As the patient closed her eyes wearily, Nancy edged closer. “Mrs. Eldridge! Mrs. Eldridge!”
The old lady’s eyes snapped open and she looked wildly about her.
“Here I am on the other side of the fence, behind the trees,” Nancy said. “Listen closely, I will bring you help.”
“How do you know my name? Who are you?” Mrs. Eldridge whispered.
Nancy moved closer. Quickly she told the woman who she was, then explained how she had identified her.
Mrs. Eldridge clasped her thin hands. “Bless you, child,” she said, “but you can do nothing.”
“Yes, we can,” said Nancy, speaking with confidence. “But you must be brave and ready to follow instructions.”
Bess and George had moved up to Nancy, who quickly introduced them.
“We’ll all help you, Mrs. Eldridge,” Bess said.
“You can trust Nancy.” George spoke cheerfully, despite the pain in her ankle.
The old woman smiled. “What brave young girls!” Her chin lifted and a glint came into her eyes. “All right. I’ll do my part.”
Nancy glanced uneasily up the hill. “We’d better stay out of sight while we’re talking.”
The girls stepped back and crouched down behind the brush. “Tell us where your room is,” Bess urged. “We’ll get you out, then call the police and they can rush the place.”
“No, no!” exclaimed Mrs. Eldridge. “We’ve all been warned that if strangers try to enter the grounds, we’ll be locked in the cellar.”
“The police would find you,” George said.
“Yes, but some of the women here are heart cases. Many of them could not stand the shock. Hush! Dr. Bell is coming!”
“Bell!” thought Nancy, recalling the bluebell code message.
Quickly the girls slipped back among the trees and watched. Striding down the slope was a tall, distinguished-looking man in a black suit. He had smooth gray hair and a pointed beard.
He spoke in honeyed tones to the old woman. “Well, well, what has upset our dear patient?” he asked, bending over and gallantly kissing her hand. “I’m afraid you fret too much. However, I must tell Miss Tyson to be less strict with our favorite guest. Shall I call Luther and have him wheel you through the gardens?”
“No, just leave me alone.” Mrs. Eldridge sighed.
“Yes, that is what you need—rest and quiet,” Dr. Bell agreed. “But,” he went on, “we must talk business. Shall we get over that little matter of signing the transfer papers now?”
“Your proposition is nothing short of robbery, and I will not consent,” Mrs. Eldridge replied, sitting bolt upright.
“Dear me, how harsh you are,” Dr. Bell said soothingly. “When you came here, you had every confidence in me. You entered this place of your own accord. You didn’t give your relatives any idea where you were going. Didn’t you agree to that as part of your treatment?”
“Fool that I was, yes!” snapped Mrs. Eldridge. “But you haven’t kept your part of the bargain to me or to any of the other ladies. You promised a special secret treatment—so secret you don’t want anybody to know about it. That’s why you have this isolated place.”
“The special treatment to restore youthful vigor isn’t ready yet,” Dr. Bell replied. “But it will be very expensive. I must have the extra money now.”
“Oh!” Nancy thought. “He’s undoubtedly a fraud!”
“I demand that you let me go,” Mrs. Eldridge cried out.
“We can’t do that,” Dr. Bell said. “It would discredit our sanatorium to have a person leave in a poor state of health. Besides, I have your signed declaration that you are a patient here of your own accord, and that you agree to remain as long as I think necessary. Naturally, I forbid you to go.”
Mrs. Eldridge glanced quickly toward the woods where the girls were concealed. In a loud, clear voice, she said, “You wish me to sign over to you many thousands of dollars, in addition to the three thousand I have already paid you.”
“And why not?” Dr. Bell retorted irritably. “There are other patients whom I have charged more.”
“Well, I suppose that once the papers are signed, I won’t live very long,” the old lady said meaningfully.
“You will feel like a girl again,” Dr. Bell replied.
“I’d rather live without youthful vigor and be out of here!” Mrs. Eldridge said, closing her eyes. “I won’t sign a thing. If you should kill me, you won’t get a cent. That’s all. I wish you would go. I am very tired.”
