The Clue Of The Whistling Bagpipes Part 7

"He must be Mr. Dewar," Nancy thought. The others met her in the lobby and she told them of her discovery. The stranger was not around.

"You may be on a completely wrong trail, Nancy," Mr. Drew said. "I advise you not to jump to conclusions about this man. I'm going to start on my business conferences this afternoon. Why don't you girls rent a car and do some sightseeing?"

"All right," Nancy agreed. "Where do you suggest that we go?"

"How about asking the head porter? He'll know the interesting spots and can give you the name of a rental agency. Perhaps he'll even engage a car for you and have it brought to the door."

After her father had left, Nancy approached the porter's desk. She made her request and the man said he would be very glad to make the arrangements. He asked Nancy to wait while he telephoned about hiring a small car.

"Do you have an international driver's license?" the porter asked.

"Yes."

He telephoned to an agency which promised to deliver a small car to the hotel within half an hour.

"Have you ever been to Loch Lomond?" the porter asked the girls. Learning that they had not, he said he would recommend visiting the loch as a highlight of their tour. "On the way," the man added, "I suggest a stop at the University of Glasgow, which is old and famous. And take your raincoats. Scotland's weather is apt to change quickly."

The porter brought out a map and penciled directions before handing it to Nancy.

"I hope you have a good time," he said. "And don't forget the left-side-of-the-road driving."

Nancy a.s.sured him she would be very careful. Half an hour later the three girls were in the car and setting off for the university. The campus was extensive and the gray stone buildings impressive. They were very symmetrical, with a fine balance of towers.

Nancy finally drove out of the city and found the road to Loch Lomond. When they reached the country area, Bess exclaimed, "What a lovely landscape! Don't you adore those bushy hedges? Nancy, stop! I want to see what they are."

Nancy pulled to the side of the road. "They're rose brier and hawthorn," she said. "They must be beautiful when they're in bloom."

She drove on and presently George noticed some monkey puzzle trees and remarked on their twisted, interwoven limbs. "How spa.r.s.e their foliage is, compared to the oaks and elms!"

"Speaking of monkeys, Nancy, we haven't had any real bad luck on this trip," Bess said. "Maybe we should thank that monkey pin Ned gave you."

All three girls laughed, but suddenly worried looks came over their faces.

"Look out, Nancy!" George warned. "That car coming toward us is on the wrong side of the road! The driver must be an American!"

Nancy honked her horn wildly, but the driver paid no attention. Nancy was trying to decide what to do. If she stayed where she was, there would certainly be an accident. But if she moved to the opposite side of the road, the other driver might suddenly do the same thing!

Bess was terrified. She shrieked, "That man's going to crash into us!"

CHAPTER VI.

Houseboat Victims

THE oncoming driver seemed to have no intention of moving to the other side of the road.

"I'll have to pull off!" Nancy concluded quickly. In a split second she deliberately plowed into a hedge and stopped. At almost the same moment the stranger yanked his steering wheel, swerving his small, closed car into his left lane.

As he whizzed past the girls, the man held his right hand up in such a way that it shielded his face.

"He's crazy!" George said angrily.

"Not so crazy that he'd let us see who he is," Bess stormed.

Nancy sat still without saying a word. She had not yet recovered from her fright. Ruefully she looked out the window at the ruined section of hedge.

"I suppose I'll have to pay for the damage,"

Nancy thought, and turned to look back at the house they had just pa.s.sed. It was a small, quaint stone structure with an arched entranceway.

Bess and George were still talking about the near accident. George had tried to get the license number of the other car, but had caught only part of it: GB-2.

By this time Nancy had recovered her equilibrium, and now speculated on the ident.i.ty of the driver who had tried to ram them.

Suddenly Bess spoke up. "Nancy! Remember that threatening note with the Scotch plaid? Do you think this could be another attempt to damage a car of yours?"

"It could very well be," Nancy agreed. "Even if that driver was on the wrong side of the road by mistake, my horn should have warned him."

At that moment the door of the stone house opened and a woman of about fifty bustled up to the girls. She was rather plump, had high color in her cheeks, and her black hair was pulled straight back with a knot at the nape of her neck. Her expression was severe but not unfriendly.

Immediately Nancy and her friends stepped from the car. Nancy introduced the three, and the woman said she was Mrs. Gilmer.

"I'm dreadfully sorry this happened," Nancy told her apologetically. "Actually it was not my fault. I had to avoid a bad accident." She told about the oncoming driver and how he had swerved at the last moment. Tire marks in the road attested her statement. "I will be very glad to pay for the damage, however."

The woman's expression changed to one of kindness. "Nae, nae, I'm just glad ye're all safe." She went into a tirade about drivers that raced up and down this stretch of road "as if Tam o' Shanter's witch was after them." The girls smiled.

"I'll back the car out," Nancy offered. "Then we can see how much of the hedge is broken."

The damage proved not to be extensive and Mrs. Gilmer said, "I canna charge ye a farthing. Ye are Americans and obeying our laws. Ye shouldna' suffer for the daft actions of someone else."

Bess was on the verge of blurting out their suspicions about the driver, but thought better of it and kept still. Nancy thanked Mrs. Gilmer. Smiling, she added, "Left-side-of-the-road driving has always puzzled me. How did the custom start?"

The Scotswoman said the only explanation she had ever heard was that in ancient times the roads were not very safe for hors.e.m.e.n because of brigands.

"'Tis said a rider would hold the reins in the left hand, and keep a sword in the right ready to deal with any highwayman coming on horseback from the opposite direction."

"Ugh!" said Bess. "I'm glad I didn't live in those dangerous times!"

Mrs. Gilmer smiled. "I guess it actually wasna' any more dangerous than it is now, as ye all found out!"

The girls said good-by to her and set off once more for Loch Lomond. The drive was most pleasant, leading past several big estates with high stone walls screening them from the road.

Presently George called out, "I see the lake!"

"Loch," Bess corrected her.

"Isn't it lovely!" Nancy exclaimed.