A Double Cross Backfires 3 глава




When Nancy told this to her friends, Bess burst out, “That horrible Joe! He left Ned there to starve!”

“Maybe not,” George spoke up. “Swahili Joe may have been coming back when he discovered Ned had been rescued. In fact, he could have been the one to tell Jahan and Dhan that they’d better flee.”

A little while later the three girls were on their way to River Heights. They discussed the problem of what clothes to take to Africa so they would have enough but not be overweight in their baggage.

Later Nancy talked it over with Hannah Gruen. “I don’t want to pay a big charge for excess pounds going overseas.”

The housekeeper smiled. “I’ll help you avoid it. You put out everything you want to take and I’ll weigh them on the bathroom scale.”

Nearly all the next day was spent sorting, picking out, discarding. As the afternoon wore on, Nancy, tired of this job, began to talk about the two mysteries she was going to try solving in Africa.

“They both sound dangerous,” Mrs. Gruen remarked. “But if I had to make a choice, I’d take the spider sapphire. Going into lion country after Mr. Tizam sounds really scary to me.”

Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “It might be exciting.”

“Too exciting,” the housekeeper said. Then she shrugged and put an arm around Nancy. “All I can say for the millionth time is, ‘Please be careful.’ ”

At last the packing was finished. Late in the afternoon Mr. Drew drove Nancy, Bess, and George to the River Heights Airport where they were to board a plane for New York. He smiled fondly at them. “You know, I’m really envious. Your trip sounds like a lot more fun than staying in my law office working on briefs.”

Nancy hugged him. “If I hit a snag, I’ll cable you to come and join us.” She gave him a wink. “Shall I make the opportunity?”

“I’ll let you know,” he countered.

The plane to New York was announced over the loudspeaker and the girls climbed aboard. An hour later they reached Kennedy Airport in New York. Ned, Burt, and Dave were already there with the Stanleys. The professor was of medium height and had graying hair. He was very serious-looking in contrast to his plump, smiling wife.

“Madame Bulawaya told me, Nancy, that you’re going to try locating her brother,” Aunt Millie said. “I love mysteries.” She chuckled. “Call on me if you need any help.”

“I surely will.”

Other members of the safari group arrived in twos and fours. Nancy and her friends knew all the boys but had never met any of the girls who were going along.

One tall, slender blond stood out in the group. She was overdressed for traveling, and it was quite evident that she wore a blond wig. Gwen Taylor met the others in a rather supercilious way and almost at once nobody seemed to care for her.

“She looks like a freak!” George whispered.

Bess came to Gwen’s defense. “Maybe she’s just shy and underneath it she’s a nice person.”

Her cousin did not agree. “She’s too artificial.”

There was a long wait before plane take-off, so Nancy and Ned walked around the airport building, looking for Jahan and Dhan. It was possible that if the men had not left the country, they had followed the young people and would try to cause them harm again. The couple saw nothing of the Indians, however, and returned to their group in the main lobby.

At that moment a voice came over the loudspeaker “Message for Miss Nancy Drew. Please come to your airline ticket office.”

Nancy had jumped from her seat. She hoped that the message was not bad news from home. Ned went with her to the ticket office.

“Miss Drew?” a clerk asked.

When she nodded, he said that Nancy was to telephone her father immediately. He himself put the call through and the lawyer came on the wire.

“Nancy, don’t worry. Everything is all right here. But I’m not so sure it will be all right for you in Africa. I want you to watch your step very carefully. Our police got a tip that Jahan and Dhan took off for Africa. They haven’t been apprehended because apparently they were using passports under assumed names.”

“Where did they go?” Nancy asked.

“The police haven’t received a reply yet from the immigration authorities on this point. I thought I should warn you, though. I know it’s almost take-off time, so run along. Hannah sends her love and of course you have mine, and promise me you won’t go anywhere alone.”

“I promise, Dad, and don’t worry. I aim to solve both mysteries without being kidnapped.” She laughed gaily to reassure her father, then said good-by.

