"Mm. I'll have this fried chicken platter," Bess decided as she studied the menu.
"Sounds wonderful to me," Nancy said, and George chose the same.
Then Nancy asked the girls to order for her. "I want to phone home and tell Dad about the sabotaged housing.”
When the connection was made with her home, Hannah Gruen answered.
"Hello, Hannah! How are you and Dad?"
"Oh, we're fine," said Hannah. "We have some news for you."
"Yes? What is it?" Nancy asked eagerly.
"Your stolen license plates were found."
'The housekeeper said that the River Heights police had had a tip from a disgruntled hoodlum who had been promised some money by a man and never been paid.
“So this fellow decided to talk," Mrs. Gruen explained. "He told the police about a deserted cabin out of town where some car thieves had dumped stolen license plates. The ones from your car, Nancy, were among them."
"Oh!" said Nancy.
Mrs. Gruen went on, "And—and they found something else, too. Oh, Nancy, you must be careful!"
CHAPTER IV
A Nerve-Tingling Ride
"MAYBE you girls had better give up the trip," Mrs. Gruen suggested nervously.
"But why?" Nancy asked. “What else did the police discover?"
The housekeeper said that among the pile of stolen plates which had been found there was a pistol. Apparently it had been accidentally dropped. Hannah was sure that a dangerous person or persons who carried weapons intended to make trouble for Nancy, Bess, and George if they continued their trip.
Nancy herself was worried, and told Hannah what had happened to the new car. But she added quickly:
"We're driving a different car. It's black, and not so conspicuous as the yellow one. What's more, we saw the thief. Now that he knows he's been recognized, he won't dare appear in the daytime. Please don't worry, Hannah dear."
"Well, I suppose it's all right," said the housekeeper. "I do wish your father were here to advise you. But he's gone out of town for the night."
Nancy said good-bye and hung up. When she relayed the latest clue to Bess and George, they agreed that the safest thing for them to do would be to get ahead of the thief on the road.
"So let's start at once," said Nancy, "and drive until dawn at least. We can take turns driving and sleeping. We can eat supper here then give up our rooms and start on."
The girls found the meal of fried chicken, accompanied by hot corn bread and sweet potatoes, very tasty. For dessert they had delicious home-made pecan pie.
"I could go to sleep right now," said Bess, yawning contentedly. “I ate too much!"
"I feel fine," George said. “I’ll take first turn at the wheel."
After picking up their bags, the girls went to the car. Nancy and Bess climbed into the rear seat and were soon sound asleep. George drove for nearly two hours, then stopped. She awoke Bess, who was to take her turn at driving.
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"Where are we?" asked the plump girl, sleepily surveying the blackness around them.
George said they had crossed the state line half an hour ago. "We're getting into the mountains now, so take it easy," she advised.
As Bess started off, she was very quiet. She did not reveal her feelings to her cousin, but she was beginning to think that the trip had a jinx on it.
The wind was blowing hard, there was no moon and not one star in the sky. Bess felt a slight chill run up her spine.
"It's just plain spooky!" she told herself.
By now, George was sleeping soundly beside Nancy in the rear seat. Bess, a good driver, put mile after mile behind them. Fortunately, there was only one main road, so she had no decision to make about which direction to take. But at one o'clock she came to an intersecting highway.
"Now which way do I go?” Bess asked herself, stopping the car.
Turning her spotlight on the sign, she carefully read the names of the towns in each direction. Not one of them was familiar to her and gave her no clue as to which road to take. Bess opened the glove compartment and took out a map. She spread it on her lap and tried to figure out just where she was.
Suddenly a voice at her elbow startled her, "Can I help you?"
Alongside her partially open window stood a smiling young man. Bess gave an involuntary squeal, then asked, "Wh—where did you come from?"
Her outcry had awakened the two girls in the rear seat. They sat up, alert at once. Both were amazed to see the stranger.
