As George announced this to the others, Bess suddenly gave a little squeal. “Girls, the boys are going out to Hawaii. Remember?”
“That’s right,” said George.
Nancy said she would put in a call at once to Emerson College and talk to Ned, since his plane was leaving that night.
When Ned heard that the girls were going to Hawaii, he gave a loud whoop. “Nancy, this is the most wonderful news of the day! We fellows are leaving here in a little while. We’re going first to California and then fly on from there. As soon as you girls arrive, we’ll come out to Kaluakua. In the meantime, you’ll find our gang at the Halekulani Hotel.”
“That’s on Waikiki Beach, isn’t it?” Nancy asked.
“Yes, it is. And get there as fast as you can!”
After a few more minutes of conversation, in which Ned promised he would pass along the good word to Burt and Dave, he and Nancy said good-by. Then she turned to Hannah Gruen and the girls.
“Dad will get our reservations,” she said. “He may pick up something in a hurry, so you’d better start packing.”
Bess and George left at once to get started on their packing. Nancy and Hannah began looking over their own clothes for the trip.
During breakfast the next morning the telephone rang. Nancy answered it and learned to her surprise that the caller was the window washer, Abe Antok.
“I have an important message for you, miss,” he said. “I don’t want to give it to you on the phone ‘cause somebody else may be listenin’. I’ll be washin’ windows at 37 Maple Street. Can you come over there and talk to me?”
Nancy promised to meet him in a short while. Eager to learn what Abe had to tell her, she finished her breakfast quickly and started out. On the way she met George, who was going downtown to buy a new bathing suit.
“Please come with me first,” Nancy asked, and told her about Abe’s message.
“All right,” George agreed.
The two girls reached 37 Maple Street in ten minutes. As they approached the side of the house, closely planted with high bushes, they saw a ladder that extended to the second floor. Abe was at the top of it, busily washing a window.
As Nancy was about to call to him, the ladder began to sway. The next moment it was yanked away from the house!
Abe Antok, meanwhile, had grabbed for the window sill and now clung to it desperately, his legs hanging in mid-air. “Help!” he screeched.
At that moment Nancy spotted a man lurking among the bushes. He was holding onto the ladder. Suddenly he let it drop and dashed off through the back yard!
CHAPTER IV
A Rewarding Chase
FOR a brief second the eyes of the two girls were rooted to the sill of the second-floor window, from which Abe Antok hung, while the man who had caused the trouble was running away at top speed.
“Nancy, go after that man!” George ordered. “I’ll help Abe.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Nancy started through the back yard of 37 Maple Street. The window washer continued to call for help. The house owner heard him and opened the window. She grabbed Abe’s hands, just as George set up the ladder. Abe rested his feet on one of the rungs. Panting from exertion, he thanked George and the house owner, who wanted to know what had happened.
Quickly George explained, adding, “I hope my friend Nancy Drew catches up with that awful man. Why, Abe, you might have been killedl”
Nancy, meanwhile, was pursuing the fugitive through gardens, streets, and driveways. She managed to keep him in sight, hoping all the time she would find a policeman to help in the chase. As she reached a cross street, a patrol car came along. Rushing up to it, she waved her arms. When the car stopped, she gasped:
“Officer, follow me quickly, please! I’m after a man who tried to kill somebody!”
The policeman seated beside the driver lost no time in alighting and following Nancy. As they ran, she explained what had happened.
Once they almost lost their quarry as he dashed around the corner of a building, but in a few moments they saw him again. He evidently was staying off the streets as much as possible to avoid being captured. Nancy and the officer ran even faster and presently closed in on the fugitive who was trying to climb a tall fence.
The policeman pulled him down.
“What d‘you want me for?” the man asked. He was young, surly-looking, and had a shock of black hair which hung down over his forehead. “I ain’t done nothin’.”
As the officer held on to his prisoner, he said to Nancy, “This fellow is one of our town mischief-makers. He’s the leader of a gang known as the Green Tigers. Come along, Jake. We’ll go back to that place where you yanked the ladder away from the window washer.”
The hoodlum stared unbelievingly. Apparently he had been so sure no one had seen him that he was startled into a confession.
“I didn’t mean no harm. I was just havin’ some fun.”
