Inquisitive Locksmith

NOT only the four girls, but all the passengers who saw the object coming, froze in fear! Then, for several seconds, there was near panic on board the Winschoten. Women screamed. Men shouted warnings. Children cried. But the first fright was over quickly. The whizzing meteor crashed into the ocean not far from the ship.

Within seconds, its tremendous splash caused a tidal wave that nearly swamped the Winschoten. The ship dipped and rose on the mighty swell that followed.

Nancy and her friends tried to hold on to the railing but found it impossible. Some unseen force seemed to yank their hands away. As they sprawled on the deck, they narrowly missed being trampled by other passengers who also had lost their footing.

Chairs were sliding about helter-skelter. Some held people; others were empty. Cries of pain rang out. Officers yelled orders over loudspeakers in vain. Passengers tried to stand, but were unable to.

The Winschoten rose and dipped, then swung from side to side as if it were a giant rocking cradle. Little by little quiet was restored to the sea. The great ocean liner stabilized and the upheaval ceased.

Nancy, Bess, Nelda, and George called out to one another and were glad that none of them had been injured. Many passengers had not fared so well. Some struggled to their feet and hobbled off to their cabins. Others had to be taken to the infirmary.

Nancy and her friends helped wherever they could. They pulled deck chairs off people who were pinned beneath them, and comforted frightened children.

Suddenly over the loudspeaker came a strong voice. “This is your captain speaking. I wish to report that our ship has not been damaged in any way and that we are proceeding on our regular course. Passengers needing medical attention please come to the infirmary or the lounge nearest you. If you are unable to get there yourself, please ask others to help you.”

An elderly woman near the girls was crying.

She said her back had been injured. “I can’t move, ” she sobbed. “Please get a doctor! Oh, oh, I can’t stand it! ”

Someone brought a stretcher, and gently Nancy and her friends lifted the woman onto it. As carefully as possible the girls carried the frail, sobbing passenger downstairs to the infirmary.

Many people were already there, waiting to see one of the two doctors. Nurses, smiling encouragingly, were hurrying about as more and more passengers were coming in or being carried to an inner room, where the most seriously injured were being treated.

Nancy thought it best that she and her friends leave as quickly as possible to make room for the patients. Two nurses relieved them of their burden; then the girls hurried upstairs and went directly to their cabin. All were exhausted from the shock and dropped onto their beds.

“What a dreadful experience we have been through! ” Nelda said. “That meteor was close.”

The others nodded, and Bess said, “Just think how many fish and plants were killed or badly shocked by it! ”

Nancy was thoughtful. She admitted she had been frightened, but finally changed the subject and announced she was going to undress and get under the covers.

“Who’ll lend me a nightie? ” she asked, looking around.

George grinned. “I have just the thing for you. I’m going to wear it at the costume party, but you’re welcome to sleep in it.”

From her suitcase, she brought out a long, white flannel grandmother nightgown with a matching cap. The girls giggled.

“Before I use it, ” George said, “I’m going to sew fake mice all over it.” She reached into her suitcase again. “Here are the candleholder and candle I’m going to carry.”

“You’ll certainly win a prize, ” Nelda predicted. “That is very funny. But you ought to have a long braid hanging down your back.”

“And here it is! ” George held up a hairpiece. “Nancy, try on the outfit, will you? ”

The light banter helped the girls relax after their harrowing experience, and Nancy was glad to go along with it. Quickly she undressed and slipped into the old-fashioned nightie. She adjusted the cap and the braid, then looked at herself in the mirror.

“Do I look like my great-great-great-great grandmother? ” she asked, trying to make her voice sound old and feeble.

The girls laughed. “It’s perfect, ” George said.

Nancy made a face, then took off the cap. “George, I don’t want to get it wrinkled by wearing it to bed. Will someone please lend me another nightgown? ”

Bess obliged her by handing her a pale-blue silk nightie, and that was what Nancy wore. She grinned. “This doesn’t look bad on me either, ” she said. “Maybe I’ll like it so well I won’t give it back to you! ”

Bess pretended to take the remark seriously. “Hey, I didn’t know you were a thief! ”

Before each girl went to sleep, she said a prayer of thanks for being unhurt at a time when there might have been a great catastrophe.

Directly after breakfast the next morning, Lou, the locksmith, came to the girls’ cabin. He was a small, talkative Dutchman who said he lived in England He and his father had made a study of locks from very early times, not only in historic England, but all over the world.

“Do you know what the first lock was? ” he asked the girls.

When they said no, he explained that it was just two pieces of wood nailed upright beyond the edges of a door. Then a long bar was slipped through them to hold the door shut.

“And to keep intruders out, ” George added.

Lou crossed the room and looked at the mysterious brass-bound trunk. He opened a little satchel he carried with him and took out a large metal ring to which were attached many keys.

“Is this the piece you can’t open? ” he asked.

“Yes, ” Nancy replied.