"Hello there," he said pleasantly to Nancy and George. To Bess he added, "I see you have passengers."
"Yes," said Bess. "And maybe you can help us."
"Glad to," the young man replied. "Sorry if I frightened you. I just parked over in those woods with my trailer about half an hour ago and hadn't gone to bed yet. When I saw you stop, I figured you might be lost. Where do you want to go?"
"New Orleans," Bess replied.
The young man laughed. "You're a long way from there," he said. "But at this point I think the best thing for you to do is turn left, go through Titusville, and then hit the highway."
"Thank you very much," Bess said with a smile.
She was already folding up the map and putting it away. As she started off, the stranger called, "Oh, wait a minute!"
Bess instantly became alarmed. Was this man going to detain them? But he went on pleasantly, "Say, maybe you're the three girls that man was asking about a little while ago."
“What man?" Nancy spoke up quickly.
“A fellow in a black convertible with black-and-red seat covers. He stopped here right after I parked and I came out to talk to him. He asked me if three girls travelling alone had gone past here."
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Nancy and her friends looked questioningly at one another. Could the driver have been the person who had stolen Nancy's car?
"Oh, I'm sure we're not the girls he meant," George put in hastily. "What did this man look like?"
The description the stranger gave exactly fitted that of the car thief!
"What else did he say?" Nancy asked.
"The man said that the two cars had been travelling together, but somehow had become separated."
"I see," said Nancy. "Did he happen to say where he was going?"
"No, he didn't."
"Which road did he take?"
The young man pointed straight ahead. Bess asked, "Could you go to New Orleans taking that road?"
"Yes, you could. It would be shorter, as a matter of fact. But the road isn't very good.''
Nancy asked to see the map and once more Bess took it out of the compartment. A thought had come to the girl detective—maybe the affable young stranger was in league with the car thief!
Although she realized her suspicions probably were wrong, Nancy decided it would be best not to take either of the roads he had mentioned.
Following her lunch, she told him briefly that the girls had had enough driving for one night and would stay at a hotel in the nearest town.
"Turn right, Bess," she said.
She thanked the young man for his help, then the girls drove off. Nancy told the cousins her suspicions and said that as soon as they reached another crossroad, they would turn left. "Then we'll go left again and finally hit Titusville."
She and George kept looking out of the rear window to see if any car was following them but they saw none.
Finally Nancy said, ”We're safe so far."
Soon she took her turn at the wheel. Nancy wondered who was ahead in the race to New Orleans—the girls or the car thief. Hopefully she thought:
"If that young man at the crossroads was honest, and not in league with the driver of the black car, maybe we have outwitted the thief!"
Beginning to feel weary, Nancy decided they had better stop at a motel. Just beyond the small town of Titusville, she came to an attractive one and turned in. As she pulled into the well-lighted parking area, the young detective's eyes widened.
Next to her stood a black convertible with new-looking black-and-red seat covers!
Nancy quickly woke Bess and George, told them where they were, and pointed to the car. "Look!" she said excitedly.
Bess gave a shiver. "You mean we're about to close in on the car thief? Shouldn't we notify the police and let them do it?"
Nancy said that she was first going to consult the motel proprietor as to who was driving the car. The three girls took their bags from the luggage compartment and walked into the office of the motel. A plump, bald-headed man sat in a barrel-shaped chair, his head resting on his chest. He was snoring slightly.
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Nancy walked up and tapped the man on the shoulder. He awoke with a start. "You want rooms?" he asked sleepily.
Nancy nodded, then said, "Would you mind telling me who the person is that came here in the black convertible with red-and-black seat covers. We're looking for someone with a car like that."
"Person!" the plump man exploded. "You mean that gang! Mother, father, three children, a dog, a cat, and a parrot!"
The three girls burst into laughter. "Wrong family!" Nancy chuckled. "Well, have you two nice rooms for us?”
