A ghostly figure suddenly emerged from the interior of the boat onto the deck
Bess clutched the sides of the canoe in which she was riding. A terrified gasp escaped her lips. As if annoyed by the sound, the ghost flitted inside the old showboat.
"Shall we follow it?" Charles whispered to Nancy.
Before she could decide, a new kind of sound came from the River Princess —hymn chanting!
"A voodoo meeting must be going on!" Charles said in a low voice.
There was not a light on the boat and no other signs of activity. Did the strange rites take place in complete darkness with the audience sitting motionless?
Nancy leaned forward and said to her companion, "I'd like to go aboard."
Charles whispered that he thought it would be best not to go across the pond in the canoe. "There is a stretch of moss sod on our left leading up to the boat. Suppose we find it and walk to the River Princess. ”
The three canoes came together and the directions were given to the others. Then they silently paddled through the shadows to the mossy walk and the girls stepped out. As their feet touched the sod, the chanting on the showboat suddenly ceased.
In the lee of a giant cypress, the girls hesitated. There was complete silence for fully ten seconds, then they became aware of the splash of oars.
“Someone's leaving the showboat," George remarked.
"Listen!" Nancy commanded. A few moments later she said, "No one's leaving by canoe. Someone is coming!"
The young people waited tensely. From another entrance into the pond glided a rowboat. Two figures were in it.
To the young couple's complete astonishment the couple were dressed in Colonial attire. The man at the oars was elderly. The woman, about the same age, wore a dark-colored velvet dress and a bonnet.
The watchers were too astounded to comment. The "Colonial gentleman" pulled up to the River Princess. Then he stood up and helped the woman ascend the ladder to the deck!
CHAPTER XV
A Weird Scene
COMPLETELY mystified, Nancy and her companion watched the scene at the old showboat in awe. Why were the elderly woman and the man with her in Colonial costumes? Was she perhaps coming for some, secret herbs sold at the voodoo meeting on board? And for some reason, was the eighteenth-century attire required?
The three girls huddled together. Bess whispered that chills were going up and down her spine. "Maybe Uncle Rufus is here and is going to give the woman a treatment," she murmured.
"I wish I knew," Nancy replied. "Let's see what she does next."
The woman reached the top of the ladder and nimbly stepped over the rail. At once she walked to the entrance where theatre patrons would enter if coming to see a show.
Taking a position near the doorway, the costumed, elderly woman stopped and turned towards the spot where a gangplank had once been placed. She smiled gaily, then began nodding and shaking hands as if with imaginary passengers.
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"Poor thing," said Bess. "She must have lost her mind."
"It looks that way," Nancy agreed.
For nearly ten minutes the little pantomime continued. Then the woman's companion called up from the rowboat:
"Everyone's aboard, Louvina dear. The dhow will start soon. You've seen it so many times, honey. Suppose you come for a boat ride with me while it's going on."
The woman hesitated a few seconds and peered into the dark interior of the showboat theatre.
"But there might be something new tonight," she protested.
"Oh, I think not. You'd better come now, dear. I want to show you how lovely the wild orchids near here are in the moonlight."
Finally Louvina, though obviously reluctant, came to the ladder. The elderly man assisted her in climbing down and getting into the boat.
As he started to row away, George whispered to Nancy, "Let's go and ask him what's going on! He can probably solve the whole mystery in one minute."
"Wait!" Nancy said in a low voice. "I think the woman is in a trance. It might be disastrous to awaken her. I'd rather follow the two of them and find out what I can from the man later when he's alone."
"I guess you're right," George agreed.
Despite his age, the elderly man was a swift rower and the boat was soon out of sight.
The girls stepped back into their canoes and in whispered tones talked the matter over with their escorts.
"Somebody should stay here and watch the River Princess,” Nancy declared. "Are any of you willing go aboard?"
Frank and Jack were eager to, but insisted that Bess and George remain outside in the canoes.
"No point in you girls taking any unnecessary chances," Frank said, and Bess gave him a grateful look.
In the end it was decided that only Nancy and Charles would follow the mysterious couple.
Charles paddled swiftly in pursuit. Soon only about a hundred yards separated the two crafts.
"Do you want me to overtake them?" Charles asked Nancy in a low voice.
"No," she replied quietly. "Just keep them in sight. I'd like to find out where they're going. It may have something to do with the mystery."
The stream was so overgrown with weeds that it was difficult to find a clear passageway. But apparently the man in Colonial costume knew his way perfectly. Nancy concluded that he must be a native of the area.
"I wonder who he and Louvina are," Nancy asked herself. "The woman may have been an actress and–oh, ouch!"
