Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 20

The seller of Mon Coeur products had not appeared. Even Minnie showed signs of increasing restlessness. She glanced uneasily up and down the street.

"I have a feeling Madame isn't going to show up!" Nancy commented presently, beginning to be fearful her plans would fall through.

"I have the same hunch," Ned remarked.

At nine thirty-five Minnie suddenly lost patience. With an angry exclamation she started away from the hotel, convinced that her employer would not appear. Nancy and Ned sauntered forward and intercepted her.

"Isn't there to be a demonstration?" Nancy inquired innocently.

"I can't give it alone!" the girl snapped. "And I haven't anything to sell. Oh, why didn't Madame show up?"

"Maybe you'll never see her again," suggested Ned.

"I will so! Something must have kept her. I'll go to her home."

"Do you know where Madame lives?" Nancy asked, her heart pounding with excitement.

In reply, Minnie took a paper from her purse and read the address aloud.

"We'll drive you there," Nancy offered.

CHAPTER XIV.

AThreat

DURING the ride to the address where they hoped to find Madame, Minnie kept up a chatter which exhausted both Nancy and Ned. But when they drove up in front of an old, dark house, Minnie became silent.

"It looks as if it's deserted," Ned observed. "You two wait in the car while I find out."

He had been gone over ten minutes when he returned and shook his head.

"No one there?" Nancy asked.

"Only a caretaker. I saw a light in the bas.e.m.e.nt. He has a room there. The owners have gone away for the summer."

"Madame hasn't gone away!" exclaimed Minnie. "I know better than that!"

"Madame is not the owner of the house," Ned corrected. "No such person has ever been here. Madame gave you a false address."

At first Minnie refused to believe the truth. When it finally dawned upon her that she had been tricked, the girl burst into tears. She had no place to go, she declared. Her last dollar had been spent for clothes.

"We could drive you home," Nancy suggested.

"And have my family laugh at me?"

Because she had no choice, Minnie finally consented to being driven to her parents' farm. But as they neared the place, she became more and more fearful of the reception she would receive.

As the car stopped, the door of the farmhouse flew open and Minnie's parents rushed out to see who was in it. When they saw their daughter they cried out happily, and as she stepped from the car Mrs. Glaser took Minnie into her arms.

"Oh, my dear, don't ever go away again!" she sobbed.

Tears flowed freely down Minnie's cheeks, and suddenly she remembered Ned and Nancy.

"These-these people brought me home," she said. "You can thank them."

Mr. Glaser put out a gnarled hand, and his wife wiped her tears and said, "Please excuse me. I've been so upset these past few days I forgot my manners. Thank you kindly for bringing Minnie back." She did not recognize Nancy, who was glad of this.

Nancy and Ned left the Glaser family ecstatic in their reunion. As the couple rode toward Candleton, Nancy became very quiet.

"Worried about something?" Ned asked.

"Just disappointed. I had high hopes for solving part of the mystery tonight, but-"

"But instead, you aided a poor girl who needed help badly, and I admire you for it, Nancy."

After Ned dropped her off at Mrs. Chantrey's, Nancy continued to think about the strange puzzle. The next morning, however, Nancy was her usual cheerful self. With Bess and George she went to the Salsandee Shop early, and helped Mrs. Chantrey arrange garden flowers on the tables and prepare fruit before any of the regular employees arrived. When three of them called in sick, the girls volunteered to stay and help out.

Soon patrons began coming in for breakfast. The first customer to seat himself at one of Nancy's tables was a dwarflike man she had seen in the tearoom before. He gave his order in a gruff voice, then became absorbed in the morning paper.

As Nancy went back and forth from the kitchen, she kept stealing glances at the man. Where else had she seen him? To satisfy herself, she asked Mrs. Chantrey about him.

"I don't know his name," the tearoom owner replied. "He's a rather unfriendly customer. Never so much as says h.e.l.lo, although he comes here regularly. Evidently his wife is an invalid, for he always takes food for her when he leaves."

That night after the shop closed, Mrs. Chantrey invited Nancy, Bess, and George to a concert. The cousins accepted, but Nancy begged off, saying she would rather stay at home because her father might telephone, or even return. June was out and it was very quiet at the house. Nancy picked up a book, but instead of reading it she sat lost in thought.

"Who was that man at the tearoom?" she asked herself over and over again.

Presently a car pulled up outside the house. Thinking her father might have arrived by taxi, Nancy ran to the porch. But she was wrong. A stocky man with a dark mustache and beard alighted, pulling his felt hat low over his eyes. Seeing the girl, he stopped abruptly in the shadows and asked gruffly:

"Are you Nancy Drew?"

"I am."

"Then you're to come with me."

"For what reason, please?" The man's manner had made Nancy suspicious.

"Your father needs you. He's in trouble."

"I think you're lying and I won't go with youl"

"Oh, you won't, eh?" the fellow growled, losing his temper. "Well, listen to me! You and that snooping father of yours! Mind your own business, or it'll be the worse for you both! Understand?"

The stranger advanced toward Nancy. Frightened, she ran into the house, slamming and locking the door. Turning off the lights, she stood behind the living-room draperies and watched the man from the window.

He started toward the door, but changed his mind. He hurried to his parked car and drove away.