Before long, the chattering, laughing Emerson group hurried aboard the chartered plane. When they were airborne, small groups began singing songs, some of them college numbers, others from musical comedy hits. Once in a while someone would call out a wisecrack and set everyone laughing.

“This is such fun,” said Bess to Nancy.

The three girls were seated together. Ned, Burt, and Dave were across the aisle. Dinner was served and presently lights were turned low and everyone was expected to sleep. The young people were in too exuberant a mood for sleep and it was past midnight before they settled down.

At three A.M. New York time the voices of the stewardesses could be heard saying, “Good morning! Would you care for some orange juice?”

The Emersonians blinked open one eye, confused for the moment as to where they were. But presently they sat up and drank the juice. Rolls, scrambled eggs, and a beverage followed.

“I’m still confused and sleepy,” said Bess. “What time is it?”

George giggled. “Which country will you have it in? In London where we’re heading it’s eight A.M.”

Nancy told Bess there would be time for a nap later. The safari schedule included a day’s stop at a motel near the airport. “You can sleep for a few hours, Bess.”

Ned’s group arranged to meet in the lobby at lunchtime. Nancy arrived ahead of the others and decided to put a question to the desk clerk.

“I’m sure you have many Indians from Africa stopping at your motel, but the group I’m with is looking for two special gentlemen. I wonder if by any chance they may have stopped here.”

“What are their names?” the man asked.

“Jahan and Dhan.”

The clerk consulted his list of recent guests, then shook his head. “No men by those names have been here.”

Nancy was about to walk off when it occurred to her that if the men were using passports with fictitious names, they naturally would have had to use these.

She said to the clerk, “The men may be traveling incognito,” and gave a full description of the father and son.

The clerk smiled. “I believe your friends have been here, but they’ve gone.”

“To Nairobi?” Nancy queried.

The man at the desk shrugged. “Or possibly Mombasa,” he said. “At least that is where the Prasads are from.”

Nancy thanked him for the information and walked off. “So Prasad is the name Jahan and Dhan used on their passports!” she thought.

Soon her friends came downstairs.

“Boy, did I sleep!” Burt burst out.

Everyone admitted having slept well and all had ravenous appetites. In the dining room they were seated at a table for six. Bess ordered two kinds of fruit, soup, baked fish, and a whipped cream dessert.

“If all you do is sit in a plane and sleep and eat, they’re going to charge you for being overweight,” George teased her.

Bess endeavored to defend herself and finally told the waitress she would skip dessert.

As dusk came on, Professor and Mrs. Stanley gathered the members of the safari and engaged taxis to take them to the airport. Although the group was as merry as on the previous evening’s flight, the gaiety did not last so long. By ten-thirty everyone was sound asleep.

Nancy did not know how much later it was when she was suddenly awakened by all the lights being turned on brightly.

In a moment the captain’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Please fasten your seat belts! Turbulence ahead! I repeat, please fasten your seat belts immediately!”

The sleepy students did so almost automatically. They wondered why the order had been given because the plane seemed to be rushing through the night without trouble.

The stillness was abruptly shattered by Gwen Taylor exclaiming, “I hate seat belts! They make me positively ill! I’m not going to put mine on!”

She was defiantly standing in the aisle when the plane made a sickening drop. Gwen grabbed the back of the seat and eased herself down.

A few moments later the plane began to roll sharply to left and right. The craft sank again as if it had suddenly lost all of its lift. This time the plane seemed to be going completely out of control. Tensely the passengers clutched the armrests of their seats.

CHAPTER VIII

The Lemur Cage

 

ALTHOUGH everyone became more alarmed as the plane continued to lose altitude, they all managed to remain quiet except Gwen Taylor.

Again she stood up in the aisle. Her friend Hal Harper tried his best to make her sit down but she refused.

“If I’m going to be killed,” she exclaimed, “it’s going to be standing up, not tied to a seat!”

She pitched forward and almost fell. Hal grabbed her and pushed the hysterical girl into her own seat.