“That’s not fun,” the officer said. “Come along!”
With Nancy leading the way, he prodded Jake along until they reached 37 Maple Street. By this time Abe was on the ground, talking with George and the house owner. As the prisoner was marched up to the group, Abe looked at him malevolently.
“So you’re the guy who did it! What’s the big idea?”
“It wasn’t my idea,” the hoodlum sniveled. “A man came to me and told me I was to watch you and try to make things hard for you.”
“You didn’t have to try to kill me!” Abe cried out. “Who was this man?”
“I don’t know his name. He said he was goin’ to blow town but somebody else was goin’ to watch me. If I didn’t carry out his orders, he’d see that I got in trouble with the police.”
“What did this man look like?” Nancy asked.
“Oh, he was medium height—dark, thin, and not much hair on the top of his head.”
Instantly Nancy realized that the description fitted Jim O’Keefe.
“Where did you meet him?” she asked Jake.
He said the man had come over to his table in a restaurant and talked to him.
“Did you notice anything unusual about the way he used his hands?” the young sleuth inquired.
Jake thought for a moment, then said, “Come to think of it, he did do something funny with his fingers. He’d kind of beat on the table, then he’d lift two of his fingers and make them meet.”
Nancy turned to the policeman. “I think the name of the man is Jim O’Keefe, and that he’s the thief who broke into our house.”
At this announcement Jake’s eyes opened wide. “You must be Nancy Drew! You’re the one that got Abe here in trouble. It was because Abe talked too much to you. He was being shadowed. Well, this guy wanted me to make it hard for Abe.”
“Yes, I am Nancy Drew. What else can you tell us about this Jim O’Keefe?”
Before answering, the hoodlum asked the policeman if things would go easier for him if he told what he knew. The officer said it was not up to him to decide that, but it certainly would be to his advantage to tell the truth.
“Well, this guy that you call O’Keefe,” Jake said, “bragged about bein’ the front man for a slick gang.”
The officer had taken out a notebook and pencil and was making notes. He waited for Jake to go on, but the hoodlum declared he had told all he knew about O’Keefe.
The officer now addressed the window washer. He asked if Abe knew Jake. The workman vigorously denied this and said haughtily, “I want you to know, Officer, that I’m an honest man. I do my work and take care of my family. I never have anything to do with hoods.”
The window washer admitted, however, that the previous night he had received a mysterious phone call. “I think the voice was the same one as the man who rented the ladder. He told me I was goin’ to be punished for tellin’ Nancy Drew what I did. I called Miss Drew this morning and asked her to come over, so that I could tell her this. I was afraid she might be in some danger.”
“I certainly appreciate your kindness,” said Nancy with a smile. “But, Abe, please be careful yourself.”
The policeman took Jake off in the patrol car. Nancy and George walked to the next corner where they parted.
“Watch your step!” George warned her chum as she started toward the shopping area.
Upon reaching home, Nancy found Hannah Gruen putting a large suitcase on a scales. The housekeeper heaved a great sigh. “Can’t take this much. They’ll charge extra on the plane.” Then she asked, “What did the window washer want to tell you?”
When Nancy finished the story, the housekeeper gasped, “Oh, Nancy, you may be in terrible danger. Couldn’t we just go to Honolulu without getting mixed up with a lot of underhanded people?”
Nancy gave Hannah an affectionate squeeze. “Let’s not start worrying so early,” she suggested. “But I guess what I’d better start worrying about is my own packing.”
The young detective went into her bedroom, opened her closet door, and began selecting the dresses she would take.
“This white cotton will be good, and a couple of lightweight sweater suits,” Nancy said to herself.
She also chose a yellow, a pale blue, and a red-and black-flowered sunback costume. Then her mind began to wander from the subject at hand.
“I believe I’ll invite Mr. and Mrs. Sakamaki to dinner this evening,” she told herself. “They probably know many Polynesian legends. They might be able to remember one that has to do with water or sleep or death.”