The tangled growth pulled at Nancy’s hair and whipped her face as Charles wound his way in and out among the lush vegetation. Once they lost the elderly couple completely. But finally the canoe emerged from the tangled mass into an open stream.
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"Do you see the couple?" Nancy asked, turning round to look at him.
"No—yes, I do. They're over on the right and away ahead.”
Fortunately, the moon went under a cloud at this moment. Nancy said she wished they might slip up unobserved and perhaps hear the couple's plans.
"I'll try to get closer," Charles said. In the dim light he almost overtook the strange pair and after that followed more cautiously.
A few minutes later it became apparent that the oarsman was heading for a dock concealed in a small cove. Nancy and Charles came very close, so they would not lose their quarry when the man and woman debarked.
Some distance from the dock, at the end of a small flower garden, stood a modest house. A few lights gleamed in the windows and a small lamp at the door was turned on.
As the rowboat reached the dock, Louvina stood up. Taking a step forward, she bent down to kiss her companion. Then, as he helped her, she stepped to the dock.
In a sweet, musical voice she said, “Thank you so very much, Henry. The show was delightful, wasn't it? Have a good night's sleep, dear. And do come over soon. I'll be expecting you."
"Yes, honey, I will."
Without another word the woman tripped girlishly up the walk through the garden and entered the house.
"Henry doesn't live here after all," Nancy told herself.
The elderly gentleman sat staring after Louvina. When she turned off the door light, he stepped from the rowboat and tied the painter to a post. Then he, too, started up the walk.
"Oh, please wait a minute!" Nancy called to him. "I'd like to talk with you."
Charles pulled up to the dock and she stepped out the canoe. The elderly man, startled, turned round. A look of fright gave way to one of amazement upon seeing a smiling girl standing there.
"I'm sorry if I frightened you," Nancy said. “Please forgive me. I just wanted to ask you—"
Henry did not seem to be paying attention. He was staring at his costume. Embarrassed, he interrupted her to say, "Please pardon my attire. There's a special reason why I'm wearing it!"
By this time Charles was also standing on the dock. He apologized for his and Nancy's intrusion, then said, “It’s very important that we talk to you. This is Nancy Drew from River Heights. I'm Charles Bartolome. I live not very far from here. Perhaps you know my family."
"Yes, I do. Now what do you wish to ask me?" the elderly man inquired.
Nancy began to talk. First she told him about having seen him and his companion at the River Princess. Henry looked startled.
"The River Princess is on Colonel Haver's property, as you may know," she said. "He has asked me to try to solve the mystery of it. Can you tell me why people think the showboat is haunted?"
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Henry looked searchingly at the girl's face.
Then he smiled. "I'll tell you the whole story."
CHAPTER XVI
Lost in the Bayou
"MY NAME," said the elderly man in the Colonial costume, "is Henry de la Verne. Louvina is my twin. Her married name is Mrs. Claibourne Farwell. She is a widow now."
As he paused, Nancy suggested kindly, "Shall we sit down?"
"Perhaps that would be best," said Mr. de la Verne. He led Nancy and Charles to a quaint little summer-house in the garden.
After they were seated on a bench across from his, the man went on:
"This will no doubt surprise you, but our grandfather owned the River Princess. As children, Louvina and I spent a great deal of time on her." Again Mr. de la Verne paused and smiled reflectively, as if this brought back happy memories.
Charles remarked, "It must have been a great deal of fun, sir, for you and your sister."
"Indeed it was," Henry agreed. "Louvina loved to play actress and try on the various costumes. She always planned to act on the River Princess when she was older, but never had a chance. There was a great storm and flood which drove the showboat to her present location and she was abandoned. Our grandfather died of shock and injuries received during the storm."
"How tragic!" Nancy murmured, deeply touched.
"Yes, it was, and the whole thing made a tremendous impression on my sister. She was very upset about the fate of our beloved grandfather and showboat, but as Louvina grew older, the family thought she had forgotten the episode. She married happily and lived a very normal life.
"But after Mr. Farwell’s sudden death several years ago," Mr. de la Verne went on, "Louvina's mind began to play tricks on her. She started living more and more with her memories. Finally, I came to stay with my sister after I retired, and help her with her business affairs." He smiled. "I'm a bachelor."
After another pause, he said, "I humor Louvina all I can. We were very close as children, playing together almost constantly."
Mr. de la Verne looked up at the sky. The clouds had been blown past and the moon was shining brightly again.
"On nights when there’s a full moon my sister’s mind always reverts to her childhood. It's then she insists that the two of us put on costumes which our grandparents used to wear, and go to the River Princess. ”
Nancy and Charles smiled understandingly and Nancy murmured, "You are very wonderful, Mr. de la Verne, to be so patient and thoughtful."
