The Clue Of The Tapping Heels Part 17

Nancy went out to the big room and sat down to think. She was certain there must be another opening into the bas.e.m.e.nt.

George came to stand in front of her friend. "Let's face it. The tapper is really cool. Why don't we forget him and just try to find out why he was tapping?"

Nancy stood up and said she would get the small stepladder from the kitchen. She was back in a couple of minutes and set it under the spot from where the tapping had come.

George, meanwhile, had found a hammer. She handed it to Nancy who began to tap for hollow places in the ceiling.

"There are a lot of deep dents in the wood," she remarked, "but I don't hear any hollow sounds."

"Probably," said George, "the man was tapping to attract your attention and just goading you on to hunt for him."

"But why?" Nancy asked.

"That's a good question," George replied.

Nancy moved the stepladder a few feet and tapped again on the ceiling. In a moment her eyes lighted up. "George, I've found something!"

George held the flashlight toward the spot. "See any opening or cracks?" she asked hopefully.

"No, but I think this beam moves. Climb up here with me and see if we can budge it."

The two girls pushed and pulled on the beam.

"Is it my imagination," George said presently, "or did this move a teeny bit?"

"I think it did," Nancy replied. "Let's pull harder."

Nancy and George tugged so hard that both of them lost their balance and were forced to jump to the floor. Before they had a chance to climb the ladder again, they were interrupted by Bess. She called down frantically from the top of the stairway.

"Come here quick!"

Nancy and George dashed to the kitchen. Bess was already running out the back door. The other girls followed.

"What's up?" George queried.

Bess pointed. Mrs. Bealing and Hannah Gruen were bending over an unconscious man, who was face down in the driveway!

CHAPTER XIII.

Empty!

GENTLY the women turned the man over onto his back. Nancy and the others gasped.

"He's Fred Buncel" Bess exclaimed. "Oh, I hope he's not badly hurt!"

"We'd better call Mrs. Bunce," Nancy said at once.

She hurried to the back door and rang the bell. There was no answer and Nancy began to worry that something might have happened to Mrs. Bunce also.

"But perhaps she's only a heavy sleeper," Nancy told herself, and pounded more loudly than before. In a moment Mrs. Bunce looked out a second-floor window.

"Who's there?" she asked. "What's the idea of waking people in the middle of the night?"

Quickly Nancy explained about her husband. The woman gasped and said she would be right down. When she saw Mr. Bunce lying in the driveway, she began to cry loudly and wring her hands.

"Oh, he's dead! Somebody's killed him!" she shrieked.

Hannah Gruen spoke up. "Your husband isn't dead. He's just unconscious. I think we'd better carry him into the house, and if he doesn't revive soon, we'll call a doctor."

In the meantime Mrs. Bealing had made a cursory examination and said that the victim had a swelling on the back of his head.

"He either fell or something hit him," she declared.

To herself Nancy said, "Or somebody hit him."

She noticed that Mr. Bunce was fully dressed. Had he been out and just returning home?

"And why," thought Nancy, "is he in Miss Carter's driveway?"

As Bess and George carried the unconscious man into the Bunces's living room and laid him on the couch, Nancy said to his wife, "I'm sure your husband will be all right. Tell me, why did he go outside?"

"I don't know. He went to bed when I did and I didn't hear him get up."

"What was his reason for getting fully dressed?" Nancy asked herself.

Mrs. Bealing and Hannah Gruen gave the man first-aid, while his wife paced up and down the living room muttering to herself and sobbing.

"Do you want to call your doctor," Nancy said, "or would you rather have us take your husband to the hospital?"

"Oh, no, not yet," the woman replied quickly. "He seems to be coming around."

In a few minutes Mr. Bunce revived. He looked at his audience rather bleary-eyed. Then, as his vision cleared, he frowned deeply.

"How did I get here?" he asked, staring into the faces of his neighbors.

Nancy explained about the girls finding him unconscious in the driveway.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"I got hit on the head."

"By whom?"

"I don't know," Mr. Bunce answered. "Someone came up behind me. I'm all right now and I've got a headache. I'll thank all of you to go."

"We will," Nancy replied. "But before we leave, will you tell us if you have any idea who hit you?"