She hurried to the telephone and called the Hawaiians. Both were delighted to accept the invitation and arrived promptly at seven o’clock. When Nancy brought up the subject of the legends, Mr. Sakamaki said:
“It’s possible that the legend about Pele, the Sleeping Goddess of the Volcano, may help you. According to the Islanders, Pele now sleeps a good deal, and awakens only once in a while to produce a volcano. But in ancient times she was very active. Some ten thousand years ago, while trying to find a permanent home on Oahu Island, she built two mountain peaks, Koko Head and Koko Crater from a great crack she caused in the Koolau Range. The legend goes on to say that the goddess was completely satisfied and went to sleep on the island.
“However, other stories are told that she sleeps in Kilauea Crater on Hawaii Island, but awakens to put on a fiery display at nearby Mauna Loa.”
When dinner was over and everyone had gathered in the living room, Mr. Sakamaki asked if the Drews would mind turning on their television to the newscast to hear the weather forecast for the next day.
Nancy turned on the television set and tuned it to the proper channel. The telecast had barely started when the announcer electrified the Drews with a news bulletin which he said had just been received by the station.
“Word has come,” he began, “of a plane in trouble over the Pacific. It is one which was chartered by a group of students from Emerson College.”
“Oh, Dad!” Nancy cried out fearfully. “That’s the plane that Ned and Dave and Burt are onl”
CHAPTER V
Double Worries
THE NEWS that the plane carrying the Emerson College boys over the Pacific was in trouble stunned Nancy. Mr. Drew, though fearful, tried to cheer his daughter by saying that pilots often accomplished miraculous feats with their craft. But as time went on even the lawyer had to admit that the reports were most discouraging.
“We mustn’t give up hope, though,” he said.
Mr. and Mrs. Sakamaki left in a little while. They expressed the fervent hope that the chartered plane would make a safe landing.
Nancy and her father, seated near Hannah Gruen, decided to turn on a radio, so they could get almost continuous reports.
“Do you think I should call Bess and George?” Nancy asked her father.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t worry them,” Mr. Drew replied.
The words were hardly out of his mouth when the three heard footsteps on the front porch, then the ringing of the doorbell. Nancy hurried to answer.
“Bess! George!” she cried out.
“Oh, Nancy, you’ve heard the news?” Bess asked, her voice trembling.
Nancy nodded as the three girls walked into the living room. Bess and George spoke to Mr. Drew and Hannah Gruen, then sat down to look and listen to the television and radio. Hour after hour went by with everyone’s hopes dimming. At dawn Mr. Drew suggested that the girls go to bed.
“I couldn’t sleep,” said Nancy.
“Nor I,” George and Bess agreed simultaneously.
At that moment a radio announcer said, “We interrupt this program for a special bulletin. Word has just been received that the plane carrying the students from Emerson College has landed at the Los Angeles airport. Everyone is safe.”
“Hypers!” George cried out.
“Oh, isn’t that wonderful!” Nancy exclaimed.
Bess said nothing. Tears of joy stood in her eyes. But she joined in the jubilation which fol lowed. Everyone hugged everyone else, and then Hannah hurried to the kitchen and prepared a snack consisting of hot chocolate and toast.
“And now for some sleep,” said Nancy, yawning, as she put down her empty cup. “Girls, you’d better stay here.”
“You won’t have to ask me twice,” George replied wearily. She telephoned home, and then Bess called her family.
While the girls were preparing for bed, Bess kept staring into space and had little to say. Finally Nancy asked her what the trouble was.
“Maybe I’m a sissy,” her friend replied, “but after what happened to the boys I’m not sure I want to fly to Honolulu.”
Nancy, catching a look of disdain in George’s eyes quickly winked at her, then said, “After you’ve had a good sleep, Bess, I’m sure you’ll feel better about the whole thing.”
Nancy’s prediction proved to be true. When Bess awakened in the late morning, she laughed at her own fears. “I wouldn’t miss this trip for anything in the world,” she declared.
Immediately after brunch the cousins left. Nancy decided to drive downtown and shop for another small suitcase. As she was about to leave the house, the telephone rang. Police Captain McGinnis was calling her.
“Would you mind coming down to my office?” he asked. “I think you’ll be interested in something we’ve found out.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” the young sleuth answered.
When she reached police headquarters, Captain McGinnis told her that detectives had uncovered evidence which might link the thief who had entered her home to a rather unusual nationwide gang.
“We don’t actually know any of the members,” the officer went on. “But we’ve been told they call themselves the Double Scorps.”