Nancy saw the doctor’s face turn red. His beard seemed to bristle, and his eyes blazed with rage.
“You’ll sing a different tune if you don’t do as I say,” he fumed. “I’ve wasted enough time on you. I will give you until nine o’clock tonight to come to your senses!”
“Oh, you are a brute,” Mrs. Eldridge cried. “If only some good angel would come to my little room in that hot south corner on the third floor and rescue me!”
“Say, what are you talking about?” Dr. Bell asked, looking about him suspiciously. “You don’t think any angels are listening to your careful directions, do you?”
The girls could not help grinning.
Dr. Bell turned and shouted, “Luther!” A man in a white uniform came out of the gatehouse. “Take Mrs. Eldridge to the porch!” the doctor snapped. “Any word about the new patient?”
“A message arrived by Bird X that she will be here at nine,” the attendant said with a wink as he wheeled Mrs. Eldridge away.
Swiftly, the girls made their way toward the car. Nancy took the wheel and headed for the highway. As they drove along, the sun broke through the overcast.
“We’re going to Glenville,” she said. “It’s about five miles from here. George can see a doctor there.”
“What about Mrs. Eldridge?” Bess asked.
“No plan yet,” Nancy said tersely, “but I’m thinking.”
Her companions asked no more questions. When they reached the small town, Bess went with George, while Nancy telephoned Ned from the drugstore. She told him what had happened and alerted him to his part in the plan she had devised.
“You can count on me,” he said.
An hour later the girls met in a sandwich shop for a late lunch. “My ankle isn’t sprained,” George reported. “The doctor put on a bandage and it feels better.”
“Good,” said Nancy. “Are you ready for danger?” she asked soberly.
“Of course we are,” George answered steadily.
“Anything to get those poor old ladies free and home to their families,” Bess added.
“Then right after we eat, I’m going shopping, while you two hire a black sedan. You may have to ride to another town for it, so let’s meet here about five. Then I’ll tell you the plan.”
At the appointed time Nancy came hurrying down the street, her arms filled with packages. A black sedan was parked at the curb behind her convertible, where Bess and George were waiting.
“What did you buy?” George asked in amazement.
Nancy grinned. “Black oxfords, a black hat with a heavy veil, gray gloves, and a long black coat much too big for me!”
George’s eyes grew wide. “Nancy! You’re going to dress up like an old lady!”
“That’s right. I’ll be that new patient who is supposed to arrive at nine o’clock. Only I’ll be there early.”
Bess stared at the parcels Nancy was holding. “What’s in that fifth bag?”
“A nurse’s uniform and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses for you,” said Nancy.
Bess gasped. “Me?”
“Yes. You’ll have to drive the car into the sanatorium grounds,” Nancy replied.
“Oh, my goodness,” was all Bess could say. Immediately George offered to go instead, but Nancy said No. “You never can tell what will happen,” she said. “With that bad ankle, you wouldn’t be able to run if it should be necessary.”
Nancy put the packages in the convertible and suggested that they eat supper. The
y found a small restaurant on a side street and ordered hot sandwiches and milk.
“What’s my part in the plan?” George asked.
“I want you to stay with the convertible—in the clearing where we hid it before,” Nancy said. “Bess may need your help when she brings Mrs. Eldridge out.”
George nodded. “I see. I’ll play it cool.”
“But what about you, Nancy?” asked Bess. “You’re not going to stay in that awful place?”
“Yes. We must get Mrs. Eldridge out before nine o’clock. After that, I’ll give the signal for the rescue of the others. A pigeon will carry it to the deserted Tooker estate where Ned is stationed.”
Nancy glanced at her watch. “There’s no more time to talk now. We must get started.”
With George driving the convertible and Nancy the sedan, they returned to the clearing near Larkspur Lane. There Bess changed into the nurse uniform and Nancy put her costume over her own clothes.
Bess, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, looked stern in her white uniform and cap. Nancy seemed small and frail in the long black coat and heavily veiled hat.
