A Puzzling Message

Nancy and her father were up early the next morning. They hastily made breakfast before Hannah came downstairs, then drove to the lane Mr. Drew knew led to the damaged button factory. The road was in very bad condition, and there was no gate.

«I see why those men came by boat,» said Mr. Drew, stopping the car some distance from the building. «We'll walk from here.» Nancy led the way through the dew-laden grass to the scene of the explosion. There was no sign of anyone near the factory.

«The explosion did a good job of destruction,» the lawyer commented as the Drews cautiously entered the building.

«Here's where the wall caved in between George and me,» Nancy explained. «Looks as if it might have been dynamited,» her father remarked. «Let's see if we can find any evidence.»

For the next half hour father and daughter scrambled among the rubble. When they discovered nothing of importance in the corridor, they decided to investigate the large workroom at the rear. It was necessary to go outside and climb in through a window to reach the room, because the inside entrance was blocked.

«Oh, it's like a ghost town,» Nancy said as she surveyed the rusted machinery covered with layers of dust. «To think that this once was a prosperous factory, Dad.» She pointed. «What was this machine used for?»

«Cutting,» her father explained. «The mollusk shell is placed inside. An operator moves a lever and down comes the circular steel saw. Presto! A little shell disk drops into the hopper. Another machine slices the disk into pieces of uniform thickness and there you have some pearl buttons!»

«How clever!» said Nancy.

«The buttons pass through still another machine which polishes them,» Mr. Drew went on. «In the last operation thread holes are drilled through them.»

«Dad! Look!» Nancy cried suddenly. A scrap of torn paper was sticking from a comer of the rubble in the doorway. Near it, in a thick layer of dust, were several footprints. Nancy picked up the paper which had part of a message on it. The writing was bold and read:

Dear C,

Some

cret which I

in a wall

famous

worthy

«Interesting,» Mr. Drew commented, scanning the paper. «But I can't say that it makes much sense. The footprints might be a better clue.» He stooped to examine them. «Freshly made, no doubt,» he said. «Perhaps the two men have visited here since the explosion.» «If so, it proves they're searching for something they think was hidden and could be found only by blasting it out.»

«Not necessarily. The explosion could have been an accident, or was set off for some other purpose and may have nothing to do with Juliana's inheritance,» Mr. Drew remarked. Nancy was staring at the torn note. «I believe I've stumbled upon a worthwhile clue just the same. I'm sure the partially missing word is secret». She pocketed the message and reluctantly left the factory with her father. At home, later on, Nancy spent more than an hour trying to figure out the missing words of the note. Who had written them? The paper appeared old, the ink slightly faded.

«It wouldn't surprise me if Walter Heath had written this,» she told Hannah Gruen. «I know how you might find out!» the house-keeper said.

«How?»

«Walter Heath was a member of the River Heights Historical Society before his death. I'm sure the society has specimens of his handwriting.»

«Hannah, you're a genius!» Nancy cried, giving the woman a hug. «I'm off to the Historical Society this very minute!»

Luck was with the young detective. On labels, books, and pieces of furniture which Walter Heath had given to the organization's museum she found several samples of the deceased estate owner's handwriting.

«It's the same as that in the note!» Nancy observed excitedly. «Now, if only I can find the missing part of the message! But Daniel Hector may have the rest!»

Nancy decided to seek her father's aid once more and asked him to talk to the lawyer about the Heath case. Carson Drew did, and then reported to his daughter. «Hector certainly was reluctant to discuss the case.»

«Didn't he tell you anything?» Nancy asked. «Nothing worth mentioning. As soon as I spoke of Heath Castle and the button factory, he dosed up as tight as Salty's clams!»

«Did you mention Juliana's name?» «Yes. Mr. Hector stressed that he was still searching for her.»

