As the second robber went to the truck and began a careful search for the keys, Nancy Drew crouched fearfully in her hiding place.
“I don’t see what could have happened to them keys,” the robber complained after an unsuccessful search. “I put ’em right under this seat.”
“Say, if you’ve lost ’em—” the leader did not finish the threat, for at that moment the third robber stooped over and picked up something at his feet.
“Here they are on the floor! You must have put ’em in your pocket and dropped ’em out.”
“I didn’t!” the other retorted. “I never had them keys in my pocket.”
The robbers were in a quarrelsome mood and would have engaged in a battle then and there had not the leader interposed.
“Say, cut out the comedy! We ain’t got no time for a fight unless we want to land behind the bars!”
“And if we do, it will be your fault! You left that girl to starve—”
“Shut up!” the leader snarled. He rattled the rear door of the van and found it locked. “There’s no harm done this time. No one has meddled with the truck. Now get in before I give you a swift kick!”
After a few more angry words, the three robbers climbed into the front seat and started the engine. Due to their inebriated condition they had overlooked the barn doors, and before the van could be backed from the building, it was necessary for one of the men to get out and fasten them back.
In relief Nancy watched the men go. The moment they were a safe distance from the barn, she scrambled out of the manger.