“Lost the key? ”

She did not answer, and he did not pursue his question. Instead, he tried the keys one by one in the lock, but none of them would fit. Finally he put them back into his bag.

“Guess I’ll have to try something more intricate, ” he said. “This lock has hidden tumblers. That’s harder than anything else to open. It’s the best kind of lock, though, because it can only be opened with a special key. Leavers are used mostly in standard or stock keys.”

When Lou was not speaking aloud, he was mumbling to himself either in Dutch or in English. Nancy caught phrases like pin tumbler, too much graphite, bent key, cam screws, and wondered what he was thinking. All the girls figured that in any case, opening the mystery trunk was not an easy job.

“Hm! ” Lou said at last. “You must have something valuable in here, Miss Drew, to lock it up this way! ”

The girls looked at one another, but made no comment. The locksmith did not seem to notice their lack of response. After he had tried several more keys, Lou said, “I guess I’ll just have to remove the cylinder.”

Using a tiny screw driver to take out the set screw, he released the cylinder. In a few moments he found the secret of the combination, and filed a new key. Then he returned the cylinder to its plate and handed the key to Nancy. “Try this, ” he said.

She did. “Oh, it fits perfectly! ” she said, pleased. She had no trouble locking and unlocking the mystery trunk.

Lou rose and put his tools away. Again he spoke to Nancy. “You’d better not lose this key, ” he told her. Then he stared in amazement at the trunk. Nelda had opened it, and revealed part of its contents.

“Well, well! ” Lou exclaimed. “Men’s clothes! ” He looked at Nancy quizzically. “Are you masquerading or perhaps you are part of a traveling theater group? ” he asked her pointedly.

Bess giggled, but the other two girls frowned. Nancy merely smiled. “Guess again, ” she said.

Lou was not sure what she meant by this, but she gave him no time for other questions. Instead, she took his arm, escorted him to the door, and opened it.

“Thank you very much, ” she said, handing him several guilders for his work. “I’ll let you know if I have any more trouble.” Then she almost pushed him into the corridor, shut the door behind him, and locked it.

The other girls were laughing, but finally became quiet. “So N.D. is a man! ” George remarked.

“That doesn’t surprise me, ” Nancy said. “I still think it’s that fellow I overheard in the corridor.”

At this moment there was a knock on the door.

George walked over and opened it. Heinrich, their cabin steward, stood there.

“Lou, the locksmith, thought maybe you needed some help, ” he said and stepped inside.

“I don’t think so, ” George said. “But thanks for the offer.” She tried to usher him out, but he stood still and stared at the open trunk.

“Your boyfriend’s clothes? ” he said to Nancy, smirking.

“No, ” George said and escorted him into the corridor. She shut the door, locked it, and walked back to the trunk.

“Nancy, I’m afraid your reputation will be ruined forever. No doubt Heinrich will spread the word around that you have your boyfriend stashed away under your bed! ”

“I’ll set them straight, ” Nancy replied with a chuckle. “I’ll tell them he’s yours, not mine! ”

After the teasing subsided, George asked, “What do you suggest we do next with this? ”

Nancy replied, “I think we should invite the captain to come down here and investigate this trunk with us. Nelda, would you please call him? If he isn’t in his quarters, try other locations.”

Nelda picked up the phone and after several attempts reached her uncle. She told him what the trunk contained and that they were about to empty it.

“I’ll be right down, ” he said.

Not only Captain Detweiler but the girls were amazed at what he pulled out of the mystery trunk. On top were good-looking suits, but underneath was an assortment of old, worn outfits, paint-spotted overalls, and a battered black felt hat.

“This seems like a working man’s trunk on the bottom and an executive’s on top, ” Bess remarked.

The captain continued to pull articles out. He held up a gray and a red wig.

“Disguises! ” George exclaimed. “Assuming that the man doesn’t have a wig in his own color, he could either be a blond or a brunette.”

“Or he could be bald, ” Bess added.

Captain Detweiler turned to Nancy. “What is your opinion? ”

“I believe the owner of this trunk wears disguises for some reason, perhaps one that isn’t entirely honest. By the way, captain, did you have a chance to ask the porters about the man I overheard in the corridor? ”

“Yes. One of them remembered the incident, but said the fellow left after complaining that his trunk had been delivered to the wrong cabin, and hasn’t said anything since then.”

“Does the porter know who it was? ”

“No. He said he didn’t pay much attention because he was so busy distributing the luggage.”

“That’s strange, ” Nancy said. “The fact that the passenger didn’t follow up on his trunk seems to indicate that he felt uneasy about it. And if this is it, he might have been afraid someone would open it and find all these disguises! ”

“Sounds logical, ” the captain admitted.

The searchers were interrupted by a knock on the door. Quickly they restored the contents of the trunk and pulled down the lid. Then Nancy went to admit the caller.

Heinrich stood there again, but did not attempt to enter. He merely said, “I have a message for you, Miss Drew. Mr. Havelock wants to see you at once at the purser’s desk! ”