“What became of Mr. Smith?” Nancy asked.
“Dunno,” Gus answered. “Never saw him again.”
By this time the taxi had reached a little-traveled dirt road, which led to the mountain. Presently the cab drew up at the entrance to a lane.
“This is as far as I’m going,” Gus announced. “You’re on your own from here.”
“But....”
“Now don’t give me any trouble,” Gus said grimly. “I’m not setting foot in that camp again!”
“Then wait for me here.”
“I’m not waiting either. You couldn’t pay me enough to keep me here. I’m going home!”
Thoroughly annoyed by the man’s lack of cooperation, Nancy was tempted to tell him why she had come. Before she made up her mind, he said, “You owe me my fare. I got to get going.”
“I may need your help,” Nancy told him.
“Say, what is this anyway? I didn’t want to come here in the first place. If you’re afraid to go inside alone, then jump in the cab and I’ll drive you back to Aiken.”
“No,” Nancy decided. “I’ll go alone. But please do me one favor,” the young sleuth pleaded as she handed Gus the fare and a generous tip. “Phone my father’s office in River Heights and ask him to come here at once if he can. And if you see my two friends at your garage or on the road in my car, please tell them, too. Be sure to give them explicit directions, because I don’t want to be stranded here.”
“Sure. I’ll do that much for you, miss. Only don’t ask me to come back here. Give me your father’s phone number.”
Nancy scribbled it on a sheet from a note pad in her purse. After the taxi pulled away, she walked rapidly toward the gypsy camp, which was screened from view by trees.
Finally she left the lane and walked among the trees to avoid detection. Nancy could see people moving about, but thus far her approach to the settlement apparently had not been noticed.
Suddenly a tall, handsome man with a red sash around his waist crossed the clearing. Tucked under his arm was a violin.
Romano Pepito! At last she had found him!
As he entered one of the trailers, Nancy’s heart beat wildly. “This is my chance!” she thought, and wondered how to slip into the trailer without attracting notice.
Just then she heard sounds of laughing, excited children from the far end of the camp. A group, which included several adults, was marching forward. From her hiding place Nancy fastened her eyes on a girl in a gay gypsy dress who was the center of attention.
“Rose!” Nancy gasped as they came closer. “The gypsies did bring her here!”
Much to Nancy’s surprise, Rose did not look worried or frightened. Instead, she seemed happy in her new surroundings. Rose grabbed a tambourine from one of the women and started to dance.
“There!” she cried breathlessly, as the exhibition ended. “I can dance as well as any gypsy!”
A fat old woman in a scarlet skirt took Rose by the hand and led her to a trailer that had the symbol of the sun above the canvas doorway.
“You will stay here until Zorus tells you what to do,” she ordered the girl.
In her fear of what might happen to Rose, Nancy forgot her desire to talk to Romano. Instead she waited until the group had scattered. Then, when no one was near, she slipped inside the trailer.
“Nancy!” Rose cried.
“Sh! I have only a moment to talk, and you must listen closely!”
“I’m not going back home!” the girl retorted defiantly, as if she had guessed why Nancy was there. “These people have promised to get me into the movies!”
“Please don’t believe them! If they did that, it wouldn’t be for years and years, anyway.”
Rose argued. Nancy knew precious time was being lost. “Rose, have you met your father yet?” she asked to divert the girl’s mind.
“My father?” Rose’s face was a blank. “No, is he here?” She raised her voice alarmingly.
“Sh!” Nancy warned. “Yes, he’s here, and I believe he might leave with us. Come, we’ll find him.”
Nancy made sure no one would see them. She took Rose’s hand and they darted out of the trailer to the one Romano had entered.
Nancy peered inside. The gypsy violinist sat on a cot, his head resting dejectedly on his hands.
“Mr. Pepito!” she whispered, entering with Rose. “I have brought your daughter!”
The man’s head jerked up in fright. He stared first at Nancy, then at Rose. As he gazed at Rose, he got to his feet and with a cry of joy caught her in his arms.
“Rose! My little Rose!” he sobbed. “You are alive and well!”
