Disastrous Fire

“QUICK! ” said Nancy, ducking behind a brier bush. “Mr. Scarlett is just outside in a car! ”

Bess and George squatted down too. The three remained very still, not making a sound.

Mr. Scarlett got out of his car and walked up and down, looking and listening. The girls were puzzled by his actions. Perhaps someone had seen them going toward the moss-covered mansion and had reported this to him.

In a few minutes the realtor seemed satisfied about something. He got back into his car. Then, to the girls’ amazement, he drove toward them along the winding path. They crouched lower behind the tall bushes. His car soon disappeared but they could hear the motor. Seconds later it was shut off approximately where the house would be.

“He must know the animal trainer, ” Nancy thought.

She and her friends came from hiding. Nancy wanted to go back to the moss-covered mansion but Bess objected. “I think we’ve had enough adventures for one day. Besides, George is a mess. Please, let’s return to the Billingtons.”

As they walked down the street toward the Webster house to get their car, the girls discussed Scarlett’s furtive behavior. Why had he come to the mansion with the wild-animal enclosure?

“He’s hiding something, that’s sure, ” George declared. “Nancy, if you see him again, are you going to ask him why he was here? ”

“No, George. I believe we can find out more by having him think we didn’t see him.”

When they reached home Hannah Gruen met them at the kitchen door. “My word, George, where have you been? ” she cried out. “Did you fall in the water? ”

“I wish I had, ” said George. “I’d have been better off.” Quickly she explained about their sleuthing trip to the moss-covered mansion.

The housekeeper was aghast. “The place sounds dreadful. You had better not go there again.”

Bess said, “You can bet I’m not going to.”

She pulled the orange from her pocket, and told Hannah she had taken it from a tree at the strange house.

“This isn’t the same kind as Mr. Billington’s, ” Bess said. “Do you suppose it’s a Hamlin, the same as the oranges that were delivered to the Space Center? ”

The thought intrigued Nancy. On a bookshelf she had noticed a volume marked Oranges and went to get it. The book was filled with color pictures and one by one she compared Bess’s orange with those in the book.

“This is not a Valencia, ” she said, “because it’s the wrong time of year for that kind of tree to be bearing. The fruit’s ripe in the spring. Mr. Billington’s, as you know, are Pineapple Oranges. Remember their bright-orange skin and pineappley shape? ” Nancy turned the page and exclaimed, “Here it is! The oranges at the moss-covered mansion are not Hamlins but Parson Browns. Hamlins have a smooth skin while the Parson Browns are pebbly-skinned.”

George sighed. “I guess we’ll have to ride around looking for Hamlin groves to see if we can pick up any clue to the ones that were brought into the Space Center.”

The girls decided to start their search directly after luncheon. They hurried upstairs to take baths and put on fresh clothes.

By the time they came down again, Tina was in the kitchen helping Hannah. The three girls winked at one another and began to set the table.

The menu called for baked chicken with a special kind of cream sauce. Tina said she had never heard of it and did not know how to make the sauce.

“Nancy does it very well, ” Hannah said proudly, and called, “Nancy dear, will you come and make cream sauce for the chicken? ”

Smiling, Nancy hurried to the kitchen and prepared it.

When everything was ready, Hannah and the girls went to the dining room. They invited Tina to eat with them, but the woman refused, saying she was not hungry. Perhaps by the time Antin came in, she would be ready for her lunch.

Instinct told Nancy not to talk about the moss-covered mansion within Tina’s hearing. The group were relieved when she went outdoors and walked into the grove.

The telephone rang. Nancy answered it. Mr. Datsun, the lawyer, was calling. He wanted to know if Nancy had anything to report. She gave a quick account of her sleuthing but admitted she had learned little about the explosive oranges.

“No one has been able to track down any clue except to Mr. Billington, ” the lawyer said.

On a hunch Nancy told him about the old mansion. “Do you know who lives there? ”

“No, ” the lawyer replied. “Why? ”

Nancy explained about the possibility of her father buying the Webster place and the strange behavior of Mr. Scarlett. “Are you acquainted with him? ”

“I know there’s a realtor of that name, ” said Mr. Datsun, “but I can’t tell you anything about him. I’m afraid I’m no help to you, but I’m hoping you can help me.

“Nancy, a very odd note was left under my office door. Maybe you can figure it out. This is what it says:

“‘Can a mouse with a brain of jelly capture a lion with nerves of steel? ”’

“How strange! ” Nancy remarked. “Would you mind repeating it? ”

Mr. Datsun read it again and Nancy quickly wrote down the words and read those numbered 1, 5, 9, 13. Neither the words nor the first letters of them made any sense.

“Are you still there? ” Mr. Datsun asked.

“I’m sorry, ” said Nancy. “I was trying to see if there might be a code in this message. I think not. But it occurs to me that it could have been written by some sarcastic person interested in the case of the explosive oranges. The message might imply that you and my father are as helpless as a mouse against a lion.”

“That’s a very good guess, ” the lawyer remarked.

Nancy went on, “Whoever the lion is, we’ll catch him! ”

“Indeed we will! ” Mr. Datson agreed.

After the conversation ended, Nancy continued to think about the message. She suddenly remembered the lion at the moss-covered mansion. Suppose that by some chance this was the beast referred to in the mysterious note! It could mean that the strange setup of the animal enclosure and the odd behavior of Mr. Scarlett are connected with the explosive oranges!

“It would explain why the girls and I aren’t wanted at the Webster house, ” Nancy told herself.

At this moment Bess came to warn her that Antin and Tina had come in. The caretaker was taciturn. Not only did he not speak to anyone but did not wait to eat lunch. Instead, the couple went up to their room.

“What’s the matter with him? ” George asked.

Before anyone could hazard a guess, an alarm bell began to ring.

“What’s that for? ” George asked.

There was pounding on the stairway and Antin came rushing down. “Fire! ” he shouted, and rushed out the rear door.

Everyone followed. He sped through the grove to the packing house.

Suddenly Nancy stopped. “I wonder if anyone notified the fire department, ” she said. “I’d better go back and phone them anyway.”

“I’ll go with you, ” said Bess. “This might have been a ruse to get all of us out of the house.” They had left the doors and windows open.

“We’ll soon find out, ” said Nancy.

Hurrying inside, she dashed to the telephone and called the fire department. They had not been notified but said they would come at once.

Quickly Nancy and Bess locked all the doors and windows, and took the kitchen door key with them. As they ran through the grove toward the packing house, the girls noticed that blazes had sprung up here and there among the trees.

“This fire has been deliberately set! ” Nancy declared. “Someone started it while the workers were at lunch.” Immediately she wondered where Antin had been. Could he possibly be the arsonist and if so why?

When they caught up to George and Hannah, Nancy told them that the firemen were coming. She rushed up to a burly picker and asked how she could help.

“You’re a girl, ” he said. “What can you do? ”

Nancy was angry. She turned away. There was nothing she could do to save the orange packing house which was now a mass of flames, but she might be able to do something to preserve the trees. She ran over to Tina, who was sobbing, and asked her.

The woman pointed toward the river. “There’s a hose and a pump down there, ” she replied.

Nancy did not wait to hear more. She quickly told Bess and George, and the three rushed off toward the river. It seemed as if trees were burning everywhere. They found the pump and hose, quickly unwound it, and turned on the nozzle. Within minutes they were able to put out the fire in the nearby trees.