LAURA’S GRATITUDE
Nancy Drew and her father did not forget their promise to call again at
Jacob Aborn’s bungalow, and the following Sunday afternoon found them on
the way to Melrose Lake.
They started directly after a midday dinner which had been a rather
silent meal.
It had rained a bit during the early morning but now the sun was shining
brightly and there was just enough breeze to make it pleasant.
Nancy was driving her roadster while her father sat beside her, an
unlighted cigar between his lips. Neither said a word until the town was
left far behind and they were drawing towards the country of the lakes.
“What are you thinking of, Nancy?” questioned her father at last.
“I was thinking of Laura and of Mr. Aborn,” she replied. “I was
wondering if everything is turning out all right.”
“It ought to—with Stumpy out of the way,” answered Carson Drew.
“So it would seem. But Laura is such an unusual girl—and she went
through so much. I’d hate to see her break down and have a spell of
sickness.”
“Oh, joy seldom hurts anyone, Nancy. Its real sorrow that pulls a person
down.”
“I certainly hope the real Mr. Aborn proves to be all right.”
“I think I’m a pretty good judge of character, and he looked all right
to me.”
A little later they passed the spot where Nancy had first met Laura
during the awful storm—when the terror-stricken girl was on her way to
the Drew homestead. How many things had happened since then!
Then they came in sight of the bungalow.
As they drove up in the blue roadster, Laura Pendleton ran from the
house and greeted them enthusiastically. She was dressed in a bright
blue frock and seemed happier than Nancy had ever seen her. The change
was remarkable. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were beginning to
fill out a trifle.
“Oh, I’m so glad you came!” Laura cried eagerly, as she led them toward
the bungalow.
As the two girls walked up the path arm in arm, Nancy lowered her voice.
“How do you like your guardian?” she asked.
“Oh, Nancy, he’s the kindest man in the world. He’s so good to me.”
“I’m glad that you are happy here, Laura,” and Nancy smiled. “You didn’t
like the bungalow at first, you know.”
“Oh, it wasn’t the house! It was Stumpy Dowd! Everything has changed
now. My guardian is planning so many wonderful things for me! But I’ll
tell you about that later.”
“How is Mr. Aborn?” Nancy inquired solicitously.
They had reached the porch by this time, and Jacob Aborn himself opened
the door. He had heard Nancy’s question.
“I never felt better in my life,” he assured her. “I’ve had a wonderful
nurse.”
Mr. Aborn drew up comfortable chairs for the two guests and sat down
beside Laura on the davenport. After the four had chatted for some time,
a maid served tea. Over the cups, Mr. Aborn told of his plans for his
ward.
“I want her to rest this summer and enjoy her friends,” he declared.
“This fall, if I feel I can part with her for a few months, I’ll send
her to a girls’ school. You’ll like that, Laura?”
“Oh, I’ll love it! I’ve always dreamed of going to a boarding school.
But of course I shan’t want to leave you.”
“Don’t worry on that score, Laura. I’ll probably spend most of my time
coming to visit you.”
“You’re spoiling me,” Laura laughed. She turned to Nancy. “Mr. Aborn is
planning so many wonderful things for me. He’s building a tennis court
in the yard, and I’m going to take swimming lessons!”
“I want to get Laura a motorboat,” Mr. Aborn explained. “But think she
should know how to swim first.”
“And the nicest of all—I’m to have a new roadster something like yours,
Nancy.”
“Then you’ll be able to drive over to River Heights and see me often.”
“Indeed I will. And you and your friend, Helen Corning, must come here.
We’ll have regular week end parties!”
“By the way,” Jacob Aborn turned to Mr. Drew, abruptly changing the
subject. “Have you learned anything about Stumpy Dowd?”
“Why, yes, I thought you knew.”
“I’ve heard nothing.”
“The Hamilton chief of police telephoned yesterday. You’ll not be
bothered by that man again.”
“You mean—he’s dead?”
“Oh, no,” Nancy broke in hastily. “His injuries weren’t as serious as
the doctor at first thought. He has been removed from the hospital and
sent to jail. He’ll probably get twenty-five years, eh, Dad?”
“Thirty, I believe,” her father corrected.
Jacob Aborn nodded in satisfaction.
“Well, he’ll receive his just due at that. When I think of the way that
man tried to rob Laura——”
“Oh, Nancy, we owe you so much,” Laura said earnestly. “You saved my
guardian’s life and you recovered my fortune.”
