Read (#15) The Haunted Bridge for Free Online Page B

lunch, girls?”
    “Great,” Nancy agreed. “If we have it early maybe we won’t run into Barty.”
    The three girls were relieved to find the hotel dining room practically deserted. After enjoying a leisurely meal they wandered out-of-doors. Nancy’s gaze roved toward the sixteenth fairway.
    “You’re not considering more golf?” George asked in surprise.
    Nancy shook her head. “Eighteen holes is enough for me today. Chris was telling me about an old mansion which burned a couple of years ago. Miss Margaret Judson, the owner, lived there. The place is over in the general direction of the bridge. Let’s hike to it.” She chuckled. “Maybe we’ll find another lost treasure.”
    Though the idea of the trek did not appeal to Bess, she and George agreed to accompany Nancy. The three were cutting across the fairway of the eighteenth hole when they encountered Bartescue.
    “Hello,” he called. “Where are you going?”
    “Oh, on a little hike,” Nancy replied as he fell into step with them.
    He said quickly, “I have a little time to kill before I play my match this afternoon.”
    “I doubt if we’ll be back very soon,” Nancy said pointedly. “You might miss your match if you come along.”
    “In other words, ‘no gentlemen wanted.’ ” Bartescue laughed. “Oh, well, I was only teasing. I couldn’t have gone anyway because I tee off at one-thirty.” With a wide, knowing grin he left.
    “Do you think Barty suspects we’re on a special saearch?” Bess asked in an undertone a moment later.
    “He acted as if he does,” Nancy said.
    Glancing over their shoulders to make certain they were not being watched, the girls cut through the woods. They approached the old wooden bridge cautiously.
    “The scarecrow is waving its arms back and forth as usual,” Bess observed nervously as they glimpsed it through the trees. “I have a strong hunch that we’re walking straight into trouble.”
    George laughed at Bess’s fears. “Don’t be negative,” George said.
    Nancy looked up and down the stream. “This is probably the only place near here to cross the ravine,” she said. “I think the bridge should bear our weight if we walk over one at a time.”
    The young detective went first. After she safely reached the opposite side, George followed. Bess came last, uttering a muffled little shriek as the flapping scarecrow brushed her arm.
    “Sh—sh!” Nancy warned. “We don’t want to broadcast our arrival.”
    “You’d scream too if that thing wrapped itself around—” Bess retorted.
    George interrupted. “Nancy, I don’t see how you expect to find the burned mansion when you don’t know the way.” She ducked to avoid being scratched by a low-hanging thorny branch. “Did Chris say it was on this side of the bridge?”
    Nancy replied, “He pointed toward the left in this general direction. I think we’re heading right. I see a trail.”
    Nancy indicated a faintly outlined path directly ahead. When the girls reached it they were puzzled to find still another trail branching away from the ravine.
    “Which shall we take?” Bess asked as Nancy hesitated. “It looks as if the one that follows along the edge of the ravine might have been used recently.”
    “Yes, so probably it’s the other one. Anyway, let’s try it,” Nancy suggested.
    She pushed forward again, the scraggly bushes tearing at her clothing. Bess and George followed as best they could. Presently the trio came to a clearing enclosed by a high, uncut hedge.
    “Thank goodness we’re out of that jungle at last.” Bess sighed wearily as she leaned against a tree to rest. “Do you suppose this is the estate, Nancy?”
    The young detective craned her neck. “Yes, I can see something directly ahead that looks like part of a building. This must have been a beautiful place when it was kept up.”
    The grounds covered about five acres, and were wooded with giant oak and willow trees. What probably had been a lush green lawn was