But her grin faded as the silence outside was broken. The girls heard the porch step creak.
CHAPTER X
An Exciting Find
LIKE a flash Nancy was at the front door of the cottage. She flung it open. A handsome, blond young man stood there, his hand lifted as if to knock.
“Niko Van Dyke!” she cried out involuntarily.
He smiled broadly. “You recognize me?”
Nancy, smiling, said, “I not only recognize you, but I’m terribly relieved to see you. Please come in.”
“You mean you thought I was a burglar?” Niko asked as they all took seats.
“Well, we had a prowler here today who did a lot of damage and I was afraid he might be returning.”
To Nancy’s surprise, the young musician said, “I saw him, but I didn’t know that he had already broken into the cottage. He was carrying an ax. When he spotted me, he ran off toward the misty end of the lake.”
“You saw him!” Bess exclaimed, coming forward. “What did he look like?”
When Niko described the man, Nancy looked at the other two girls significantly. He must be Vince Driscoll!
“What time did you see him?” Nancy asked.
When Niko told her, Nancy realized that Vince had rushed over to the cottage while she was locked on the roof—and before Bess’s return—and damaged its contents. This must mean that the Driscolls were trying to frighten the girls away from the area.
Suddenly Nancy realized that Niko no doubt was looking for Cecily. Quickly she introduced herself and the others, then explained how they happened to be staying there.
“Cecily isn’t here now?” Niko asked, a look of disappointment on his face.
“She’s on her way to Baltimore,” Nancy replied.
“Baltimore! But why?”
“To see you,” Nancy replied. “It’s a shame—you just missed her. We put her on the bus not long ago.”
“Is she coming back here?” Niko asked.
Nancy nodded. “She has been trying day and night to get you on the phone.”
“I’ve been pretty much tied up,” Niko explained. “I wanted to come here as soon as I got Cecily’s message, but this is the first chance I’ve had. The Flying Dutchmen are taking a night off. I’ve been very upset. Cecily may have told you that we had a disagreement and I felt pretty bad about it.”
Somewhat embarrassed, Niko admitted that upon arriving at the village that afternoon he had walked for hours along the lake trying to think of a way to persuade Cecily to marry him right away. It was during that time he had seen the suspected vandal.
“If only I’d come directly here! But I hesitated, not knowing just how Cecily felt,” Niko added dejectedly.
Nancy smiled sympathetically. “Cecily is very eager to get things straightened out too. That’s one reason why I’m relieved to see you. Now I have a chance to tell you this.”
Niko’s sad expression vanished. Suddenly he looked happy and boyish. “I’m crazy about Cecily and want to marry her soon.”
“She told us that too,” said Bess. “We three hope she’ll change her mind and not put off the wedding too long. Of course you know about the iron bird. We’ve all been helping her look for it, but haven’t had any luck so far. There seems to be a mystery connected with the house and grounds where we think the bird is.”
George spoke up. “But Nancy will solve it. She’s a detective and a very good one.”
Niko looked surprised. “I’ve never met a girl detective before, I sure wish you luck on this case. Cecily wants to find the fortune for us, but I keep telling her I can earn enough, and we don’t have to live in grand style.”
Nancy and her friends were impressed by the young man’s sincerity. George spoke up. “Are you staying in town tonight or going back to Baltimore?”
“I’m staying at Mrs. Hosking’s guest house,” he replied. “But I must leave tomorrow morning.”
A mischievous look suddenly came into Niko’s eyes. “I tell you what. I’ll come back here tomorrow night after our performance. But don’t tell Cecily when she returns. I’d rather surprise her.”
The girls promised, then Niko went on, “How would you three like to bring your dates and be my guests at our performance day after tomorrow?”
“Oh, we’d love it!” Bess burst out. “I’m dying to hear you and your band.”
George added, “Your new record is neat!”
“It certainly is,” Nancy agreed. “That’s one reason Cecily was trying so hard to talk with you. We’ve found out your new record has been pirated!”