The man suddenly chuckled. "It is a good thing that Louvina picks moonlight nights for our trips. Otherwise I could never find my way to the showboat." After a few seconds he added, "Well, that is my story. Does it clear up the mystery of the supposedly haunted showboat for you?"
"Partly," Nancy replied, "and thank you very much for confiding in us, Mr. de la Verne. I'd like to ask you a few questions if I may. I'm dreadfully sorry to hear of your sister's trouble, but I'm sure she is not unhappy."
"Oh, no," Henry answered quickly. "As a matter of fact, she is happier when she is playing a part than when her memory serves her normally. Then she starts worrying about me."
"Mr. de la Verne," Nancy said, "yesterday I found an antique ornamental hairpin on the deck of the River Princess.” She described it, and added, "Does it, by any chance, belong to your sister?"
"Why, yes, it does," Henry answered. "She insisted upon wearing it to the showboat on one of her trips. It must have dropped out of her hair."
"I'll return it soon," Nancy offered, then said, "Tonight we heard a tom-tom being beaten and calliope music playing on the River Princess. And we actually saw a ghostly figure parading up and down the deck just before you and your sister arrived!"
"What!" Henry cried out.
"It's true," Charles spoke up. "The figure disappeared inside the showboat when you drew near."
The elderly man was visibly disturbed. He said quickly that Louvina must not know about this—it would certainly upset her. And hereafter, when he took her there, he would make certain no one was around.
"I thought, of course, we were alone," he said worriedly.
"Then you have no idea who might be visiting the showboat?" Nancy asked.
"None whatever. I have heard a tom-tom being beaten in the bayou," the man confessed. "But I thought the drummer was some Negro who had inherited the instrument from an African ancestor. As to the calliope, I cannot understand it. The old organ is in no condition to be played."
Nancy asked Mr. de la Verne if he thought secret voodoo meetings were being held on the River Princess.
"It's possible. Such a thing never occurred to me."
"Do you know Uncle Rufus?" Nancy asked. When the elderly man nodded, she asked, "Do you think he could be leading the meetings?"
Mr. de la Verne vetoed this possibility. "Uncle Rufus is a fine, highly respected man in this neighborhood. He does a great deal of good; he certainly would not conduct any such secret meetings. By the way, why are you interested in solving the mystery of the haunted showboat?"
Nancy told him about the plans for moving it and the forthcoming ball the Havers were giving.
"Move it?" Mr. de la Verne cried out. "Oh, if that is done, it will kill my sister!"
"But if there should be any danger on the River Princess, you would not wish Mrs. Farwell to go aboard it," Nancy pointed out.
"Yes, that is true," the man admitted. "Perhaps if we are careful, there will be no trouble."
"I wonder," said Nancy. "Mr. de la Verne, do you know of any reason why persons other than voodoo worshippers might want to make the showboat appear to be haunted? Or to sabotage it?"
Before replying, the elderly man stood up. For several seconds he looked off into space, then said:
"Yes, there might be. But that is a family matter. I cannot tell you about it. But one thing I'm sure of. It would be very foolish for Colonel Haver to try moving the River Princess!”
Bowing, Henry de la Verne abruptly said good night and hurried up the garden walk to the house.
"Good night," the young people called.
As Nancy looked after the man, she mulled over his sentence. What was the rest of the story he was not willing to tell? And was he trying to send a message to Colonel Haver, by way of Nancy, that it would be dangerous for the owner of Sunnymead to continue his efforts to have the old boat moved?
As she and Charles stepped into their canoe, Nancy mentioned these thoughts to her companion. He smiled. "The old gentleman certainly makes it sound ominous. Maybe we'll find a skeleton hidden away some place on the showboat!"
Nancy laughed. "Perhaps a family skeleton!"
Charles paddled quickly and soon reached the tangled mass of bayou growth through which they must pass to reach the River Princess. Once more the moon went under a cloud. It was pitch black in the swamp, with Charles continued to paddle, with Nancy ducking when leaves and stems brushed her head.
"I've got to give you credit for following a good hunch, Nancy," Charles said admiringly. "I like a girl with initiative. If it hadn't been for Donna Mae's—" He broke off abruptly.
Nancy thought, "I have another hunch! Charles is still in love with Donna Mae, even if she has hurt his pride." But she felt it best, under the circumstances, not to make any comment.
There was a long silence, broken only by the ripple of water from the canoe paddles. Then Nancy laughed softly. "Charles, you're absolutely amazing the way you can see in the dark!"