“Father! Don’t ever leave me again!” she pleaded.
“No, you and I will stay together always. No matter what Zorus says, we will go away from here.” He suddenly realized that Nancy was a stranger. “Who is this, Rose? A friend of yours?”
“She’s Nancy Drew and she’s been helping Granny find her stolen dolls.”
Instantly a look of alarm crossed Romano’s face. “Go at once, Miss Drew!” he cried. “Run! You are in great danger here!”
“From whom?” the girl asked.
“I cannot tell you.”
“If I go, Rose goes with me.”
“Oh, no, please. I have nothing to live for but my daughter.”
“Why don’t you both go to Mrs. Struthers?” Nancy argued. “She wants you and needs you.”
“Never!”
“She has forgiven you for everything, and wants both you and Rose to be with her. Besides,” Nancy added practically, “you can use the money you earn to help Rose and stop giving it to Zorus.”
Romano blanched. “You know—”
“About the Cause, and Anton and Nitaka. Tell me, why was Rose brought here?”
Before the man could answer, a shout came from a short distance away. Romano turned deathly white. “If we’re caught—” He looked appealingly at Nancy.
“Please follow what I tell you both to do,” she said quickly. “Mr. Pepito, you stay here until I come back.”
She seized Rose’s hand, and the two girls left the trailer. “Go to your trailer,” Nancy instructed Rose. “Act as if nothing had happened.”
“Where are you going, Nancy?” she cried in fright.
“To hide until I can make some plans.”
Nancy dodged along the rear of the trailers until she came to one from which she could hear no voices. She took a chance that it was vacant and stepped inside. No one was there. The trailer was attractively furnished with handmade rugs and silk hangings.
A blanket thrown over a bed caught her eye. It was a duplicate of the one that had been sent to her! But the warning and the name, H. Bostwick were missing.
“Maybe this is Henrietta Bostwick’s tent,” the girl thought. “Who is she, I wonder?”
In a corner of the trailer stood a trunk. As she wondered if any stolen property might be hidden in it, the girl heard footsteps outside. She quickly hid behind one of the silk drapes.
A woman Nancy had never seen came in. She went at once to the trunk, unlocked it, and from its depths removed two dolls. One was Enid Struthers’ childhood toy. The other was dressed in bridal garments.
“That bride is the doll I’m looking for!” Nancy thought wildly, as she gazed at the lifelike figure of Enid Struthers.
The woman carefully placed the dolls on the nearby bed. Then she left the trailer. Quick as a flash, Nancy came out of hiding. She snatched up the bridal doll, and then in shocked surprise almost let it fall from her hand.
The figure was as warm as a human being!
CHAPTER XIX
The Source-of-Light Doll
HER MOMENTARY fright gone, Nancy stood lost in thought.
“At last I’ve found the doll for Rose!” she told herself. “And I believe I’ve guessed its secret.” Excited, she examined the bridal figure of Enid Struthers. “There’s something inside the doll that has the same energy-giving effect as ‘the sourc
e of light.’ Some kind of ray, some...”
“So,” said an icy voice behind her. “Nancy Drew has learned our secret!”
Nancy whirled to face Nitaka! But the gypsy was not the neatly dressed, tailored woman she had seen on previous occasions. She had carelessly thrown on a gaudy robe and her uncombed hair stood out from her head like a wild animal’s.
“Yes, I have learned your secret,” Nancy agreed. “Now I will go and return this stolen property to its rightful owner.”
“The secret belongs to us gypsies!” Nitaka cried. “No one can take it from us! Put that doll down!”
“No, I won’t. The doll belongs to the daughter of a gypsy,” Nancy countered.
“You mean Rose?” Nitaka laughed wickedly. “She will not need it now. That child will be too busy getting ready for the movies. Then when her grandmother dies....”
As Nancy gasped in horror, the woman added quickly, “Oh, we shall not harm Mrs. Struthers. But she is old, and as soon as she learns Rose is gone from her forever, she will die of a broken heart.”
“Then what will happen?” Nancy asked.
