She and George kept looking out the rear window to see if any car was following them but they saw none.
Finally Nancy said, “We’re safe so far.”
Soon she took her turn at the wheel. Nancy wondered who was ahead in the race to New Orleans—the girls or the car thief. Hopefully she thought:
“If that young man at the crossroads was honest, and not in league with the driver of the black car, maybe we have outwitted the thief!”
Beginning to feel weary, Nancy decided they had better stop at a motel. Just beyond the small town of Titusville, she came to an attractive one and turned in. As she pulled into the well-lighted parking area, the young detective’s eyes widened.
Next to her stood a black convertible with new-looking black-and-red seat covers!
Nancy quickly woke Bess and George, told them where they were, and pointed to the car. “Look!” she said excitedly.
Bess gave a shiver. “You mean we’re about to close in on the car thief? Shouldn’t we notify the police and let them do it?”
Nancy said that she was going to consult the motel proprietor first as to who was driving the car. The three girls took their bags from the luggage compartment and walked into the office of the motel. A plump, bald-headed man sat in a barrel-shaped chair, his head resting on his chest. He was snoring slightly.
Nancy walked up and tapped the man on the shoulder. He awoke with a start. “You want rooms?” he asked sleepily.
Nancy nodded, then said, “Would you mind telling me who the person is that came here in the black convertible with red-and-black seat covers. We’re looking for someone with a car like that.”
“Person!” the plump man exploded. “You mean that gang! Mother, father, three children, a dog, a cat, and a parrot!”
The three girls burst into laughter. “Wrong family!” Nancy chuckled. “Well, have you two nice rooms for us?”
The proprietor took the girls’ bags, and his keys, leading the way down a corridor. “These are the best accommodations we have,” he said, smiling, and unlocking adjoining rooms. “Oh, I was so sleepy I forgot to ask you to register.”
“We’ll do it in the morning,” said Nancy.
She preferred this arrangement, just in case the car thief might arrive later at the motel and learn from the proprietor that the girls were there.
The girls slept soundly, but were wide awake by seven o’clock. Bess, the first to look outdoors, groaned.
“Snow!” she exclaimed. “A regular blizzard!” Bess suggested that they delay their trip, at least for a day.
But by the time the girls had eaten breakfast, the snowfall had slackened and Nancy decided it would be safe for them to go on. She herself took the wheel, with her two friends in front with her. They had not gone many miles when they came to a roadblock with a huge sign in. dicating a detour to the right.
“Goodness only knows what’s ahead of us,” Bess said nervously.
Nancy turned. Half a mile farther on, the road led up a steep incline. As the girls neared the summit of the hill, they saw that there was a sheer drop to the left of the road.
“Oh, do be careful!” Bess begged.
“Hush!” George commanded.
Although Nancy was sure that the tires were excellent, she would be relieved when the car had safely reached the bottom of the hill on the other side.
Nancy reached the summit and was just about to start down the steep incline when all three girls gasped at the frightening sight which confronted them.
“Oh!” Bess screamed. “Stop!”
Across the road ahead lay two sections of an electrical cable which had been snapped by the storm. Sparks flashed dangerously from the broken ends!
Nancy put on her brakes. The next instant the car skidded toward the left of the road with its sheer drop of thirty feet!
CHAPTER V
The Mystery at Sunnymead
AS THE tires sank into the snow three feet from the edge of the cliff, the car miraculously held the road. Hastily the three girls scrambled out.
After several seconds had elapsed, and the car still held its position, Nancy said, “I guess it’s not going to move.”
At that moment snow started to fall again. The girls pulled their coat collars tightly around their necks and glanced up the road. The live wires continued to sparkle and crackle.
“This is really a predicament!” George declared.
“It certainly is,” Nancy agreed. “We couldn’t possibly continue on the road, even if I dared to try moving the car.”
“That’s right,” said George. “If these rear wheels spin, the car may go over the cliff.”