"Don't praise me too soon," he replied. "I have a feeling I'm off course completely."
Five minutes later he confessed that he was lost. "From the length of time that I've been paddling, we should be at the showboat."
Charles offered to try yelling to their friends to see if they could get directions. But Nancy felt that this might be a dangerous move. If any of their enemies were around, it would pinpoint the canoe's location.
"Why don't we go back to the open water near Mr. de la Verne's house and then start over again," she suggested.
"It won't hurt to try," Charles replied.
But the longer he paddled the more hopelessly lost he became in the moss-draped swamp. Finally Charles said, "We'll have to give it up and wait for daylight."
Back at the showboat, Bess, George, and the two boys were becoming frantic over the long absence of their friends. Three hours had gone by and still Nancy and Charles had not returned.
"Oh, I just know something terrible has happened to them!" Bess wailed.
"Don't say such things!" George chided her cousin. "You know Nancy when she's sleuthing. She just won't give up."
"Let's continue our search of the showboat," Frank suggested, to distract the girls from worrying.
The young people had already discovered several places in the walls and floors which had been hacked since the day before. But there had been no further sign of the ghostly figure, nor any more voodoo sounds or calliope music since Nancy and Charles had departed.
Now they gathered near the stairway that led to the hold of the old river vessel. George gazed down into it, then turned round.
"Maybe something valuable is hidden on this boat!" She said.
As she said this, George stepped back. Without warning, the top step of the stairway, evidently rotted, gave way. She plunged into the inky blackness below!
CHAPTER XVII
The Towboat Captain
"OH, GEORGE!" Bess screamed, looking down into the hold for some sign of her cousin.
Bess carried a flashlight and now tried to focus it into the black depths. Her hand shook and she could not hold the light steady. There was no answer to her cry. The young people were fearful that George had been badly injured.
"I'll go down and see what happened," Frank offered. Picking his way carefully down the steps, he found the girl lying in a huddled heap some feet from the base of the stairway.
"George! George!" he called, sloshing through muddy water to reach her.
He leaned down and gently lifted her up. She seemed dazed, but was able to stand. "Wh—what happened?" George asked shakily.
"You took a header," Frank replied. "I'll help you up the stairs."
Bess, almost tearful with relief, and Jack reached down to assist the couple. The four young people walked out on the deck and Frank offered to take George home at once.
"Oh, I'll be all right," she said gamely. "Nothing hurts but my leg and I can stand that." She would not hear of leaving the showboat until Nancy and Charles returned.
The group sat down on the deck and discussed the mystery. As dawn broke, they began to worry anew about the missing couple.
"We must do something to find Nancy and Charles," Bess insisted.
Frank and Jack offered to take a canoe and try to locate them. "I guess you girls will be all right here alone in the daylight," Jack remarked.
Just as they were about to leave, another canoe suddenly appeared.
"Nancy! Charles!" the others shouted in relief.
"I guess you all thought we were lost," Charles called. "Well, we were!"
Stories were quickly exchanged. The four who had stayed on the showboat were amazed to learn about Henry and Louvina. After telling them that Mr. de la Verne had hinted at some family secret in connection with the haunted showboat, Charles repeated his guess that there might be a skeleton aboard.
Jack laughed. "And it's his ghost we saw walking around? Let's look for old Bonesy."
But Bess insisted that the group leave at once. "We can come back another time. I'm worried about what the Havers will say.”
Charles smiled. "Don't worry. Mother will take care of that."
“I’m sure she will," said Nancy. "And, George, if you feel all right, I'd like to stay here a little while and look around the boat myself. Let's see if we can find out what the De la Verne's secret is.”
The young people spent another hour in an intensive search. Nancy even went down into the hold and flashed her light around. There were a few inches of water on the low side where the boat had listed. In the dry section they found no clue to anything hidden there. Nancy said she was ready to leave, so she and Charles joined the others.
"I inspected that old calliope very thoroughly," Frank spoke up. "Couldn't get a sound out of it. How do you all explain its being played?"
Nancy thought for a few moments, then replied, "I believe someone comes aboard with a record player and plays calliope music and hymns."
"And the tom-tom, too?" George asked, "He's got quite a record collection!"
The others laughed, then Jack asked Nancy if she thought the person who did these things had been hired by someone or was actually the saboteur.
"I don't know," the young detective replied. "But I've been wondering if there is some mechanism a distance from the showboat that triggers an alarm. That would account for all the sounds on the River Princess stopping just before the De la Vernes showed up."
Charles suggested that the boys make a search in the waterways leading to the showboat. The girls waited on deck while they took the three canoes and scouted around. Twenty minutes later they returned and reported that nothing had been found.