She felt very calm now and sufficiently invigorated to carry on a battle of wits against this woman and all her other gypsy enemies as well. Was it a fantastic idea, or was Nancy’s strength being renewed by the substance inside the figure in her arms?
Nitaka sensed her thoughts and cried out, “Put down that doll!”
Nancy paid no attention. She must play for time until her father could get there. It would take him over two hours to reach the camp.
Then a sinking sensation hit Nancy. Possibly the sleepy cab driver had forgotten to telephone Mr. Drew! Bess and George? Nancy almost hoped they would not find her. She had a strong hunch that the gypsies would not let her go, and if the cousins should come, they might find themselves in the same predicament.
Again Nitaka read Nancy’s mind. “Anyone who gets into the clutches of the great Zorus never leaves,” she said, glaring at the girl. “You are a prisoner, and if you value your life you will work for the Cause ... and gladly!”
“That is how you get your money, isn’t it?” Nancy asked. “By threats. But your game is up, Nitaka. You and Anton and Tony Wassell have stolen all the jewels and valuable objects you are going to!”
Nitaka, her eyes ablaze, sprang forward. The enraged woman’s fingers reached out for Nancy like grasping claws. Nancy dodged and leaped to the door.
The gypsy cried out, “Anton! Anton!”
The man rushed into the trailer and barred the exit. Nitaka said a few frenzied words to him in Romany, which included the name Tony. Then she hurried outside.
Anton smiled evilly at Nancy. “You will be a pretty addition to our tribe, and a clever one,” he said ingratiatingly. “Nitaka has gone to get our king. He will decide what work you will do.”
A moment later old Zorus in his regal robes stepped into the trailer. Nitaka followed.
“Ha! You catch this spy at last!” Zorus cried. “But with this girl as one of us, the path of our caravan will be smooth once more.”
He spoke in Romany for several seconds, shaking his head so violently his long white hair waved to and fro. Then, looking directly at Nancy again, his eyes narrow and calculating, he said, gloating, “A few more years and gypsies will become all powerful. King Zorus will reign in America, and Anton and Nitaka shall be Prince and Princess of all the people!”
Nancy glanced at his gleaming eyes and knew that the man was quite mad. Undoubtedly he had held sway over his people through promises of riches and power if they obeyed, and threats to their lives if they refused.
What was Nancy to do? Try as she did to calm the three gypsies, her words had no effect. Suddenly Zorus raised his arm in command.
“We go. I do not trust this girl. Her friends may come.” More words in Romany, then, “Where we go, she never will be found. Strike out! Pack up! Three cars will go ahead to the mountain hideout. In them will be the three we do not want the police to see!” His laughter sent a chill down Nancy’s spine.
Then he gave further instructions in Romany, and left the trailer with Anton. Nitaka grabbed the doll, told Nancy not to dare leave, and went outside. For a brief instant Nancy thought she might escape. She looked out the window and realized the trailer was completely surrounded by Zorus’s loyal henchmen.
As Nancy’s hopes of help from her father faded, a woman quietly entered the trailer. She looked vaguely familiar.
“Have no fear of me,” she whispered. “I’m a friend. Once, when I heard Zorus say Anton and Nitaka were in New York and were going to send you a wicked present, I went to Hillcrest and phoned you a warning.”
“The doll with the sleeping drug in it?”
“Yes. And after you met Murko, I sent a blanket with a message. I was afraid for you.”
“And you tried to help me when I came to your camp with two girls,” Nancy recalled, now recognizing the woman. “You gave me the clue about ‘gypsy music fills the air.’ But who are you?”
“Can’t you guess?”
“Henrietta Bostwick! But that’s not a gypsy name.”
The woman nodded. “Old Zorus believes me to be one, though. He does not know my maiden name. That was why I left it on the blanket. He thinks that blanket was stolen and that pleases him.”
“Why do you stay here?” Nancy asked in a low voice.
