Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 26

"Oh!" murmured Nancy, unable to hide her disappointment. "Then that means we must leave the case entirely to the police."

"Not unless you've lost interest." He smiled and winked.

"Oh, Dad! You know how much solving the mystery means to me! I hope Tyrox and his pals are still around here."

"I hope so, too, Nancy. We're not letting it be known that Madame has been caught. In fact, we planted information that she went back to the vicinity of Candleton. I believe she and Harry Tyrox work hand in glove, and he'll trail her there. I'd like to have you stay at Candleton a few days longer to keep in touch with the situation."

The next morning Mr. Drew took an early plane for River Heights. He had barely left when Nancy asked Bess and George if they would go out to Bald Head Cliff with her again.

"And have you go to sleep?" Bess exclaimed. "I should say not! Anyway I promised Mrs. Chantrey I'd help her unpack a lot of gifts which arrived yesterday."

Nancy finally prevailed upon George to make the trip by promising to drive to the cliff and to keep away from the cave.

"But I thought you were supposed to stay around here to catch Harry Tyrox who is posing as Monsieur Pappier and Mr. James," George reminded her friend.

"I am. Dad and the police set a trap to get him back to Candleton to look up Madame, but they don't think Tyrox will come out of hiding until nightfall. Meanwhile, I'd like to work on the mystery of the tolling bell."

"How do you expect to accomplish that on top of the cliff?"

"I think there may be some connection between the ghost in the cave and the disappearance of the Maguires. Another thing. I've been giving a lot of thought to the queer dream I had while lying on the cliff. I've decided one of those little elves may have been Grumper-the very short man A. H. told me about. A. H. said he thought Grumper was around Candleton."

"And you believe he's the ghost and lives in the cave with a tolling bell and sends up fumes through the rocks!" Bess exclaimed. "Really, Nancy, I think this time you're going pretty far out with your ideas!"

"Maybe," the young detective conceded.

She refused to say more, but could not get the strange happenings on the cliff out of her mind.

"The answer may lie in the Maguires' deserted home," she decided. "Anyway, I'm going to look for a clue there."

Nancy drove with George to the footpath which led to the cliff, and parked. The girls walked the rest of the way to the abandoned house, gazing about in all directions to find out if they had been seen. Apparently no one was nearby.

"This place does have a spooky look," George said uneasily as they went up to the door.

Nancy pushed it open. Everything appeared exactly as she had seen it before. The moldy, cobwebby food was on the dining-room table, and a dust-covered chair stood at each end.

"I never saw such thick cobwebs in all my life!" George muttered.

A worn Bible on a marble-topped table caught Nancy's attention. She blew off the dust, then slowly turned the pages until she came to the family birth and death records.

"This is what I had hoped to find!" she exclaimed, and pointed to a notation in ink. "Amy's marriage is recorded here. Oh!"

"Now what, Nancy?"

"Amy married a man named Ferdinand Sloc.u.m! Why, Sloc.u.m is the name of the hotel clerk at Fisher's Cove."

"But Sloc.u.m is a rather common name. He may not be the same person."

"True," Nancy acknowledged. "Let's see what else we can find."

The other records were of no interest to Nancy, but she did find among the pages of the Bible a letter which had been written by Amy to her parents. Obviously it was sent two years ago, soon after her runaway marriage. In the letter she disrespectfully referred to her mother and father as being far behind the times.

"Maybe I don't love Ferdie," she had written flippantly, "but he's a prominent hotelman and we'll have a lot of fun together. Ferdie is a man of the world. He's a big businessman, not like those boys at Candleton who only think about following the sea. I'll write again after Ferdie and I are settled in our own hotel."

"I'll bet they never were in any better one than the Fisher's Cove Hotel," George declared.

"This note explains a number of things about the Maguires that baffled me," Nancy said elatedly. "George, the pieces of our mystery puzzle are falling into place!"

"Find anything else of interest?" George asked.

"Yes, here's something!" Nancy exclaimed an instant later.

George, however, did not hear her, for she had made an important discovery of her own. "Nancy, look at these cobwebs on the table!" she exclaimed. "They're not attached to anything!"

"Not spun there, you mean?" Nancy stepped to the table to look. "You're right. Someone is using this cottage as a hideout!"

"But why would anyone go to so much work just to make this place look weird and abandoned?" George asked. "We ought to call the police!"

"I agree with you." Nancy spoke quietly as she stooped to pick up a torn sheet of paper from the floor.

"What's that?" her friend asked.

"Mr. Hendrick's torn note that was stolen from the Salsandee Shop!" Nancy replied.

George started to cross the room to see the paper. But as she took a step, a masculine voice directly behind the two girls said coldly:

"Don't make a move, either of you! Put up your hands and march straight ahead!"

At the command, Nancy did not turn around. As she slowly raised her hands, she saw in a dusty wall mirror the reflection of the dark-haired man who had given the terse order.

He was a small person of elfin appearance. Instantly she recognized him as the man who came frequently to the Salsandee Shop-one of the elves in her dream.

"Step lively and don't try to turn around," he snapped.

Perhaps the man held a weapon, but Nancy could see none in the mirror. She decided to take a chance. Whirling around, she swung her arm directly into his startled face, causing him to lose his balance. As he stumbled backward, Nancy gave him a push, and over he went! From his hand fell a telescope!

Instantly the two girls followed up their advantage. George plumped herself on the man's chest and held his arms. Nancy searched him but found no weapon.

"What was the idea of frightening us?" George demanded. "Are you the owner of this house?"

"No, but you have no right here!"

"Have you?" Nancy questioned.

"Yes!" was the surprising answer.

"Suppose you explain some things," Nancy demanded. "Who put moldy food in the dishes and covered them with cobwebs to make it appear the house was abandoned?"

The man looked frightened but refused to reply.