THE HOOVER girls walked out to the barn with Nancy.  "Do come to see us again," Grace called, as the young detective climbed into her car.

"Yes, please do," Allison added.

Nancy promised that she would.  "As soon as I have some news," she said.

Although the weather had cleared, the River Road remained muddy and slippery.  Nancy found it necessary to drive with extreme care for the next two miles until she reached the main highway.

"No wonder this River Road isn't used much," she thought.  "And how do Grace and Allison get to town?"  Nancy wondered.  She had not seen a car at the Hoover home and knew that no bus passed their door.

"I certainly wish," she thought, "that I or somebody else could locate a later will of Josiah Crowley's by which the Hoovers and the Turners would receive some much-needed money.  I must tell Dad about this latest development."

She decided to see if her father was in his office and drove directly there.  Nancy parked the car in a nearby lot.  She surveyed the convertible ruefully as she climbed out.

"Poor thing!  It certainly needs a bath!"  Nancy found Mr. Drew in.  As she entered his private office, he arose from the desk chair to kiss her.  "I'm glad you're here - and safe," the lawyer said.  "I was worried about you when that violent storm came up.  When Hannah phoned me that you weren't back, I began to regret I'd sent you on the errand."

His daughter grinned.  "I'm back, all in one piece.  I delivered the papers to Judge Hart and learned that he and his wife saw Mr. Crowley in Masonville a couple of times.  Also, I talked to the Hoover girls."

She described her meeting with Allison and Grace Hoover and ended by asking her father if he could help them.

"From what you say, it does look as though Josiah Crowley might have made another will which included them as beneficiaries," Mr. Drew com-mented thoughtfully.  "I'll be glad to do anything I can to help the Hoover girls."