Chapter 14 The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk by Carolyn Keene
Nancy’s Mistake
“Who are you?” asked Nancy, pulling away from the person who had grasped her hand.
The stranger melted away in the darkness without replying. When the bright lights flickered on a few moments later, no one was in sight. The Drew girl was mystified. Had the current been shut off on purpose, or was it just a coincidence? Why had the unknown person acted so strangely?
Nancy walked about for a time thinking of the episode before returning to the cabin which she shared with Bess and George. The two girls had nearly finished unpacking during her absence, but the room was crowded with suitcases and trunks.
“How does one get in here anyway?” Nancy laughed from the doorway. “Trunks to the right of me, trunks to the left——”
“We’ll soon have ours out of sight,” declared Bess, shaking wrinkles from an evening dress.
“You should talk, Nancy Drew!” added George severely. “You’ll find that extra trunk will be a nuisance when we get to South America.”
“Extra trunk?”
George indicated a brass bound one which stood by the bed. “The other one is over there,” she told her chum.
Nancy’s gaze fell upon a second brass bound trunk which to all appearances was an exact duplicate of the first one. Both bore the initials “N. D.” in brass.
“Well, if that isn’t odd!” the girl exclaimed. “Someone has a trunk exactly like mine!”
“You mean one of these isn’t yours?” queried Bess.
“No, I had only one. Which one of them is mine?”
As Nancy tried to find her key, Bess bent down to examine the tag of the trunk nearest at hand.
“This one says ‘N. Darlington,’ ” she reported. “The steward must have brought it to the wrong cabin.”
“I guess I was the person who made the mistake,” confessed Nancy ruefully.
“You?”
“Yes, I saw two crew members with it and thought it was mine. I ordered it brought to my cabin. Otherwise it would have been put off when the pilot left the ship.”
“Then the seamen originally mistook it for Nestrelda’s trunk?” inquired George in bewilderment.
“I think they did. You see, Mrs. Joslin’s friend gave some orders about the luggage. He pointed out this trunk to the men, for I saw him.”
“It’s all a mix-up,” said Bess with a shrug. “At any rate you saved the trunk for this man N. Darlington. He should be exceedingly grateful.”
“I’ll explain at the office and have the trunk removed at once,” decided Nancy. “Do you think I should apologize to Mr. Darlington too?”
“Why don’t you write a note and slip it under a luggage strap?” suggested George. “It would save a lot of trouble.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll do it.”
Nancy wrote a brief note to the unknown owner of the trunk. Fearing that it would be lost if she merely laid it beneath one of the leather straps, she looked about for a more secure place. Noticing that the ball-like brass trimmings were somewhat loose at the edges, she tried to slip the folded paper beneath them.
“No, I guess it won’t work,” she said aloud. “But I’ve learned something about this trunk, girls.”
“What?” inquired George with interest.
“It isn’t exactly like mine after all.”
“In what way is it different? It looks just the same to me.”
“See those brass nails? They’re twice as close together as those on my trunk.”
“Yes, they are, Nancy. I hadn’t noticed them before.”
“At least if N. Darlington and I have another mix-up in luggage I’ll be able to tell my own trunk,” Nancy laughed. “Well, I’m on my way to the office now to report the matter.”
Leaving her chums to finish unpacking, she hurried away. As she rounded a corner, the girl came unexpectedly upon Doris Trenton, who was sitting by herself in a deck chair looking at the sunset. Her face brightened as she saw Nancy.
“Why, hello,” the young woman greeted her cordially. “It seems nice to see someone I know.”
Recalling how distant Miss Trenton had been only a few hours before, Nancy wondered at the quick change of attitude. However, she wisely gave no sign that she thought anything might be amiss. Instead, she responded to the greeting and inquired casually:
“Have you seen many persons aboard whom you know?”
“Not a one, Miss Drew. The voyage promises to be a rather tiresome experience.”
Nancy found it hard not to reveal that Henry Washburn was on the Patrician, but she decided that the young woman should learn the fact herself. Of one thing she was certain; the voyage would not prove boring for Miss Trenton, once she had learned the trick which had been played upon her.
Nancy might better have divulged the information, because at that very moment Henry Washburn came striding down the deck. Smiling in delight, he walked straight toward Doris. The young woman half rose from her deck chair, stared blankly, then without a word fell in a faint.