“When I was young I ran away to marry a gypsy,” the woman explained. “I had to be one of them in order to stay with my husband. I darkened my skin and learned the Romany language so his people thought I came from another tribe. When my husband died, I wanted to run away, but I was afraid. Most gypsies are fine people, but there are evil members in this tribe, and they steal from the others. Whenever Zorus and his helpers plan to harm anyone, I do my best to warn them, as I did you.”
Nancy told the woman about finding an album in New York bearing her name, and of the help it had been in piecing bits of the puzzle together. “It was because of the ‘source of light’ quotation.”
“Oh, I wrote that in there one day when I heard Nitaka say it. The album was my mother’s. I kept it with me always,” Henrietta Bostwick said. “But it disappeared and I believe it was sold by Nitaka.”
“Why would Nitaka do this?”
“To raise money. She trades in dolls, too. Sometimes she buys and sells them; other times she steals and sells them.”
“But how did you get the two dolls that belonged to Enid Struthers? Didn’t Nitaka have them?”
“Yes. But I took them to give them to Rose, to whom they belong. I wanted to leave them in her trailer when no one would watch, with a note to hide them and never show them to anyone.”
Henrietta was silent a moment, then she added, “I will help you now if I can, but we must be very careful. Zorus has ordered this trailer watched. I dare remain only a moment.”
“Before you go, tell me about the doll,” Nancy requested.
The woman came very close to the girl, and spoke so softly Nancy could hardly hear her. “Some years ago Romano’s father found a strange substance at faraway Bear Claw Mountain. Though he was old and infirm, he seemed to feel better whenever he carried it with him. He never told anyone about it except Romano and Zorus.
“When he was about to die, he gave it to Romano. It was at the time that Romano married and was banished. Seven years later, Zorus became leader. He had a mad idea of becoming king of America and wanted to live forever. But Romano would not give him the curative substance, nor would he tell where it was. Finally Zorus had him kidnapped, but still he would say nothing. He has been held ever since by Zorus, under the threat that his wife and child would be harmed if he did not stay with the king and work for him.”
“No wonder Enid assumed he had left her,” Nancy said. “Does he know she died?”
“Yes, he found out recently.”
“And through his art, Romano has brought a lot of money to the tribe, hasn’t he?”
“Not to th
e tribe. To Zorus. The king takes everything. He is very clever. It was not until Zorus learned Enid Struthers had died that he sent Romano out to play the violin. By that time Romano had no idea where his daughter was and Zorus would not tell him.”
“But it was because of the threat to Rose’s life that he stayed with the tribe?”
“Yes. Yet, when he heard about Enid’s death he threatened to leave. That’s why Zorus finally demanded that the girl be brought here to keep him happy. But you foiled the first kidnap attempt.”
“Is that why Zorus instructed everyone not to talk to me?”
“Yes, especially people who worked outside the camp, like Murko and Romano. Anton is a good artist. He painted a picture of you and showed it around. But eventually they did get Rose. You know she’s here, don’t you?”
“Yes. That’s part of the reason why I came. But it seemed Romano did not know about his daughter.”
“He has not yet been told. There is to be a ceremony to reunite Rose with her father.”
Nancy changed the subject. “Tell me, how did Zorus find out where Romano had hidden the strange substance?”
“Quite by accident. He sent Nitaka to Enid Struthers with a forged note from Romano saying that he wanted to return to his wife. In proof of her desire to see him, Enid was to send him the precious substance. Enid then gave her the dolL Oh, Nitaka is clever, but wicked.”
A voice from outside the tent suddenly warned that Zorus was returning.
“I must go!” Henrietta Bostwick murmured.
Barely had the woman disappeared when Zorus and four other men came in.
“The girl goes in the first car!” Zorus ordered. “Next Romano. Then the child.”
Struggling, Nancy was carried outside. She was bound and a handkerchief was tied across her mouth. Then she was put down on the floor of a waiting truck, with a blanket thrown over her.
With a sinking heart, Nancy felt the truck begin to move to an unknown destination !
CHAPTER XX
Two Victories
FOR HALF an hour Nancy was tossed about on the floor of the moving truck, before she managed to get herself on top of the blanket. But the vibrations and the handkerchief across her mouth made her feel ill.