Read The Hidden Window Mystery Online
Authors: Carolyn Keene
Tags: #Women Detectives, #Detective and Mystery Stories, #Mystery & Detective, #Juvenile Fiction, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #Fiction, #Women Sleuths, #Adventure Stories, #Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), #Mystery and Detective Stories
The Hidden Window Mystery (15 page)
“Suppose we investigate a little,” George suggested, gazing at the dwelling and a small barn across a lane.
One side of the house was almost entirely obscured by high shrubbery. Nancy, Bess, and George squeezed through an opening in it, then gasped. In the wall confronting them was a stained-glass window that in every way fitted the description of the missing one!
“Oh——” Bess cried out.
Before she could say more, there was a rustle in the bushes behind the girls. Turning, they looked straight into the questioning eyes of Alonzo Rugby!
Instantly the girls were on the alert. Alonzo Rugby must not know that they suspected that the window was a copy. Nancy, smiling pleasantly, was the first to speak. “This is exquisite, isn’t it?”
The man’s suspicious expression relaxed. “Do you think so?” he countered.
George and Bess took their cue from Nancy and began to rave about the beautiful colors and the amazing lifelike quality of the knight and the peacock.
“Its real beauty shows up from inside the house,” said Rugby enthusiastically. “Come in.”
The three girls followed him inside the deserted house. From there the window looked lovely with the light shining through it. But Nancy strongly doubted that it was the old masterpiece.
Bess, with the same thought, suddenly blurted out, “Mr. Rugby, is this an old window or did you make it?”
Her words seemed to act as a signal. Without warning, a heavy-set man and a woman appeared from an adjoining room. The woman was Mrs. Dondo! They carried rope and gags with them.
“So! You little spy!” Nancy’s neighbor hissed at her.
“Cut the chatter,” said Rugby, who had grabbed a piece of rope. “Let’s tie these kids up!”
A fierce stuggle followed, but the girls were no match for the two men and Mrs. Dondo, who fought like a tigress. Nancy, Bess, and George were quickly overpowered and securely bound. Gags were stuffed into their mouths, then the three girls were carried outside and into the barn across the lane. One by one they were lifted up a ladder and deposited in the hayloft.
Laughing scornfully, Mrs. Dondo and the men left the barn.
CHAPTER XX
The Secret of Ivy Hall
THOUGH
Nancy and her friends struggled to free themselves, the effort proved hopeless. Now they squirmed through the hay, trying to get close enough together, so they could work on one another’s bonds. But in their awkward positions, they could make no headway on the tight knots.
Nancy and her friends struggled to free themselves, the effort proved hopeless. Now they squirmed through the hay, trying to get close enough together, so they could work on one another’s bonds. But in their awkward positions, they could make no headway on the tight knots.
Ten minutes later, as the girls rested for a moment, they heard a car arriving. It stopped, two car doors banged, then a voice with a cheery English accent called out, “Hello there!”
From their hayloft prison the girls pictured Rugby appearing from the house. A second later, to their dismay, they heard him say, “Hello, Lord Greystone. Glad to see you.”
Then they could hear Rugby being introduced by Sir Richard to a second Englishman named Mr. Peters. After chatting for a few minutes, the men apparently went inside the house.
“I must get loose and stop Rugby!” Nancy told herself.
She raised herself up and looked around for some other means of loosening their bonds. Suddenly she detected a scythe in a far corner of the hayloft. Dragging herself to it, Nancy began to saw through the bindings on her wrists. When her hands were free she took the gag from her mouth, then cut through the rope that bound her ankles.
“I’ll have yours off in a minute,” she whispered to Bess and George. When the cousins stood up, free of the ropes and gags, she said urgently, “Come on! Hurry! We must stop Rugby!”
Just as the girls started down the ladder of the haymow, Sir Richard came from the house. In a clear-cut voice he said, “Mr. Rugby, I can’t tell you and your sister what this means to me. To think that at last I have found the window that belonged to my family centuries ago. Come with me to the hotel and I will give you the reward money immediately.”
“I’ll follow in my car,” Rugby replied.
By this time Nancy was racing from the barn, with Bess and George at her heels. Disheveled, and with wisps of straw in her blond hair, she rushed up to the two visitors.
As the men looked at her in surprise, Nancy gasped. The taller of the two looked amazingly like the knight’s portrait in the Patterson attic.