“What will we do?” Bess asked nervously. “Hike to the nearest house?”
“I hope not,” George said quickly. “It must be three miles back.”
Nancy walked to the rear of the car and looked down the embankment. “There’s one thing we can try,” she said thoughtfully.
“Not with us inside the car!” Bess stated flatly.
“No. Fortunately, the rear of the sedan is a few feet from the edge of the cliff. If we could just move the car back onto the road, I could back down the hill.”
“But how in the world can you move the car back onto the road without driving it?” Bess asked.
Nancy said that one time when she was trying to squeeze onto a ferryboat with her car she had found it impossible to steer into position. Two men had jolted the rear of the vehicle up and down until it actually bounced off the ground. Then they had quickly lifted it a few feet to one side.
“So three girls ought to be able to do the same thing now,” she said.
Bess still looked dubious but George was willing to try it. She insisted, however, that they first block the front wheels with stones so there would be no chance of the car rolling back on them.
“Good idea,” Nancy agreed.
The girls kicked at the piles of snow along the side of the road until they found two substantial rocks. These were pushed securely behind the front tires. Then the three friends took positions behind the sedan.
“I’ll count,” said Nancy. “When I say ‘three,’ heave ho!”
Leaning over, they grasped the bumper and began to jounce the car up and down. The girls’ faces were strained as they waited for a high bounce.
In a moment Nancy said, “One! Two!” Bess and George worked feverishly, then waited. “Three!” Nancy cried.
Together the girls lifted the rear of the car almost two feet back toward the center of the road.
“Hypers!” cried George, using her favorite expletive. “It worked. Nancy, you’re a brain child!”
Nancy stepped into the car and started the motor. She drove forward a few inches, so that Bess and George could remove the stone blocks. Then they too climbed in.
Slowly Nancy began to back down the hill. This proved to be difficult to do, because the wind had shifted and blown quantities of the snow across the road. Twice the car stuck fast and the cousins had to get out and tramp down the drifts before she could proceed.
Finally Nancy reached the foot of the hill. She consulted the map again and turned to the right. Half an hour later they came to the main highway.
Suddenly Bess said apprehensively, “I only hope that car thief is holed up somewhere because of the storm.”
“I have a hunch he is,” Nancy said cheerfully.
Toward the end of the day the girls left the snowstorm behind. To make up for lost time, they drove until eleven that night before they stopped at a motel. By this time they had reached Alabama, with its blooming plants, green grass, and beautiful trees.
“What a relief this scenery is!” said Bess, getting out of the car and stretching.
“And the temperature,” George added. “It was only ten degrees when we left. Now it’s about sixty!”
After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast the next morning, the girls started off again. Soon they were in an area of lovely Southern plantations. They were thri
lled by glimpses of the homes, so large and stately with their tall columned porches and beautiful gardens. Quaint cabins, formerly used by slaves, stood some distance away from the houses.
Bess ohed and ahed to such an extent that George finally said teasingly, “You remind me of a dripping ice-cream cone, Bess. Sweet, but oh so gooey!”
“I wish,” Bess retorted, “that you could enjoy it the way I do.”
Nancy, to change the subject, said, “Tell me about your cousin Donna Mae.”
“Well,” Bess began, “she’s a year older than I am, tall and pretty. She has blond hair and great big blue eyes.”
George interrupted laughingly, “And does she roll those eyes around to get her own way!”
“You’re just jealous,” Bess told her. “Any girl who could be engaged to two men in one year—”
George tossed her bobbed head at the remark. “One would be enough for me! But really, I’ve always liked Donna Mae. I wonder why she broke her first engagement. There must have been a serious reason.”
“Or just a change of heart.” Nancy remarked.
The rest of the trip was one of banter and teasing, and exclamations, even by George, over the beauty of the scenery. The car thief was almost completely forgotten.