The proprietor took the girls' bags, and his keys, leading the way down a corridor. "These are the best apartments we have," he said, smiling, and unlocking adjoining rooms. "Oh, I was so sleepy I forgot to ask you to register."
"We'll do it in the morning," said Nancy.
She preferred this arrangement, just in case the car thief might arrive later at the motel and learn from the proprietor that the girls were there.
The girls slept soundly, but were wide awake by seven o'clock. Bess, the first to look outside, groaned.
"Snow!" she exclaimed. "A regular blizzard!" Bess suggested that they delay their trip, at least for a day.
But by the time the girls had eaten breakfast, the snowfall had slackened and Nancy decided it would be safe for them to go on. She herself took the wheel, with her two friends in front with her. They had not gone many miles when they came to a roadblock with a huge sign indicating a detour to the right.
"Goodness only knows what's ahead of us," Bess said nervously.
Nancy turned. Half a mile farther on, the road led up a steep incline. As the girls neared the summit of the hill, they saw that there was a sheer drop to the left of the road.
"Oh, do be careful!" Bess begged.
"Hush!" George commanded.
Although Nancy was sure that the tires were excellent, she would be relieved when the car had safely reached the bottom of the hill on the other side.
Nancy reached the summit and was just about to start down the steep incline when all three girls gasped at the frightening sight which confronted them.
"Oh!" Bess screamed. "Stop!"
Across the road ahead lay two sections of an electrical cable which had been snapped by the storm. Sparks flashed dangerously from the broken ends!
Nancy put on her brakes. The next instant the car skidded toward the left of the road with its sheer drop of thirty feet!
CHAPTER V
The Mystery at Sunnymead
AS THE TYRES sank into the snow three feet from the edge of the cliff, the car miraculously held the road. Hastily the three girls scrambled out.
After several seconds had elapsed, and the car still held its position, Nancy said, "I guess it's not going to move."
At that moment snow started to fall again. The girls pulled their coat collars tightly round their necks and glanced up the road. The live wires continued to sparkle and crackle.
"This is really a predicament!" George declared.
"It certainly is," Nancy agreed. "We couldn't possibly continue on the road, even if I dared to try moving the car."
"That's right," said George. "If these rear wheels spin, the car may go over the cliff."
"What will we do?" Bess asked nervously. "Hike to the nearest house?"
"I hope not," George said quickly. "It must be three miles back."
Nancy walked to the rear of the car and looked down the embankment. "There's one thing we can try," she said thoughtfully.
"Not with us inside the car!" Bess stated flatly.
"No. Fortunately, the rear of the sedan is a few feet from the edge of the cliff. If we could just move the car back on to the road, I could back down the hill."
"But how in the world can you move the car back on to the road without driving it?" Bess asked.
Nancy said that one time when she was trying to squeeze on to a ferryboat with her car she had found it impossible to steer into position. Two men had jolted the rear of the vehicle up and down until it actually bounced off the ground. Then they had quickly lifted it a few feet to one side.
"So three girls ought to be able to do the same thing now," she said.
Bess still looked dubious but George was willing to try it. She insisted, however, that they first block the front wheels with stones so there would be no chance of the car rolling back on them.
"Good idea," Nancy agreed.
The girls kicked at the piles of snow along the side of the road until they found two substantial rocks. These were pushed securely behind the front tires. Then the three friends took positions behind the sedan.
"I'll count," said Nancy. "When I say 'three', heave ho!"
Leaning over, they grasped the bumper and began to bounce the car up and down. The girls’ faces were strained as they waited for a high bounce.
In a moment Nancy said, "One! Two!" Bess and George worked feverishly, then waited. "Three!" Nancy cried.
Together the girls lifted the rear of the car almost two feet back towards the center of the road.
"Hypers!" cried George, using her favorite expletive. "It worked. Nancy, you're a brain child!"
