Chapter 13 The Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene
Two Surprises
Nancy was the first to reach the ground floor, but her father was only a step behind. In the hall they found Effie cowering against the front door, through the glass of which a flashlight was sweeping the room.
“What is it? What happened?” they cried in one breath.
Effie could only draw deep, heaving sobs and shake her head in terror. For once in her life she could not say a word.
“Who is that at the door?” Mr. Drew demanded, lifting the maid to her feet and throwing the door open wide.
A policeman confronted them, adding his “What’s the matter?” to the general cry.
“Oh, the man, the man,” Effie shuddered. “He—he scared me so!” She was able to talk now, though her voice trembled as she spoke.
“What man? Where was he?”
“In the bushes,” Effie said. “In the bushes outside the dining room window!”
“He is, is he?” growled the policeman, dashing out of doors and flashing his light all over the yard. “Come out of there! I got ye covered.”
“The man is probably out of sight by now,” Mr. Drew said. “Try to calm yourself, Effie, and tell us just what happened. Remember you are safe, and no harm is going to befall you.”
“I opened the dining room screen to shake out the tablecloth,” Effie said. “A spoon I hadn’t seen fell into the bushes, so I went out to get it. I couldn’t tell from the outside just where it had gone, so I reached into the shrubbery and—ooh! I thought I would die!”
“Yes, yes. What happened?” Nancy urged.
“I—I touched a man’s face,” Effie whispered, her eyes growing large.
“How did you know it was a man’s face?” Mr. Drew asked.
“I guess I ought to know,” Effie said indignantly. “I stuck my arm away into the bushes and put my fingers into his mouth and he bit me. That’s why I yelled.”
“And then you ran up the porch and into the house,” Nancy said. “Did you see what the man did after that?”
“No, but I heard a thrashing in the bushes as if he was in a hurry to get out,” Effie said. “May—may I g-go upstairs now?”
As soon as the girl had left the hall, Mr. Drew turned to his daughter, a grave look on his face.
“That settles the sleuthing business for you, Nancy,” he said decisively. “You shall not remain in this house while I am gone. You must come with me.”
“Oh, Father, I don’t want to do that,” responded Nancy. “Suppose I accept Helen Corning’s invitation and go out to Sylvan Lake with her? You know how much I like Helen, and she wants me to spend some time at her home.”
Mr. Drew looked thoughtful.
“It seems to me that you have fallen into plenty of adventures while in Helen’s company, too,” he observed. “Will Mr. and Mrs. Corning be there?”
“Yes, they are not at their old camp but have taken a good-sized cottage this year, Helen told me,” Nancy replied. “Besides, Ned Nickerson is at the same lake just now,” she added, laughing.
Mr. Drew smiled for the first time since Effie’s alarm. He understood now that Ned’s presence might prove to be an added inducement.
“I think you would be safe at Sylvan Lake, then,” he said. “All right, if that’s what you’d rather do.”
“Let’s go tonight!” Nancy cried. “I’ll telephone to Helen at once to see if it will be convenient for her mother and father.”
“You must not go out to the lake alone,” Mr. Drew reminded his daughter. “If you go, I go. So ask the Cornings if I may stay, too. I can start from there in the morning.”
Nancy hurried to the telephone, and in a few minutes was talking to her chum. Needless to say, Helen was thrilled over the plan, and her parents were delighted to have the Drews as their guests.
“I’ll pack right away,” Nancy called to her father, as she put the instrument down.
“Come here, dear, I wish to talk something over with you,” Mr. Drew requested. “I’ve been thinking about this mystery very seriously, and I have concluded that I had better leave a watchman at this house. I’m going to get in touch with the janitor of my office building and ask him to sleep here.”
In a few moments he had made satisfactory arrangements with Jim Durkin, the law office building superintendent. Then Mr. Drew asked Nancy from the telephone chair where he was sitting why she was frowning.
“Don’t you like my scheme, dear?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, Father,” replied his daughter. “I am worrying about how we are going to get away from here safely. If Adam Thorne’s spies are watching the house, they’ll surely follow us, and may even try to attack us.”
“That’s quite true, Nancy. What would you propose?”
“I think it would be better to leave here in some other car than one of ours. Do you suppose it would be possible for us to borrow or rent an automobile?” she suggested. “Perhaps one of our friends——”
“I know the very thing,” chuckled the lawyer, slapping his knee. “I have planned a surprise for you. Guess I’ll not wait until your birthday to present my gift. As long as it is imperative that you leave here, we must do something at once. I’ll give you my present tonight.”
“What is it?” Nancy cried, going over to her father and laying her hands on his shoulders.
“I have signed an order for a new car for you, Nancy.”
“Oh, Father, how wonderful!” she said, kissing him soundly. “And you can have it delivered right away?”
“I don’t know,” Carson Drew responded. “It’s a pretty late hour to get hold of the salesman, but I’ll try.”
“Where is the car?”
“Down at the Packlin Motor Car showroom.”
“I can hardly wait to see it,” said Nancy joyously, dancing about the room. “But we must keep our minds on the mystery,” she said, pausing by a table.
“Yes. As a matter of fact, we’re trying to elude the enemy, not go on a pleasure trip!”
“How would it be,” asked Nancy, puckering her brows, “if the man should bring the new car to the street back of our house? Then we could go out that way, and leave before anyone might suspect our plans.”
