A VISITOR
“Do you think Laura Pendleton will visit us this afternoon, Nancy?”
Helen Corning, who was reclining on a camp cot in the little cabin which
she shared with Nancy Drew, asked the question.
“I certainly hope so,” Nancy responded. “I’d like to become better
acquainted with that girl. She interests me.”
“I wish we could repay her for saving our lives. I was so nearly done up
yesterday afternoon that I didn’t half thank her.”
“I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do, Helen. She has a fortune in her
own name, so money would mean nothing to her. However, I thought she
seemed rather lonely.”
“Yes, she did,” Helen agreed. “If she comes this afternoon we must show
her a good time. Perhaps we can make her forget her troubles.”
In spite of the severe exposure to which Helen and Nancy had been
subjected the previous day, they were little the worse for their ducking
in the lake. Upon reaching camp they had removed their wet clothing and
had gone to bed, with the result that they escaped without even a cold
to remind them of their adventure.
Although the motorboat was not a valuable one, the girls regretted its
loss and had generously offered to pay for it. However, the camp
councilors had refused their money, exonerating them of all blame for
the accident.
“I’m a little worried about Laura,” Nancy Drew remarked to her chum.
“She isn’t at all strong looking, and I’m afraid she may be ill.”
Helen did not reply, for just then a curly-haired girl thrust her head
in at the cabin door and informed the two girls that they had a visitor.
“Oh, it must be Laura!” Nancy cried hopefully.
Helen sprang up from the cot, and, with her chum, rushed to the door.
The girl who awaited them was indeed Laura Pendleton.
“I’m so glad you came,” Nancy greeted her enthusiastically. “Helen and I
were just talking of you.”
“We were afraid you might be ill after that drenching,” Helen added.
“I’m really stronger than I appear,” and Laura smiled pleasantly. “I was
fortunate enough not to take cold.”
“We escaped, too,” Nancy declared. “And now you must meet all of the
girls.”
Nancy Drew’s friends crowded about and quickly were introduced to Laura.
They made a great deal over her, and insisted upon regarding her as a
heroine. The praise made little impression upon the girl, it seemed to
Nancy. She noticed that while Laura was gracious to everyone, she took
little interest in what was going on about her.
“Something is troubling her,” Nancy thought.
At the urgent request of the campers, Laura joined in a lively game of
volley ball which was in progress, but it was evident that she was not
really enjoying herself. Nancy decided that it was time to take a hand.
“It’s too warm to play volley ball,” she informed her team mates.
“Anyway, Helen and I haven’t had a chance to talk with our guest.”
To Laura’s evident relief, the two girls bore her triumphantly away to
their cabin.
“I’m afraid I’m dreadfully stupid at games,” Laura apologized. “You see,
I’ve never had an opportunity to enjoy sports.”
“You’re not stupid in the least,” Nancy assured her warmly. “Who wants
to waste a whole afternoon batting a silly ball over a net? I’m sure I’d
much rather talk.”
After politely presenting Laura with the only chair which the tiny cabin
boasted, Nancy and Helen “flopped” down upon the cots. At first the
conversation was rather a two-sided one, for the visitor was somewhat
shy, and it was evident that she was still unhappy over the death of her
mother.
In an effort to direct Laura’s thoughts into more pleasant channels,
Helen began to tell her of some of Nancy Drew’s thrilling adventures.
“She has quite a reputation as a detective,” Helen declared
impressively. “Everyone says Nancy can scent a mystery a mile away.”
“What sort of mystery cases are you interested in?” Laura asked her new
friend, in surprise.
“Oh, most anything,” Nancy answered carelessly. “My father is a lawyer
who is often engaged in such cases, and I suppose I get my liking for
detective work from him.”
“She makes a specialty of lost wills and haunted houses,” Helen informed
their guest mischievously.
“Haunted houses?” Laura gasped.
“Oh, the Turnbull mansion really wasn’t haunted,” Nancy hastened to
explain. “The Turnbull sisters were bothered by strange noises at
nights, and valuables kept disappearing from the house. I discovered who
it was that was the ghost behind the scenes.”
“Everyone said it was clever detective work,” Helen went on proudly.
“Nancy discovered a hidden staircase and an underground tunnel. She
explored it in the dead of night.”
“How exciting!” Laura declared. “Weren’t you afraid?”
“A little,” Nancy admitted truthfully.
“But she kept on, anyway,” Helen continued. “Oh, she had a thrilling
time of it before the mystery was solved!”
“I should think so,” Laura murmured. “My, you must have talent, Nancy!”
“Not at all,” Nancy laughed. “It was mostly luck that I stumbled upon
that hidden staircase.”
“Don’t you believe it,” Helen scoffed. “Nancy Drew’s modest, that’s all.
She wouldn’t tell you about the way she helped the Horner girls get
their inheritance! They had been cheated out of a fortune, and Nancy
unearthed the real will.”
“Oh, Laura isn’t interested in all that,” Nancy protested, obviously ill
at ease.
“Indeed I am,” Laura assured her.
“We’ve been talking about ourselves so much that we haven’t given you a
chance to say a word.”
“Oh, there’s nothing to tell about myself. I’m not a very interesting
person.”
“Indeed, you are,” Nancy Drew contradicted her guest gently. “But I’m
afraid you are still worrying about that guardian of yours. Am I
correct?”
Laura’s pretty face clouded.
“Yes, I am worried. I know I shouldn’t feel the way I do, for it was my
mother’s wish that Jacob Aborn be appointed my guardian. I can’t
understand myself. I dread to meet him to-morrow.”
“To-morrow?” Nancy questioned in surprise.
“Yes, I received a telegram from him this morning. He is to arrive
to-morrow.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Nancy said cheerfully. “Probably you will like your
guardian when you meet him. Surely, your mother wouldn’t have entrusted
you to his care if she hadn’t believed he would be kind to you.”
“Oh, it’s just a silly notion on my part. I realize it, yet I can’t rid
myself of a feeling that something dreadful will happen to me.”
Laura Pendleton arose and walked over to the window. She stood gazing
out across the lake for a moment, and then resolutely turned and faced
Nancy and Helen, who were regarding her anxiously.
“You mustn’t mind my despondent moods,” she told them, with a sad smile.
“I promise you that if you will come to visit me at my hotel, I’ll be
more cheerful. Will you come?”
“We certainly will,” Nancy and Helen declared together.
Laura hesitated a moment, and then added rather plaintively.
“I wonder—would you mind coming to-morrow?”
“Why, no,” Nancy responded, in astonishment. “We’ll be glad to come.”
Laura’s relief was evident. As she said good-bye she pressed Nancy
Drew’s hand gratefully. Then without a word of explanation, she left the
two girls.