The Phantom of Pine Hill (8 page)

Again, she was the first one dressed. This time she had chosen a pale-green two-piece with a slightly full skirt. It was quite plain except for an intriguing geometric design in brilliant colors embroidered on one side of the sleeveless blouse. The trimming reached from the shoulders to the waistline.

Bess and George looked equally attractive—Bess in pink, George wearing a black chiffon with pearl necklace and earrings.

By the time the girls grabbed their wraps and came downstairs their dates had arrived. All of them whistled in admiration upon seeing the girls.

“You look super!” cried Dave. He glanced at Nancy. “Some Indian princess!”

Nancy laughed and patted Ned’s arm. “The Indian Chief looks a bit dressed up too, don’t you think?”

When they reached the Omega House, the teasing continued. The main topic of conversation before dinner was the kidnapping of the Indian princess. The fun did not stop until chimes sounded, announcing dinner.

The members and their guests went to the dining room and found their chairs by place cards. Nancy and Ned were seated directly in front of the speakers’ table.

The president of the fraternity, Chuck Wilson, sat down and everyone began to eat. It was nearly an hour later when he arose and signaled for attention.

“We’re going to have a little business meeting now,” he said with a grin. “A special one.” He called on the fraternity secretary.

A serious-faced, bespectacled youth stood up and announced that two alumni members had left sizable sums of money to the fraternity chapter.

“Now we can start building our new house,” he said gleefully. Loud applause followed this exciting announcement.

“Was this the big secret?” Nancy whispered to Ned.

“I don’t know. To tell the truth, I didn’t hear until this afternoon that some important news would be released this evening.”

When the room was quiet again, the president rose once more and said he would call on the nominating chairman to announce the officers for the following year. The committee had felt it would be interesting for the boys’ dates as well as the members to hear the results.

A husky boy, seated next to him, stood up and smiled at his audience. “I’m going to reverse the usual order,” he said, “and tell you last who our new president will be.” He read the name of the treasurer who would take office, then the corresponding secretary, the recording secretary, and the vice-president.

He now paused and looked over the whole room. An eager member finally called out, “Well, who is it?”

“For your next president there was only one dissenting vote. That came from himself! Modest guy! So really by unanimous vote the next president of Omega Chi Epsilon Fraternity of Emerson University is—Ned Nickerson!”

“Oh, Ned,” cried Nancy, “that’s simply wonderful !” She grasped his hand and kissed him.

Ned looked stunned. For a moment he seemed overwhelmed. Then as cries of “Speech! Speech!” and terrific clapping rang in his ears, he got to his feet and faced his fellow members.

“You certainly caught me off balance this time,” he said. Gradually his usual composure returned and he said seriously, “Thanks, fellows. It’s going to be mighty hard filling Chuck Wilson’s shoes. You all know that. I’ll try hard, however.” He smiled. “Just don’t make it too rough for me, all of you!” He sat down.

There was more applause, then the outgoing president took charge. “Ned, I’ll turn the gavel over to you after the private induction ceremonies next week. In the meantime, my personal congratulations and good luck, brother.”

Nancy was wondering about the private induction. This was one thing she would never learn about, she knew, but it would be a memory Ned would cherish all his life. She herself was bursting with pride as everyone in the room rushed up to shake Ned’s hand and wish him well. By the time they finished, he was blushing over the compliments.

At nine o’clock a small orchestra arrived and started off with a lively dance rhythm. Soon the floor, from which the tables had been cleared, was filled with swaying, happy couples.

The wonderful evening lasted very late. But early the next morning Nancy was awakened by a knock on her door.

“Come in!” she called sleepily.

Mrs. Holman entered and apologized for waking her guest. She extended an envelope to Nancy, saying, “I thought this might be important. I found it on the hall floor. It must have been pushed under the front door.”

Nancy glanced at the crude printing of her name. Her first thought was that it might be a joke. Quickly she pulled out the sheet of paper from the envelope. When she read the note, also crudely printed, she was inclined to believe the writer meant the warning it contained. The note said:

Bess and George had also heard the knock on Nancy’s door and now came into her room. When they read the note, Bess became worried.

“You’ve been all right so far, Nancy. Don’t stretch your luck. I think we’d better go home after the picnic today.”

Nancy shook her head. “And disappoint Mr. Rorick? It’s my guess that whoever wrote this note overheard some conversation about Uncle John’s invitation to us to stay longer and find the phantom. The eavesdropper was hoping we would leave today.”

George voted to stay. “I’d like to catch this spy. He probably listens on the extension phones and—”

“And can go through walls!” Bess added significantly.

The girls’ remarks gave Nancy a new idea. “There may be hideaways in the parts of this house we haven’t searched. Mrs. Holman, will you take me all over so I can hunt for them?”

“I’ll be glad to, but how about you girls having some breakfast?”

This was agreed upon and the trio dressed quickly in order to do some searching before going to chapel. Nancy slipped into a pair of blue slacks and a matching turtle-neck sweater, then hurried downstairs.

Since Bess and George were not ready, Nancy and Mrs. Holman went to search the attic. Neither of them found any hidden closets, secret doors, or sliding panels. Next, they looked through the second floor without success.

“The only place left is the cellar,” Nancy said. “I’ll dash down there myself while you get breakfast.” The housekeeper nodded.

Nancy snapped on the cellar light and descended the old-fashioned stairway. The place was cool and slightly musty. Nancy found many storage closets and cubbyholes, but none revealed a hideaway.