Nancy stepped into the car and started the motor. She drove forward a few inches, so that Bess and George could remove the stone blocks. Then they too climbed in.
Slowly Nancy began to back down the hill. This proved to be difficult to do, because the wind had shifted and blown quantities of the snow across the road. Twice the car stuck fast and the cousins had to get out and tramp down the drifts before she could proceed.
Finally Nancy reached the foot of the hill. She consulted the map again and turned to the right. Half an hour later they came to the main highway.
Suddenly Bess said apprehensively, "I only hope that car thief is holed up somewhere because of the storm."
"I have a hunch he is," Nancy said cheerfully.
Towards the end of the day the girls left the snowstorm behind. To make up for lost time, they drove until eleven that night before they stopped at a motel. By this time they had reached Alabama, with its blooming plants, green grass, and beautiful trees.
"What a relief this scenery is!" said Bess, getting out of the car and stretching.
"And the temperature," George added. "It was only ten degrees when we left. Now it's about sixty!"
After a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast the next morning, the girls started off again. Soon they were in an area of lovely Southern plantations. They were thrilled by glimpses of the homes, so large and stately with their tall columned porches and beautiful gardens. Quaint cabins, formerly used by slaves, stood some distance away from the houses.
Bess ohed and ahed to such an extent that George finally said, teasingly, "You remind me of a dripping ice-cream cone, Bess. Sweet, but oh so gooey!"
"I wish," Bess retorted, "that you could enjoy it the way I do."
Nancy, to change the subject, said, "Tell me about your cousin Donna Mae."
"Well," Bess began, "she's a year older than I am, tall and pretty. She has blonde hair and great big blue eyes."
George interrupted laughingly, "And how she rolls those eyes around to get her own way!"
"You're just jealous," Bess told her. "Any girl who could be engaged to two men in one year—"
George tossed her bobbed head at the remark. "One would be enough for me! But really, I've always liked Donna Mae. I wonder why she broke her first engagement. There must have been a serious reason."
"Or just a change of heart," Nancy remarked.
The rest of the trip was one of banter and teasing, and exclamations, even by George, over the beauty of the scenery. The car thief was almost completely forgotten.
"I've never seen such exquisite azaleas in my life!" Bess remarked, as the girls drove through the Mobile area.
"As I recall," said Nancy, "this place is noted for its azaleas."
"Yes, it is," Bess replied. "The Garden Clubs put on special tours for visitors to see them."
"But this ride," joked George, "is a privately conducted tour by Drew and Company!"
Soon the girls reached the broad Mississippi and gazed at the peaceful, somewhat muddy river.
"It looks harmless enough, doesn't it?" George remarked. "But think of the pirate days when travelers weren't safe on it!"
Nancy followed the river road for several miles, then turned inland.
"Sunnymead is just ahead," Bess announced.
Five minutes later the car turned into a long driveway edged with live-oak trees. At the end of it stood a square Colonial mansion. It was painted yellow, and white columns reached from the ground to the roof. Two stories of porches ran round the entire building.
As the girls reached the house, George leaned over and blew the horn. Donna Mae, wearing a low-necked bouffant dress, rushed out to greet the visitors.
"You're really here!" she cried joyously. "You all had me so worried when I kept hearing of your delays."
Behind her was Mrs. Haver, an older yet charming version of Donna Mae. She wore an attractive blue linen dress.
"Welcome to Sunnymead!" Mrs. Haver exclaimed with a gracious smile.
Behind her walked Colonel Haver, a tall, erect man of fifty with twinkling blue eyes and black hair slightly grey at the temples.
Nancy was introduced to the family. Then she said, getting out of the car, "I'm afraid I shall have to take all the blame for our being late in arriving. A little unsolved mystery overtook us."
"Yes," Bess added, "Nancy's beautiful car was stolen and we were playing hide-and-seek with the thief." She quickly told all that had happened.
"Oh, how perfectly ghastly!" Donna Mae exclaimed. "Didn't you almost die?"
