Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 13

"So it was a.s.sumed, because for many years on moonlight nights other workers reported seeing his ghost walking on the water not far from the foundry."

"And you believe the story?" George asked.

"Many persons vouched for the tale. The ghost finally disappeared, and it was said he went back to the cave."

A. H. then added with a quick change back to the present, "I'd like to get my hands on that bell inside Bald Head Cave!"

"Please don't try," Nancy requested. "It's too dangerous."

"Let's go home," Bess proposed. "This place makes me feel uneasy."

"I have something I want to do first," said Nancy, staring speculatively at the cliff. "Who wants to go exploring?"

"I for one," George replied promptly.

Mr. Hendrick declined. "I haven't enough of the goat in me to climb around rocks. You girls go along. I'll stay and watch the boat."

Bess was glad of an excuse to avoid the expedition and remained with A. H.

"Don't let the ghost get you," George said jokingly as she and Nancy stripped off shoes and socks before wading ash.o.r.e.

Soon the two girls reached the rocky beach. There they put on their shoes again, and started up the cliff. Reaching the top they admired the view and waved to Bess and A. H. in the boat.

"I climbed up here a much easier way the day we nearly drowned in the cave," Nancy said. "Want to see where I had that remarkable dream?"

"So that's why we came," George needled.

"I'm curious to find out how the place looks, now that I have my wits about me."

Without difficulty Nancy spotted the general location where she had slept.

"I can't figure out how you reached the road from here," George commented. "If you walked in your sleep you were lucky you didn't fall off the cliff and kill yourself."

"I think so, too," Nancy said soberly.

The girls looked about, seeking a trail which would lead to the road. Suddenly George stumbled into a crevice between the rocks, severely twisting her ankle. Though she tried to walk, it was evident she could go no farther without great pain.

"I'll wait here," she decided. "You go on by yourself, Nancy."

Nancy hesitated, but George, who knew her friend wanted to do some exploring, would not permit her to give up the expedition.

Nancy went on alone, directing her steps toward a weather-beaten cottage nestled against high rocks. She did not recall seeing it the first time she was on the cliff, probably because of the drowsy state she was in that day.

"Some tragedy must have occurred here!" Nancy thought.

"What a lonesome place for anyone to live!" she reflected. "No trees. No garden. And it must be cold and windy in the winter."

Impulsively Nancy decided to call on the occupants. It was not until she was quite near the cottage that it suddenly occurred to her the men whose voices she had heard might live there.

But Nancy could not resist the temptation to investigate the house. It was so neglected looking that she decided the place was deserted. The curtains at the windows looked very soiled. A painted rocker stood on the porch, dust-covered and faded. It swayed gently to and fro in the wind.

Nancy went to the door and knocked several times. No one answered. Convinced that the house was vacant, she tried the door. Finding it had no lock, she lifted the latch and went inside.

What Nancy saw caused her to draw in her breath sharply. Chills raced down her spine.

A dining table which stood in the center of the room was set with two places. Food lay on the plates. But the food was moldy and covered with cobwebs. A chair stood precisely at each place, as though the occupants had gone away suddenly just before sitting down to the meal. "Some tragedy must have occurred here!" Nancy thought. "And not recently, either. The owners evidently left the cottage in a hurry and never returned. But why?"

The young detective peered into the other rooms and saw further evidence that the former tenants had fled quickly.

"It's strange they never came back to remove the furniture," she mused.

Deeply impressed, Nancy left quietly, carefully closing the outside door so that it would not bang back and forth in the wind. Reflecting upon the strange appearance of the house inside, she made her way slowly across the cliff. Midway to the spot where she had left George, Nancy was startled to hear a shout from below.

"That was Bess!" Nancy said to herself. "What has happened?"

She started to run. Out of breath and thoroughly frightened, Nancy reached the spot where George was standing.

"What is it?" she cried. "What's wrong?"

George answered by pointing toward the bay. The motorboat, with only A. H. aboard, was chugging off rapidly toward Candletonl

CHAPTER X.

A Puzzling Disappearance

"WHAT'S the matter with A. H.?" George cried furiously. "He can't go off and leave us stranded here!"

"Maybe he can't, but that's exactly what he's doing!" Nancy replied.

She cupped her hands and called to the elderly man. If he heard her, he gave no sign.

From some distance below, Bess also was shouting and waving. It seemed incredible that A. H. could not hear them.

"He's going off and leaving us on purposel" George said bitterly.

Both girls knew that to be left alone on the cliff was a serious matter. There were no boats, and the nearest inhabited house was a long distance down the road. George, with an injured ankle, could not walk very far.

They watched, hopeful that the motorboat would turn and come back for them. Instead, it kept on steadily toward Candleton. Soon it was a mere speck on the water.

"There's only one thing to do," Nancy said. "I'll go for help."

"Where?"

"If necessary, to that house where I stopped the other day. Perhaps there's a cottage closer."