A Strange Warning

NANCY and Bess dashed into the galley, followed by Captain Easterly.

George was on her hands and knees, her head under a crude wooden bench nailed to the floor. In her hand was a spoon which had fallen under the bench.

“Poke your head down here and look at this! ” she exclaimed.

Nancy dropped to the floor. On the underside of the bench she saw carved letters that made her gasp.

“Captain, ” she cried, “it says Dr. of Mel. The Bonny Scot is the Dream of Melissa! ”

“What? Let me see! ” Captain Easterly got down on his knees. “You’re right! ”

“The snuffbox fits in, too, ” Nancy reasoned, “because the master of the Dream of Melissa was Captain Perry Rogers.”

“And the carving on the snuffbox must be a copy of the figurehead of Captain Rogers’ ship! ” George exulted.

Bess sighed thoughtfully. “That woman looked like somebody sweet and dreamy who might be named Melissa.”

Nancy was too excited to eat any more breakfast. She said the next thing to do was look for further clues to check the carving in the galley.

“We’ll investigate every piece of furniture on the ship, ” she told Captain Easterly.

“Let’s begin here, ” George suggested, turning a chair upside down.

They went over the ship’s furniture carefully but found no lettering. Then they took the cabins, one by one. George climbed into the upper bunks and looked at the woodwork, and Nancy turned her flashlight into old wardrobes and cupboards.

After an hour of strenuous work they had found nothing. Captain Easterly, weary and perspiring, called a halt.

As Bess dropped into a deck chair, her face streaked with dust, and her hair hanging in damp strings, she groaned, “I give up.”

Even George looked discouraged, but Nancy was eager to continue the search.

“The crew’s sleeping quarters are next, ” she said. “They must have had a lot of time on their hands in the forecastle, ” Nancy reflected. “Lying in their bunks thinking of nothing in particular, the men might have carved things on the timbers of the hull.”

George, her interest rekindled, started for the companionway. “Let’s have a look, ” she said.

Bess closed her eyes and leaned back. “You can tell me about it, ” she said.

They left her on deck and went below with the captain. The forecastle had a musty smell, but it was cool.

Nancy and George turned their flashlights on the seasoned old timbers. “Just look at the things cut into the wood! ” George exclaimed.

There were initials and names, hearts and anchors, and the roughly carved outlines of a woman’s face.

“Here it is! ” Nancy cried out. “Dream of Melissa- all spelled out.” She held her light on the spot and Captain Easterly stared.

“Here it is! ” Nancy cried out. “Dream of Melissa— all spelled out.”

“It’s as plain as the nose on your face, ” he said eagerly. “So this old clipper really is the Dream of Melissa! ”

Nancy smiled at the skipper. “Now it won’t be hard to clear up the title.”

Captain Easterly looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find out somebody other than Mr. Farnsworth owns the clipper, and won’t sell it to me.” The man heaved a great sigh. “I’d sure hate to lose her at this point. I’ve grown mighty fond of the Bonny Scot.”

Nancy felt that she should get in touch with her father at once, and said she would go ashore to telephone him, as well as notify the police that Flip Fay had been aboard.

“Maybe Dad came across the name Dream of Melissa in his search, ” she added.

Bess and George went with her. Mr. Drew was just leaving his River Heights office to go to court, but he waited to hear his daughter’s astounding report.

“Fine work, my dear, ” he said. “Yes, I came upon a record of the Dream of Melissa but not her captain’s name. Hold on. I’ll see if I have any notes on her.” The lawyer left the telephone a few minutes. When he came back, he said, “The Dream of Melissa is listed as a lost clipper belonging to the Eastern Shore Shipping Company. I’ll get in touch with them at once and wire you what they say.”

When Nancy hung up, she repeated the conversation to Bess and George. After calling State Police headquarters to report on The Crow, the girls bought some fresh vegetables, fruit, and a steak. Returning to the clipper, they found Captain Easterly dozing in his chair on deck. He opened one eye.

“Anything new? ” he asked. “Did you get your father, Nancy? ”

Upon hearing that the ship originally had belonged to the Eastern Shore Shipping Company, the elderly man became glum. He was sure they soon would put him off the clipper.

“Dad will fix things up, ” Nancy told him encouragingly. “Don’t worry.”

She watched eagerly for someone to deliver a telegram. About two o’clock the captain pointed over the port rail. A rowboat was approaching the clipper. At the oars was a boy in faded blue overalls. The three girls leaned on the rail, and as he came close, Nancy called:

“Ahoy there! ”

“Miss Nancy Drew here? ” the boy asked.

“I’m Nancy Drew.”

The youngster rested on the oars. “I’ve got a telegram and a package for you, ” he said.

Nancy dropped a line over the side, and the boy tied the box to it, with the telegram under the string, and watched her haul it up. Then he started to row away.

“Wait! ” Nancy called, seeing no sender’s name on the package. “Who sent the box? ”

“I dunno, ” the boy answered with a shrug. He rowed quickly back toward shore.

The captain, who had now come to the rail, looked curiously at the parcel. “You must have an admirer, Nancy, ” he teased.

Nancy smiled. “Dad must have ordered a surprise, ” she said, turning the box over. “He’s always—Oh, my goodness! ”

On the bottom of the box, crudely drawn in heavy black pencil, were a skull and crossbones!

“Be careful, ” Captain Easterly said quickly. “This doesn’t look like a friendly gift.”

Suddenly they heard a faint sound of movement inside the pasteboard.

Bess drew back. “Nancy, ” she whispered, “it’s something alive. Look at the little air holes in the end.”

Nancy borrowed the captain’s knife and gingerly cut the string. As she opened the box, Bess screamed.

A green lizard lifted its head and flicked its tiny tongue.

“Don’t touch that thing! ” Captain Easterly shouted. “It means death! ”