“What!” the musician cried out.
Nancy told the story and Niko frowned. He said, “I’m glad to learn that my record company is honest. I’m sure they’ll sue this pirate immediately. Who is he?”
“We’re not sure,” Nancy replied. “We have one lead. We’re going to follow it up in the morning and hope we’ll have news for you tomorrow night. We’ve notified your record company and are going to take the two records to them.”
Niko said he was very grateful for the girls’ help. Bess insisted he stay and have some refreshment, and quickly served cookies and bottles of soda.
The foursome continued to discuss the mysteries as they ate, then Niko Van Dyke said good night.
As the girls were getting ready for bed, Bess said, “I almost wish I hadn’t promised not to tell Cecily that Niko was here. I just know I’ll have to bite my tongue half a dozen times before he gets back.”
The others smiled, saying it was going to be difficult for them also.
In the morning the girls were up early, and drove to the village. The first thing they did was telephone their friends Ned, Burt, and Dave and invite them to Baltimore for Niko’s performance. The three boys eagerly accepted, since their college term had not yet started. They would drive and plans were made for meeting in Baltimore.
Ned Nickerson had been a friend of Nancy’s for some time. Burt Eddleton dated George, and Dave Evans was Bess’s favorite escort.
Nancy and the cousins now headed for the highway, and Neal Raskin’s office. This was in the warehouse of an electrical appliance factory, one of several manufacturing plants in the area. Nancy parked in the appliance factory’s lot and went in to the warehouse office alone. Upon inquiring, she found that Raskin was still away.
“I understand he sells records,” Nancy said to the office clerk. “Would it be possible to look at a catalogue or list of what he has in stock?”
The young woman shook her head. “Mr. Raskin keeps his affairs to himself. When he leaves he locks up his office and nobody around here has the key to it.”
Nancy thanked her and went outside to the car. As she got behind the wheel, the young sleuth reported what she had learned.
“Sounds suspicious to me,” George remarked. “He’s probably out delivering more of those phony records.”
“Of course we have no proof of this,” Nancy reminded her. She turned the car and started back for Misty Lake village. Just then a slow-moving oil truck came toward her. Behind this, and honking impatiently, was another truck. As Nancy pulled opposite it and glanced at the driver, she recognized him as Vince Driscoll. He looked over at her, scowled, and drove on.
“I wonder where he is going,” Nancy said.
“Probably to service one of these factories around here,” Bess remarked.
George said, “I think we ought to report him to the police. They could hold him until Niko gets back and can identify him as the man who broke into our cottage.”
Nancy disagreed. “We’d feel pretty foolish if Vince was not the vandal,” she said. “Then the Driscolls would make our sleuthing harder than ever for us.”
“I guess you’re right,” George conceded. “But don’t forget, Niko said that when the man ran away from the cottage, he went toward the lodge.”
Nancy said she thought as soon as they got back they should make another visit to the foggy area to look for clues to the phantom launch, but t
his time they would do it secretly. They would hike along the path through the woods near the lake front.
“Let’s have lunch in the village,” Nancy proposed. “I want to stop in that gift shop where they had the iron bird.”
“To find out if Karl Driscoll bought it?” Bess guessed.
“Yes.”
As soon as the girls finished eating, they went to ask the gift-shop owner about the iron bird they had seen in the window.
“A man bought it,” was his reply.
On a hunch Nancy described Karl Driscoll.
“That’s the one,” the man said.
The trio drove home. Nancy, although excited about this clue, kept wondering what Karl’s motive was. Did he hope to find the real iron bird? Or did he wish to keep the girls away from the lodge for some other reason? There were so many angles to the mystery—if she could only solve one!
When the girls reached the cottage, they found Cecily there. She was depressed, reporting that she had missed Niko in Baltimore. “No one knew where he was.” The red-haired girl’s voice trembled. “At first I thought of staying longer, but then I began to think probably he didn’t want to see me again, so I came back.”
