A Ghostly Prowler

HER heart pounding, Nancy slipped into the shadows and waited for the footsteps to come nearer.

She thought the intruder might come along the main companionway. In that case she would have a chance to see his face!

The young detective held her breath. The footsteps ceased abruptly. Although she waited for half a minute, there was no further sound.

Nancy’s better judgment told her not to allow herself to be trapped. She rushed up the companionway to the deck. There was the sudden squeak of oarlocks. Peering over the rail, she was in time to see a man in a rowboat pulling steadily away from the far side of the Bonny Scot. Was he the one who had been aboard, or an accomplice?

He wore soiled dungarees and a faded blue shirt. His lined, weather-beaten face and his grizzled beard told Nancy that he was not young, but he rowed with deep, powerful strokes and his little boat moved quickly away from the clipper.

The man must have felt her eyes following him, for he suddenly looked up and caught sight of her. With an angry scowl he redoubled his efforts. He would soon be out of sight among the small craft in the water.

Nancy ran ashore and approached two men who were pushing off in a small motorboat.

“Please take me, ” she begged. “I want to follow that old sailor in the rowboat. I think he’s been trespassing on the Bonny Scot.”

“Sorry, lady.” One of them shrugged.

“But he may be a criminal, ” Nancy pleaded.

“If he’s a criminal, it’s none of our business, ” the other man told her. “Go tell the police.”

They started their motor and put-putted out into the choppy water.

Nancy looked quickly about her. There was no one else going out. Disappointed, she walked back toward the clipper.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost eleven o’clock. Her father would be along in a few minutes. As she stood on the pier, a taxi drew up and Mr. Drew stepped from it.

He smiled as his daughter hurried to meet him. “Is the captain on board? ”

“No, ” Nancy said. “I suppose he’ll be along soon.... Dad, ” she whispered, “I think I’ve seen Captain Easterly’s mysterious visitor! ”

“You work fast. Where is he? ”

Nancy told him of her suspicions. “But maybe it wasn’t the old man after all. The ‘ghost’ may still be on board.”

Cautiously father and daughter searched but found no one on the clipper.

“It must have been that man in the rowboat, ” Nancy declared. “But how did he get off the ship? There’s no rope ladder hanging down, and he didn’t use the gangplank.”

Mr. Drew looked thoughtful. “You’ve got a real mystery to solve, Nancy, ” he said. “At least we know that the captain isn’t seeing ghosts.”

“What luck did you have, Dad? ” Nancy asked. “Anything new on the ship’s title? ”

The lawyer shook his head. “It’s going to be more difficult to trace than I had expected, I’m afraid. But I have a lead.”

“What is it? ” Nancy asked eagerly.

“I’m going to New Bedford. There’s a very old shipbuilding firm there. I’ve been told that this company is a gold mine of information.”

“Then maybe you’ll find out something about the former owners of the Bonny Scot, ” Nancy said hopefully. “Dad, you might even find a drawing of her figurehead for Captain Easterly.”

“Hope so.” Mr. Drew took a steel tape measure from his pocket. “I’ll need measurements of the ship if I’m going to describe her to the gentlemen in New Bedford.”

Nancy helped him, running back and forth across the deck, calling out feet and inches, while he made notes of the ship’s dimensions. They had almost finished when Carson Drew clapped his hand to his coat pocket. “I almost forgot a telegram that came for you, Nancy. I picked it up at the hotel.”

Nancy ripped open the yellow envelope. “Why, Dad, ” she said, “Bess and George are coming to Boston to stay with met They’ll be here today—on the one-thirty plane. That’s wonderful. But what in the world—”

Suddenly Nancy caught the twinkle in her father’s eyes. “Dad, you sent for them! ”

Mr. Drew nodded. “The minute I knew I had to go out of town, I phoned the Marvin home. I wouldn’t want to leave you alone while I’m in New Bedford.”

“You think of everything, Dad.” Then Nancy smiled. “I wonder how Bess will like our ghost. I can’t wait to show the girls the Bonny Scot.”

“Keep your eyes open, Nancy, ” her father advised. “Learn all you can, but be careful.” He pocketed the tape measure and looked at his watch. “I’m afraid I can’t wait for the captain. I must hurry to make the New Bedford train. And promise me you won’t go down into the hold alone.”

“Promise.”

Expecting Captain Easterly any minute, Nancy wandered around for a while, in sight of the workers on the wharf. Still the captain did not come.

