Nancy diverted Bess’s attention by pointing out a neat white frame house with a sign: GUESTS. “That looks nice,” she said. “It must be the guest place Dad mentioned.”
Nancy pulled up and the three girls went in to inquire about accommodations. The house was owned by a Mrs. Hosking. She was very friendly and her home was immaculate.
Mrs. Hosking said, “Yes, I have a large front room on the second floor with three beds. Tell me, are you girls on a trip?”
“Well, sort of,” Nancy replied. “We have the key for the person who has rented the Baker cottage. Then we’d like to find Mr. Winch.”
Mrs. Hosking shuddered. “I can tell you where Henry is—visiting his brother in Ridgeton, our county seat. But listen, girls, don’t you go down to that cottage—especially at night. Why, just two days ago Henry came dashing in here white as a ghost. Now, he’s not a man who scares easy. He declared he’d seen the lost launch.”
“What is that? And why should it scare him?” Nancy asked.
Mrs. Hosking explained that around the turn of the century there had been a large picnic grove at the far end of the lake. An excursion launch had carried parties up to the picnic grounds.
“One night the launch sprang a leak and went down quickly. Everyone on board was trapped and lost.”
“How shocking!” Bess murmured.
“After that,” Mrs. Hosking went on, “the picnic spot became unpopular and soon no one went there any more.”
“But what does this have to do with now?” George asked.
Mrs. Hosking’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Many people have been saying that recently the ill-fated launch and its passengers have been seen at night through the mist near the picnic grove.”
Bess hunched her shoulders. “That sounds absolutely spooky.”
“It is,” Mrs. Hosking said. “And more than spooky. I’ve known Henry Winch all my life. If he says he saw that old launch, then I know he did. I beg you girls to stay away.”
Nancy smiled. “We appreciate your warning,” she said. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Hosking. We’ll be back. Please tell me how to get to the Baker cottage.”
Reluctantly, Mrs. Hosking gave directions. The girls started off down the main street where they would turn into a dirt lane that led down to the lake. On the way, Bess spotted a small grocery store that was open and begged Nancy to stop so that she could pick up a few items. “I know we’ll all be starving before we get to bed. Remember, we had a very early dinner.”
Grinning, Nancy complied. When Bess returned from the shop, she was carrying a large bag which she said contained milk, cocoa, cookies, and ham sandwiches. Nancy and George wanted to tease her, but refrained. It was just possible that Bess was right and they would all be hungry by bedtime.
By this time it was dark. Nancy drove slowly so that she would not miss the dirt lane. She turned left onto it and they rode nearly a mile before coming to the bluff which rimmed the large oval lake. All the houses seemed to be closed up for the season. The girls could not see a light.
The lane branched left and right along the edge of the bluff. Mrs. Hosking had told Nancy to take the left-hand fork, which wound down among trees to a row of cottages. After passing two of them, they came to Henry Winch’s dock and small store. As they rode on, Bess kept her eyes nervously on the water, wondering if they would see the strange apparition of the picnic launch, but nothing appeared. They drove by two more cottages, and when they came to the third, Nancy turned off the motor.
“This is it,” she said.
From the roadway, a narrow footpath led among evergreen and birch trees to the Baker cottage, near one end of the lake. The girls took out flashlights and started down the path. They had not gone far when they were startled to hear footsteps almost directly behind them. Recalling Mrs. Hosking’s warning, they turned and shone their lights on the oncoming figure.
“That mysterious girl again!” Nancy gasped
Nancy gave a gasp of surprise. “That mysterious girl again!”
It was indeed the young woman from the White Mill restaurant!
She was wearing a light raincoat and a head scarf, out of which peeked curly red hair. A thought flashed through Nancy’s mind. Could this be Cecily Curtis?
The stranger stared in astonishment. She stood for a moment without saying anything, then suddenly turned and ran up the path.
“Cecily! Are you Cecily?” Nancy cried out.