“Don’t forget there’s a garden wall,” laughed her father. “Are you still as good at climbing fences as you were a few years ago? I remember how we used to have to keep close watch over you for fear you’d try to climb over, and then fall and break an arm or foot.”
Nancy laughed as she recalled those days.
“Yes, indeed, Father. I’m probably a better climber now, especially if I happen to be running away from a villain!”
Mr. Drew called a number on the telephone and asked for a Mr. French.
“Hello. French? Drew talking, Carson Drew—yes, that is what I am talking about. I’ve changed my mind. Oh, no, I still want it, but if it is possible I want it tonight—as soon as possible—half an hour? Good! Now listen carefully. I want it brought to the street at the rear of our house. Directly back of here. I don’t want you to be seen within two blocks of my home for a very special reason. My daughter and I will meet you there.”
Just as he finished speaking, the doorbell rang. Effie answered it timorously, recalling her experience of not so long ago. To her fright and amazement she found standing there a policeman and a tall, muscular young man of about thirty years of age.
“Oh, hello, Durkin,” said Mr. Drew.
“Do you know this man, Mr. Drew?” inquired the officer. “All right, then.”
“He’s going to stay here at night,” announced the lawyer, “so don’t stop him from coming and going. Did you find any trace of the spy in the garden?”
“No, sir, I’m sorry,” said the policeman, crestfallen. Mr. Drew was well known as a famous lawyer, and all the officers did their best to serve him satisfactorily.
While this conversation was taking place, Nancy noticed Effie retreating from the hall, much more slowly than was necessary.
“I suppose she is delighted,” Nancy mused with a smile, “to have a young man in the house. She’ll probably be bragging about him as one of her new boy friends!”
Nancy hastened to the second floor to pack her own bag, and in fifteen minutes had neatly folded sport clothes, afternoon dresses, and two dainty evening frocks. Her father, coming in to find out if she were ready, remarked:
“I believe we ought to try to fool any of Thorne’s bunch who may be watching around here. I shouldn’t be surprised if he had spies planted here and there in this vicinity. We’ll have to try to figure out a way of eluding them.”
“Yes, Father, I have the same feeling. It seems that wherever one sees a bush or shrub, one sees a sinister face. It may be only my imagination, and again it may not.”
“Suppose you bring your car around to the front door, Nancy.”
“Just as if I were going to leave that way?”
“Exactly. Do you get my trend of thought? It seems that our minds work very harmoniously along detective lines, anyway,” and Mr. Drew’s eyes twinkled as he looked at his daughter.
Nancy suppressed a smile, then said as sedately as she possibly could, though she felt more like laughing:
“What do you think of our having Jim Durkin carry out a suitcase? An old one with nothing in it. Have him handle it as if it were full and heavy.”
“Fine,” agreed the lawyer. “While the watchman is doing that, we’ll go quietly out the back way.”
“I’m ready any time,” Nancy announced, with a thrill in her voice. “Now for a bag of some kind. Oh, I have it! Here’s a valise I never use,” and she brought a worn suitcase from the back of her closet. “I’ll go out and get my car right away.”
“I’ve another idea,” said Mr. Drew. “We’ll turn on the porch light and make the front of the house as conspicuous as possible. Down we go!”
In a few moments Nancy had been to the garage and driven her automobile out the driveway and up to the curb, right by the front walk. As she stepped out, she felt a little pang of regret when she realized that she was no longer to be the owner of the old maroon roadster.
“This little car and I have had many good times together,” she mused. “It’s been my companion, and a very faithful one, on many an exciting and hazardous adventure. If it hadn’t been for this little machine, I never should have been able to have gone through with several of my encounters. I hate parting from it as I would from a dear friend. And we’ve solved mysteries together, too!”
As she hurried into the house, she thought of the new car she had not yet seen. After all, it was an exciting idea, becoming the possessor of such a gift. What could it be like? Would she be satisfied with the style and color of it? All these thoughts came into her mind, one after the other.
“Oh, thank you, Jim,” she said aloud, as the watchman came out with the old suitcase, carrying it in such a way that it appeared to be very heavy indeed. “Put it in the rumble seat, please.”
Hurrying through the hallway, Nancy met her father in the unlighted kitchen. Mr. Drew had a suitcase in each hand. They whispered their good-bys to Hannah Gruen and Effie, the latter still a bit unnerved after her harrowing experience. Then Nancy and her father stepped cautiously out.
Fortunately, there was no moon; in fact, the atmosphere hinted rain. A muggy stillness hung over everything, and as the two fleeing figures tiptoed across the grass, there were no shadows.
“Luck is with us so far,” Nancy thought to herself. “Now to get over the wall without being seen.”
She was the first to reach the rear of the garden, and very quietly began to pull herself up the ivy which grew in profusion along the high brick fence. In a moment she was at the top and spoke softly to her father.
“Hand the bags up to me!”
Mr. Drew did so, and Nancy held the suitcases there until the lawyer had climbed up. She could hear a commotion at the front of the house, and wondered if there were trouble there.
“I hope not,” she thought. “Probably our interested employees are throwing any intruders off our trail.”
Nancy now jumped down from the wall, dropping lightly on her toes, so that there was only the faintest audible thud.
“All right, Father.”
Once more the two suitcases were given to the girl. In a second Mr. Drew stood on the ground, and together father and daughter hastened with light steps out to the street.
Would the new car be waiting? Had they eluded their pursuers?