“I think I’ll look over his books, ” she told herself. “Maybe I can learn something about figureheads.”

She went below to the captain’s cabin, and almost immediately discovered a worn volume dealing with early American sailing ships. She dropped into one of the armchairs and began to read.

“Ancient shipbuilders, ” the author stated, “looked upon the figurehead as a protector. The bow of the early fighting ship was very high and extended beyond the hull so that it could be run over the deck of another vessel. This allowed the sailors to jump off onto the decks of the enemy’s ships.

“Even when the figurehead was no longer supposed to be a guardian in battle, the sailors thought of it as a great protection in storms. If the figurehead was removed from a vessel, often the men refused to sail.”

Nancy wondered if Captain Easterly felt that way about his lost figurehead—as if the ship were without a protector. She put the book back on the shelf. “Anyway, ” she told herself, “I’ll help the captain find out what the figurehead looked like.”

The shining brass hands on the ship’s clock in the cabin were creeping toward one. Nancy jumped up, hurried ashore, and hailed a taxi.

The driver had just pushed down the meter flag when Nancy noticed a green taxi pull away from the opposite curb. The green cab gathered speed. As it passed them, Nancy caught a fleeting glimpse of the occupant.

He looked like Flip Fay!

“Follow that taxi! ” Nancy ordered, leaning forward.

Her driver sped through the heavy traffic, skillfully keeping the other car in sight. As Nancy’s taxi drew close, the man in the back seat half turned around. He knew she was following him!

He must have told his driver to shake Nancy’s cab, because suddenly the green one darted into a side street. The traffic light turned red. Nancy fumed at the wait.

The instant the light was green again, Nancy’s taxi turned the corner to follow Flip Fay. But the green cab had disappeared.

“Sorry, miss, ” the driver said to Nancy. “I’m afraid we lost ’em.”

“Never mind. Go on to the airport.”

As she entered the waiting room, Bess and George were just coming through the gate, followed by a porter with suitcases.

“Nancy! ” cried Bess, hugging her friend. “We thought you’d be so busy with your mystery you wouldn’t come to meet us.”

Nancy laughed. “That almost happened. Guess whom I just saw in a taxi? ”

“Not the ghost? ” George inquired facetiously.

“Flip Fay—at least I think it was.”

“In Boston? ” Bess shuddered. “Oh, dear, maybe he’ll knock us out again, Nancy! ”

Bess went on to say that the police felt sure Flip was the thief who had broken into her house. But he did not have a police record.

“Maybe he’s running away to sea, ” George remarked. “He’d be safe from the police. I’m dying to see the clipper, ” she went on. “Have you found any clue to the captain’s mysterious visitor? ”

Nancy told the girls about the footsteps and her suspicions about the grizzle-bearded sailor.

“Oh, Nancy, ” Bess exclaimed, “weren’t you frightened? ”

George reminded her cousin that it took more than an old grizzle-faced stranger to frighten Nancy Drew.

“Let’s have a snack at the hotel, and then I’ll take you ghost hunting, ” Nancy suggested.

When they reached the girls’ hotel, Nancy picked up the room telephone and put through a long-distance call to the police chief in River Heights. She told him she thought Flip Fay was in Boston. Chief McGinnis thanked her and said he would get in touch with the Boston police at once.

“Shall I wear the ruby pendant George gave me? ” Bess asked, trying the effect with a pink suit.

“Wear a ten-carat diamond, only let’s get started, ” George urged.

Bess snapped on the necklace and they all went down to the hotel coffee shop for a light lunch. Twenty minutes later they got into a taxi. On the way to the dock, they did some further speculating about Flip Fay.

“Do you suppose he’s the man who called your house and told you to stay away from the Bonny Scot? ” Bess asked. “If he is the one, Nancy, you may be in danger.”

Nancy was thoughtful. It was possible that Flip Fay had found out she had told the police he was the thief. If Fay were trying to leave the country from Boston, naturally he would not want her and Mr. Drew in the city.

“I don’t see why Flip would be interested in the clipper, ” George spoke up. “There’s no connection that we know of.”

“We don’t know very much of anything yet, ” Nancy reminded her. “As soon as you’ve seen the ship, I want to do a little investigating along the waterfront. Maybe I can find someone who knows Flip, or at least has seen him.”