The Heath Castle mystery was no nearer a solution than before. Eager as Nancy was to revisit the estate that afternoon, she found it impossible. Her father had made her promise not to go there alone. Neither Bess nor George was free to accompany her until the next day. The next day, after Sunday church services, the three girls set out in Nancy's car, carrying a picnic lunch. On the way Nancy explained the latest developments in the mystery. She added, «Nothing must drive us away from the castle grounds until we've investigated every nook and corner!»

Soon the familiar ivy-covered front boundary wall loomed ahead. Nancy parked beneath a cool tunnel of overhanging trees. The car was well hidden.

She and her friends got out and walked to the rusty gate and peered between the bars. The grounds seemed as deserted as ever, but suddenly the girls heard dogs barking.

«Listen!» Nancy exclaimed. An instant later she added, «They're inside the grounds!» «And coming closer,» Bess said nervously.

«That settles it. We can't possibly go in now!» She wanted to return to the car, but George and Nancy lingered, reluctant to leave. Soon they glimpsed two large black-and-white hounds. «Dangerous-looking brutes,» George commented. «Evidently they've been left here on guard.»

When the dogs saw the intruders they barked louder than ever. One of them came to the gate, growled fiercely at Nancy, and clawed the iron bars with his front paws.

Instead of retreating, she spoke soothingly to him. «Hello, old fellow. When did you come to live here?»

To the amazement of Bess, the animal began to wag his tail. Nancy reached a hand through the gate and patted his head.

«Be careful!» Bess warned sharply. The other dog had stopped barking and now came forward, too. Nancy stroked his head. «These dogs are not vicious,» she said. «Girls, I'm sure we can explore the grounds safely.» «I'm willing to try if you are,» George said.

Bess was afraid of the dogs but agreed to go. «I'll climb over first,» Nancy said. «If they don't attack me, you two follow.» George and Bess watched uneasily as their friend climbed the crumbling wall. On the ledge she hesitated a moment. The dogs had set up a loud barking again. Nancy realized that although the animals had been friendly to her on the opposite side of the enclosure, there was no guarantee they would let her enter the grounds. «Don't attempt it!» Bess called.

Nancy spoke gently but firmly to the hounds. Then, taking a chance, she lowered herself gradually. One of the dogs leaped up to her. Nancy's heart began to beat wildly, but she showed no fear.

«Easy, boy,» she murmured. To her relief, the animal became friendly once more. «It's all right,» Nancy called to her friends, and continued to pat the hounds. She talked to them as George climbed the wall and leaped down. The dogs did not make a fuss. As soon as Bess's head appeared, however, they began to snarl. «They'll leave you alone if you don't show any fear,» Nancy assured her.

But it was impossible for Bess to do this. «Go on without me,» she said after two vain attempts. «I'll wait in the car.»

«All right,» Nancy agreed, adding with a grin, «Don't eat up all the lunch while we're gone!» She and George set off. The dogs remained behind. Soon the girls located the avenue of trees which led to the loggia.

«Here's a path that may go to the castle,» Nancy said as they came to a forked trail. «Maybe.» George smiled. «But here's a sign that reads To the Goblin Gallery.» «Let's see where it goes,» Nancy urged. They passed a finely chiseled statuette in a wall niche, lingered a moment to gaze at a rose garden choked with weeds, then went on to a clearing. Before them rose an artistic structure. The sides were formed of slender twisted stone columns, while sprawling over them was a roof of untrimmed vines supported by thick stalks. «How pretty!» Nancy said dreamily. George, surveying the gallery closely, remarked practically, «It looks as if Father Time has taken over here instead of the goblins. Those stone columns might tumble down any minute.» Remarking that she was amazed stone could be damaged so greatly by weather, Nancy stooped to inspect the base of one of the pillars. «George!» she exclaimed suddenly. «Someone has deliberately tampered with these columns. See the marks? They've been weakened probably with a pickax!»

«Why would anyone do that?» George asked. As the girls looked over the other columns, Nancy told George about the note she had found at the Heath button factory and the words «in a wall.»

