"Out on a leisurely shopping trip, Nancy, Bess and George encounter an odd French-Chinese perfume saleswoman, who is reluctant to sell a particular fragrance to Bess. On a return train trip to River Heights, they ponder her odd behavior and encounter the malnourished Millie (Joanne in the later versions of the book) Byrd, who is on her way to "the city" to seek employment. Millie becomes acquainted with the girls, and when Nancy accompanies her to a job interview, she uncovers a mysterious code in the office. Millie's grandmother, owner of Red Gate Farm, welcomes the trio and Millie to her farm where they plan to vacation as paid boarders, and assist with waiting on other boarders. Once on the farm, Nancy uncovers a strange group called The Black Snake Colony—a "nature cult"—who are tenants on an outlying portion of Mrs. Byrd's farm. Accused of passing counterfeit money, Nancy shares details of the odd colony and the codes obtained in the office building with Federal agents. Nancy, Bess, George, and Millie go undercover disguised in the white robes and hoods worn by the cult members, and join them in their cave hideaway"
I've read the original red gate farm only once but remember it being almost identical to the rewritten except for the opening scene.
- As the book opens I feel bad for Nancy who seems overwhelmingly stressed about missing their train while Bess and George don't seem to care much.
- I've always loved that the girls went out of town to go shopping. That rarely happens as it seems River Heights has everything anyone could ever need.
- I always giggle at $3 for perfume being considered exorbitantly high. The $3 is equal to $50 in today's money but even that isn't too shocking for perfume. Especially if it's a rare imported perfume like the girls assume.
- When Nancy shows her father the coded message he "adjusts his glasses". I never thought of Carson wearing glasses.
- The word "sallies" is used to refer to Bess and George's jokes. I love finding new old fashion slang in old books.
- "That means another pound added to my weight," Bess sighed as she gave her order, "but I'd as soon be dead as to give up sundaes!" Same, Bess, same.
- One thing I don't like about Mildred Wirt's writing is her overuse of sudden storms (Secret of the Old Clock, Bungalow Mystery, Lilac Inn, Shadow Ranch, Whispering Statue, and The Missing Formula are just the ones I can name off the top of my head in an instant). They're in many of her books and this one is no exception. In fact this book has two storms, one immediately after the other.
- It's mentioned that Bess had previously taken an interior decorating class. I love getting a little bit of backstory information on characters, especially Bess as she's my favorite character in every Nancy Drew series.
- I was under the impression that Nancy and the girls had been at Red Gate Farm for several weeks before they visited the roadside restaurant again. Yet the employees who accuse Nancy of passing the counterfeit bill act as though it had just happened the other day.
- It's unfortunate that I don't remember the details of the revised version because the farther I get in the original text the more I feel there is a lot of subtle differences but I'm just not sure. I know the opening scene is not in the rewritten version but I can not remember if the elderly boarders are kept in it or not, I also don't recall if it kept the second trip to the roadside restaurant or Nancy giving a ride to Black Snake Colony woman. I might have to re-read the revised text soon out of curiosity.
- At first the woman from the Black Snake Colony is described as old. Then later the woman refers to herself as old when she thanks Nancy for her help. But later it says the woman is not old, she only appears that way because she has stress lines or whatever. So that's confusing.
- I never understood why white robes with hoods were chosen as the outfits for the Colony. I'm not sure if the was Mildred Wirt's own decision or if it was part of the outline written by Edna Stratemeyer but it's just quite strange to me for obvious reasons. Also I always thought black robes with a snake image would be far more fitting for a group called the Black Snake Colony.
- Nancy overheard the woman in the grocery store say she heard there was to be a BSC ceremony that night. At first I wondered how on earth the woman could have learned that but then I thought maybe the leaders of the syndicate spread word so people notice their late night ceremony and believe they truly are a nature cult.
- It's too much of a coincidence for me that three Colony members happen to not show up the night Nancy, Bess, and George infiltrate the syndicate. Talk about luck Millie stayed behind.
- The fact that the girls get caught having snuck into the syndicates meeting, had bought the secret signal perfume, and had applied for a job at 305 really does look suspicious as heck. It's understandable the gang thinks they're spies.
- I don't understand why Karl was leading the raid on the cave when he had no association with the police or FBI and he had only met up with them at the farm a little bit ago.
- I have a hard time believing that within a few weeks the cave and boarders could have generated enough money for the farms mortgage to be paid off, an extension added to the house, and a new car. I think Mrs. Byrd is getting ahead of herself for even if the popularity of the cave and farm hold out the summer was almost over and that would leave less people around.
I'm not surprised that I enjoyed this book upon this reading, it's the early books like this one that helped make Nancy Drew such a successful series. I'd actually love to read the revised text now but alas I don't have the time to spend reading a book I already know I'm keeping as the whole point of re-reading these books is to find ones to clear out of my collection.
Also thought I'd mention that I only have 6 more Nancy Drew books to re-read! That's pretty exciting since I started out having over 70 to read! Three of the books I've actually never read before so I'm saving them for last. I'm excited to be finished with this series and talk about what books I decided to keep and which to get rid of.
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