"Then the men probably use the birdcalls or some other bayou sound as signals," Nancy decided.
Jack looked at the girl intently. "If so, this means that there may be spies around all the time."
"Probably it does," Nancy agreed. "And it may also mean that there's not much point in our being so secretive."
Frank laughed. "Well, then, all we have to do is find the spies and the mystery will be solved!"
Nancy chuckled. "Right!" To herself she added, "And I'm going to enlist Uncle Rufus's aid to do this."
When the three couples reached Charles's home, Mrs. Bartolome was greatly relieved to see them.
"I was mighty worried about you all," she said. "But I didn't want to upset Mrs. Haver, so I phoned and told her you girls were staying all night."
Nancy and Charles related the entire story. Mrs. Bartolome was particularly interested in learning about Mrs. Farwell and her brother.
"I knew them fairly well years ago," she said. "I thought that after Mr. Farwell died, his widow had moved away. I'm dreadfully sorry to learn that her mind is no longer completely sound."
"Have you any idea what the family secret in connection with the showboat may be?" Nancy asked Charles's mother.
Mrs. Bartolome shook her head. "Surely it can't be anything disgraceful. The De la Vernes were very fine people. Henry is a graduate of Oxford in England."
Charles's mother went on to say that Henry had always been intensely interested in the university and its activities, although he had graduated many, many years ago.
Changing the subject, she said, "You must all be starving. We'll have breakfast at once."
Because of the early hour the servants were still asleep, so the group gathered in the kitchen and prepared orange juice, bacon and eggs, toast and cocoa themselves.
Mrs. Bartolome caught Bess stifling a yawn. "Wouldn't you girls like to sleep for a while before you return to the Havers'?" she asked solicitously.
They all confessed that they would. After Frank and Jack had said good-by, the three girls went to the guest rooms and slept soundly for four hours. Then they put on their dinner frocks and left for Sunnymead.
As Nancy parked her car there, Donna Mae rushed out to meet them. "My goodness!" she exclaimed. "You really had some visit! Tell me about everything!”
"To begin with," Nancy said, "we had a perfectly delicious dinner and breakfast."
"The Bartolomes' gardens are absolutely heavenly," Bess added. "I thoroughly enjoyed my walk in them."
George grinned impishly. "Oh, don't be so stingy with your information, girls. Donna Mae, two charming boys came to join us. Maybe you know them—Frank Morris and Jack Memory."
"Oh, yes, I know them," Donna Mae replied. "Did you spend the whole evening with them?"
"The whole evening," Nancy replied.
"Well, for goodness sake, tell me about it!" Donna Mae begged. As they walked towards the house, Donna Mae suddenly noticed that George was limping. "Oh, dear! What happened to you?"
"Oh, just a little spill," George answered noncommittally.
"Where?" Donna Mae asked pointedly.
"On a stairway," George replied. "Clumsy of me, wasn't it?"
Donna Mae was silent for a few seconds. She asked no more questions. Apparently she had decided that her friends were not going to tell any more about their evening at the Bartolomes'.
Suddenly Donna Mae smiled and said, "I have some great news for you girls. You won't have to date Charles and his friends. I've phoned Ned Nickerson. He's coming to the Mardi Gras and bringing Burt and Dave with him."
"Hypers!" George exclaimed. "They're really coming?"
"They sure are," Donna Mae answered. "I told you they would," she added smugly.
She insisted that the girls change their clothes at once, so that the whole group could go downtown to pick out costumes for Ned and his friends to wear at the ball.
"Everything must be perfect," she said. "I don't know your friends' sizes. So you girls will have to pick out the costumes."
Nancy was disappointed that she could not get in touch with Uncle Rufus immediately. "But," she consoled herself, "on second thoughts, perhaps I can do a little detective work in New Orleans instead."
Inside the house the girls found Alex starting to dismantle the living-room. Pappy Cole was carrying out furniture and Mammy Matilda was taking down draperies.
Mrs. Haver seemed to be flustered and upset about the whole thing. Sighing, she said, "Oh dear, I do wish the showboat could be moved here and this room not disturbed."
Nancy agreed. Suddenly an idea came to her. She saw Colonel Haver in the garden and went out to speak to him. She inquired whether every towboat captain in the area had been approached and asked if he could move the River Princess.
"Well, I suppose so," the Colonel replied. "Alex attended to that and I'm sure he would have exhausted every means."
Nancy began to wonder whether Alex Upgrove had "exhausted every means". She decided to make a few inquiries other own while in the city. There would still be time for the River Princess to be moved before the Havers' ball!