“I’d never know you!” George exclaimed.
Ten minutes later in the gathering dusk, the sedan reached the gatehouse.
“Now remember to give the password,” Nancy whispered.
Trembling, Bess halted the car in front of the gates as the gatekeeper appeared and chained his Great Dane securely. The huge dog strained at his leash and barked furiously. His master advanced toward the girls.
Suppose the password has been changed?” Nancy thought fearfully.
“What’s the good word?” demanded the watchman hoarsely, stepping closer.
“Singing horses!” Bess whispered, quaking.
CHAPTER XVI
Sleuthing
“SINGING horses,” repeated the guard. “Right you are.”
Striding up to the gates, he opened them wide. Bess guided the car between the posts and the portals clanged shut.
The password had permitted them to enter!
Both girls heaved sighs of relief as they sped up the gravel driveway. Halfway to the mansion, Nancy spoke.
“Stop. No one can see us from the house yet, and the lodge is concealed by those shrubs.”
Bess brought the car to a halt and Nancy said, “Back the car off the drive into that clump of trees, Bess. Good! Lucky there’s enough room. Get in as far as you can. Keep on backing—farther. That’s fine! Now, you wait here. I’ll return as soon as I can!”
“Don’t be too long,” said Bess, trying not to sound frightened.
Nancy squeezed her friend’s hand and slipped out of the car. As she went up the hill, she could hear the dog down at the gatehouse growling.
“I hope he’s still chained,” she thought.
Near the mansion, Nancy assumed a stooped posture and uncertain walk.
“I must be on my guard,” she told herself.
Light streamed out onto the lawn from the windows of the house. Staying in the shadows, Nancy reached the walls of the mansion and made her way around to the back where she found an open door.
Peering through the screen, she saw a wide, dimly lighted hallway with stairs ascending to her left, and guessed that this was a back door to the main corridor. She tested the screen. It was unlatched.
“Now for a trip inside,” she murmured. “I hope my new shoes don’t squeak.”
Quietly she stepped into the hall. Half a dozen wheelchairs stood about. Two of them had sleeping occupants, but there was no other sign of life.
Nancy moved on tiptoe toward the broad stairway, and had just reached the steps when she heard the tread of feet on the oaken floor. In a flash she darted to an empty wheelchair, and muffled herself in the light woolen blanket left by its last occupant.
“I’ll try to look as if I’m asleep,” she thought.
At that moment a young woman in a striped uniform entered the hall. Nancy watched her apprehensively, fearing that the hat and veil would excite some comment. The nurse’s helper, however, marched by humming to herself, giving none of the chairs a second glance.
As soon as she disappeared through a door, Nancy leaped up and dashed toward the stairs. A white head poked up from the nearest chair, and a cracked voice cried:
“Hi there, my dear. The doctor seems to have more than cured you. Why, you are young again!”
Nancy did not pause, but with hammering heart ran up the steps to the second floor. She quickly glanced around, then started the climb to the next story.
At the top of the stairs, she peered cautiously down the corridor. Empty! Relieved, Nancy tried to get her bearings.
“The south corner room,” Mrs. Eldridge had said. “That would be to my right.”
Quickly Nancy tiptoed down the hall and stopped before the last door. She bent to look through the keyhole, but could see nothing. Then she turned the knob.
The door was locked!
As Nancy racked her brains to think of a way to open it, she heard footsteps on the stairs. She darted across the hall and tried the handle of the opposite door. It turned, and she stumbled into total darkness. It was not a room, but a small broom closet.
It was a tight squeeze. Nancy did not dare move, for in the brief moment that the closet door was open, she had seen that the floor was filled with pails. Against the wall were mops, brooms, and other cleaning equipment. Her slightest movement would send them clattering to the floor.
With her ear to the door, Nancy waited. The footsteps approached, coming her way. They stopped outside her hiding place!
For an instant she dared not breathe. Then there was the rattle of a key in a lock, and the clink of china on a tray. Nancy guessed that a bedtime snack was being brought to Mrs. Eldridge.
