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Crashing Trunks






 

“THANK you, ” Nancy said to the steward. “I’ll go up in a few minutes.” He left and she rejoined her friends.

“I wonder why the purser’s office didn’t phone instead of giving the message to Heinrich, ” she thought to herself. “This may be a hoax! ”

Just then the telephone rang. It was for Captain Detweiler. A ship’s officer was calling to tell him that he was needed on the bridge at once.

After saying he would be there directly, the captain hung up and smiled at the girls. “I’ll leave this mystery in your hands, ” he said. “And I’m sure you’ll solve it.”

“It has us puzzled, ” Nancy admitted. “But we’ll do our best.”

The captain patted the young sleuth on the shoulder as he left, then Nancy turned to the girls. “You heard Heinrich’s message, didn’t you? I’m supposed to go up to the purser.”

Her three friends wanted to accompany her, but Nancy had another idea. “This might be a ruse to get us all out of the cabin, ” she said. “Then someone could come in and either take the mystery trunk or unpack it and take away the contents.”

Nelda nodded. “I’ll stay here, ” she offered. “You go ahead.”

Bess said that she, too, would stay. “If more than one person should come in and make a scene, two of us might be able to get them out of here better than one.”

“Okay, ” Nancy said.

The trunk was locked and shoved under her bed. Only a little of the brass trimming showed. Nancy looked around for a place to hide the new key to it. Finally she decided. “I’ll put it in the secret pocket inside my cosmetic bag.”

She and George went to the purser’s office. Mr. Rodman Havelock was there and said that he, indeed, had sent the message by Heinrich. “Your line was busy when I tried to call, so I asked the steward to tell you.”

Nancy and George were relieved. The message had not been a ruse after all!

“I think I have good news for you, ” Rod went on. “After the meteor came down and the ship was tilting and listing, many pieces of luggage in the hold were dislodged. While straightening the place up, the man in charge spotted a brass-bound trunk marked N.D. under a heap of other baggage. It must be yours.”

“Wonderful! ” Nancy exclaimed. “How soon can it be sent to my cabin? ”

The assistant purser suggested that first she go to the hold and identify the trunk to be absolutely sure it was hers.

“We don’t want any more mix-ups, ” he added.

Rod wrote out a slip to the man in charge of the hold, saying Nancy and George had permission to enter and look at the trunk. Then he gave them directions.

“Thank you very much, ” Nancy said, and the two girls hurried off.

They found the door leading down steep iron steps to the boiler room. The place fascinated them, not only because of the huge fire pits, but also because of the pipes and myriads of electrical wires leading to every part of the ship.

Nancy and George. had to walk carefully because of the small puddles of oil here and there, which had dripped from the machinery.

George grinned. “We’d be a mess if we fell here, ” she commented.

The girls were intrigued by the gigantic pipes running along either side of the ship, which held fresh drinking water.

Finally they came to the hold. The door was locked, so they pushed a button, which rang a bell inside.

A crewman opened it. Nancy showed him the permission slip and he allowed the girls to enter. The heavy door locked behind them with a great thud. The man, on whose overalls was stitched the name Pieter, said something to them in Dutch, but when Nancy indicated she could not speak his language, he pointed and led the way to where the trunk was stored.

At this very moment, the ship lurched. Pieter, Nancy, and George lost their balance. All three of them fell to the wooden floor. Baggage and boxes tumbled about, pinning them down. At the same time all the lights in the hold went out.

The ship gave a tremendous lurch.

 

The crewman cried out in pain. George was silent. Nancy could not move, but called out, “George, are you all right? ”

There was no reply, not even a muffled answer to her frantic question. Instead, speaking with a Dutch inflection, Pieter said, “Ring gong by door! ”

In the blackness Nancy pushed away an enormous box and struggled to her feet. Then she tried to find her way to where she thought the door was. The girl detective kept bumping into various kinds of baggage and pushing them aside. It was hard going, but she urged herself on. Obviously Pieter was in no condition to move.

Once she concluded she had gone in a circle and started over again.

“Hurry! ” Pieter cried out.

“I’m trying! ” Nancy replied.

Finally she could feel the outline of the great steel door and moved her fingers alongside it. At last they discovered a round object, which she assumed was a bell. Nancy pushed it hard. A loud gong began to ring in the corridor outside.

Within minutes there was a knock on the door. “What’s the matter? ” boomed a man’s deep voice. “Are you having trouble in there? ”

Nancy put her face against the doorjamb and shouted, “We’re locked in and two people are hurt. Please let us out! ”

Someone began to manipulate the lock on the other side and presently the big door swung open. A powerful flashlight was beamed into Nancy’s blinking eyes. “What happened? ” asked the ship’s officer who stood there. She had never seen him before, but he gave his name as Harper.

“There was this big lurch, ” Nancy said, “and the lights went out in the hold. My friend and I were in here with Pieter to look for my trunk, when we were all thrown down. I think Pieter is hurt, and my friend may be, too! ”

Mr. Harper beamed his flashlight all around. In a moment it picked up Pieter’s prostrate form. He was lying face down with a heavy crate on top of him, and he was moaning in pain.

The officer hurried over to the stricken figure. “Come on, ” he said, “help me get this crate off him! ”

With great effort he and Nancy lifted the crate from the man and helped him stand up. He was able to walk around and move his arms, but said his head hurt.

Mr. Harper told him to take several deep breaths, and Pieter did so without showing any discomfort. Apparently he had not injured his ribs.

“You’re lucky nothing seems to be broken, ” the officer said to him.

Nancy spoke. “Please come and help me find my friend. She must be unconscious! ”

All three made their way to George’s side. Her eyes were closed and she did not move, but there was no luggage lying on her.

“She might have hit her head, ” Mr. Harper said. “We must have her taken to the infirmary. She needs attention right away.”

While Nancy stayed with George, Mr. Harper stepped into the corridor and used a wall telephone. He called the infirmary and suggested that a doctor come at once and that orderlies bring a stretcher to take a patient upstairs.

Nancy had been rubbing George’s wrists and the back of her neck, trying to restore her to consciousness. But there was no response from her friend.

“Oh, George, please wake up! ” Nancy pleaded and rubbed harder. George did not stir.

An icy fear crept up Nancy’s spine and her heart began to beat wildly. Suppose George’s injuries had been fatal!


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