At the far end of the cellar Nancy saw an intriguing workshop. She pulled the chain of the old-fashioned ceiling light. The room was filled with old tools, but a heavy layer of dust and many cobwebs indicated that the place had not been used for some time.

“That proves the phantom is not interested in it,” she said to herself.

Nancy began to tap the walls behind the various workbenches. There was nothing suspicious about them, but she did notice one section of another wooden wall which had nothing in front of it. Curious, she tapped it.

“This sounds hollow!” she decided excitedly.

Her deft fingers went all over the woodwork and suddenly she found a cleverly concealed latch. She tried to lift the latch, but it would not budge. To jar it loose, Nancy struck the wood next to it. A second later the door to the workshop slammed shut. Intent on what she thought she was about to discover, the young detective paid no attention to this, but tried the hidden latch again. She heard it click and gave the secret door a hard—and disastrous—yank.

The next instant the whole section of wall came toward her. It hit Nancy hard, knocking her down. She blacked out!

BREAKFAST was ready, so Mrs. Holman called down to Nancy from the top of the cellar stairs. There was no answer. She called more loudly, but still there was no response.

“Whatever is Nancy doing?” the housekeeper wondered.

At that moment Bess and George came into the kitchen. She asked them to try their luck getting the young sleuth to come up and eat.

“Nancy! N-A-N-C-Y!”

When they received no reply, the two girls went downstairs to find their friend. To their surprise, she was not in sight. They kept calling and investigating each storage closet. Finally they came to the closed door of the workshop.

“Nancy must be in there,” said George, and gave the door a yank. It would not open.

George called loudly through the crack. Nancy did not answer, and suddenly Bess went ash white. “Oh, I’m sure something has happened to her!”

“She must be in the room behind this door,” George said grimly. “The question is, did she lock it or did someone else?”

Tears began to roll down Bess’s cheeks. “The phantom carried out his threat! She’s a prisoner!”

George set her jaw grimly. “We must get inside!”

There was no lock on the door, so the girls assumed it must be fastened on the inside. They tried ramming their bodies against it, but the heavy wooden door would not budge.

By this time Mrs. Holman had descended the steps. Upon hearing what Bess and George suspected, she instantly became alarmed.

“How can we get in here?” Bess asked.

“I don’t know. That’s an old workshop and there’s a heavy wooden bar that locks it on the inside.”

Bess said, “I’m sure Nancy didn’t lock herself in. Oh, maybe she is 1-lying in there injured!”

“Maybe not,” said the housekeeper, trying to be calm. “Sometimes when that door swings shut, the big bar inside falls into place. If Nancy was hammering on the walls, the vibration could have made the door close. But Nancy should be able to raise the bar.”

“And why doesn’t she answer us?” Bess wailed.

George said, “Mrs. Holman, do you have a big hammer handy?”

“There’s one in the kitchen. I’ll get it.”

She vanished up the stairway but returned in half a minute with the hammer. George swung it heftily, trying to knock off the heavy old-time hinges. They were so deeply embedded in the wood that she could make no impression.

Bess spoke up, her voice trembling, “Mrs. Holman, is there a window from the outside that opens into that workshop?”

The housekeeper shook her head. “There’s no entrance to that room except from here.”

“Have you a thin saw that we could put through this crack?” George asked.

“I think so. I’ll look.”

Five minutes elapsed before Mrs. Holman came downstairs and handed a dull, rusty saw to George. The girl wedged it through the crack. She could feel the obstructing wooden bar, but though she tried hard, George could not saw through it.

Bess complained, “Oh, why can’t we do something?”

“Crying won’t help any,” George said severely to her cousin. “Put on your thinking cap!”

Chastened, Bess thought quickly and said, “Why don’t we get a hatchet or an ax and hack down the door?”

“Now you’re using your head,” said George. “Mrs. Holman, can you produce one of those tools?”

The housekeeper was not sure but said she would look in the garage. Fortunately she found a sharp ax. George grabbed it in both hands, gave a mighty heave, and landed it on the door. There was a distinct sound of cracking wood.

Twice more she aimed at the same spot. On the third try the ax crashed all the way through. There was an opening large enough for her to put her hand through and raise the bar.

Bess pulled the door open, then gave a shriek. Across the room Nancy lay on the floor unconscious, a heavy door partly covering her body. Beyond was a gaping hole to the garden!

Mrs. Holman and the two girls rushed over to Nancy. As Bess and George lifted the door away, Mrs. Holman knelt down and felt the girl’s pulse. At that moment Nancy stirred.

“She’s coming around!” the housekeeper said.

“Thank goodness!” Bess murmured. She crouched and ran her fingers through Nancy’s hair. “Oh, Nancy darling, whatever happened to you?”

Her friend did not reply. It was several minutes before she opened her eyes and looked around. She seemed to be in a daze.

“I’ll get some water,” Mrs. Holman offered.

The soothing cool water soon revived Nancy and in halting tones she told what had happened to her.

“Do you think the phantom did it?” Bess asked Nancy.

“No. There was no one in this room.”

Mrs. Holman said she thought Nancy should go upstairs and lie down. “I’m going to ask the university doctor to come in and examine you,” she stated.

Nancy was sure she would be all right. “I’m just a bit bruised.” But the housekeeper insisted.

She put an arm around Nancy to help her upstairs. At the housekeeper’s suggestion, Bess and George stayed behind to set the hidden door in place. For the first time they noticed how unusual the outside of it was. Very thin pieces of stone had been wedged into the wood. When the door was in place, it would look as if it were part of the foundation. The two girls searched, but they found nothing to indicate that the door could be opened from the outside.