Chapter 14 The Clue of the Dancing Puppet by Carolyn Keene
Nancy’s New Role
As George cried out, Nancy ran quickly to her side. Bess, too, left her post to come and find out what had happened.
The next second all three burst into laughter. A large jack-in-the-box had risen up and smacked George on the cheek!
“Well, this place doesn’t lack surprises,” she said ruefully, rubbing her cheek.
The girls gazed at the jack-in-the-box. It was a toy clown fastened in a wooden chest about a foot square and was well constructed. “An expert made this,” Nancy commented. “I wonder if it could have any connection with the puppet.”
She examined the jack-in-the-box thoroughly but could find no similarity to the witch figure in the barn. “Let’s continue our hunt,” she suggested.
“I guess I’d better get back to my post,” said Bess, and she returned to the top of the stairway.
Nancy and George were intrigued by the contents of the trunk. It contained a crude set of hand puppets and a miniature stage with a long curtain draped below it to hide the puppeteer.
“I just can’t get it out of my mind that there is a tie-in between the old Van Pelt family and the present mystery of the puppet,” said George.
“If you’re right,” said Nancy, “no doubt the mysterious puppeteer has found some clue to a valuable possession of the Van Pelts’ and is trying to find it.”
“You mean,” said George, “that he is using the dancing puppet to scare people away from here so he can hunt for it?”
“Possibly,” Nancy answered. The thought of Tammi and her latest move to keep the girls out of the attic occurred to her. Was Tammi in some way connected with the mystery? Were she and Emmet Calhoun in league with each other?
For the next half hour the three girls took turns guarding the stairway and searching the other trunks, boxes, and cartons. They came across nothing suspicious.
Finally Bess said, “It’s way past lunchtime and I’m starved. Let’s get something to eat.”
At that particular moment Nancy was staring at the far wall of the attic. She began to walk toward it, saying, “I have a hunch there’s a hiding place up here that we haven’t found yet. Wait until I examine that wall.”
It took several minutes’ close scrutiny of the old wooden wall to find a concealed latch.
“Here it is!” Nancy said, excited at the prospect of what she might find.
George started to walk toward her, while Bess remained at the top of the stairway.
Nancy had a little trouble discovering just how the latch worked, but in a few moments she felt it turn. Gently she started to pull and a door opened.
Suddenly she became aware of a movement inside the closet and the next second the life-size puppet of a Pierrot stepped out! As Nancy stared in astonishment, the puppet’s left arm, which had been held upright, now lowered menacingly.
“Oh!” screamed Bess.
George leaped forward, but Nancy had already dodged out of the way. The three girls watched fascinated as Pierrot continued to walk jerkily straight ahead. After it had taken several steps, the figure turned and crashed into a trunk. It fell over with a clatter.
The next instant Bess called out, “Here comes Cally old boy!”
“He mustn’t see this!” Nancy said tensely. She and George grabbed the puppet, dragged him back to the closet, and just managed to close and latch the door when Emmet Calhoun appeared at the top of the stairs.
“What crashed?” he asked.
George gave a loud laugh. “Haven’t you ever noticed how clumsy I am?” she asked.
The actor received no further explanation. Instead, Nancy said to him, “Have you ever been up here before?”
Emmet Calhoun shook his head. “I detest attics. They’re usually full of spiders and dust and make me sneeze.”
The girls grinned, and Bess added, “I haven’t sneezed yet, but on the other two counts I agree with you.” She showed smudges on her slacks.
“These trunks contain lots of interesting old things,” Nancy said. “But nothing too unusual.” She did not add that there were three boxes of books which the girls had not examined. “We’re all starving, and we’re just about to go down for something to eat. Would you like to join us?”
“That would be delightful,” Calhoun replied, and followed the three girls down to the kitchen.
While Nancy washed lettuce for a salad, she said to him, “We found a big jack-in-the-box and some hand puppets in one of the trunks. Are you interested in puppets?”
“No more than the average person,” Calhoun replied, “though I have read a good deal on the subject.” There was no sign that he was not telling the truth.
Nancy thought, “I didn’t get anywhere on that lead,” and suppressed a smile.
“Has it ever occurred to you,” the actor asked, “that people are really puppets in this world? As Shakespeare says in As You Like It:
“ ‘All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.’ ”
Bess spoke up. “I don’t know much about puppets. When did they come into vogue?”
Emmet Calhoun said they were one of the most ancient forms of play acting. In the days of the Greek and Roman theaters they were used in plays. “And in this country the North American Indians used puppets in their ceremonies,” he added.
Emmet Calhoun explained that there had been little change in the method of making puppets perform since the early days of their use.