“I’ve never seen such exquisite azaleas in my life!” Bess remarked, as the girls drove through the Mobile area.
“As I recall,” said Nancy, “this place is noted for its azaleas.”
“Yes, it is,” Bess replied. “The Garden Clubs put on special tours for tourists to see them.”
“But this ride,” joked George, “is a privately conducted tour by Drew and Company!”
Soon the girls reached the broad Mississippi and gazed at the peaceful, somewhat muddy river.
“It looks harmless enough, doesn’t it?” George remarked. “But think of the pirate days when travelers weren’t safe on it!”
Nancy followed the river road for several miles, then turned inland.
“Sunnymead is just ahead,” Bess announced.
Five minutes later the car turned into a long driveway edged with live-oak trees. At the end of it stood a square Colonial mansion. It was painted yellow, and white columns reached from the ground to the roof. Two stories of porches ran around the entire building.
As the girls reached the house, George leaned over and blew the horn. Donna Mae, wearing a low-necked bouffant dress, rushed out to greet the visitors.
“You’re really here!” she cried joyously. “You all had me so worried when I kept hearing of your delays.”
Behind her was Mrs. Haver, an older yet charming version of Donna Mae. She wore an attractive blue linen dress.
“Welcome to Sunnymead!” Mrs. Haver exclaimed with a gracious smile.
In back of her walked Colonel Haver, a tall, erect man of fifty with twinkling blue eyes and black hair slightly gray at the temples.
Nancy was introduced to the family. Then she said, getting out of the car, “I’m afraid I shall have to take all the blame for our being late in arriving. A little unsolved mystery overtook us.”
“Yes,” Bess added, “Nancy’s beautiful car was stolen and we were playing hide-and-seek with the thief.” She quickly told all that had happened.
“Oh, how perfectly ghastly!” Donna Mae exclaimed. “Didn’t you almost die?”
“Well, it wasn’t any fun,” George agreed.
A moment later an elderly colored couple, wearing a maid’s and a butler’s uniforms, came from the house. They were introduced as Mammy Matilda and Pappy Cole. The two smiled pleasantly. Then, as Pappy Cole started to unload the car, Mammy Matilda said to the visitors:
“I sure hopes you all have a fine time durin’ your visit here.”
“Thank you,” said Nancy. “I’m looking forward to it.” Turning to Colonel and Mrs. Haver, she added, “It’s certainly most kind of you to invite me.”
Mrs. Haver smiled. “The pleasure is ours. We’re always delighted to have friends of Bess and George visit us.”
A young man came from the house and joined the group. He was proudly introduced by Donna Mae as Alex Upgrove.
“I’m charmed,” he said to the visitors in a clipped, well-modulated voice.
The River Heights girls shook hands with the slim, brown-haired young man. Nancy instantly decided that he might be termed handsome, but Alex had an air of superiority which spoiled the first impression.
A few minutes later Mammy Matilda served tea in a patio at the rear of the house. It overlooked one of the most exquisitely beautiful gardens Nancy had ever seen. Flowering cherry and plum trees served as a colorful background for beds of various colored roses, azaleas, and camellias.
In choosing seats on the patio Alex found one next to Nancy and at once engaged her in conversation. Bess brought up the subject of the car thief and said that in her opinion the man had been trying to keep the girls from coming to New Orleans.
“Oh, I don’t see how that could possibly have any bearing on your trip here,” Alex declared. “And surely you have no idea there is any connection between this thief and the mystery at Sunnymead, have you?”
George replied. “Yes, we do. But I hope we’re wrong.”
Alex laughed, then as the conversation became more general he leaned toward Nancy and whispered :
“You and I are going to have a wonderful time together solving the plantation mystery!”
Nancy was startled. She thought the remark most inappropriate, in view of the fact that Alex’s engagement to Donna Mae was to be announced soon.
Pretending that she had misunderstood Alex, she said, “Yes, I want you and Donna Mae to tell me all the details when you have a chance.”
