Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 31

"The Maguires are taking her back," Nancy replied. "Mother Mathilda phoned me a little while ago. They're all returning to the cottage in a few days-which reminds me, we should go there this minute!"

"But why?" Bess asked in surprise. "All the gang have been caught."

"True, but the mystery of the cave is only half solved. Mr. Hendrick recovered the jeweled bell from Grumper. But we know it wasn't his bell that frightened people away from the place. Another bell must be somewhere in the cave. I intend to find out!" Nancy sprang to her feet. "Anyone going with me?"

"How about me?" inquired a voice from the driveway.

Turning quickly, the girls saw Ned Nickerson approaching the porch. It was his last day in Candleton, and Bess and George generously declined an invitation to ride with the couple to the Maguire home.

"Why this trip?" Ned asked. "Anything special?"

"I want to clear away the moldy food and cobwebs Tyrox and his men left there. The Maguires would be shocked. And I'd like to find the tolling bell."

At the deserted cottage the two spent an hour cleaning away the debris. Then Nancy looked at her watch. "The tide won't come in for a while. We can make a complete investigation of the cave."

Ned chuckled. "I came prepared! I have a gasoline lantern in the car, and it gives off a brilliant light. We'll really be able to see what's down there."

He went for it and Nancy found two blocks of wood to prop open the secret doors.

The cosmetic factory bore only a faint trace of fumes. Pa.s.sing through it quickly, Nancy and Ned went down the stone steps to the bottom of the cave. With the tide out, it was possible to walk on the ledge to the entrance.

Nancy turned the other way, however, and asked Ned to focus the light in that direction. Almost at once she found the gaping hole through which the water rushed in at high tide. To Ned's astonishment, she reached her arm far back into the gap.

"What are you looking for?" he demanded.

Nancy did not answer, but a moment later she asked his help to pull out a rusty, corroded bell. As it swung slowly, a doleful tolling echoed in the cave.

"The warning bell!" Ned exclaimed. "How did you know it was hidden back there?"

"I didn't, but I got to thinking about the story of the pirates and the loot they hid here."

"Yes, but the bell never rang until recently," Ned protested. "How can you explain that?"

"My guess is that at the time the pirates hid their loot in this cave, the opening was very small and only a little water trickled through when the tide came in. Perhaps they placed the bell where it would be tapped lightly when water struck it, and they'd know the tide had changed.

"But as the years went on, the waves carved a wider opening, and more and more water poured into the cave. And just recently the violent action of the waves has caused the bell to toll loudly enough to be heard outside the cave."

"That bell must be very old," Ned commented. "Maybe it has been in this cave since Revolutionary War years."

"I'm sure of it, Ned." Nancy peered at the trademark, then excitedly she said, "This is a Paul Revere bell! Just what A. H. said he was looking for! I should like to keep it. A. H. said yesterday he wanted to reward me for recovering the jeweled bell. This bell is reward enough for me."

"No one could dispute your claim to it but the pirates!" Ned chuckled as he took the bell. He carried it up the stone stairway, through the laboratory, and up to the cottage.

"It must have been very exciting in the old days," Nancy said wistfully. "How I wish I could have been here to solve a mystery when the cave was a pirates' hideout!"

"Mysteries!" Ned exclaimed, turning out the lantern. "Haven't you had enough of them?"

Nancy was sure she never would have. Soon an intriguing invitation would involve her in another baffling mystery, The Clue in the Old Alb.u.m.

"Anyway," said Ned, "there's one puzzle I wish you would solve for me."

"What's that?"

"Why you always change the subject when I try to talk to you about something that isn't a bit mysterious!"

Nancy smiled and said, "Ned, someday I'll promise to listen."

end.