The Secret of Red Gate Farm

 The Secret of Red Gate Farm (1931) by Carolyn Keene [original text version]

Nancy, Bess, and George are finishing up a shopping trip in another city and all Bess needs to complete her purchases is a bottle of perfume. They dash into perfume shop where the salesclerk very oddly seems determined NOT to sell Bess the bottle of perfume she prefers. After haggling with the clerk, the girls pool their money to meet the outrageous price ($3!!!) for a tiny bottle and rush off--just in time to catch the train back to River Heights. Bess doesn't even get to enjoy her perfume, though. The box she had placed it is dropped and Nancy gets a dousing. When she steps out for a breath of fresh air, a strange man approaches her and whispers "What news from the Chief." Nancy's baffled look makes him realize he's made a mistake and he hurries off. [But don't worry...we'll catch up with him later.]

Also, on the train is a girl named Millie who looks very weak and tired. Nancy becomes interested in her, especially after she becomes faint--from the perfume fumes?--and the three girls befriend her and treat her to lunch. They learn that Millie's grandmother is having trouble meeting the mortgage payment on their farm--Red Gate Farm--and Millie has come to the city to look for work. Nancy helps her get to a job interview on time and just happens to come across a code that the nasty-looking man who runs the office left on his desk. [Again--hold that thought, the code will be important soon.]

Millie has no luck finding a job and is about to despair when she receives word from her grandma that she's been successful in attracting boarders to the farm. With the rent from a nature cult--camped out near a cavern on the farm and payments from the new boarders, they just might be able to keep the farm. When Nancy hears about the strange goings-on with the cult (flitting about in white sheets and hanging out for long periods in the cavern), she becomes suspicious and convinces Bess & George that they need to be boarders at the farm too and get to the bottom of the mystery. It will all tie up with the man on the train and the man in the office--but what exactly are those cultists doing in the cave? You'll just have to read the story to find out.

my copy w/o dustjacket

This is a fine example of a mystery where Nancy solves a larger puzzle (the secret activities of the cultists) and winds up helping a family in need. Once the mystery is solved, Nancy uses the publicity about the cult activities (which could be negative) in a positive way to help Millie and her grandmother bring in even more money. Lots of spooky adventure around the cavern to make things exciting for kids and a decent mystery for those of us reading it again later in life. ★★★ and 1/2

First lines: "Hurry, girls. Hurry. Come on! We'll miss our train."

Last lines: "You can't blame it on me this time," Nancy laughed, "for it all came from buying expensive perfume. Three dollars a bottle--but a bargain at any price!"