The fleeing figure paused and whirled about. A look of terror crossed her face as she cried out:
“You can’t stop me from getting the babies!”
The next moment she had rushed off and vanished from sight.
CHAPTER III
Mistaken Identity
As the distraught girl vanished into the darkness, Nancy, Bess, and George stood still. They were completely puzzled. Was Cecily Curtis the red-haired young woman they had seen at the White Mill restaurant?
“But why would she run away from us?” Bess asked.
“And what did she mean about the babies?” George added.
Nancy reminded the cousins that they were all assuming the young woman was Cecily Curtis. “We ought to know soon, one way or the other. It’s getting late.”
When the girls reached the cottage on the lake front they looked up to the opposite end of the lake, a scant half mile away. A heavy mist shrouded it. Nancy guessed there might be hot springs in that area, which would account for the unusually heavy vapor. The moon was rising and revealed several cottages in the distance to their right.
Suddenly Bess said, “Look up on the bluff about halfway to the far end of the lake! There’s a big house with a light in the second floor. Somebody’s staying there!”
“Maybe,” said George, “it’s an all-year home.”
As Nancy unlocked the door of the Baker cottage, Bess remarked, “It is eerie around this place. I’ll be glad to get back to town.”
George said sternly, “Now don’t be imagining things.”
“Well, if I do,” Bess retorted, “I’m in good company. Mrs. Hosking advised us not to come here and Henry Winch, who isn’t a ’fraidy cat, got enough of a scare to make him leave the lake.”
Nancy laughed. “At least the Baker cottage is okay. No ghosts here!”
She beamed her flashlight about the interior. The living-dining room stretched across the front of the house and was comfortably furnished. Books and magazines on low tables and a huge fireplace gave the room a homelike atmosphere. George spotted a kerosene lamp, and with matches from the mantelshelf, lighted it.
“How cozy!” Bess exclaimed. “I’ll bet it’s wonderful in the summer with swimming and boating and everything. But why in the world would anybody want to come here alone this time of the year?”
“Fall is beautiful,” George answered. “Maybe some people just like to look at the fall foliage.”
The cottage was in perfect order, but the beds were not made and there was no food. Nancy built a fire in a wood stove in the kitchen and Bess prepared cocoa. George soon had a fire roaring in the fireplace and before long the chill of the cabin was gone. As the girls waited for Cecily, they talked about their experiences and conceded the day had been full of surprises.
Finally Nancy looked at her watch. “Do you realize it is ten o’clock and Cecily hasn’t come yet?”
“What’ll we do?” Bess asked. “We can’t sit up all night.”
Nancy suddenly proposed, “Why don’t we sleep here? Cecily may not arrive until very late.”
This plan was agreed upon, although reluctantly on Bess’s part. George offered to drive back to town and tell Mrs. Hosking of the girls’ change in plans.
“In the meantime, I’ll make up some beds,” Bess offered.
“And if you don’t mind,” said Nancy, “I’d like to do a little investigating outdoors.”
Bess warned her to be careful. Nancy said she would not go far. “Just down to Henry Winch’s dock.”
She rode that far with Geo
rge, then got out of the car and went down a path to the dock. To one side of it was a good-sized boathouse, and with moonlight streaming into the windows, Nancy could see motorboats, rowboats, and canoes. On the other side of the dock was the confectionery store with Mr. Winch’s living quarters behind it. From the end of the dock, Nancy had a clear view of the whole lake—cottages, the large house on the bluff, and the mist-shrouded end of the lake.
The young sleuth smiled to herself. “I wish that phantom boat would appear! I’d like to know what it looks like.”
But there was no sign of any ghostly vessel, and finally Nancy walked back to the cottage along a path near the lake front. She heard a car coming and wondered whether it was George returning, or Cecily Curtis arriving. She hurried up to the road to find out.
The car proved to be her own and in a moment George alighted. She had brought a few supplies which Mrs. Hosking had given her for the girls’ breakfast.
“I insisted upon paying her for the food,” said George, “and also a fair amount for holding our room.”