Bess put her arms around the girl. “Now listen, Cecily,” she said, “Niko is—” Bess caught herself just in time. “You mustn’t lose heart. Niko loves you, I know.”
“Oh, I want to believe that!” Cecily said.
She turned down the girls’ invitation to go with them on the hike up the lake. Nancy, Bess, and George changed into blue jeans, shirts, and hiking shoes. They started out at a brisk pace. When they reached the swampy area, the afternoon sun was already waning.
“We can’t go much farther and get back before dark,” Bess reminded the others.
Nancy was hardly listening. She had noticed a shabby rowboat half hidden in the mud among the reeds. It had not been there on her former visit! All three girls took off their shoes, and carrying them, waded in to look at the boat. This might be a due to one of the mysteries!
“I see something!” Nancy exclaimed.
She reached inside the boat and picked up a small shiny object. Dangling from a bracelet was half of a heart-shaped gold locket!
CHAPTER XI
The Treacherous Slope
THE gold half-locket looked like Cecily’s. “And this one is in perfect condition!” Nancy exclaimed. “So it hasn’t lain in the boat very long.”
“Do you think it belongs to that girl who looks like Cecily?” Bess asked.
“Yes, I do,” Nancy answered. “Especially since I believe the two are related.”
George was impatient for action. “I’ll bet that girl could clear up a lot of mysteries if we could only find her again.”
Nancy’s thoughts were in a whirl. Why had the red-haired young woman seemed so frightened and run from the girls the first night at the cabin? “And why did she think we wanted to take the babies?” Nancy mused.
If the girl was related to Cecily, and she too had been searching around Pudding Stone Lodge for the family fortune, why had not Nancy and her friends seen her on the grounds?
Finally Nancy said, “The girl may come back here for the locket. Let’s wait.”
“But she may run away again if she sees us here,” George argued.
“We’ll hide,” said Bess. “I don’t like this soggy old place. Let’s go up in the woods where it’s dry.”
Nancy decided to take the locket with her. If its owner did not appear, at least the young sleuth would have a valuable bit of evidence to show Cecily. The three girls sloshed out of the swamp, dried their feet, and put on their shoes. They climbed a steep slope and found a grassy spot among the trees from where they had a view of the rowboat. After fifteen minutes had gone by, George became restless.
“We might have to wait for ages,” she said. “The girl may not have been wearing the bracelet. Perhaps it dropped out of her pocket or purse and she won’t miss it for some time.”
“That’s possible,” Nancy agreed. “Well, let’s wait for half an hour more. If nothing happens, we’ll leave.” The girl detective’s mind continued to dwell on all the possible clues they had uncovered so far. She had not forgotten the flashing light from the bull’s-eye window at the lodge which she still believed was a signal.
Nancy sat up straight. Certain pieces of the mystery puzzle were beginning to fit into place. “Maybe it’s too fantastic, but it is a pattern.”
“Detective Drew,” George said, “don’t keep your deductions a secret.”
Nancy smiled, then said somberly, “There might be something more sinister to this whole thing than we imagined.”
“Like what?” Bess asked, wide-eyed.
“Well, that red-haired girl may not show up because she might have been kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped! By whom?”
“The Driscolls.”
Bess gasped. “What makes you think that?”
Quickly Nancy revealed her recent speculations. “And,” she went on, “I’m sure the Driscolls are involved in something underhanded, and that their service business is a front.”
George caught the drift of Nancy’s thoughts. “You mean that this girl may have been searching around Pudding Stone Lodge and have discovered something crooked about the Driscolls? They caught her and are holding her prisoner to keep her from revealing it?”
“Exactly.”
George whistled. “This mystery sure is getting complicated. Now Nancy has put kidnappers into the picture.”
Nancy laughed. “I didn’t say I know this is true,” she defended herself. “I was just thinking out loud.”