“What about old Grizzle Face? ” George put in. “Are you going to try to find him? ”

Nancy said this was her intention, and she laughed at George’s nickname for the old sailor. The girls left the taxi and walked along the quay toward the clipper.

“What do you think of her? ” Nancy asked proudly. “Isn’t she a beauty? ”

The girls admired the trim black hull of the Bonny Scot and hurried aboard eagerly.

Nancy, sure that the captain would be back by this time, took the girls to his cabin. He had not arrived. The cousins looked around, admiring the carved figurines on the walls. Bess especially liked the figurine of the Puritan maid.

“I’ll bet she could tell lots of stories about this old ship if she could speak, ” Bess mused.

“Let’s go ashore and inquire about Grizzle Face, ” Nancy suggested. “We can come back later to see Captain Easterly.”

They strolled past interesting shops filled with ship’s supplies—lanterns, compasses, calking cord, hardtack, fishing nets, and lines. Nancy stopped to speak to several longshoremen, and the also inquired in some of the shops and shipping offices, but no one could give her any information about either Flip Fay or Grizzle Face.

“My feet hurt, ” Bess groaned. “Let’s sit down.”

“There’s a museum, ” Nancy said. “Let’s go in. Maybe we’ll see some figureheads; even the one from the Bonny Scot.”

She led the way, and was delighted to find a long room lined with carved figures from old ships. The attendant, Donald Blake, was glad to tell the girls something about his treasures.

“This young lady, ” he explained, “sailed around the world ninety times, it’s said. That’s better than most sea captains do! ”

The face of the figurehead was calm and composed. “She’s ridden out storms and maybe even battles without a qualm! ”

“This man looks like a pirate, ” George remarked, pointing to a fierce-looking, mustached figure, wearing a cocked hat and a sword.

“Good guess, ” said Mr. Blake. “He came from a Spanish pirate ship.”

Nancy told Mr. Blake about the lost figurehead of Captain Easterly’s clipper. “You don’t happen to know anything about it? ” she asked.

“I don’t, ” Mr. Blake answered. “But this book may give us a clue.”

He picked up a heavy volume from a desk and thumbed through the index.

“No Bonny Scot listed, ” he said. “Do you know when and where she was built? ”

“So far we haven’t found out, ” Nancy replied.

“Her figurehead may not even be in existence, ” Mr. Blake warned. “Some of the early American figureheads rotted away because the woodcarvers used soft wood instead of hard elm or oak.

“At times a crew would remove the whole figurehead if they were afraid she’d be battered to pieces in a roaring sea, ” he continued. “Those old-timers thought a great deal of their wooden ladies. Well, I hope Captain Easterly finds his figurehead.”

The girls thanked him and returned to the ship, hoping to see the captain. But the clipper was still deserted.

“I wonder what can be keeping him.” Nancy frowned. “He said he’d be here this morning.”

“Let’s go somewhere and have a nice cold soda while we’re waiting, ” Bess begged.

“I agree with you! ” said George.

“You two go, ” Nancy decided. “I’ll wait here.” George did not think they ought to leave Nancy alone on the ship. “Too many strange things are going on, ” she said, “and after all we came to Boston to protect you.”

“I’ll be perfectly all right, ” Nancy assured her.

The girls left. Nancy looked about the captain’s cabin, once again admiring his orderly housekeeping: the gleaming brass hinges on the mahogany wardrobe, the bunk neatly made up and covered with a blue homespun spread. She noted a flashlight and a book on the little shelf over the bunk and saw that Captain Easterly, too, had been reading about figureheads. She reached for the book, then paused.

Had she heard someone on board? Captain Easterly?... No.... Nancy decided she had imagined the pad of footsteps. She took down the book and leafed through it.

The volume was titled The Ten Greatest Pirates of History. Nancy stopped at the chapter about an Indian Ocean ruffian who maintained a spy ring in the leading ports of the Orient. His underlings, the story said, learned about rich shipments of cloth and precious stones and would send messages to the pirate chieftain. Then the brigands would lie in hiding in some secluded island cove, waiting for their prey.

Nancy wondered whether the Bonny Scot ever had had such a misadventure.

Again Nancy thought she heard a noise and strained her ears to listen. “The pirate story is stirring my imagination, ” she thought.

Suddenly Nancy froze, her spine prickling. There was someone behind her! Someone had come softly along the passageway and into the cabin.

Nancy whirled, but before she could see the person, a coat was thrown over her head and powerful hands pushed her into a closet and slammed the door.