“I’m glad you did that,” said Nancy.
“We’d better take our bags,” said George. They took them from the trunk, locked the car, then the two girls started in silence down the wooded path. They were about halfway to the cottage when suddenly they heard soft rustling in the bushes at the top of the slope above. The next moment something black shot past them!
The girls jumped, wondering what the object was.
“Some animal, I think,” said Nancy. “We must have scared it.”
The words were hardly out of her mouth when a high, clear voice called, “Satin, come back here!”
Nancy and George turned. Someone was starting down the path. It must be Cecily!
The two girls set down their bags and started forward to greet her. Nancy called out “Hello,” as she beamed her flashlight up the hill.
The girl from the White Mill restaurant again! But this time she was not wearing the raincoat and scarf. She had on the same outfit they had seen at the restaurant, and was lugging two suitcases.
“Oh, hello!” she said pleasantly. “Well, this is a nice surprise! Are you vacationing here?”
Nancy and George were confounded. Hadn’t the newcomer recognized them? And why had she changed her clothes again?
“Are you Cecily Curtis?” Nancy asked as the girls hastened to help her.
“Yes, I am. But how did you know?”
Nancy, though bewildered, decided to ask no questions, but she did notice the girl was not yet wearing a wedding ring. She introduced herself and George. “Mr. Winch is out of town, so we came here with the key to open the cottage for you.”
“How wonderful!” Cecily said.
“What is Satin?” George asked, taking one of the bags.
“My big black cat. I dropped his carrying case and it opened. He zipped out of it like lightning.”
Nancy chuckled. “He flew right past George and me.”
Cecily stopped short. “I just recognized you both! It was so dark and I was so startled I didn’t realize I’d met you at the White Mill. Imagine! Especially after you rescued me, Nancy! But there were three of you. What happened to the other girl?”
“Bess Marvin is in the cottage making up beds.” Nancy smiled. “Now that you are here, though, we’ll go back to town for rooms.”
“Oh, I’d be delighted to have you stay,” Cecily declared. “Really, I would! To tell the truth, I’m pretty lonesome.”
“We’ll accept with pleasure!” said Nancy.
By this time the three had entered the cottage. At once Bess exclaimed, “I’m so glad you got here, Cecily! We were terribly worried. Why didn’t you stay the first time you came?”
Cecily looked at her blankly. “The first time? I haven’t been here before.”
It was Bess’s turn to look perplexed. “You mean you weren’t up in the woods on your way here a few hours ago?”
Cecily shook her head. “If you thought you saw me, I must have a double in the vicinity.” She changed the subject. “I had an awful time getting to this cottage. A bus brought me to Misty Lake village from Baltimore, and I tried to get a taxi to bring me here. Nobody wanted to, but finally one man agreed to drive me as far as the end of the lane. I had to lug these bags and my cat all the rest of the way.”
“You poor thing!” Bess said sympathetically.
Nancy, Bess, and George had agreed tacitly not to mention having overheard Cecily and her fiancé talking. If she felt like telling them, however, they would be interested listeners!
Nancy said, “Don’t you think we’d better find Satin?”
Cecily nodded, and the four took flashlights and went outside. Nancy gave the key to Cecily, who locked the cottage door. The girls began the search. Cecily kept calling the cat by name, but he did not come.
“Oh, dear!” Cecily sighed. “Satin is such a comfort to me. I shall just die if he is gone.”
Without being sure where to look next, the girls finally turned right. They passed the neighboring cottages, then Henry Winch’s dock and continued along the lake front toward the stone house, atop the bluff. Cecily kept calling softly to her pet. Finally George spotted two glowing eyes peering from behind a tree and whispered to Cecily, “I’ll bet that’s Satin!”
“Here kitty, kitty, kitty!” Cecily said quietly. “Come here, Satin!”
Reluctantly, the big black cat came toward her. She scooped him up in her arms and patted him affectionately.
Through the stillness of the woods, Nancy detected a strange sound. “Listen!” she said quickly.
