Chapter 15 The Mystery of the Ivory Charm by Carolyn Keene
Kidnaped!
Nancy scarcely had time to spring back and out of the way when the big elephant came charging angrily toward the manager’s tent, the excited trainers in close pursuit. Others in the herd were milling about the lot or tugging nervously at their stakes.
“Get that man Rai away!” the keeper shouted. “Old Tom knows he’s here. He hates him like poison and will tear up the place to get at him!”
As if knowing that his enemy was inside the manager’s tent, Old Tom plunged straight toward it. Rai, white with fright, appeared in the doorway, took one swift glance at the oncoming elephant, then turned and fled.
Trumpeting in rage, Old Tom pursued him, bearing directly toward a group of children who stood in the path. With screams of terror the boys and girls scattered, all save one, who appeared too frightened to move.
“Look out!” the keeper shouted, starting to run in that direction.
Nancy knew that he was too far away to reach the child in time. With no thought for her own safety, she leaped forward and jerked the little girl aside. Nancy herself stumbled and fell headlong.
“Don’t move!” the keeper yelled. “Don’t move!”
Nancy obeyed, remaining perfectly quiet as the elephant dashed by only a few inches from where she lay. Old Tom was so intent upon reaching his hated enemy, Rai, that he did not even notice the girl.
The Hindu fled toward the main entrance gate to lose himself in the crowd. The huge animal became bewildered, and when the trainers dug their hooks into his flesh and hosed him with water, he submitted to their will. Not until the beast was securely chained down did Rai venture to return.
“That elephant is dangerous!” the manager of the circus said to the keeper. “We’ll have to get rid of him.”
“Old Tom is all right,” the other maintained. “He’s the best elephant in the herd. Just keep Rai away from the lot and I’ll have no trouble with him.”
The circus folk had gathered about Nancy to praise her warmly for her courage in rescuing the child. For Rai they had only unspoken contempt.
When the excitement had subsided Nancy hastened back to search for her friends. The circus performance had ended for the afternoon and the crowd poured out of the big tent. Carson Drew and the other members of his party, puzzled by the girl’s long absence, had remained in their seats.
“What kept you so long?” Mr. Drew asked as his daughter mounted the board seats to join the group. “We were beginning to fear you had been eaten by a tiger.”
“I was nearly trampled to death by an elephant,” Nancy smiled.
“Tell us something we’ll believe!” Bess laughed.
“It’s the truth. Didn’t you hear the noise and shouting outside?”
George shook her head. “The show went on the same as always. We did hear an unusual sound, but the band began to play just then and drowned it out.”
“Old Tom, the elephant, went on a rampage. He seemed to know that Rai was here on the lot, and wanted to avenge himself upon him for his past cruelty.”
“Rai!” Mr. Drew exclaimed. “Then he’s still with the circus?”
“He came back today and is trying to secure work again. I doubt if he will, though, for after the cowardly way in which he ran from the elephant today he’ll not be popular with the circus people.”
Nancy then gave a more detailed account of the trouble which had developed with Old Tom, and told of her conversation with Rai. When she spoke of offering her ivory charm to the man in payment for information regarding Coya, Bess cried out in disappointment.
“Oh, Nancy, you surely didn’t give away your lovely charm!”
“I didn’t, because Rai refused to tell me the truth. However, I gleaned a hint that Anita Allison is the person who has the real key to Coya’s mysterious parentage.”
“Perhaps we can arrange to see the woman tomorrow,” Mr. Drew suggested.
“We don’t know where she is staying,” Nancy reminded him.
“No, it was a stupid oversight upon my part not to ask for her address. But they may have it at the bank—if she ever goes there to claim her property.”
After idling about the circus grounds for some time, Nancy and her friends returned to their car. It was late afternoon when they started for River Heights. The roads were still jammed with automobiles and the trip consumed far more time than it should have. Consulting his watch, Mr. Drew announced that it was dinner hour.
“I suggest that we stop at the next eating place and have a bite,” he proposed. “This will be my party.”
The young people eagerly assented, for in spite of the large quantities of peanuts and popcorn which they had consumed, they were still hungry. A half mile farther on Nancy noticed a brilliantly lighted inn just off the road.
“It looks as presentable as the average place we’re apt to find,” Mr. Drew commented, turning in at the driveway. “We may as well try it.”
