roadster at the entrance to the factory grounds. While the girls were impatiently waiting for a break in the line, the factory whistle blew.

" Now there will be a jam! '' Nancy exclaimed. " If I get another fender taken off I'll be as peeved as a wet hen! "

A moment later she saw an opportunity to break into the main line of traffic, but the cars in front moved slowly. Several times Nancy was forced to halt the roadster.

The blowing of the factory whistle had released hundreds of workmen. They came pouring from the plant in long lines. While she waited for the car ahead to move, Nancy watched the men with interest.

Unexpectedly she noted a vaguely familiar face. At first she thought she must be mistaken, but as the man turned toward her she knew her first impression had been correct.

" Look! " she cried excitedly. " There's the man I saw running away from the fire! It must be Joe Swenson! "

 


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