he comes and goes. She is always there when the racing
is going on. It is supposed that some things that go on there at the
Gandy place are not entirely regular," said the real estate man
stiffly. "If you are a friend of Mrs. Poole----"

"I am Jessie Norwood. My father, Mr. Robert Norwood, is a lawyer, and
we live in the Roselawn section of New Melford."

"Oh, ah, indeed!" murmured the real estate man. "Then I guess it is
safe to tell you that the people around here do not approve of Mrs.
Poole and what goes on at the Gandy place during the racing season. It
is whispered that people there are interested in pool rooms in the
city. You know, where betting on the races is conducted."

"I do not know anything about that," replied Jessie, in some
excitement. "But I thank you for telling me about Martha Poole."

She seized Amy by the arm and hurried back to the automobile.

"What do you think of that?" gasped Amy, quite as much amazed as was
her chum.

"I do wish Daddy was coming home to-day. But he isn't. Not until
dinner time, anyway. I do believe, Amy Drew, that poor Bertha is
hidden away somewhere at that farm."

"But--but----how could she get at any sending station to tell her
troubles to--to the air?" and Amy suddenly giggled.

"Don't laugh. It is a very serious matter, I feel sure. If the poor
girl actually isn't being abused, those women are hiding her away so
that they can cheat Daddy's clients out of a lot of money."

"Again I ask," repeated Amy, more earnestly, "_how_ could that girl,
whoever she is, get to a sending station? We did not see the first
sign of an aerial anywhere near that house and barn, or above the
tower, either."

"I don't know what it means. It is a mystery," confessed Jessie. "But
I just _feel_ that what we heard over the radio had to do with that
missing girl--that it was Bertha Blair calling for help, and that in
some way she is connected with that red barn and the silo and the two
fallen trees. We traced the place from her description."

"So we did!"

"And unless it is all a big hoax, somewhere near that place Bertha is
held a prisoner. If that Martha Poole is in with some crooked people
who break the state gambling law by radio, sending news of the races
to city gambling rooms, she would commit other things against the
law."

"Oh!" cried Amy. "Both she and that Mrs. Bothwell look like hard
characters. But there were no aerials in sight!"

Jessie thought for a moment. Then s