“Sir Richard Greystone?” she addressed him.
“Why, yes,” the ruddy-complexioned man replied.
In his early fifties, he was prematurely white haired, and had a small bristly black mustache.
Rugby looked at the girls with fury in his eyes, but in a forced, pleasant tone of voice he said, “If you’ll excuse us, girls, we’re in a hurry.”
Ignoring him, Nancy went on, “Sir Richard, I’m Nancy Drew from River Heights. You may remember my father, Carson Drew, called you a short time ago and said if the window had not been found, I was going to hunt for it. I’m sorry to intrude, but I don’t think you should give Mr. Rugby the reward money until he can prove that the stained-glass window here is the one you’ve been looking for.”
At this remark Mrs. Dondo leaped toward Nancy with the agility of a panther about to kill. “Why, you little hussy!” she shouted furiously. “Get out of here—this is none of your business!”
Her outburst shocked Sir Richard Greystone and Mr. Peters. Alonzo Rugby looked confused for a moment, then he collected his wits.
Taking hold of the Englishman’s arm, he said smoothly, “Don’t pay any attention to these girls. They’re just smart-alecky kids. Let’s go to your hotel.”
But Sir Richard turned to Nancy. He said he remembered speaking to Mr. Drew and asked Nancy to back up her accusation. Quickly the young sleuth gave a short but full account of all her suspicions regarding Rugby and his sister. Sir Richard and his friend stared in stupefaction as Nancy concluded with the girls’ imprisonment in the barn.
“Mr. Rugby——” Sir Richard started to say, then he stopped and turned to look at the suspects.
Alonzo, his sister, and the other man suddenly dashed into the house. A moment later a rear door slammed. The girls raced after the fleeing trio but were too late to overtake them. They jumped into a car hidden among some trees and roared up the lane.
“We must go after them!” Nancy cried out, returning to the Englishmen.
“I’ll drive!” said Mr. Peters. “Climb in!”
Nancy and her friends hopped into the rear and the car raced off. At the exit of the driveway they looked left and right and saw Rugby’s car speeding to the north. Mr. Peters turned and raced after it.
About half a mile up the road, they came to a crossing. A police car with two officers in it was just reaching the intersection. Mr. Peters stopped, and Nancy quickly told the policemen the story.
The officers said they would continue the chase. As they drove off, Nancy called, “If you find Mr. Rugby and the others, please let me know. I’m at Ivy Hall.”
Nancy requested that Sir Richard drive the girls to the Patterson home. When he said he would be glad to, the young sleuth smiled. “Now I have a surprise for you.”
“Haven’t I had enough surprises for one day?” the Englishman asked, chuckling. “Although,” he added, “I am disappointed about the window being faked.”
A little dimple flickered in Nancy’s cheek when she told Sir Richard that she strongly suspected the window for which he had been searching was hidden at Ivy Hall.
The man’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but he said calmly, “It’s worth looking into.”
On reaching the mansion, Nancy introduced the Pattersons, who were astounded to hear what had happened. “What we have to show you, Sir Richard,” said Sheila Patterson, “is no fake.”
Nancy led him and Mr. Peters to the old library and showed them the glass behind the partition. The two men stared at it with great interest. Then Sir Richard, excited at the thought that this might be the old window that had belonged to his family, said, “Mrs. Patterson, would you permit us to take away more bricks, so that we might convince ourselves?”
“Oh, please do,” Sheila replied. “I want to find out as much as you do whether this is really the old peacock window.”
More tools were procured and carefully the whole group worked to uncover what was behind the bricks. Within half an hour the hind legs of a white stallion were revealed. Next came more of the horse’s body, then the lower half of the knight who was riding him.
“Oh, I’m sure this is the genuine window!” Sir Richard cried out enthusiastically.
An hour later, although all the stained glass had not been uncovered, it was evident to everyone that at last Sir Richard’s search had come to an end.
“And best of all,” he said, “the window appears to be in good condition, even though it has been covered up. Oh, I am so grateful to you, Miss Drew.”
Nancy was tingling with happiness. The strange mystery had been solved!
Sheila insisted that the weary workers relax for a while and have something to eat. With the help of Annette and Bess, she prepared a delicious meal, and the group sat on the porch to enjoy it. Presently Sir Richard, looking pensive, began to tell the history of the old window.