“Double Scorps?” Nancy said. “Is there any special significance to that name?”
“It stands for Scorpions,” Captain McGinnis replied. “From what we have found out, they always work in pairs and they’re a bad lot.”
He opened a large ledger-type book on his desk. “There are a number of unexplained local robberies on our blotter,” he said. “One is of particular interest. A man’s ancient Chinese ring of great value was taken from the home of Mr. Homer Milbank.”
The officer looked up and smiled at Nancy. “I thought perhaps you’d like to help us,” he said.
Nancy lifted her eyebrows. “Me? Captain McGinnis, you know I’m going to Honolulu.”
“That’s just the point,” the officer told her. “Mr. Milbank bought the ring in Honolulu. There is just a possibility it may find its way back there. In any case, the modus operandi points to members of the Double Scorps gang.”
“I see,” said Nancy. “What did the ring look like?”
From his ledger Captain McGinnis took a photostat of a crude drawing of the ring. He said Mr. Milbank had had it made for the police. The officer handed the paper to Nancy who studied it closely for several seconds. Suddenly she leaned forward excitedly.
“Captain McGinnis,” she began, “I’m familiar with two of these four symbols. They’re not Chinese but Polynesian. Look at this one.” She pointed. “It stands for water, and this other one indicates sleep or death.”
It was the officer’s turn to show amazement. “I knew I was asking the right person to help me,” he said, grinning. “And I’d like to bet that you can tell me within a few hours what those other two symbols stand for.”
Smiling, Nancy arose. “You may be right,” she replied. “I’ll even try to cut the time in half.”
Leaving Captain McGinnis mystified, Nancy drove at once to the home of Professor Wharton and showed him the drawing.
After looking at the photostat a moment, he said that Nancy was correct in her supposition about all the symbols on the ring being Polynesian. “It probably was carved right in the Hawaiian Islands. These other two symbols stand for woman and tapa. You probably know that tapa is a cloth made from the bark of a variety of mulberry tree which grows on the Islands.”
Nancy returned to police headquarters and reported to Captain McGinnis what she had learned.
“Fine work, Nancy,” he said.
For several minutes the two discussed the odd fact that the ring was the only article stolen from the Milbank home.
In a teasing tone he said, “Of course I expect you to find the answer to that question.”
Nancy stood up, saluted, and with a chuckle answered, “Aye, aye, Captain, I shall try my best!”
As she drove toward home, a sudden thought came to Nancy. Her dog Togo must be cared for while she and her father and Hannah were away!
“I’ll take him to that lovely boarding home for dogs out in the country,” she said to herself.
At home Nancy found a message from her father, saying he had secured reservations for two days later. Since the next day would be a busy one for her, she decided to take Togo to the boarding home at once.
Nancy called Togo. When he did not come, she asked the housekeeper where the terrier was.
“Why, I don’t know,” Hannah replied.
She and Nancy went outside. They whistled and called repeatedly. Still Togo did not come.
“But he never strays away from our property!” Nancy declared.
“No, never,” Hannah agreed.
Nancy and the housekeeper stared at each other, worry in their eyes. Something must have happened to little Togo!
CHAPTER VI
A Disastrous Dance
“HANNAH, when did you last see Togo?” Nancy asked the housekeeper.
“Oh, about an hour ago. He barked to go outside and I let him.”
Nancy hurried into the house to call the River Heights’ dog pound. The warden there frequently cruised around the streets in a small caged truck and picked up stray dogs.
“Something might have lured Togo into the street and perhaps the dog warden took him away,” Nancy said to herself.
But after she gave a full description of the little terrier, the warden informed her that the pet was not at the pound. Nancy began to worry more than ever. With a heavy heart she came outside again and told Hannah what she had learned.
“I’m going to ask our neighbors if any of them saw Togo,” she said.
“Oh, I do hope you find him. Togo is such a dear and lots of company.”
Nancy went from house to house. But one person after another gave her a negative reply. Finally, however, she got a clue from a little boy who was riding a tricycle.
“Sure I saw your dog,” the lad said. “He went away in a car.”
“A car?” Nancy asked. “Whose car?”
“I don’t know,” the boy answered. “It stopped in front of your house just before I rode past. A man got out and called to Togo. He was on your front lawn. The man had a bone and your dog came to get it. Then the man picked him up and took him away in the car.”
