The Clue Of The Tapping Heels Part 5

"Oh dear!" The housekeeper sighed. "Nancy, you just seem to go from one dangerous adventure to another. What did this man want?"

Nancy managed a wan smile. "He said I have some secrets he has to have and he'll be right over to get them."

Hannah Gruen bristled. "He will, will he? Well, we'll not let him in! And that's final!"

Nancy hugged the housekeeper. "I won't argue with you, but I would like to know who he is."

"Never mind about that," Hannah said firmly. "We'll pull down all the shades so he can't look in."

Nancy puckered her lips. "And you won't even let me take a peek to see who he is?"

"Not even a peek. Let him think he has the wrong house or anything else he wants to figure out."

"I'll leave everything to you," Nancy said with a little smile. "Now I'm going for a nice warm shower and get ready for the rehearsal."

She had just started dressing when the front doorbell rang. No one answered. It rang again.

Nancy waited to see what Hannah would do. She remained resolute in her resolve. The caller pushed the b.u.t.ton for the third time and kept his finger on the bell. It rang for a whole minute, then finally the person gave up.

"Just the same I wish I knew who that was," Nancy thought.

She finished dressing and came downstairs to help Hannah with the dinner. As Nancy pa.s.sed through the front hall, the telephone rang. Was the man with the high squeaky voice calling again?

"I'd better answer, anyway," Nancy decided. "It might be Dad and he'll be worried if he gets no answer."

Nancy picked up the phone and said h.e.l.lo in a low voice.

"Nancy?" Then the caller went on, "Remember me? I'm supposed to have a date with you tonight to take you to the rehearsal."

"Ned!" Nancy shouted. The relief in her voice as well as her delight were very evident to Ned Nickerson, an Emerson College student and star football player, whom she dated frequently.

"What's going on?" he asked. "I arrived early and rang and rang your bell but n.o.body would let me in. I'm at your neighbor's, Mrs. Humphrey. She was sure something awful must have happened to you."

Nancy laughed. "I'm perfectly all right and so is Hannah. Come on over and I'll tell you why the shades are down and we wouldn't let anybody in."

"Okay. I'll do a little staccato on your doorbell so you'll know who it is."

Within five minutes the handsome, dark-haired Ned walked in. "Can't wait to hear the reason for all this secrecy," he said after greeting Nancy warmly.

When Ned heard about the demand made by the mysterious caller he became alarmed. "Nancy, if this ties in with a new mystery of yours, don't you think you should give it up?"

When Nancy did not answer, Ned shrugged. "I suppose there's no use asking you that. Well, where does the mystery stand now?"

While she was telling him about the ghostly tapper and the cat thief, she kept wondering if the strange caller would arrive. But another half-hour went by and he did not appear.

Finally Nancy chuckled. "Ned, I believe you kept that other man away from here. Thanks a lot."

The couple heard Mr. Drew's key in the front door and soon afterward everyone was seated at the dinner table. Hannah had prepared a delicious meal of roast lamb, peas, and raspberry tarts.

Conversation was almost entirely about the mystery. When Nancy and Ned were ready to leave the house to attend the rehearsal, Mr. Drew suggested that the two exchange cars after they returned home. He added, "It might keep that man in the black sedan off your trail, Nancy."

"Glad to do it, Mr. Drew," Ned said, and Nancy nodded in agreement.

"Another thing, Nancy," her father said. "Whenever you leave this house, I want you to wear dark gla.s.ses and a scarf that completely covers your head. It may be an unnecessary precaution, but please do it for me." Nancy kissed her father and went upstairs to get a scarf and sungla.s.ses.

When she and Ned reached the high school auditorium where the rehearsal was to be held, Ned seated himself about halfway down the center aisle. Nancy went up the steps that led to the stage.

Several members of the cast were rushing around, some mumbling their lines to themselves, others reading from the script. The orchestra was tuning up and the director was giving last-minute instructions to the actors and actresses.

The play was a variety show with a thin thread of plot running through it. Nancy was to appear three times in tap numbers; once in the first act in a dialogue with a young man. In the second she would dance with a group of girls. First each one would perform an intricate step, then dance together.

Just before the finale, in which everyone would sing, Nancy was to perform her solo.

The director, Mr. s.k.a.n.k, was very exacting. By the time the first act had been rehea.r.s.ed over and over, nearly two hours had gone by.

"We'll be here all night," complained a girl standing near Nancy.

"It looks so. But I hope not. A friend of mine is waiting for me. Poor boy! He has a long drive after he takes me home. Maybe the second act will go faster."

It was not long before the group of dancers came onstage and one by one the girls began to perform their numbers. Soon it would be Nancy's turn.

She glanced out into the auditorium just in time to see Ned leave his seat hurriedly. Her eyes followed him up the aisle and into the corridor. As Ned emerged into the hallway, a pudgy man jumped him and shot a well-aimed blow at Ned's jaw!

CHAPTER V.

Mysterious Key

"Miss Drew, what's the matter?" Mr. s.k.a.n.k cried out. "It's your turn. Dance!"

Nancy paid no attention. She dashed across the stage, leaped down the steps, and ran up the center aisle of the auditorium to the main corridor.

As she burst through the door and looked down the hallway, she recognized Ned's a.s.sailant as the pudgy man who had followed her in the black sedan.

He was reeling from a blow Ned had delivered, but the man retaliated with a swift punch that staggered Ned. Seeing Nancy, the intruder ran out the front door.

She hurried after him, but by the time Nancy had covered the distance to the outside of the building, he was not in sight. She knew it was hopeless to try finding him and disappointedly returned to the corridor.

"Ned, what happened?" she asked. "And are you all right?"

He smiled grimly. "Yes. That fellow sure delivers a mean uppercut," he said.

Nancy asked Ned why he had left the auditorium so hurriedly. He said that a boy had come down the aisle and handed him a hand-printed note. Ned pulled it from his pocket and gave it to Nancy to read.

You are to get out of the picture. Nancy Drew has another steady now. Come to the corridor and you will find out.

"Of course I went to see what it was all about," Ned explained. "That pudgy guy let go with a punch and knocked me off balance. But what brought you to the corridor?"