Entering the main dining room which was only half filled with guests, the party found a table for five near the window. After making her selection from the menu Nancy glanced curiously at the other diners.
“Why, isn’t that Anita Allison?”
The others turned to stare.
“It is!” George agreed. “And she’s with Steve Roach.”
“I believe I’ll go and speak to her,” Nancy said impulsively.
“If I were you I’d not break into the conversation just yet,” Mr. Drew cautioned. “Miss Allison and her friend seem to be engaged in an argument of some sort.”
The couple talked earnestly together, totally oblivious of the other diners in the room. Their voices rose higher and higher until Nancy and her friends caught enough to deduce that the pair were discussing the sale of Miss Allison’s property.
“The argument seems to be nearly over now,” Nancy presently observed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and speak to them.”
“You might ask Miss Allison for her address,” Mr. Drew suggested.
“I had intended to do that, Dad.”
Nancy approached the table at the opposite side of the room and spoke Miss Allison’s name. The woman started, and as she recognized the girl she made a pretense of welcoming her. Steve Roach scowled openly as he arose and offered Nancy a chair.
“I must apologize for interrupting your conversation,” Nancy said. “I shouldn’t trouble you except that I have a rather important matter to discuss with you.”
“Perhaps another time—” Miss Allison began.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that I wish to talk with you here, but I am eager to secure your present address so that I can find you again.”
Miss Allison and her companion exchanged swift glances which were not lost upon Nancy.
“I move about from place to place,” the woman answered vaguely.
“But you surely have an address. There must be some way to communicate with you.”
“Just write a letter in care of ‘General Delivery.’ Then I can be sure of getting it.”
Nancy was annoyed. She felt that the woman did not wish to give accurate information regarding her whereabouts. However, realizing that it would be useless to pursue the matter further, the girl politely withdrew to her own table. Simultaneously Miss Allison and Steve Roach left the place without finishing their dinner.
“I don’t like Miss Allison’s attitude,” Nancy complained to her father. “The least she could do would be to show a little appreciation for the way you and Ned saved her old treasure.”
It was late when Carson Drew and his daughter reached home. They noticed a light burning in the room over the garage, and could glimpse Coya bending over his books.
Everyone was proud that the Indian boy was making such splendid progress with his studies. Professor Stackpole frequently boasted of his young pupil’s ability, and these remarks were not always confined to Nancy or Mr. Drew.
The day following the visit to the circus Nancy wrote a long letter to Miss Allison in which she asked many questions concerning Coya’s parentage. She frowned as she addressed the envelope in care of “General Delivery.”
“If Miss Allison doesn’t wish to answer she’ll claim she never received the letter,” Nancy told herself. “In sending this I feel confident I’m wasting my time.”
The message was dispatched and temporarily forgotten.
That evening, while attending a party given at the home of Mrs. Dreyfuss Winterhouse, a River Heights society matron, Nancy chanced to overhear Professor Stackpole speak of Coya to his hostess, praising the boy highly. With the best of intentions Mrs. Winterhouse a few days later repeated the entire conversation to Miss Allison, who happened to belong to the same Cultural Club.
The latter listened intently, asked a few questions, and by putting two and two together shrewdly guessed that Coya had been living at the Drew home since his mysterious disappearance from the circus. She immediately communicated with Rai, telling him what she had learned.
“Trust everything to Rai,” the man responded grimly. “Within twenty-four hours Coya will be in our hands again!”
Unaware that the boy faced danger, Nancy and her father spent the following evening at a moving picture show. Hannah Gruen likewise was absent from the house for she had been called to the home of a relative.
At ten o’clock, when Rai stealthily approached the Drew residence, he instantly noted that the place was dark. A light glowed in the room above the garage where Coya was studying his lessons.
For some minutes the man stood by the shrubbery watching the boy at his work. Then quietly he stole up the stairway to the lad’s room. From his pocket he removed a drug-soaked handkerchief.
A creaking floor-board warned Coya of danger. He turned and saw Rai creeping toward him. Before the boy could utter a cry, the man sprang upon him, forcing the handkerchief against his face.
Coya struggled briefly, then relaxed into a limp heap. Chuckling wickedly, Rai slung the lad over his shoulder, and carried him down the stairway to a waiting car.