“And there’s a fascinating story about how marionettes came into vogue in Venice in the year 944,” he went on. “Toymakers there fashioned tiny figures of brides which they called ‘little Maries.’ When the French toymakers imitated them, they changed the name to marionettes. By the way, did you know it is thought that Shakespeare’s plays Midsummer Night’s Dream and Julius Caesar at one time were performed by marionettes?”
The three girls admitted that they had never heard this. Emmet Calhoun also told them that during the reign of Queen Victoria in England puppets were made larger than ever before. At times, he said, they were used on the stage with live actors.
Nancy asked the actor if he had ever heard of a puppet or marionette being worked in any other way except by strings. Calhoun shook his head. “I don’t see how they could be,” he said.
Nancy was satisfied now that Emmet Calhoun knew nothing about the dancing puppet, the witch, or the Pierrot which she had found.
As the group was finishing their luncheon, Margo and Hamilton Spencer walked into the kitchen. They said hello, then at once began to speak of their distress over the forthcoming play.
“Those amateurs have got to work hard in the rehearsal this afternoon,” Mr. Spencer declared severely. “Bess, do you remember your lines and gestures?”
Bess looked a little frightened. “I—I think so,” she faltered.
The whole group went over to the theater, and one by one the young actresses straggled in. Some of them held jobs but had managed to get a few hours off from business.
Nancy and George sat in the front row. Soon all but Tammi had arrived. Mr. Spencer, not to waste time, took sections of the play in which she did not appear and coached the other players.
Suddenly he walked out onto the stage, his face red with anger. Stalking up and down, he said, “What’s the matter with everybody? We can’t put on a performance like this! You say the lines, but you don’t put any vitality into them!”
“I’m sorry,” Kathy Cromwell spoke up. “It’s hard for me to act natural when I’m supposed to be talking to a man—and a girl is reading his part.”
“That’s no excuse!” Mr. Spencer shouted. Then he thought better of his remark. “I’ll play the part myself.” He walked over and took the proper position on the stage, telling Kathy to come on and start again. This time she played the role very convincingly.
“Maybe there’s something to what you said,” he conceded. “We’ll have to have more full rehearsals together. Tonight everybody will stay after the show and go through the lines for this play.”
There were groans from the girls, and the coach was reminded that it would be about three o’clock in the morning before anyone would get home.
“Well, I’ll decide after I see how you make out this afternoon,” Mr. Spencer said. “By the way, is Tammi here yet?”
“No,” George called up to him.
Tammi Whitlock never did arrive for the rehearsal. Finally Nancy told Mr. Spencer of her conversation with the girl’s aunt. “Apparently Tammi expected to come,” Nancy said.
Suppertime drew near and still there had been no word from Tammi. Mr. Spencer announced that he was going to telephone her house.
George, her eyes sparkling with an idea, followed the actor. She stood off at a little distance while he made the call. It was easy to guess what was being said on the other end of the line. Tammi’s aunt was telling Mr. Spencer that she had tried to phone, but found the line busy. Her niece had lost her voice completely and would not be able to perform that evening!
Mr. Spencer put down the phone and sat staring into space. George knew what was running through his mind—what was he going to do? Kathy simply was not ready to take on the part which Tammi had been playing!
George walked up to the actor. “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation,” she said. “Perhaps I have a solution to the problem.”
Mr. Spencer stared at her. “A solution?” he repeated.
“Yes,” said George, and she told him how Nancy had learned Tammi’s lines in the play. “She has been rehearsing in secret and imitating every gesture of Tammi’s.”
“That’s astounding,” said Mr. Spencer. “Are you recommending that I put Nancy on tonight, when she’s never been over the part with the rest of the cast?”
George smiled. “That’s up to you, of course,” she said. “But I suggest, before you turn down the idea, you go through the lines with Nancy herself.”
Mr. Spencer, ready to grab at a straw to save the situation in which Tammi had placed him, agreed to do this. “Go get Nancy and meet me on stage. I’ll take Bob Simpson’s part.”
When George made her announcement to Nancy, the young sleuth was stunned. “Why, George—” she began.
“I think that’s a simply marvelous idea!” Bess spoke up. “Come on, Nancy!” she urged.
With trepidation, Nancy and the cousins hurried out to the barn theater. Mr. Spencer met her, holding a Civil War ball gown in one hand and a wig with long curls in the other.
“Put these on,” he directed, “and see how they fit.”
Excitedly, Bess and George went into a small room at the side of the wings with Nancy and helped her into the costume.
“You look simply darling!” Bess said admiringly.
Nancy’s heart was pounding as she walked toward the stage. She turned and said to her chums, “Wish me luck!”