“I like it,” said Bess. “Tell us some more of your thoughts.”
Nancy went on, “You remember that machine noise—well, it could be from a printing press—the Driscoll brothers may even be counterfeiters.”
“You mean you and I were in the house of people who are trying to cheat Uncle Sam?” Bess inquired.
Again Nancy chuckled. “You asked me to think out loud, Bess. Have you had enough of the awful possibilities?”
Bess looked hurt. “I can take it, but I really think that if any of these ideas you mentioned have any truth in them, the police should be notified.”
“Without one shred of evidence?” Nancy asked. “No, I won’t make any accusations at this point. But I’m going to prove or disprove my theories.”
George stood up. She glanced at her watch and said, “The half hour is up, and if that red-haired gal is a prisoner, she’s not going to come around here. Let’s go!”
In her haste George stepped backward down the slope and lost her balance. She teetered for several seconds as both Nancy and Bess made a dive for her. But they could not reach the swaying girl in time. She fell on her back, hitting her head hard. The blow stunned her, and George began to roll down the hill.
Nancy and Bess gasped. Their friend was heading straight for a group of thorny bushes at the bottom!
The two girls leaped forward but were too late. Bess screamed as her dazed cousin hurtled into the bushes. Fortunately, her body had swerved and landed feet first. This saved her face and hands from being scratched.
By the time Nancy and Bess reached her, George was coming out of her daze.
“Thank goodness!” Bess heaved a sigh of relief, and pulled George from the bushes. Her legs were badly scratched and her clothes dirty and torn.
Bess rushed over to the water and soaked a handkerchief, which she brought back and laid across George’s eyes and forehead. The dark-haired girl sat up. “What a ninny I am!” she exclaimed. “Well, at least I can wash my face and hands.”
Bess insisted upon getting fresh water and doing the washing. George smiled. “I have to admit sometimes you treat me pretty well, cousin,” she teased.
Bess made a face, then went again to the lake, and after the third cleanup George began to look more like herself. There was a slight lump on the back of her head, but she said it was not really bothering her
.
“But I would appreciate going back to the cottage,” she said.
George objected to being helped, but Nancy and Bess paid no attention to her protests. “We don’t want any more spills,” Bess told her.
When they reached the cottage, George refused to lie down, saying what she needed was a good, juicy steak.
Cecily, after expressing her sympathy over George’s accident, offered to get supper. “We do have steak and it won’t take long to broil it.”
Nancy offered to help, saying she had a surprise for Cecily and would tell her about it while they were working in the kitchen. She pulled the half-locket from her pocket.
“This matches yours, doesn’t it?” she asked.
Cecily stared unbelievingly. “I’m sure it does, but I’ll get mine and we’ll compare.”
There was excitement all over again when Cecily put the two halves together. A perfect fit! “Where in the world did you get this?” she asked.
Nancy told the whole story, adding that during her previous visit to the area the old battered boat had not been there. “Either someone just tried to hide it, or it drifted there. I’m sure the locket wasn’t in it very long. I do have an idea as to the person who lost the locket.”
“Who?” Cecily asked eagerly.
Nancy reminded her of the hunch that the red-haired girl who resembled Cecily was a relative. “And if this part of your great-grandmother’s locket does belong to her, I’m convinced.”
“Oh, I must meet my double!” Cecily cried excitedly. “It’s exasperating that we can’t find her or the iron bird. What do you think we should do next?” she asked Nancy.
The young sleuth said she had no solution except hard work, meaning that they would have to keep on searching around Pudding Stone Lodge.
Cecily was silent for a full minute before she remarked, “That other red-haired girl’s actions have been so strange I’m sure she’s very worried about something. I wish I could help her!”
Nancy confided the theory that she had expressed to Bess and George.
“Oh, dear!” Cecily exclaimed. “If that girl is a prisoner, and you didn’t hear or see anything of her when you were in the lodge, she must be well hidden.”