Free Mystery of the Glowing Eye by Carolyn G. Keene Page A

movements were controlled from this cabin?”
    “It looks that way.”
    Bess asked, “Do you think Ned, Crosson, and the red-haired nut were in the copter we saw flying away from here?”
    “I have a strong feeling,” Nancy said, “that Crosson and the red-haired nut are one and the same person. I believe that Ned in his note was trying to tell us that Crosson is crazy and dangerous.”
    Dave reminded the others that they were just doing a lot of guessing. “We haven’t come across one single thing around here to prove who the occupants are.”
    Nancy agreed with Dave and said that it was important they try to find out. “Let’s all hunt for a clue,” she proposed.
    Everyone went to work. There was complete silence for a long time.
    Nancy looked under both cots and pulled them from the wall. Suddenly her eyes fastened upon a mark which had been cut into the wood of the wall. At first glance it seemed to be a W. Was it someone’s initial?
    She called her friends’ attention to it and they came over to look at the initial. Nancy squinted her eyes and stared at it.
    Suddenly she said, “This isn’t a W. I’m sure it’s two N’s. And that could stand for Ned Nickerson!”
    Bess, George, and the boys leaned over to examine the mark. They all agreed that indeed it was NN.
    “This is where Ned must have slept,” Burt said. “And I’m convinced he was taken away in the copter we saw leaving here.”
    “Do any of you think he’ll be brought back?” Dave spoke up. “I don’t.”
    No one did, but Burt and Dave were inclined to think that Ned’s captor might return. They were of the opinion that he would not leave the valuable equipment unguarded for long, although the possibility of it being taken in this forsaken place was slim.
    Nancy was quiet for several minutes while the rest searched some more. When they reported that there were no other clues, she told the group that a possibility of getting to the main road without hiking there had just occurred to her.
    “What is it?” Bess asked eagerly. “I certainly would like to be rescued from this creepy place!”
    “The quicker the better,” George added.
    Nancy turned to the boys. “Do you think we could possibly contact the police over the two-way radio set here? We could tell them our suspicions regarding this cabin, and the take-off of the copter.” She looked at Bess and grinned. “If they come by helicopter, they might even give us a ride back to our car.”
    Dave offered to try contacting headquarters.

CHAPTER XII
    Hidden Notes
    BURT and Dave bent over the sending set, trying to figure out how the various gadgets worked.
    “This is a complicated one,” Dave remarked.
    George, who had had a little coaching along these lines from her father, an electronic engineer, made several valuable suggestions.
    “Where are the call letters?” she asked.
    The young people examined every inch of the set but could find none.
    “I wonder whom the kidnapper was calling? Some pal? Or a member of a Cyclops gang?” George asked.
    The boys said they wished they knew and went on with their examination, hoping desperately to get the set to respond. Finally they hit the right combination and in a moment Burt’s signal was answered.
    He said, “Calling from station without call letters. Who are you?”
    The listener seemed reluctant to reply and asked, “Why don’t you have call letters? Everybody does.”
    “We’re in trouble here. Owner is away. No clue to call letters,” Burt told him.
    The ham radio operator turned out to be answering from a town not far away.
    Burt told him he was calling from a swamp and then said, “There are five of us here. It’s near Arbutus. Will you phone the police department and ask if they’ll come out here? We’ve made an important discovery about a missing person.”
    Nancy stood listening. She began to shake her head to indicate that Burt had told enough. He nodded and put a finger over his lips to indicate he