“I hope you haven’t forgotten the night on Moon Lake when you rescued
Helen and me,” Nancy reminded her, with a smile. “It isn’t all
one-sided, you see.”
“But you’ve repaid the debt threefold.”
“Laura and I have been talking it over,” Mr. Aborn said quietly. “We
have been trying to think of a way to thank you.”
“Oh, I don’t want any thanks,” Nancy returned hastily. “I really enjoyed
the adventure.”
“I can’t say that I did,” Mr. Aborn responded ruefully. “Two weeks in a
dungeon!”
“Nancy, you must accept some reward for what you did,” Laura insisted,
returning to the original subject.
Nancy shook her head stubbornly.
“But I have a fortune in my own name! Unless I give you money I don’t
know how to reward you.”
“My reward is to know that you are happy, Laura.”
“It’s so kind of you to say that, but I don’t feel right——”
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, Laura, but really I can’t accept a
reward.”
“My daughter has solved a number of baffling mystery cases, and has made
a point never to take pay for her work,” Mr. Drew explained, coming to
Nancy’s rescue.
“It doesn’t seem right not to give her anything.”
“Nancy has accepted a number of souvenirs, as reminders of her various
adventures.”
“Oh, I remember now!” Laura cried eagerly. “Helen Corning told me.”
“I did take an old mantel clock for solving the mystery of the missing
Crowley will,” Nancy admitted. “And I accepted a silver urn for
discovering the ghost of the Turnbull mansion.”
“Then it’s only right that you accept a souvenir for solving the mystery
of the deserted bungalow. Will you?”
“Well—” Nancy hesitated.
“Say, yes! It will make me feel so much better!”
“All right, I agree.”
Laura sprang from the davenport and hurried upstairs to her room. In a
few minutes she returned, bearing a tiny jewel case.
“It isn’t half enough,” she declared, handing Nancy the box.
“Oh, Laura, I’m afraid you’ve given me something expensive!”
She lifted the cover of the box and gazed at the contents. The jewel
case contained a beautiful pendant of precious stones.
Nancy gave a little exclamation of surprise and delight as she held the
necklace to the light.
“Oh, Laura!” she breathed. “It’s gorgeous! But of course I can’t keep
it.”
“Oh, you must! Why, you promised!”
“I said I would accept a souvenir, but I never dreamed you would give me
anything so expensive. Didn’t this pendant belong to your mother?”
“Yes. But that is no reason for you to refuse to take it. She would want
me to give it to you.”
“But it’s such a precious keepsake to give away.”
“It is precious,” Laura admitted quietly. “But I have other pieces that
mother left me. There is no one in the world I’d rather see have it than
you. If it were not precious I would not offer it. Please take it,
Nancy.”
Laura’s expression was so earnest and pleading that Nancy Drew could not
find it in her heart to refuse. After all, she had given her promise.
“I will keep it,” she said, with sudden decision. “And I’ll always prize
it highly.”
After that, the conversation shifted to less personal subjects, and the
afternoon passed quickly. Before Mr. Drew and his daughter departed,
Laura escorted Nancy about the place, showing her the garden, the new
boathouse, and the site for the tennis court.
“Only a week ago I fairly hated this place,” she said thoughtfully. “And
now I love it!”
“A great deal has happened since that stormy night on Moon Lake when we
first met,” Nancy returned musingly. “As I look back, it doesn’t seem
possible we could have packed so much adventure into one short month.”
“No, it doesn’t, but the adventures were mostly yours.”
“I seem to have a way of getting into the thick of things,” Nancy
laughed. “Oh, well, everything came out right, and the nicest part of
all is that you have found a happy home.”
“And wonderful friends!”
An understanding silence fell upon the two girls, and for several
moments they stood arm in arm, looking out across the lake. Presently,
as they slowly moved on again, Laura Pendleton turned to her friend with
a twinkle in her eyes.
“You’ve started quite a career for yourself, Nancy. I wonder if you’ll
have any more adventures?”
Nancy gave a tired sigh.
“Oh, I think I’ve had enough to last me for the rest of my life!” But in
her heart, she knew she had not. The love for mystery would always be
with her.
And Nancy Drew’s adventuring days were by no means over. It was written
in the annals of the future that before many months had elapsed she
would be engrossed in a problem as puzzling as the bungalow mystery—a
problem which would tax her mental powers and ingenuity to the limit.
But for the present, Nancy Drew was not pining for excitement or
adventure. The prospect of a restful summer with Laura Pendleton and
Helen Corning satisfied her completely.
THE END