The Bungalow Mystery

“Don’t you think we should turn back, Helen? It’s getting dreadfully dark out here on the lake and I don’t like the look of those big black clouds.”

As Nancy Drew addressed her chum, Helen Corning, she gazed anxiously up at the sky and then out across a long expanse of water to the distant shore.

The two girls were spending several days at a camp located on Moon Lake, and on this particular afternoon they had slipped away for a delightful motorboat outing. They had cruised aimlessly about for several hours, enjoying the lake scenery and, particularly, a cool, refreshing breeze which brought them relief from an unseasonably torrid day, for it was early summer.

Now, as Nancy studied the sky for the first time, she was alarmed to notice that it had become overcast.

“Helen, I’m afraid there’s going to be a storm,” she announced. “They come up so quickly on Moon Lake.”

“You’re right,” Helen agreed uneasily. “It does look threatening. I didn’t realize we were so far from shore. We’d better get back to camp as fast as we can.”

“I guess we were having too good a time to notice the weather,” Nancy said.

A jagged ribbon of lightning illuminated the path ahead. Catching her breath, Nancy Drew leaned forward and peered into the inky water. What she saw froze her with horror. Directly ahead, floated a big log!

“About!” Nancy cried frantically.

Helen, too, had seen the log which lay in the path of the motorboat, and the sight held her in a paralysis of fright. She froze to the wheel.

“About!” Nancy shouted again.

Helen gave the wheel a vicious turn. The boat responded, but not quickly enough. The log loomed up in the water ahead. With a splintering crash, the boat struck it.

The sudden impact of the blow threw Nancy Drew backwards. She went sprawling into the bottom of the boat. Helen, who still clung to the steering wheel, screamed in fright.

“Nancy, are you hurt?” she demanded fearfully.

Nancy did not reply, but hastily scrambled to her feet. With difficulty she managed to stand, for the boat listed sharply to the right. Instantly, she saw that the collision with the log had torn a jagged hole in the side of the craft. Water was pouring in through it.

“Quick!” Nancy ordered sharply. “We must bail or we’ll sink!”

She sprang forward, and, tearing off her coat, tried to stuff it into the hole. Helen caught up a rusty pail which had been kept on hand for fish bait, and began to bail. She worked madly, but in spite of her efforts, the water came in faster than she could dip it out.

“Oh, it’s no use!” she groaned. “We’re sinking!”

“I wanted to tell you. Sometimes it seems as though I must talk to someone. I’m so worried. There’s no one to help or advise me.”

“Your father?”

“He died nearly six years ago. I am an orphan.”

“Surely you have friends to whom you can appeal?”

“I am afraid not. You see, mother was ill for a number of years before she died. We lived in hotels and I took care of her. Our social life was cut off.”

“If there’s any way that Helen and I can help, count on us,” Nancy Drew announced firmly. “If you need money⁠—”

“Oh, it isn’t money,” Laura said quickly. “Mother left an ample fortune. It’s only that I’m lonely and discouraged and I don’t know what my guardian will be like.”

“Your guardian?” Helen questioned curiously.

“Yes. The court appointed Jacob Aborn. I’ve never seen him. He and mother were schoolmates.”

“You dread to meet him?” Nancy asked gently.

“Yes. He’s to come for me in a few days.”

“Surely, if he and your mother were schoolmates, you have no cause for worry.”

“I suppose I am silly,” Laura admitted, “but I can’t help it. I have the strangest feeling.”

“What sort of feeling?” Nancy asked.

“Oh, I can’t explain. It’s just that I feel that something dreadful will happen to me. I’m afraid to meet Jacob Aborn.”

“Perhaps he’s the most kindly man in the world,” Nancy declared. “When will he arrive?”

“Even that dog doesn’t want to help me,” Nancy told herself and smiled grimly.

Suddenly she sat up straight and listened. She could hear footsteps. Someone was splashing through the mud and water, coming down the road toward her.

“I hope it’s someone who can help me,” she thought hopefully, as she sprang up from the tree trunk.

As the stranger came within range of the automobile headlights, she saw that it was a girl. Nancy’s sympathy went out to her as she noted her bedraggled appearance.

“I beg your pardon,” the girl began as she rushed up to where Nancy was standing, “but I’m in desperate trouble. Could you help me reach River Heights?”

Nancy, who recognized the voice, could scarcely believe her ears.

“Laura Pendleton!” she exclaimed.

The girl started violently as her name was spoken. For the first time she peered intently at Nancy.

“Oh!” she gasped in astonishment. “I couldn’t see your face against those bright headlights!”

Nancy saw plainly that Laura was agitated about something, and it was evident that she had been running, for she was breathing hard. She wore no head covering and the thin coat which she had flung over her shoulders afforded little protection from the rain. Laura was indeed a sorry sight.

“What is the matter?” Nancy demanded quickly. “Why, you’re crying.”

Laura sank down on the tree trunk and sobbed.

“Oh, everything, Nancy! Everything!”

Nancy Drew slipped her arm gently about the girl.

“You shouldn’t be out in the storm,” she chided her. “What is your guardian thinking of to let you expose yourself this way?”

“It sounded like a groan,” was the thought which flashed through her mind.

Was it possible that someone was imprisoned in the cellar? The fear that some person was in distress gave her the courage to open the door.

As it swung back, she saw before her a long flight of stone stairs leading down into darkness. A gust of cold, musty air struck her in the face and momentarily repulsed her.

Nancy glanced nervously at her flashlight. She told herself that the battery could not last much longer. Already the light was so dim that she could barely see the steps in front of her. Should she investigate the cellar? She had no idea what it might reveal, and the thought of being caught below without a light sent a cold shiver over her.

Yet, Nancy felt that she was about to stumble upon the real secret of the old bungalow, and the thrill of anticipated victory urged her forward. Cautiously, she descended the steps, one at a time.

She came to a sharp turn and peered anxiously down into the black abyss.

To her horror she saw a man stretched out full length upon a bench directly below her. His face was turned upward and Nancy caught a full glimpse of the countenance.