Chapter XIX

Escape

AT David Carr’s harsh words, Mr. Soong moaned.

“Nobody, ” Carr shouted angrily, “is going to interfere with me and get away with it! You, Nancy Drew, have interfered with my plans since the first time you saw me on Three Bridges Road.”

“And I’ll keep on interfering—until you and your brother are locked behind bars! ” Nancy retorted.

Carr’s face tightened. “Ah! So you know about my brother? ”

“I do! ” Nancy declared, hoping it would induce the swindler to reveal what part his brother had played in Carr’s nefarious schemes.

Instead, Carr said, “You are very clever. Since you probably know it, I’ll admit he stole the vase from the Townsends and the jade elephant from your home.”

Nancy nodded. “Why did he bother to steal the vase when he knew it was a fake? ”

“My wife is to blame for that! ” he replied harshly. “Because of her stupidity, Eng Moy was able to paint his name on several porcelains I sold. My brother and I stole back as many as we could. We were afraid the signature would be traced by Federal dicks.”

“You managed to remove Eng’s name and sold the Townsend vase again. But who posed as Mr. Soong to collect the money orders in Masonville? ” she asked quickly, hoping to catch Carr off guard. “Your brother? ”

The man was much too cagey, however, to refer to his confederate by name. He addressed his reply tauntingly to the elderly Chinese gentleman, who stood listening close by.

“That was clever, eh, Soong? It’s just too bad for Miss Drew his scheme didn’t completely succeed. If she’d believed you guilty of selling fake potteries, she might have stopped meddling in my affairs and wouldn’t be here now to face the consequences! ”

“I’m glad I was able to help Mr. Soong, ” Nancy declared hotly.

Carr gave a mirthless, sardonic laugh, then turned to go. “I advise you not to try to escape, ” he warned. “The mastiff has a nasty temper and very sharp fangs! I’ll be back in a few minutes and then we’ll see how brave you are! ”

He swung the iron door shut. Nancy found the candle and lighted it. She turned to Mr. Soong who had sat down on the floor, too weak to stand any longer.

“It’s my fault you’re in this dangerous situation, ” he murmured to Nancy. “I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me.”

Nancy smiled wanly. “Please do not feel bad. It was my own wish to untangle this mystery that brought us here.”

She crossed to the door to listen, hoping the dog might be gone. But the mastiff outside, sensing her presence near the iron barrier, uttered a low, menacing growl.

Nancy took the candle and started to examine the battered brick walls. There had to be some way of escape!

Suddenly the iron door creaked slowly open. Standing in the doorway was Mr. Soong’s short, inscrutable-looking servant Ching! He regarded them impassively, then gave them a toothy smile.

“Ching! ” Mr. Soong arose and advanced toward him eagerly. He spoke excitedly to the servant in Chinese. But Ching suddenly gave a boisterous laugh and roughly pushed his gentle employer away.

“Fool! ” he cried in English. “Are you so stupid you cannot guess who I really am? ”

“Carr’s brother! ” Nancy exclaimed.

Ching made her a mock bow. “Exactly! ”

“Now I understand several things, ” Nancy said. “You were the one who posed as Mr. Soong and cashed the money orders! ”

“Yes, Miss Drew, ” Ching replied mockingly. “But my impersonation need not concern you any longer. You made a fatal mistake in coming here. Now you must pay for your stupidity.” He chuckled contemptuously. “There is an old American saying, ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’ You see the parallel, Miss Drew, I’m sure.”

“There’s no use threatening us. You know my father will come and bring the police! ” Nancy burst out.

“Wouldn’t you like us to believe that, Miss Drew? ” Ching taunted. “But unfortunately for you, I know that your father is in Washington. You see, I called his office, intending to tell him that you would be—er—slightly late for dinner.”

Nancy realized how serious her plight was, but there was a ray of hope. When she did not return to dinner, Mrs. Gruen certainly would telephone the Miltons, and when the housekeeper learned that Nancy and Mr. Soong had gone to the enclosure, she would call the police.

Sparring for time, she continued to ask questions which Ching freely answered.

He said it had been prearranged between David and himself that he would get a job at Mr. Soong’s. In this way he could watch the man’s mail and waylay any messages about the Engs. At all times he kept track of his employer’s movements.

“But once you slipped, ” Nancy spoke up. “A letter about the Engs did reach Mr. Soong.”

“Unfortunately, yes. Then you came into the case, Miss Drew. But you shall never bother my brother or me again. As soon as we have removed our valuable property, ” Ching said defiantly, “we will come back and dynamite the leaning chimney. When it collapses, it will crush the roof of the smelter.” He paused significantly. “Your fate will not be pleasant. But let us hope the end will be swift! ”

For several seconds after Ching had departed, Nancy and Mr. Soong were too dazed even to talk. It occurred to Nancy that Mrs. Gruen would not be concerned about her absence until the dinner hour. The housekeeper would act promptly then, but it might be too late. Desperately Nancy began to try to figure some way out of their dreadful plight.

“There isn’t a chance of escaping through the door with the mastiff on guard, ” she pointed out.

Holding the candle above her head, Nancy stared at the domelike roof of the old smelter. The opening which funneled into the leaning chimney was about two feet in diameter. Through the opening she could just see a patch of sunlit sky. A thought clicked and she turned excitedly to Mr. Soong.

“Didn’t Eng Moy get up the inside of the chimney to attach the iron symbol? ” she asked.

“Yes. He said he used a ladder and went up from here, ” the elderly gentleman replied.

There was no ladder in the smelter. Nancy again peered up the chimney. Ladder or no ladder, she promptly decided to try the climb.

“Please help me get up, ” she said.

Mr. Soong’s eyes widened. “You don’t intend to climb the chimney? ” he asked in alarm.

“I must! ” Nancy told him. “It’s our only chance of escape.”

“But you might slip and fall! ”

“Nothing would be worse than the fate that awaits us here, ” Nancy pointed out. “But if I can make the climb, I may be able to bring help to you and your friends before it’s too late.”

Recognizing that there was no choice, the Chinese, exerting his last ounce of strength, permitted Nancy to stand on his back so she could reach into the opening. As Nancy pulled herself up inside, Mr. Soong looked at her anxiously.

“Be careful, ” he begged. “If anything should happen to you—”

“Please don’t worry, ” Nancy reassured him. “And don’t give up hope. If everything goes well, I’ll be back with the police.”

“Good fortune go with you! ” said Mr. Soong, sinking to the floor.

Nancy began her climb. Bracing her back against one side of the chimney and her legs against the other, she started to inch up the stack.

Her climb was made easier by the angle at which the chimney slanted. But the cement between the bricks was chipped and broken. With every movement she made, Nancy was in danger of dislodging a loose brick and plunging down the dank shaft to the floor of the smelter!

With utmost care, she crept upward. Finally, when it seemed as if her tense, tired muscles could carry her no farther, she reached the top. Then she climbed carefully down the outside of the leaning chimney to the sloping roof of the old brick building.

She was about to make the drop from the edge of the roof to the garden when she heard a noise.

“Someone’s coming! ” she thought with alarm.

Swiftly Nancy flattened herself against the sloping roof, and a moment later saw Carr’s wife, now in street clothes, open the door in the stone wall and walk in her direction.

As long as the woman did not look up, Nancy knew she was safe from view. But the angle at which the roof sloped made her position precarious. As Carr’s wife approached, Nancy’s grip suddenly weakened and she started to slide down.

“I can’t fail now! ” she told herself desperately. “I just can’t! ”