Cautiously she opened the door and saw a white skirt vanish into Mrs. Eldridge’s room. Then came Miss Tyson’s harsh voice.
“Wake up, Mrs. Eldridge! Here is your medicine and some food. If you don’t do as the doctor says, it will be the last snack you’ll taste for a long time!”
The patient groaned faintly, and the nurse went on speaking.
“I have some nice hot consommé and toast and rice pudding. Doesn’t that make your mouth water? Taste it, and remember that tomorrow there will be only stale bread and warm water for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you don’t obey our dear good Dr. Bell, who is so kind to you.”
An idea suddenly occurred to Nancy. “If that nurse is going to lecture Mrs. Eldridge, I’ll have some time to act,” she decided.
Swiftly Nancy tore a strip from her veil and slipped out of the closet to the opposite door. It stood slightly ajar.
With the piece of net, Nancy plugged the slot in the doorframe into which the bolt of the spring lock fitted. Then she darted back to her hiding place.
“I hope my scheme works,” she thought.
As Nancy stepped back and pulled the door shut, she bumped against a broom. The handle fell forward. Quickly Nancy caught it and another broom which toppled.
For a moment she clutched the wooden handles in the dark, her heart pounding. Then, very cautiously, Nancy propped them against the wall again.
“Oo! That’s all I need!” she murmured. “One noise and I’ll be trapped!”
Miss Tyson remained to threaten Mrs. Eldridge a few minutes more, then left the room. She closed the door, and apparently thinking it was locked, hurried away.
Nancy listened for her to go downstairs, then ran to the door across the hall. Her trick had worked! The bolt had failed to lock! Nancy pushed the door open and stepped into the room.
“Mrs. Eldridge,” she said softly.
The old lady was propped up in bed, with two pillows behind her back, contemplating her bedtime snack. With a sigh she pushed aside the tray on her lap.
“Mrs. Eldridge,” Nancy whispered again, coming closer to the elderly woman.
The patient looked up and gave a sharp scream. Nancy flew to her side. “Don’t be afraid! It’s Nancy Dr
ew, the girl who spoke to you through the fence,” she whispered, quickly lifting the veil.
“I’m sorry! I—I’m nervous,” the old woman gasped. “They have tried their best to frighten me so often. How in the world did you get in?”
“Don’t worry about that. The thing to do now is for you to get out of here. I hope no one heard you scream.” But as she spoke, she heard someone running down the hall.
“I heard Mrs. Eldridge scream,” came Miss Tyson’s voice.
“What of it?” said a second speaker.
“I suppose I’ll have to chase into her room again,” the nurse said irritably.
“I wouldn’t bother,” came another voice.
“But I can’t let anything happen to her,” said the nurse.
“She hasn’t signed yet?”
“No.”
Nancy looked around the room. There was not even a clothes closet to hide in!
Mrs. Eldridge groaned. “Oh child! What will you do?”
As the doorknob turned, Nancy dived under the bed. It was very dusty there and she lay motionless, almost afraid to breathe.
Nancy could see a pair of white leather-shod feet stride into the room and pause at the foot of the bed, a few inches from her nose.
“You screamed!” Miss Tyson said angrily. “Why, Mrs. Eldridge?”
“Oh, did I?” the patient asked in a weak voice. “I am sorry.”
“Whether you are sorry or not makes no difference!” Miss Tyson snapped. “There are other patients in the house whom you upset by carrying on that way. Why did you scream?”
“I am really very sorry,” Mrs. Eldridge said, trying to find some excuse for her outcry. “It won’t happen again.”
“I asked you why,” the nurse said sharply.
There was no reply.
“Answer my question!” exclaimed the nurse, stamping her foot and raising a cloud of dust. Nancy pressed the hat veil to her face, trying not to sneeze.
“The—the consommé is very hot,” Mrs. El dridge said. “I burned my tongue.”
“A likely story.” The nurse sniffed. “The broth is not as hot as all that after being carried up from the kitchen. No, that is not the truth, Mrs. Eldridge, and I intend to find out your real reason.”