Mystery Of The Tolling Bell Part 8

Nancy glanced at the paper. It said, "Your father is not here. Leave at once before you get into trouble."

Nancy wondered what to do. She wished very much to show the message to Ned and ask his advice, but to speak to him would attract attention.

"This is the second time I've been warned," she thought. "I'd be crazy to walk blindly into a trap. I'll call Mrs. Chantrey and see if there's a message from Dad."

Since it seemed unwise to do this in the hotel, Nancy went down the street to a drugstore. Ned followed at a discreet distance. The call was discouraging. No word had come.

Upon returning to the hotel lobby, Nancy started toward the desk. Before she could speak to the clerk, a well-dressed man in a gray suit approached her.

"I am Dr. Warren." The man's manner was flawless, but the expression in his dark eyes disturbed Nancy. "Will you come with me, please?" Instantly the girl was on her guard, suspicious of a trick.

"Why should I?" she inquired, studying the man carefully.

"Your father is very ill upstairs."

"Oh!" The news stunned Nancy, but instantly she wondered if it were true. "Why hasn't he been taken to a hospital?" she asked.

"Your father did not want to be moved."

"Then you were the one who phoned me?"

"No, but I asked the manager to call you. He was leaving on a vacation trip and said that he would have someone else do it. Don't you trust me?"

The question caught Nancy unawares. She did not answer.

"Your silence indicates that you do not believe what I've told you," the man declared. "Suppose I have myself identified at the desk."

"Please," the girl said quickly.

The doctor took her by the arm, guiding her to the hotel desk.

The clerk, a tall, unpleasant-looking man with shifty eyes, was scanning the comic page of a newspaper.

"Hi, Doc!" he greeted the stranger, lowering his paper and staring almost insolently at Nancy.

"I wish you would tell this young lady who I am, Mr. Sloc.u.m," the physician said.

"Sure. You're Dr. Warren."

"Are you satisfied now?" the physician asked. Without giving Nancy an opportunity to question the clerk about her father, he steered her toward the stairway.

"Surely you're not afraid to come with me now?" he asked in an amused tone as she hung back.

The identification was hardly satisfactory, yet Nancy realized that if she accompanied Dr. Warren upstairs, Ned would know where she had gone.

Suddenly Nancy made up her mind that she was being entirely too cautious. "Take me to my father at once!"

As she followed the doctor up the dusty, creaking stairs to a dingy third-floor hall, Nancy wondered if she might not be walking straight into danger.

"It's all so odd," she thought. "Those two calls! Then that strange woman who dropped the note into my lap! Who was she, and why did she tell me my father is not here?"

Nancy followed Dr. Warren down the dark hall. As he paused at a doorway, she could not hide her uneasiness.

"My dear, you really do distrust me," he said.

Nancy was ashamed of her misgivings. "It's only that so many strange things have occurred. For instance-"

"Yes?"

Nancy was still thinking about the woman in the flowered dress who had dropped the warning message into her lap. She decided not to tell him.

"Oh, nothing," she said.

"I'm puzzled about why you are so suspicious of me," said the doctor. Opening the door, he stood aside for Nancy to enter. "You are not walking into a trap," he added rea.s.suringly.

Nancy smiled at him and without hesitation crossed the threshold. Her eyes focused on a walnut bed which had been pulled up near the windows of the small, stuffy room.

"h.e.l.lo, Nancy," a weak but familiar voice greeted her.

She ran to the bedside and grasped her father's pale, limp hand. He looked so changed that his appearance shocked her.

"Dad!" she cried, stooping to kiss his cold, damp forehead. "Oh, what has happened to you?"

"So-glad-you-came, Nancy," he murmured.

He smiled at her, then closed his eyes as if asleep. Badly frightened, Nancy turned questioning eyes upon the doctor.

"Your father's case is most puzzling," he said in an undertone. "After he was found practically unconscious by one of the hotel maids, the manager called me here to examine him."

"How did my father come to this hotel, Doctor?" Nancy asked.

"By taxi, I was told. Apparently he was ill when he arrived. I questioned him, but he insisted that he did not wish to talk about it until you came."

"Why didn't someone get in touch with me sooner?" Nancy demanded.

The physician shrugged. "I wasn't called in until this afternoon," he replied. "When your father asked to see you, I inquired what the phone number was and asked the manager to contact you immediately."

"Has Dad been in this drowsy state ever since the maid found him?"

"Oh no. At times he rallies strongly, then has a relapse."

Mr. Drew's eyes fluttered open and he gazed steadily at Nancy as she knelt beside him.

"I must talk to you-alone," the lawyer said to his daughter.

Dr. Warren picked up his black bag from the dresser. "If you need me, I can be reached by phone at 424-3800," he told Nancy. "Your father may remain strong and able to talk for several hours. If he has another sinking spell, call me at once." Nancy nodded.

She asked how much they owed for his services and paid him. After the doctor had gone, Nancy returned to the bedside. To her alarm, her father tried to raise himself to a sitting position.