Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 28

Disregarding George's protests, Nancy beamed the light ahead and slowly descended the narrow steps.

She moved deeper into the dark pa.s.sageway below and her light could not be seen from the doorway. George waited with growing uneasiness. Finally she could not endure the suspense any longer.

"Nancy!" she called softly. No answer. "I'm going down!" she determined.

On the old buffet stood an antique candlestick with a half-burned candle. Beside it lay a packet of matches. George lighted the candle, and holding it before her, descended the steps.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she groped her way along the pa.s.sageway until she glimpsed a closed door a short distance ahead. Again George called to Nancy, but there was no reply. Just then her light flickered violently and went out. George had no way to relight the candle. She chided herself for not bringing the matchbook.

As she was about to turn back, George suddenly became aware of footsteps. The tread seemed too heavy to be Nancy's!

George flattened herself into a deep niche in the wall. A figure and the dim rays of a flashlight pa.s.sed close by her. Moments later a tall man was silhouetted in the doorway at the top of the stairs. He went through and closed the door behind him.

George stumbled up the stairway and tested the door. Her worst fears were confirmed. It was locked! She and Nancy were prisoners underneath the cottage!

In desperation George kicked and pounded on the door, shouting to be released. There was no response.

"That man, whoever he is, has probably left the house," she thought. "Oh, I must find Nancy!"

Remembering the door in the pa.s.sageway, George groped her way down again. At her touch the door moved inward.

George could see nothing, for the room was dark, but she did note a strange sweet scent. As she breathed deeply, a dizzy, giddy feeling took possession of her.

"Why, Nancy had these sensations just before she fell asleep on the cliff!" George recalled. "I'm being drugged!"

With all the strength she could muster, George pulled the door tightly shut. She felt so weak her limbs barely could carry her away. Through sheer will power she stumbled along the pa.s.sageway and up the stairs to the locked door. Dropping to the floor, she pressed her face close to the crack underneath and sucked in great gulps of uncontaminated air.

At once George felt better. Then, as she realized how narrowly she had escaped being drugged, a feeling of panic for Nancy's safety came over her.

"I'll have to do something!" George thought desperately. "But what? Oh, why doesn't Ned come?"

At that moment Nancy was indeed in need of help. After leaving George, she had reached the closed door in the pa.s.sageway and cautiously opened it.

A dim light burned overhead in the room, revealing a strange sight. Shelves along the walls were filled with bottles, vials, and flasks of colored liquid. There were large quant.i.ties of perfume, lipstick, and face powder.

"The cosmetic factory!" Nancy thought excitedly as she closed the door. Her gaze roved to a table on which lay scattered samples of both Mon Coeur and the newer Sweet Chimes labels. Hanging above the door was a gong.

At that instant Nancy became aware of men's low voices. Expecting them to come through the pa.s.sageway door, she frantically sought a hiding place. Several wooden benches which stood against a wall offered the only possibility. Quickly she crawled underneath one.

Nancy had just hidden herself when she heard the voices again. To her alarm the sounds seemed to come from behind the very wall where she crouched!

One of the men said, "I'll go join Franz on watch, but you have your orders, Grumper! I arranged for that old fool Amos Hendrick to come to the cave. All you have to do is get his money, and if you're wise you'll keep him there until the tide comes in. Then send him out in his boat. After that, you race up the stairway and escape."

Crouching beneath the bench, Nancy was startled to hear a key turning and to see that close by, another bench was slowly moving inward! Evidently it was attached to a secret door which now was being opened by the approaching men.

A rush of cool air struck the young detective's face. As she remained motionless, the door with the bench opened wider and two men, one with a lighted lantern, tramped in. Nancy caught a quick glimpse of descending stone steps, and guessed that they led directly to the interior of the tolling-bell cave.

One of the men was exceptionally short with fuzzy red hair. He had an unpleasant expression. Nancy was certain he must be A. H.'s old enemy, Grumper. From her position she could not see the other man's face, but his stocky figure was like that of Harry Tyrox, alias Monsieur Pappier and Mr. James! He carried a lantern.

Nancy listened intently to their conversation. Suddenly she heard George's echoing shout from the pa.s.sageway.

"Nancy! Nancy! Where are you?"

The two men stiffened.

"Get to work, Grumper!" the stocky one ordered in a whisper. "We have visitors. Franz must've tried to signal us. Something has happened to him!"

Grumper pulled a bottle of blue powder from one of the wall shelves, and with a little water he quickly mixed it into a solution. Dividing the liquid equally into two containers, he jammed one of them into a tiny niche in the stone ceiling and left the other standing uncovered on the floor.

"Now I'll take care of Hendrick!" he said.

"Good!" the other replied. "I'll go out through the cave and up to the cliff."

"But whatever happened to Franz may happen to you!"

"No one is going to interfere with my plans," the taller man declared emphatically.

He extinguished the overhead light. Nancy watched as the two slipped through the door by which they had entered and closed it behind them.

"I must follow and help A. H.," she decided.

But as Nancy crawled from beneath the bench, a sweet-smelling scent began to fill the room. She became light-headed.

"The drug!" she thought in panic. "Unless I get out of here quickly, I'll never make it!"

The door through which Nancy had entered seemed miles away from her. In her stupor she believed that her only escape was through the bench door the men had used. Could she move it?

Using all her strength, she tugged at the bench. It would not budge. Feeling so dizzy that she scarcely knew what she was doing, Nancy made another desperate attempt to turn the handle and yank the bench door forward.

"Oh, please open!" she whispered. "Please!"

Suddenly it moved inward. Nancy staggered through and closed the door. Then she collapsed on the stone steps.

It was several minutes before her head cleared enough for her to think. The flashlight had fallen from her hand. After groping about in the darkness, Nancy recovered it and focused the rays upon the dial of her wrist.w.a.tch.

"Only ten minutes until the tide is due to turn!" she thought. "Where is Grumper? If he carries out his orders, Amos Hendrick will surely drown!"

Without considering her own safety, Nancy started to descend the steep stairway to the cave. When halfway down, she heard the tinkle of a beautiful, sweet-toned bell. Switching off the flashlight, she paused. Below she saw a flash of brilliant light.

Making no sound, Nancy swiftly went down the rest of the steps. She came to a pa.s.sageway that veered to the right. As the young detective rounded the corner she saw a white-hooded figure standing on the ledge inside the cave. The ghost was swinging a small bell which gave a sweet, musical sound.

"Just as I thought!" Nancy told herself as she hugged the damp wall to keep from being seen. "This is the interior of the tolling-bell cave! And that ghost can be only one person-Grumper!"

As the bell swung back and forth, it gave off flashes of iridescent fire. Only priceless diamonds could provide such a rainbow of colors!

"The stolen Hendrick heirloom!" Nancy thought excitedly. But at the same time she realized that it could not be the tolling bell. "That has a much bigger, deeper sound!"

Suddenly she heard the splash of oars. Someone in a boat had ventured deep into the cavern. Was the person Amos Hendrick, or perhaps one of the Mon Coeur gang? Glancing nervously at her watch, Nancy waited.