“In 1849 my great-grandfather, Lord Henry Greystone, passed away, leaving two sons. The elder inherited not only the family home, Grey Manor, but the bulk of his father’s fortune as well. The younger son, Bruce, became angry because he had not received more and left home.”
Sir Richard went on to say that Bruce had come to the United States without saying good-by to anyone. At the same time the famous stained-glass window, representing an ancestor in the crusades, had also disappeared from the great entrance hall of the family home.
“The window had been there since the thirteen hundreds,” the Englishman explained. “No one was ever able to trace the window after it vanished. Since my boyhood I have been fascinated by the old story and determined to find the window if it was still in existence. I had nothing to go on but a hunch that Bruce Greystone had brought the window to this country.”
He smiled at Nancy and the others, saying he would not only pay the reward money to the River Heights hospital, but that he would like to buy the window from Mrs. Patterson. Sheila gave a great gulp, hardly daring to believe her good fortune.
“It’s all so thrilling!” Bess sighed.
After they finished eating, Sir Richard said, “I’d like to uncover a little more of the window.”
The whole group went back to the old library and started to work. A few minutes later, Nancy discovered a note stuck between two of the bricks. Spreading it open, she began to read the faded but still legible writing. Then, excited, she called the attention of the others to it and handed the note to Sir Richard. He read it aloud.
To the finder of this note:
This stained-glass window is being covered up to preserve it during the war between the North and South. Our family has called itself Grayce since coming to this country from England in 1849. My father was Sir Henry Greystone. If none of my descendants is living when this window is found, will the finder please notify whoever is then Lord Greystone.
Bruce Grayce
Sir Richard’s eyes were moist as he stared at the note. Then, in a calm voice, he said, “This is the last proof I needed.”
As he paused, a car was heard driving up quickly to the house. “Maybe it’s the police!” Annette said, and she rushed to the hall.
She was right. An officer came to the door and asked if everyone in Ivy Hall would please step outside. In his car sat Alonzo Rugby, Mrs. Dondo, and their husky confederate.
“These three have been advised of their rights and have made a full confession,” the officer reported, “but if any of you wish to question them, please go ahead.”
It developed during questioning that Nancy’s suspicions of Rugby and Mrs. Dondo had been correct. For some time the brother and sister had been trying to work a little racket in which they accused people of stealing letters that contained cash.
Alonzo Rugby, having read the
Continental
article about Sir Henry Greystone’s offer, had decided to make an imitation window. The sight of Nancy’s peacock sketch had disturbed him, because he had thought she might have found the real stained-glass window and copied the peacock on it. Later, he had changed his mind.
Continental
article about Sir Henry Greystone’s offer, had decided to make an imitation window. The sight of Nancy’s peacock sketch had disturbed him, because he had thought she might have found the real stained-glass window and copied the peacock on it. Later, he had changed his mind.
When Mrs. Dondo had learned through eavesdropping that Nancy was going to Virginia to hunt for the window, she had notified her brother. In order to keep the girl detective from uncovering his scheme, Rugby had first sent the fake telegram, then caused both accidents involving Susan’s automobile.
“What did you hope to gain by injuring us?” Nancy asked Rugby.
“I wanted to postpone your sleuthing long enough for me to complete my job,” he said. “Then when you showed up at Mr. Bradshaw’s I got desperate, since I had stolen some drawings and old glass from him.”
Rugby admitted wearing a stocking over his head in the automobile and also when looking in the window at Susan’s home. Then later he had knocked Nancy unconscious. Alarmed that she would learn his secret, he had entered the Patterson home with Mrs. Dondo, who had come from River Heights to help him.
“I wanted to make sure,” he said, “that Nancy Drew had not found the real window and I had to do some hacking to satisfy myself.”
Mrs. Dondo said sourly, “I searched the girls’ baggage to see if there were any letters telling where it might be.” She looked away. “And helped myself to a few articles.”
“Well, I guess that concludes the questioning for the time being,” the police officer spoke up. “Unmasking these swindlers must have been mighty exciting, Miss Drew.”
Nancy agreed, but in many ways regreted that the intriguing mystery was ending and not just beginning. But soon she was to start on one of the most unusual adventures she had ever encountered,
The Haunted Showboat.
The Haunted Showboat.
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