Cobweb Cottage

WITH a mighty jerk Nancy pulled the oar from Mr. Hendrick, pushed the throttle, and backed the boat away from the cave. A moment later a great flood of water rushed from the entrance. The boat was buffeted wildly by the waves.

“The ghost must have seen us! ” Bess exclaimed dramatically, gripping the sides of the boat to keep from being tossed into the water.

Amos Hendrick, who had scoffed at the ghost tale earlier, was now trembling like a leaf. As Nancy steered the craft into less turbulent water, he said with an attempt at composure:

“This brings to mind a story told me as a child. According to it, a worker in a bell foundry near the ocean set sail in a small dory equipped with a tolling bell. It was said he joined some pirates who hid their loot in a cave. Nothing was ever heard about him again.”

“Perhaps he was drowned at sea, ” Nancy remarked.

“So it was assumed, because for many years on moonlight nights other workers reported seeing his ghost walking on the water not far from the foundry.”

“And you believe the story? ” George asked.

“Many persons vouched for the tale. The ghost finally disappeared, and it was said he went back to the cave.”

A. H. then added with a quick change back to the present, “I’d like to get my hands on that bell inside Bald Head Cave! ”

“Please don’t try, ” Nancy requested. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Let’s go home, ” Bess proposed. “This place makes me feel uneasy.”

“I have something I want to do first, ” said Nancy, staring speculatively at the cliff. “Who wants to go exploring? ”

“I for one, ” George replied promptly.

Mr. Hendrick declined. “I haven’t enough of the goat in me to climb around rocks. You girls go along. I’ll stay and watch the boat.”

Bess was glad of an excuse to avoid the expedition and remained with A. H.

“Don’t let the ghost get you, ” George said jokingly as she and Nancy stripped off shoes and socks before wading ashore.

Soon the two girls reached the rocky beach. There they put on their shoes again, and started up the cliff. Reaching the top they admired the view and waved to Bess and A. H. in the boat.

“I climbed up here a much easier way the day we nearly drowned in the cave, ” Nancy said. “Want to see where I had that remarkable dream? ”

“So that’s why we came, ” George needled.

“I’m curious to find out how the place looks, now that I have my wits about me.”

Without difficulty Nancy spotted the general location where she had slept.

“I can’t figure out how you reached the road from here, ” George commented. “If you walked in your sleep you were lucky you didn’t fall off the cliff and kill yourself.”

“I think so, too, ” Nancy said soberly.

The girls looked about, seeking a trail which would lead to the road. Suddenly George stumbled into a crevice between the rocks, severely twisting her ankle. Though she tried to walk, it was evident she could go no farther without great pain.

“I’ll wait here, ” she decided. “You go on by yourself, Nancy.”

Nancy hesitated, but George, who knew her friend wanted to do some exploring, would not permit her to give up the expedition.

Nancy went on alone, directing her steps toward a weather-beaten cottage nestled against high rocks. She did not recall seeing it the first time she was on the cliff, probably because of the drowsy state she was in that day.

“What a lonesome place for anyone to live! ” she reflected. “No trees. No garden. And it must be cold and windy in the winter.”

Impulsively Nancy decided to call on the occupants. It was not until she was quite near the cottage that it suddenly occurred to her the men whose voices she had heard might live there.

But Nancy could not resist the temptation to investigate the house. It was so neglected looking that she decided the place was deserted. The curtains at the windows looked very soiled. A painted rocker stood on the porch, dust-covered and faded. It swayed gently to and fro in the wind.

Nancy went to the door and knocked several times. No one answered. Convinced that the house was vacant, she tried the door. Finding it had no lock, she lifted the latch and went inside.

What Nancy saw caused her to draw in her breath sharply. Chills raced down her spine.

A dining table which stood in the center of the room was set with two places. Food lay on the plates. But the food was moldy and covered with cobwebs. A chair stood precisely at each place, as though the occupants had gone away suddenly just before sitting down to the meal. “Some tragedy must have occurred here! ” Nancy thought. “And not recently, either. The owners evidently left the cottage in a hurry and never returned. But why? ”