"That's quite a welcoming committee," Nancy said.

Before she could say anything else, Ned swept her into his arms. "Hello there," he said as he lifted her chin with two fingers. The kiss that followed left her breathless. "How's that for a welcome?"

"Mmm, much better." Nancy sighed and took in his handsome, square-jawed face and sparkling brown eyes.

Ned led Nancy to one of the logs near the fire pit, and the two of them sat down.

"Who were those guys, anyway?" she asked.

"Park maintenance men," Ned replied. "They're building a walkway near here. It goes to an old cabin near Princess Geyser. What made them think you were a thief?"

"Well," Nancy said, "I was peeking inside a tent, wondering if it was yours, when they grabbed me. I guess I did look a little suspicious."

"Even so," Ned growled, "they had no right to treat you badly." He took her hand. "Listen, Nan, I'm really sorry I couldn't meet you at the hotel. The fact is, we have a major crisis. You know, we've tagged hundreds of marmots so we can track them. Well, part of my job is to make sure the receiver is picking up their signals and sending them to the computer so they're recorded properly."

Nancy nodded.

"This morning," he said slowly, "the computer printout showed no trace of almost fifty whistling marmots. At first, I thought we had a problem with the receiver or with the computer, but everything checked out okay. We went out to check the marmot colonies a few hours ago, and it was obvious that some were missing. There's only one logical explanation. Someone is stealing them!"

"That's terrible," Nancy said. "Do you have any idea when it could have happened?"

"We observe the marmots twice a day at four feeding stations," he explained, pacing now. "So it had to have happened after the second observation yesterday-probably during the night."

Nancy shook her head. "It's hard to believe that people would kill such cute little animals for their fur," she said disgustedly.