They all stood motionless. Amid the chirps of myriad crickets and the hoots of an owl, the girls could hear a steady humming noise. It was not far from them. What could it be?
CHAPTER IV
The Wailing Cry
THE girls listened intently as the strange humming noise continued. It was muffled.
“That must be a machine,” Nancy remarked. “But what kind and where is it?”
“It’s probably just a pump,” George said practically.
Bess looked doubtful. “I thought pumps made a thumping noise.”
“Let’s try to find the thing,” Nancy suggested. “It sounds close.”
The girls searched the wooded bluff nearby, and a short distance along the shore on either side, but found no explanation for the noise. Puzzled, they returned to the beach.
Nancy looked up at the big stone house. The light was still on. Could the machine be in there? Was the sound being carried by the wind? As the thought crossed her mind, she suddenly realized that a man stood silhouetted in a doorway.
“Someone’s up there,” Nancy told the others. “He must have seen our flashlights.”
George giggled. “I suppose he thinks we’re burglars!”
Cecily did not comment, but stared at the house as if fascinated. Nancy, seeing her frown, remembered her father’s remark that Cecily had an interesting story. What was it? And did the big stone house have something to do with the girl’s reason for coming to the lake?
“Let’s go!” Bess urged.
“Good idea,” Cecily agreed. “I wonder—” She stopped speaking and turned away.
The other girls did not ask for any explanation, but all of them felt that Cecily, though friendly enough, was rather secretive. Nancy chided herself, however, that there was no reason why Cecily should immediately start telling them her personal problems.
The man went inside the house again and in a few moments the humming noise stopped. The girls wondered if he had turned off whatever machine had been causing the sound. Within minutes the big stone house was in darkness and Nancy assumed that whoever lived there had gone to bed.
The girls picked their way carefully back to the cottage, unlocked it, and went inside. Bess, overcome by curiosity, asked Cecily if she had come to the lake for a late vacation.
“Why—yes,” Cecily answered noncommittally. She yawned. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll g
o to bed. I’ve had a tiring day.”
The others agreed that this was true indeed. The day had not only been tiring for her, but apparently very worrisome. It was arranged that Cecily and Nancy would sleep in one of the two bedrooms, and George and Bess in the other. The cat, Satin, was made comfortable on a small pillow from one of Cecily’s bags. The soft, furry animal, cuddled by the fireplace, began to purr, and was soon asleep.
The girls had a snack and then went to bed. Nancy dropped off to sleep almost immediately, but was rudely awakened by the shrill cry of a woman outside. She and Cecily sat upright at the same moment, then jumped out of bed and rushed into the living room. As the screaming continued, Bess and George also appeared and all four girls ran from the cottage.
“Who is it? Where is she?” Bess asked, glancing fearfully around in the darkness.
The screaming seemed to be coming from the woods just beyond the cottage. The girls could see nothing, so Nancy rushed back inside for her flashlight and beamed it at the trees.
Suddenly there was a rustle of leaves and a huge bird left its perch on the branches of an oak. It flew directly in front of the girls, then soared out over the lake.
Nancy began to laugh. “We got fooled that time, all right. That bird is a loon. I just remembered that their call can be easily mistaken for a woman’s scream.”
“Well, for Pete’s sake!” said George in disgust. “All kinds of things have awakened me in my life but never a crazy old bird!”
As the girls re-entered the cottage, the black cat lazily rose, arched his back, then gave a huge yawn. Bess giggled. “Satin, you’re the only creature here who knows the difference between a birdcall and a screaming woman!”
Again Satin settled down, the house was locked, and the girls went to bed. Nancy did not go to sleep at once and she noticed that Cecily seemed restless, too. The young sleuth thought it best not to speak to her new acquaintance, however, and finally dropped off to sleep.
Presently Nancy was awakened once more, this time by a loud miaowing. She wondered what was bothering the cat, and looked over to see if Cecily were awake. She noticed that the red-haired girl was not in her bed.