"Well, it wasn't any fun," George agreed.
A moment later an elderly colored couple, wearing a maid's and a butler's uniform, came from the house. They were introduced as Mammy Matilda and Pappy Cole. The two smiled pleasantly. Then, as Pappy Cole started to unload the car, Mammy Matilda said to the visitors,
"I sure hopes you all have a fine time durin’ your visit here."
"Thank you," said Nancy. "I'm looking forward to it." Turning to Colonel and Mrs. Haver, she added, "It's certainly most kind of you to invite me."
Mrs. Haver smiled. "The pleasure is ours. We're always delighted to have friends of Bess and George visit us."
A young man came from the house and joined the group. He was proudly introduced by Donna Mae as Alex Upgrove.
"I'm charmed," he said to the visitors in a clipped, well-modulated voice.
The River Heights girls shook hands with the slim, brown-haired young man. Nancy instantly decided that he might be termed handsome, but Alex had an air of superiority which spoiled the first impression.
A few minutes later Mammy Matilda served tea in a patio at the rear of the house. It overlooked one of the most exquisitely beautiful gardens Nancy had ever seen. Flowering cherry and plum trees served as a colorful background for beds of various colored roses, azaleas, and camellias.
In choosing seats on the patio Alex found one next to Nancy and at once engaged her in conversation. Bess brought up the subject of the car thief and said that in her opinion the man had been trying to keep the girls from coming to New Orleans.
"Oh, I don't see how that could possibly have any bearing on your trip here," Alex declared. "And surely you have no idea if there is any connection between this thief and the mystery of Sunnymead, have you?"
George replied. "Yes, we do. But I hope we're wrong."
Alex laughed, then as the conversation became more general he leaned towards Nancy and whispered,
"You and I are going to have a wonderful time together solving the plantation mystery!”
Nancy was startled. She thought the remark most inappropriate, in view of the fact that Alex's engagement to Donna Mae was to be announced soon.
Pretending that she had misunderstood Alex, she said, "Yes, I want you and Donna Mae to tell me all the details when you have a chance."
A look of annoyance came over Alex's face, "Of course," he muttered. "Any time."
When the tea hour was over, the four girls went upstairs. As Mammy Matilda helped the visitors unpack, Donna Mae talked incessantly about her fiancé.
"Isn't he a darling?" she asked, "and clever, too. You know, Alex is a graduate of Oxford University in England! And he's fabulously wealthy—not that that makes any difference to me. But his family is simply wonderful—socially prominent, you know."
A look of surprise came over George's face, for she had never before thought Donna Mae snobbish. "Have you met them?" she asked.
"Oh, no, but they wrote me a simply darling letter from Paris and called me their new daughter. I'll meet them some time soon.''
Donna Mae explained that her father had looked up the Upgrove family. At the present time they were all in Europe.
"You must see his college pictures," she babbled on. "He has them with him."
"Donna Mae," George asked abruptly, "what happened between you and Charles Bartolome?"
Instantly Donna Mae sobered. "We—we—had a falling out on account of Alex. I met Alex while Charles was away on a long trip—and we became friends. But Charles didn't approve, and I got annoyed with his possessiveness. So I broke off my engagement to him."
She hesitated. "To tell you the truth my conscience hurt me for a while. I shouldn't have dated Alex but I was lonely. And Alex was so wonderful to me. He's a more aggressive type than Charles, and he's so in love with me. I wonder where he is now!"
As if she could not bear to stay away from him a moment longer, Donna Mae said, "See you later! I have to talk to Alex," and hurried out of the room.
Bess looked at the other girls and shook her head. "I've never seen a bigger change in anyone. Have you, George? Donna Mae just isn't like her old self."
"You’re right, Bess," replied her cousin, "and I wouldn't say for the better. Maybe it's Alex's influence."