A look of annoyance came over Alex’s face. “Of course,” he muttered. “Any time.”
When the tea hour was over, the four girls went upstairs. As Mammy Matilda helped the visitors unpack, Donna Mae talked incessantly about her fiancé.
“Isn’t he a darling?” she asked, “And smart, too. You know, Alex is a graduate of Oxford University in England! And he’s fabulously wealthy—not that that makes any difference to me. But his family is simply wonderful—socially prominent, you know.”
A look of surprise came over George’s face, for she had never before thought Donna Mae snobbish. “Have you met them?” she asked.
“Oh, no, but they wrote me a simply darling letter from Paris and called me their new daughter. I’ll meet them sometime soon.”
Donna Mae explained that her father had looked up the Upgrove family. At the present time they were all in Europe.
“You must see his college pictures,” she babbled on. “He has them with him.”
“Donna Mae,” George asked abruptly, “what happened between you and Charles Bartolome?”
Instantly Donna Mae sobered. “We—we—had a falling out on account of Alex. I met Alex while Charles was away on a long trip—and we became friends. But Charles didn’t approve, and I got annoyed with his possessiveness. So I broke off my engagement to him.”
She hesitated. “To tell you the truth my conscience hurt me for a while. I shouldn’t have dated Alex but I was lonely. And Alex was so wonderful to me. He’s a more aggressive type than Charles, and he’s so in love with me. I wonder where he is now!”
As if she could not bear to stay away from him a moment longer, Donna Mae said, “See you later! I have to talk to Alex,” and hurried out of the room.
Bess looked at the other girls and shook her head. “I’ve never seen a bigger change in anyone. Have you, George? Donna Mae just isn’t like her old self.”
“You’re right, Bess,” replied her cousin, “and I wouldn’t say for the better. Maybe it’s Alex’s influence.”
After dinner that evening Colonel Haver took Nancy aside. “I’d like you to get started solving the mystery as soon as possible,” he said. “Time is running out.”
He explained that stories of strange happenings on the showboat had caused workmen to refuse to go n
ear it.
“Not a single towboat captain will come here to push the River Princess out of the bayou. We must do something fast!” He smiled and added, “Are you ready to take over, Detective Drew?”
CHAPTER VI
Pirates’ Alley
GIVING the Colonel a big smile, Nancy said excitedly, “I’d like to start solving the mystery at once.”
“Fine,” he replied. “And there’s one thing I want to say. You’ll have free rein. Don’t feel obligated to report to me or to anyone else. Come and go as you like.”
Nancy was glad to hear this. The following morning she went into the garden to gaze at the bayou which lay beyond the extensive flower beds. Large water oaks, dripping with long festoons of Spanish moss, rose above the mist which covered the swamp. Eerie clumps of cypress and gum trees could be seen against the sky.
Nancy could not restrain a little shiver. “That’s the swamp we must go through to reach the showboat,” the young detective murmured to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Donna Mae. With a charming smile, she said, “Good mornin’, honey. Hope you slept well!” Then, following Nancy’s glance, she added, “That old place is positively spooky, isn’t it? Don’t think about it! We’re going to New Orleans and have some fun.”
“But, Donna Mae, I have some work to do for your father,” Nancy protested.
Donna Mae made a face. “Work! Who wants to work at Mardi Gras time?” she asked gaily. “You know, you’re going to be in the play we’re having just before the ball and you must get a costume at once. Alex is going to drive all of us girls to town. We’ll show you some interesting sights in the old city.”
The planned excursion sounded most attractive and Nancy brushed aside her serious mood. “You’re right, Donna Mae,” she said. “New Orleans is such a famous place. Of course I want to see it. I can start my sleuthing later. A few hours won’t matter, I guess.”
“Wonderful! We’ll start at ten o’clock,” Donna Mae said. “I’ll tell Bess and George.”