«I'm sure someone is searching various walls of that old building for an article of value,» she said. «But why try to destroy these lovely columns?» «Maybe the person didn't find what he wanted in the walls, and was looking in the columns.» George was not listening attentively to her friend. Instead, she was gazing down the path as if transfixed.

«What do you see?» Nancy asked in a low voice. George motioned toward the bushes. «It's an old man!» she whispered. «He's pointing his finger at something ahead of us!»

Nancy was startled too when she saw the man amid the heavy shrubbery. Her pulse quickened as she moved toward the figure. Nearing it, she laughed softly.

«Why, it's only a life-size statue, George!» Embarrassed, her friend went over to inspect the figure.

«That pointing finger might have a special significance,» Nancy said, noting the path ahead. «Let's see where this takes us.»

The trail had been nearly obliterated by weeds. It twisted in and out among the trees and seemed to lead nowhere. The girls were about to turn back when Nancy caught a flash of water in sunlight.

The girls made their way through the under-growth and came out on the shore of a very large pond dotted with rank grass. George hurried ahead to look at it.

«Why do you suppose someone pointed the statue to this? It doesn't look like any-» Her words ended in a little scream as the soft bank beneath her feet gave way. Before Nancy could grab her, George had slipped into the water. It was not deep but she was soaked. «Hypers! Look at me! I'm a mess!» George cried out. «And say, this water is kind of salty.» Nancy helped her friend scramble up the slippery bank. She gazed about her and noticed a stone house nearby. Apparently it once had been used as a tool shed.

«Go in there and get out of your wet clothes,» she advised George. «I'll lay them in the sun. They shouldn't take long to dry.»

Quickly George ducked into the stone house. She tossed her slacks, shirt, and sneakers through an open window.

Nancy spread them on the bank in the sun, then started walking around the pond. Suddenly she noticed something shiny on the bank. It was the shell of a whelk.

«How beautiful!» she thought, picking it up. The mother-of-pearl lining gleamed with a blend of delicate pink and purple.

After a moment's hesitation Nancy stripped off shoes and socks and waded into the shallow water. When she dipped her hands into the sand, she discovered that the bottom was thick with mussels. Among them were discarded shells with the same lovely blending of colors. Nearby on the shore she spotted a large pile of cracked shells and went to examine them.

«Why are they here?» she wondered. «These are seashore whelks.» Then Nancy remembered what Salty had told her about dye being obtained from this type of shellfish and that Walter Heath had spent much of his time on scientific experiments. «Suppose he was using the whelks to make a special kind of dye!»

Nancy tucked two unbroken shells into her shirt pocket. As she put on her shoes she thought of the hacked stone columns and the explosion at the factory. «Someone may be looking for a secret connected with Walter Heath's experiments!» «Nancy!» George called. «Are my clothes dry?»

Nancy rose and felt them. «Not yet.»

«I'm getting hungry,» George complained. «And Bess will have a fit if we don't go back soon.»

At that moment Bess was fuming in Nancy's concealed car. As the sun climbed high overhead and the girls failed to return, she became hungry and annoyed.

«Guess they've forgotten me,» she thought. To add to her irritation, the hounds would dash back to the gate whenever she walked over to look through it. They bayed savagely. «Oh,» Bess fretted, «wait until I see Nancy and George. I'll-» Just then she heard a car coming up the road. Bess barely had time to hide herself in the bushes before it swung around the bend. She was glad that she had followed her instinct for she was sure from Nancy's description that the driver was Daniel Hector. He was alone.

The lawyer stopped in front of the gate but did not shut off the engine. He got out of his two-door car, leaving the door on his wide open. «He's going to drive into the grounds!» Bess thought. «Nancy and George will be caught! I must warn them!»

Her anxiety mounting, Bess tried to think what to do. Mr. Hector still had his back turned toward her as he unlocked the big gates. The car was less than ten feet away from her hiding place. There was little time for Bess to think or plan. Impulsively she darted to the car. After climbing into the back, she crouched on the floor. Hector returned to the automobile. Unaware of his passenger, he drove through the opening into the estate grounds!