Nancy was stunned. A dognaper! She asked the child what the man looked like, but he had not noticed his face.
“Don’t you know who he was?” the boy asked.
“No, I don’t,” Nancy answered. “But whoever he is, he’s a mean person.”
“Did he steal Togo?” the little boy asked excitedly.
“I’m afraid so,” Nancy replied sadly. “Well, thank you for the information, Tommy.”
When she reached home, she said to Hannah, “I have a terrible feeling that one of the Double Scorps took Togo. Perhaps he hoped by doing this to keep us from going on the trip—or, at least, delay us.”
During the afternoon Nancy made further inquiries and reported the incident to Captain McGinnis. But evening came and there still was no clue to the whereabouts of her stolen pet.
For the second night Nancy Drew slept but little. She and Togo were fast friends and the thought of perhaps losing him forever made her very unhappy. Then suddenly she sat up in bed. Had she heard a whine and a short bark, or had she imagined them both?
“No, I’m not dreaming!” Nancy said to herself, as she detected the sounds again.
Grabbing up a robe and slippers she quickly put them on and leaped down the front stairway two steps at a time. Then she raced to the kitchen door and opened it. Togo dashed in and she swept him up in her arms.
“Oh, you blessed little thing! You’re back!” Nancy cried, hugging her pet. “How I wish you could talk and tell me who took you! But never mind. You’re home now, and no dognaper will ever get you again!”
She noticed that both the terrier’s license and collar were missing. She gave her pet an extra squeeze. “You broke loose and got away from that dreadful man, didn’t you?” she asked.
Togo yipped and licked her face. She set him down and he ran over to his two special dishes in a corner of the kitchen. Thirstily, Togo lapped water from one, as Nancy filled the other with dog food. When he finished eating, Nancy picked him up and took him to her room.
“I’m going to watch over you personally!” she told Togo. He snuggled down in a boudoir chair Nancy got into bed and instantly fell asleep.
She was up early the following morning, and when she came downstairs with Togo, both her father and Hannah Gruen looked at her and the dog in amazement. Nancy related what had happened. Neither Mr. Drew nor the housekeeper had heard Togo the night before!
As soon as Nancy finished eating breakfast and had helped Hannah with the dishes, she drove off with her pet to the boarding home for dogs. On the drive back, as she passed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sakamaki, she decided to stop and tell them that she was leaving the next day for Hawaii.
As she walked toward the front door, she heard strains of a guitar coming from the sunroom at the side of the house. Glancing through the window, she saw Mr. Sakamaki strumming a large guitar. He was wearing a gay flowered shirt, and an orchid lei hung about his neck. His wife, dressed in an embroidered, long, loose-fitting gown, which Nancy recognized as the Hawaiian muumuu, was going through the graceful motions of a hula dance.
Nancy hesitated. Should she call just now or come back later? As she was debating whether or not to ring the bell, the door suddenly opened. Mrs. Sakamaki stood there and at once invited Nancy inside, saying she had seen her from the window.
“But I don’t want to intrude if you are busy,” Nancy said quickly.
“We are only having our morning exercise,” Mrs. Sakamaki replied. “Perhaps,” she added, as her husband came forward, “you would like to join us—even learn to dance the hula.”
Mr. Sakamaki heartily approved his wife’s suggestion. He said he thought Nancy would enjoy knowing the Hawaiian dance.
“I’d love to learn the hula,” Nancy answered. “I hope I shan’t appear awkward.”
“You are very graceful, Nancy. You will learn easily,” Mrs. Sakamaki assured her.
“But before we start the lesson,” said her husband, “perhaps our guest has some news for me?”
Nancy replied that she and her friends were leaving for Hawaii the next day. Then she told him about the dognaping episode and her suspicion that the person who had taken Togo was trying to prevent her from going on the trip.
“It does seem to prove that he wants to keep you away from Kaluakua,” Mr. Sakamaki agreed. “You must be very careful while you are there.”
Mrs. Sakamaki now led the way into the sunroom, where her husband picked up the guitar. As Nancy waited for the hula lesson to begin, she glanced around.