After dinner that evening Colonel Haver took Nancy aside. "I'd like you to get started solving the mystery as soon as possible," he said. "Time is running out."
He explained that stories of strange happenings on the showboat had caused workmen to refuse to go near it.
"Not a single towboat captain will come here to push the River Princess out of the bayou. We must do something fast!" He smiled and added, "Are you ready to take over, Detective Drew?"
CHAPTER VI
Pirates’ Alley
GIVING THE COLONEL a big smile, Nancy said excitedly, "I'd like to start solving the mystery at once."
"Fine," he replied. "And there's one thing I want to say. You'll have free rein. Don't feel obliged to report to me or to anyone else. Come and go as you like."
Nancy was glad to hear this. The following morning she went into the garden to gaze at the bayou which lay beyond the extensive flower beds. Large water oaks, dripping with long festoons of Spanish moss, rose above the mist which covered the swamp. Eerie clumps of cypress and gum trees could be seen against the sky.
Nancy could not restrain a little shiver. "That's the swamp we must go through to reach the showboat," the young detective murmured to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Donna Mae. With a charming smile she said, "Good mornin', honey. Hope you slept well!" Then, following Nancy's glance, she added, "That old place is positively spooky, isn't it? Don't think about it! We're going to New Orleans to have some fan."
"But, Donna Mae, I have some work to do for your father," Nancy protested.
Donna Mae made a face. "Work! Who wants to work at Mardi Gras time?" she asked gaily. "You know, you're going to be in the play we're having just before the ball and you must get a costume at once. Alex is going to drive all of us girls to town. We'll show you some interesting sights in the old city."
The planned excursion sounded most attractive and Nancy brushed aside her serious mood. "You're right Donna Mae," she said. "New Orleans is such a famous place. Of course I want to see it. I can start my sleuthing later. A few hours won't matter, I guess."
"Wonderful! We'll start at ten o'clock," Donna Mae said. "I'll tell Bess and George."
At ten Alex drove to the front door in a station wagon. When the girls from River Heights came out they wore pastel summer cottons.
"How pretty you all look!" Alex remarked as he alighted to help the girls in. Then to Nancy, who stood to one side, he whispered, "Please sit next to me. I want to talk to you about the mystery."
"Oh, there's plenty of time for that," Nancy replied coolly, ignoring the invitation. "Donna Mae just wants us to have fun today." She deliberately climbed into the rear seat, where Bess and George would sit.
As they neared the city, Donna Mae, next to Alex, directed him to a fine old street in the residential area. She asked him to stop in front of a two-story, balconied yellow house. The property was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence with an oleander pattern. In the garden beyond were several magnolia trees and oleander bushes. Bess gave a sigh of admiration.
"The oleander blossom," Donna Mae explained, "is the city flower of New Orleans. The juice of the bush itself is poisonous, you know."
"Why are we stopping here?" Alex asked her.
"Madame Dupré, who lives here, rents costumes for the Mardi Gras," Donna Mae replied. "Her selection is exceptional and the costumes unique."
Alex decided to remain in the car while the girls went inside. It took only a few minutes to choose their costumes. At Donna Mae's insistence her friends would represent fairies in the play. They would wear white, fluffy tulle ballet dresses with wings attached. George grumbled that she was going to feel very silly in hers.
"I hardly think I rate wings, anyway!" she said wryly. "And the costume reminds me of dancing school when I was four years old!"
Donna Mae had her way, however. The costumes were packed and the girls walked outside with the boxes. To their amazement Alex and the station wagon were not in sight.
"Now where did he go?" asked Donna Mae, annoyed.
Minutes later Alex returned and explained that he had been doing some sight-seeing while waiting for them.
"We'll tour the old city first," said Donna Mae, "and then lunch at Antoine's."
The Vieux Carré, or old city, nestled on the east bank of the Mississippi. The modern city of New Orleans spread beyond it for some distance. Alex parked and the tour began on foot.