Under Cover of Darkness
Nancy Drew dressed herself in garments that would resist the rain, and
then removed her flashlight and pistol from their hiding places. The
latter she examined carefully to make certain it was loaded and ready
for instant use.
“I may need it to-night,” she assured herself grimly. “No telling what
I’ll get into.”
Nancy was in a hurry to get away, and it seemed that the Turnbull
sisters were never going to bed. Presently, she heard them moving about
downstairs and knew they were locking up for the night. After an
interminable wait, they came upstairs and went into their respective
rooms. A half hour more, and the house was quiet.
“Now is my chance,” Nancy thought. “If only I can get out of here
without being heard.”
Hastily slipping into her slicker and pulling a tight-fitting turban
over her curly, bobbed hair, she picked up her flashlight and revolver.
She opened the bedroom door and listened. All was quiet.
“I feel like a ghost myself,” Nancy chuckled, as she tiptoed past
Rosemary’s room.
The floor creaked alarmingly, and she paused, fearful lest she had
awakened the Turnbull sisters. She did not wish to frighten them and
neither did she wish to explain why she was prowling about at such a
late hour.
Apparently the noise had not been heard, for no sound issued from either
bedroom. Rosemary and Floretta were both sleeping soundly. After
hesitating a moment, Nancy cautiously crept on down the stairway.
She groped her way down the steps and upon reaching the drawing room,
turned on the flashlight. Quietly, she made her way to the front door.
As she had expected, it was locked.
She felt for the key, but did not find it. Surprised, she flashed her
light full upon the lock. The key was not there.
“Just my luck,” she murmured. “Rosemary and Floretta must have hidden it
somewhere.”
Softly, she moved through the house to the kitchen and tried the back
door. It also was locked and the key likewise was missing.
“Now I am in a nice mess,” Nancy told herself in disgust. “There’s no
hope of ever finding the key. I’ll have to go through a window.”
Rosemary and Floretta had not forgotten to lock the windows, but they
had been barred from the inside, and the one in the kitchen offered
little resistance when Nancy tried it. Quietly raising it, she crawled
through and pushed it down when she had reached the ground.
The rain was falling steadily, and a sudden gust of wind blew a wet
spray into her face. She did not mind. The blacker and stormier the
night, the more effectively it would serve her purpose.
She did not light her flashlight for fear of attracting attention to her
movements. Splashing through the mud and water, she tried to pierce the
darkness. She could see only a short way ahead, but she knew the exact
location of the other house, and headed for it. Her heart began to beat
faster as she contemplated the adventure before her. If all went as she
planned, she hoped to solve the mystery of the Turnbull mansion before
she returned.
As the outlines of the other stone house gradually emerged from the
murkiness of the drizzly night, she experienced a sensation of dread.
The night’s work was not going to be pleasant, of that she was sure.
There was something about the house which seemed sinister. Through the
mistlike rain, the rays of a light in one of the lower rooms shone forth
as if in a half-futile attempt to pierce the gloom, while the rest of
the house stood dark and somber.
So this was the home of Nathan Gombet, Nancy ruminated. She could not
help but feel that the dark, uninviting aspect of the structure provided
an abode singularly in keeping with the sinister character of its
master.
As she stood in the shadow of the tall maples which surrounded the
house, she was uncertain what course it would be wisest to follow. She
did not wish to blunder into danger and she especially dreaded an
encounter with Nathan Gombet. Yet, if she accomplished anything, she
must enter the house, and it must be done this night.
She squared her shoulders and stepped forward. At that very moment the
front door of the dwelling opened. Startled, Nancy retreated behind a
tree.
[Illustration: A man came out of the house.]
A man came out of the house. Unmindful of the rain, he stood for several
minutes with his face turned in the direction of the Turnbull mansion.
It was Nathan Gombet.
Nancy recognized him as the light from the window shone full upon his
face and clearly defined his features. The stoop of his shoulders was
unmistakable.
She crouched behind a tree and waited. What did the miser intend to do?
Perhaps he was contemplating another visit to the Turnbull mansion!
Otherwise, why would he stand there and stare in that direction?
Nancy could not know that Nathan was deliberately planning a scheme
which boded ill for her. The old miser had just ended a stormy interview
with Carson Drew who was held prisoner in the tower room of the house,
and he had made up his mind to bring the lawyer to time by kidnapping
his daughter. Just how he would get his hands on Nancy he did not know,
but as he abruptly started off down the path, he was turning over a
number of plans in his head.
“The time will soon be ripe,” he chuckled evilly.
Unaware that Nathan had been thinking of her and likewise without a
suspicion that she stood within a stone’s throw of the room where her
father was imprisoned, Nancy Drew considered what she had best do.
“There’s not much use to trail Nathan,” she decided. “After all, he may
not visit the Turnbull house, and this will be my only opportunity to
visit his house. It was pure luck he left just when he did.”
Hesitating no longer, she moved on through the rain. Once she glanced
back over her shoulder, but Nathan Gombet had been swallowed up in the
darkness.
Cautiously, Nancy approached the old stone house from the rear. The
light was still shining from a window, and she saw now that it came from
the kitchen. The shades were up, and as she drew closer she was able to
peer in.
A fat colored woman was washing dishes at the sink, her back to the
window.
“She must be the servant Rosemary and Floretta were telling me about,”
Nancy guessed. “I never saw a more surly-looking creature. She looks
positively vicious!”
Nancy Drew was disappointed, for with Nathan Gombet gone she had hoped
to find the house deserted. The presence of the colored woman made her
mission a very dangerous one.
“It’s now or never,” she thought nervously. “I must hurry or Nathan
Gombet may return.”
Cautiously, she moved forward and surveyed the house at close range.
With the exception of the kitchen, the shades were pulled down over all
of the windows.
“I may be able to get in a cellar window,” Nancy reasoned.
With one eye on the kitchen door, she began an investigation. After
trying several windows, she found one which had not been locked.
“Luck is with me,” she breathed. “Now, if I can get into the house
without being detected!”
The window was a small one and swung back on a hinge. It made a loud
grating sound as it opened, and Nancy felt certain the colored woman
must have heard the noise. Frantically, she scrambled through the small
opening and dropped to the cellar floor. Before she could prevent it,
the window banged shut behind her.
“Now I have done it!” she thought, in a panic.
Her fears were confirmed. The kitchen door opened and there was a heavy
tread on the back porch. The colored woman had heard the noise and was
coming to find what had caused it.