Drew 17 - The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk
Read Drew 17 - The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk Online
Authors: Carolyn Keene
Table of Contents
CHAPTER IV - Inquisitive Locksmith
CHAPTER VII - Nelda Is Missing
CHAPTER XII - Little Bobby’s Clue
CHAPTER XIV - Stolen Documents
CHAPTER XVI - Figuring Out a Capture
CHAPTER XVIII - Telltale Shoes
MYSTERY OF THE BRASS-BOUND TRUNK
From the moment Nancy Drew boards an ocean liner leaving for New York, she becomes involved in a new and dangerous mystery. A man on the pier gestures to someone on board in the sign language of the deaf. BEWARE OF NANCY DREW AND NE, he signals. Who is NE? Can it be Nelda Detweiler, a young South African who shares a cabin with Nancy, Bess, and George? When Nancy learns that Nelda has been accused of stealing a diamond bracelet in South Africa, she wonders whether the girl is a thief or the innocent victim of a vicious plot.
Then an unclaimed brass-bound trunk, delivered to Nancy’s cabin by mistake shortly after she embarks, becomes the first clue that leads her to believe international jewel thieves are aboard. And soon afterwards she realizes that her life and the lives of her friends are in danger. Mystery and intrigue follow the girls across the ocean; but with her usual ingenuity Nancy solves the mystery and defeats her enemies before the ship reaches New York.
“Nancy and Nelda, we want to question you about a theft,” the FBI man said.
Acknowledgement is made to Mildred Wirt Benson, who under the pen name Carolyn Keene, wrote the original NANCY DREW books
Copyright © 1976. 1968. 1940 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam & Grosset Group, New York. Published simultaneously in Canada. S.A.
NANCY DREW
MYSTERY STORIES®
is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card. Number: 76-8371
eISBN : 978-1-101-07718-4
2008 Printing
CHAPTER I
Twoo N.D.’s
“All visitors ashore!” shouted a steward. All visitors a—!”
As the call to leave the
Winschoten
faded away in the distance, there was a hum of excitement on the ocean-going vessel. Bells were ringing and the ship’s horn was bellowing out short blasts.
“Good-by! Tot
ziens!”
passengers called to those on the pier.
Three attractive girls stood together, leaning on the rail and watching the people onshore, who were waving. One was Nancy Drew, a strawberry blond who had sparkling blue eyes. On her right stood pretty Bess Marvin, a slightly plump blond, while on her left was Bess’s cousin, a slender, athletic girl who enjoyed her boyish name, George Fayne.
The three girls were about to sail from Rotterdam in Holland to New York City. Along with other passengers they waved and shouted good-by to those on the pier, although they knew no one.
Suddenly Nancy’s attention was directed toward a man on the dock. He was using the sign language for the deaf and finger spelling a message to someone on the ship. His hat was pulled low sothat she could not distinguish his face.
Nancy watched his fingers move quickly; she was fascinated. Then, in a moment, she was startled to see him spell out the words NANCY DREW. Two years before, Nancy had learned the entire finger alphabet but had forgotten most of the letters except those that spelled out her own name. “How strange,” Nancy thought. “What does he mean by that?”
Bess and George were looking in other directions and did not notice the man. Nancy kept try ing to figure out the rest of his message.
After a short pause, he started again. Deciphering the letters she did know, Nancy pieced out part of a sentence. It read: -EWARE NANCY DREW AND NE—She could not decipher the last part because her view was obstructed by someone.
Nancy, an amateur sleuth, looked up the deck to see if she could find anyone on board who was signaling in the finger language. She noticed no one, because the crowd of people along the rail blocked her view. Curious to solve the puzzle, Nancy leaned far out over the rail and turned to gaze along it, hoping to get a glimpse of someone spelling out words. Without warning, she felt her feet slipping and her balance going. She tried to steady herself, but could not. She would fall into the ocean below!
Bess turned to Nancy just in time to notice that her friend was in trouble. With a great yank, she pulled the girl back. “What were you trying to do?” Bess asked. “You gave me a terrible scare.”
Nancy smiled ruefully. “That was silly of me. But a man on dock was talking to someone on board in the deaf sign language and he signaled a warning about me!”
“What!” George and Bess exclaimed, taken aback.
“Where is he?” George asked.
Nancy looked toward the spot where the man had been. “Oh,” she said, disappointed. “He’s gone now.”
“What are you going to do?” Bess asked.
“Well, if he talked to more than one person, the others might still be conversing in the finger language. Maybe we can find them.”
George spoke. “You don’t even know which deck these people might be on. If you really want to find out, I suggest we split up and do a little sleuthing.”
“Good idea,” Nancy agreed. “Suppose I stay here. Bess, you take the lower deck, and George, you go to the one above. If there are two or more deaf people together, they might still be speaking in the finger language. I’d like to know whom the man on the dock was talking to.”
Bess and George hurried off, while Nancy continued to look around for suspects. She saw no one and kept thinking about the words she had translated. She was not on a case. Why should anyone be told to beware of her? And what did NE stand for?
As she pondered this question, the girl detective kept a sharp watch on her fellow travelers, who were waving and calling out to those on the pier. Most of the people were speaking Dutch, but their speech was generously sprinkled with English and some German. Finally, picking up no clues, Nancy decided to go to her cabin.
“Let’s see, it’s number one twenty-eight,” she recalled. As she went down the steps, the
Winschoten
left the pier and started on her voyage to New York. When Nancy reached her state-room, she opened the door and blinked in surprise. Bess and George were not there, but an attractive, fair-haired girl was seated on one of the four beds.
She rose immediately and smiled at Nancy. “Hello,” she said. “I’m to be one of your room-mates.” She spoke with a slight accent. “My name is Nelda Detweiler. I’m the niece of the captain.”
“I’m glad to meet you,” Nancy said, shaking hands with the strange girl. “My two friends who are sharing this cabin with me should be here in a minute.”
“What were you trying to do?” Bess asked.
Nelda explained that she was from Johannesburg, South Africa, and that she had decided rather suddenly to attend college in the United States. “I was accepted immediately,” she went on, “and I went to Rotterdam to see my uncle and his family. However, I almost had trouble getting on the ship, because it was booked out far in advance. The captain said there was an extra bed in this cabin, though, and I hope you and your friends don’t mind my intruding.”
Nelda was a beautiful girl and very charming. She had large brown eyes and a soft musical voice. Nancy liked her at once. However, she was still thinking of the message -EWARE NANCY DREW AND NE—and wondered if NE could refer to Nelda. Perhaps their new roommate was a spy?
“But she’s so lovely,” Nancy argued with herself. “I just can’t believe there’s anything dishonest about her.” However, Nancy decided to watch Nelda carefully, at least for a while, and to warn Bess and George to be alert, too.