“She’s had a heart attack!” Washburn cried excitedly. “Call a doctor! Do something, quick!”
“You go for the doctor,” instructed Nancy quietly. She did not believe that Doris had suffered a heart attack, but she thought it would be wise for the young man to be absent when the girl should revive.
While Henry Washburn hastened away to do her bidding, Nancy, aided by a stewardess and another passenger, carried Doris to her cabin. Under proper treatment the girl soon opened her eyes, to gaze about the room in a bewildered fashion.
“Is—is Mr. Washburn really aboard, or did I dream it?” she whispered to Nancy.
“Yes, he is on the Patrician,” the girl told her. “He planned to surprise you.”
Doris buried her face in her hands, turning toward the wall.
“Oh, this will ruin all my plans!”
Nancy waited, but the young woman had nothing more to say. Presently she requested that her mother be brought to the cabin. As the Drew girl went to find Mrs. Trenton, she met Henry Washburn returning with the ship’s physician.
“How is Doris?” he inquired anxiously.
“Much better, though seeing you so unexpectedly seemed to shock her. If I were you, I wouldn’t try to talk with her for a while.”
“I don’t understand why she wouldn’t wish to see me,” he returned in perplexity. “But I’ll do as you suggest.”
The doctor went alone to the cabin, while Henry fell into step with Nancy. Apparently being in need of a confidant, he began telling her his troubles.
“Sometimes I can’t understand Doris at all,” he said, frowning. “Do you think she really cares for me?”
“Oh, I would have no way of knowing that, Mr. Washburn.”
“So often she tries to avoid me,” the young man went on, half to himself. “Mr. Trenton says it is just her way, but I can’t be sure. I’ve even thought——”
“Yes?” Nancy prompted as the man hesitated.
“This doesn’t sound very nice to say, but I know you’ll not repeat my words. I’ve wondered at times if Mr. Trenton may not be trying to engineer a marriage for purposes of business.”
“Have you any cause for thinking so?” Nancy inquired alertly.
“No concrete reason. It’s just that Trenton is always sending me away to various places. He doesn’t encourage me to take any interest in the business. Now Doris is just the opposite. She says she’ll never marry me until I buckle down and work like a slave.”
“A rather contradictory family, I should say.”
“Contradictory is right! A fellow doesn’t know where he stands. Before this trip is finished I hope to have an absolute understanding with Doris.”
Henry Washburn would have talked on and on had not Nancy cut the conversation short. She did not like to accept his confidence, knowing that she would make use of any information he gave her.
After leaving the young man, Nancy found Mrs. Trenton and requested her to go to Doris’s cabin. She next reported the trunk mix-up to the chief steward, then went to the lounge to write her father a letter. Eight double pages were required to tell all her adventures since leaving River Heights. Nancy ended her letter by saying, “Perhaps there are no mysteries in South America, but I have found a couple of promising ones aboard the Patrician.”
“That ought to keep Dad in suspense for a while,” she chuckled as she sealed the letter. “I wish I could see his face when he reads this.”
Nancy had not forgotten Nestrelda’s disappearance. After posting the letter in the ship’s mail box, she sought Senora Zola in her cabin, intending to inquire if the missing girl had been found. In response to her light tap, the headmistress opened the door.
“I came to inquire about Nestrelda,” began Nancy, then stopped as she saw another person in the room.
“Oh, she is here now,” replied the woman. “Do come in and meet her.”
Nancy hesitated, uncertain of the reception which she might receive.
“Please come in,” she was urged. “I have been telling Nestrelda about you.”
The dark-haired girl who sat on the bed arose as Nancy entered the cabin. She had been crying and her curly hair was in disarray. Even so she was strikingly pretty.
“Nestrelda, I should like you to meet Nancy Drew,” the headmistress said by way of introduction. “There is no reason why you girls shouldn’t be the best of friends.”
“How do you do, Miss Joslin,” Nancy responded politely.
She did not offer her hand, but Nestrelda quickly extended her own. The girl smiled as she said in a soft-spoken drawl:
“Oh, please don’t call me Miss Joslin. I prefer to be known by my father’s name which was Darlington.”