The others were speechless at first, then George said flatly, "I believe you're right, Nancy. But what can we do?"

Nancy felt that for the present the girls should continue their search. George suggested that since they were not far from the house, they might look again for the iron bird. She pointed to part of a broken stone bench, partially covered with weeds. "This place evidently was a garden at one time," she said. "Some ornamental bird might have been standing in it."

Cecily was eager to follow George's hunch, so the girls, trampling the tall grass, pulled up matted vines and kicked aside small loose stones to see if they were concealing any object.

Nancy had just pushed another stone out of the way, when the toe of her shoe hit something hard. She leaned over and saw that it was a protruding piece of rusty metal.

Excitedly she dug around it with the heel of her shoe. The other girls came to assist. George found a stout tree branch and began to use it like a spade. Finally the girls were able to pull the object out of the ground.

It was a tall graceful iron flamingo!

"The iron bird!" Cecily exclaimed, gazing at the rusted ornament.

The other three girls were excited. "Do you think the directions to your family fortune are still inside it?" Bess asked Cecily.

With almost loving care, Cecily ran her hands over the neck and body of the bird. She failed to find any kind of an opening.

"Let's try the legs," Nancy suggested.

There was no indication of an opening on the legs themselves, but under the bird's foot, the young sleuth thought she detected where a section had been soldered on.

"We can never get this piece off here," George stated. "Why don't we carry the bird to the cottage and work on it?"

Bess wondered about the advisability of taking the ornament off the property, but Cecily assured her that if it contained something belonging to her, she had every right to remove it, at least temporarily. So the four girls lifted the heavy iron flamingo and carefully descended toward the trail through the woods.

"Whew!" said Bess. "This weighs a ton. I wish the boys would show up and help carry it."

The three youths after an unsuccessful search of the grounds had returned to the cottage. When they saw the girls approaching they ran out to greet them.

"For Pete's sake, where did you unearth that thing?" Dave asked with a grin. "Out of an underground passageway?"

Nancy laughed and told the story. Cecily added that they wanted to pry open one of the bird's feet.

"We're exhausted," said Bess. "How about you muscle-men doing this little job?"

Removing the soldered wedge was rather a difficult task. Finally, however, the boys did accomplish it, and Ned reached into the small opening and pulled out a piece of paper folded over many times. When it was laid flat on a table it proved to be a fairly long letter.

Cecily began to read aloud: " From Simon Delaroy, your brother.' "

Cecily looked up excitedly. "This is to my great-great-grandfather-William!"

She continued to read:" 'I am afraid Maryland will be invaded in the war that I know is coming, so, for reasons of safety, I have decided to divide the family fortune into two separate halves. If someone outside our family should find one half, the rest of the family will at least have the other. My dear William, your share I am putting in the corner cupboard in the kitchen. Besides money and some securities I am also including the family silver. This is what I have done: Broken our mother's locket in two and sent half to you. Perhaps the locket will prove to be a talisman, and, though the worst may happen in the next year or so, someday the two halves of the family may find each other again. We fear that mail from the North will be opened, so I have enclosed only a brief note about the fortune in the locket. By the way, I have hidden my portion of our family treasure in the beach house because that is a place very easily concealed.' "

As Cecily finished reading, everyone began to talk at once.

"It looks as if your mystery will be solved, Cecily!" said Bess. "And if this record racket is cleared up too, you and Niko can get married!"

Cecily beamed and said nothing would make her happier.

"But I'm completely puzzled about this beach house," she said. "We haven't seen any here. What do you make of it, Nancy?"

Nancy shook her head. "An ordinary beach house most certainly could not be concealed. This must have been a very special kind. Maybe we can find clues to it."

The young detective said she also wondered why anyone would choose a cupboard for a hiding place. "That, too, must have been a very special one."

"Why don't we just march up to the lodge and look for it?" George proposed. "After all, Mr. and Mrs. Karl Driscoll have invited us there, and even if that Vince doesn't want us around, apparently he isn't the boss."

Nancy was eager to follow this move. "It will give us a chance to look for the girl we think is Susan," she said. "If she is working for the Driscolls, she ought to be around the house at some time. But if she is their prisoner, the sooner we do something about that the better."

By now it was almost suppertime. The girls fixed a simple meal. The group ate quickly, then set off once more to Pudding Stone Lodge. When they reached it, the house was in complete darkness. No one answered their rings or knocking.

"Maybe they have left," Bess suggested. "If the Driscolls are crooks, they probably suspect the police are on their trail."

"I hate to think of those poor twins being dragged off." Bess sighed. "Especially by such awful relatives."

The young people waited awhile, but the place remained silent and dark. Finally Nancy said, "We'll have to come back in the morning and see what we can find out."

The others agreed. They had had a long, hard day! As soon as they had eaten a snack at the cottage, the boys said good night and left.

Before she fell asleep Nancy's thoughts again turned to the twins. A hunch came to her. "It's fantastic," she admitted to herself. "I won't even tell the others until I'm surel"

When the group assembled the next morning, Nancy announced a plan for trying to find out whether or not the red-haired girl was a prisoner at the lodge. Cecily was to play a prominent role by standing at a distance in sight of the house and pretending to be the other girl. Nancy would try to work things out so that she could call the attention of the Driscolls to Cecily. The girls synchronized their wristwatches, then all but Cecily went off. Part of the plan was for the three boys to remain hidden on the lodge grounds and trail anyone who came out of the house.

Nancy rang the front doorbell and Mrs. Driscoll came to answer it. She looked surprised but readily admitted the three girls.

"How are the children?" Nancy asked, smiling.

"Oh, they're fine. They both love it here." The woman did not offer to let the girls see the twins, however.

"We heard a woman's scream come from here yesterday afternoon," George spoke up. "Was anybody hurt?"

Mrs. Driscoll looked startled. "Oh, I guess you must have heard me. I thought I saw a mouse in the kitchen. They always frighten me."

The girls were dubious but did not continue the discussion.

Nancy spoke up, "Our main reason for coming back is that we picked up a clue regarding the iron bird. Do you mind if we look in the cupboards?"

"I guess it will be all right," Mrs. Driscoll said, but the girls thought she acted rather nervous.

She followed them into the kitchen and watched as Nancy opened the cupboard door. Only dishes, glassware, and some pots and pans were revealed. The young sleuth pulled over a step stool, climbed up, and examined the top shelf thoroughly. There was no sign that a secret door or sliding panel concealed a hidden treasure.

"Nothing here," Nancy said, climbing down.

They all walked into the dining room where there was a fireplace. The room had no real cupboard, but alongside the brickwork was a niche in which stood a beautiful vase.

"Are there any other cupboards downstairs?" Nancy asked, casually looking at her watch.

"No," the woman replied.