The small room was decorated almost completely with Chinese articles. In the center of the room stood a low tea table on which were an exquisite set of china cups, saucers, and a teapot. Nearby on a teakwood stand was a fine handmade model of a large outrigger canoe with a tapa canopy. When Mr. Sakamaki noticed Nancy looking at it, he said, “That piece is very old. An antique.”
“It is very lovely,” Nancy remarked, thinking that she must be careful during the dancing lesson not to bump into any of the art pieces in the room.
“Shall we start?” Mrs. Sakamaki asked.
Her husband began to play a lovely Hawaiian melody. Nancy watched Mrs. Sakamaki’s feet carefully and soon was imitating the side-to-side step. Next came the swaying of the body, and finally, Mrs. Sakamaki demonstrated the graceful raising and lowering of the arms and head.
“With our hands and fingers we express certain ideas,” Mrs. Sakamaki explained to her pupil. “For instance, move your hands forward together as if extending a gift. But do it with a slight rolling motion.”
The lesson went on for some time. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sakamaki praised Nancy’s progress highly. They said that with a little practice and a proper costume, she could easily join a Hawaiian group.
Nancy felt pleased. In her enthusiasm to indicate various ideas with her arms and hands, she forgot about the smallness of the room and its many art objects. Suddenly one arm swept the antique outrigger canoe from its stand!
The valuable antique toppled from the stand
Nancy made a wild dive to keep it from falling on the china teapot and cups. Although she managed to deflect the canoe, so that it missed the dishes, she was unable to prevent it from crashing to the floor.
“Oh, dear!” she exclaimed, and bent to pick up the model.
To her horror, it was rather badly damaged. The outrigger had broken off, as well as the uprights which held the tapa. “I’m dreadfully sorry!”
Mr. Sakamaki made light of the matter. Both he and his wife said they were glad Nancy herself was all right. The canoe could be mended.
The couple persuaded Nancy to practice the hula for another half hour. By this time she had begun to feel at ease in the swaying, relaxing rhythm of the Hawaiian dance. Before saying good-by, she mentioned the damaged canoe once more, offering to pay for the repair work.
“I shall probably repair it myself,” Mr. Sakamaki said. “Please do not worry any more about it.”
Nancy heaved a sigh. Smiling, she said, “But because of it, I shall work all the harder to solve the mystery at Kaluakua.”
She was about to leave the house when Mr. Sakamaki answered the ringing telephone. Upon learning who the caller was, he asked Nancy to wait. He wrote down a message, then hung up and turned to Nancy.
“That was an answer to my telegram to friends, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, in Honolulu. They will meet you at the airport and drive you to Kaluakua.”
“That was most kind of you,” said Nancy.
The Hawaiian gave a broad smile. “Mrs. Sakamaki and I thought you should know people in Honolulu on whom you could call in case of trouble. The Armstrongs are our closest friends.”
“You think of everything,” Nancy said gratefully. “It will be so nice having the Armstrongs meet us.”
After saying good-by again, she drove directly home. As she pulled into the driveway Nancy was surprised to see the Drews’ housekeeper standing there waiting for her. She looked very pale and Nancy suspected that something had happened.
“Oh, Hannah, you have bad news?” she asked.
“I’m afraid so,” the housekeeper replied.
CHAPTER VII
A Studio Accident
WORRIED, Nancy stood tensely, waiting for the housekeeper to continue.
“It’s about your father,” Hannah Gruen began.
“Oh, has he been hurt?” Nancy cried out fearfully.
Sympathetically the woman put an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Yes, dear. But Mr. Drew is very fortunate,” Hannah went on, “not to have been injured more severely. He was attacked in his office by an unknown assailant.”
“How dreadful!” Nancy cried out. “Tell me what happened,” she urged as Hannah paused a moment.
“Your father was seated at his desk. He heard the door open and thought it was his secretary, who was late. Instead, a masked man with a hat pulled low over his forehead rushed in and attacked your father. He fought back, but suddenly his assailant gave him a hard blow which knocked him out. He was unconscious when his secretary found him.”
“How horrible!” Nancy exclaimed. “Where is Dad now?”
Hannah said he was in the hospital. The doctor who had been called in had insisted he be taken there and remain quiet for a while.
“I must go to Dad at once!” Nancy said. “Which hospital, Hannah?”