At the same moment the pilot’s voice came clearly over the loudspeaker. “Will the young lady who is standing up please stay in her seat and put on her belt? This is an order from your captain.”

Gwen did not adjust the seat belt, but she was quiet for several seconds. Then suddenly she got up again and lurched forward. “I’m going to have my father sue this airline!” she cried out.

Within seconds she had yanked open the door to the pilot’s compartment, bolted inside, and slammed the door. Hal Harper unfastened his own belt and started after her.

From the rear of the cabin the steward yelled frantically, “Sit down! Put on your belt!”

As Hal obeyed, there came a scream from the pilot’s compartment. The next moment the plane went into a dive!

Those in the cabin held their breath, but the pilot seemed to be a magician. No matter how violently his craft was tossed about, he seemed able to get it back under control.

The plane climbed rapidly and in a few moments leveled out in smooth air. Everyone uttered groans of relief, then turned their eyes toward the door of the pilot’s cabin. What was going on inside?

Presently the door flew open. Gwen came out, looking very disheveled. Her wig was awry, giving her a comical look.

As Gwen half stumbled toward her own seat, Bess called out, “What made you scream, Gwen?”

The unruly girl stopped short and said haughtily, “If you must know, the flight engineer grabbed me.”

Bess’s eyes lighted up. “How exciting!”

“Well—uh—I screamed because I didn’t think this was quite fair to Hal,” Gwen said lamely,

George burst into laughter. “Better straighten your wig, Gwen, or Hal won’t love you any more.”

In disdain Gwen quickly pulled her false hair into place and went to her seat.

“For Pete’s sake,” said Hal, “what were you up to?”

“I was trying to put some sense into that pilot’s head,” Gwen answered defiantly.

Nancy, Bess, and George exchanged glances and George remarked, “Do we have to put up with that pain on this whole trip?”

Nancy grinned. “How would you like to try changing her?”

“No thanks. I’ll leave that to you and Bess. You’re better at that sort of thing than I am.”

Aunt Millie Stanley came forward and stood beside Gwen. “I’m terribly sorry you were so frightened,” she said. “I guess everyone was. Do you feel all right now?”

“Yes, thank you. I lost my head. Sorry.”

The Emerson students and their friends went back to sleep. A few hours later the pilot announced that they were approaching Nairobi.

When the group entered the airport building, Nancy looked around to see if Jahan and Dhan might be spying on them. As she and Ned waited in line to go through Immigration and Customs, she said, “I have a feeling we’re being followed.”

Ned grinned. “Don’t let your imagination run away with you.” Then he said seriously, “I guess you and I had better be on our guard at all times.”

There was no sign of the two Indians here or at the attractive hotel where the group was to stay. The Stanleys announced that they were all to meet in an hour for a bus tour of the city.

Nancy found the trip fascinating. The Emerson group was divided among three buses that were painted with black and white zebra-like stripes. The buses were camouflaged so that when traveling in wild animal country, from a distance they would look like a small herd of zebras.

The bustling city of three hundred and fifteen thousand inhabitants was international in character. There were white people, blacks, coloreds—which were a combination of black and some other race—Arabs, and Indians.

“Don’t you love the Indians’ native dress?” Bess asked Dave.

“They sure are colorful,” he replied, “but I’d just as soon wear American-type clothes.”

The men wore white turbans and a fringe of beard, but English business suits. The women’s saris were made of several layers of veil-thin pastel materials. Scarfs covered their hair. Some of the women had a jewel embedded in their foreheads.

In contrast the Arab women were somberly swathed in black. Some had the lower part of their faces covered.

Professor Stanley, who was seated in the front of the bus, arose from time to time and gave statistics about the city. He said that the Arabs and Indians spoke their own languages and English. The blacks spoke Swahili.

“Some of them have learned English and for this reason are able to obtain better jobs.”

The bus stopped in front of a Moslem mosque. To reach it one had to cross a long flagstone pavement. A guard told the group that they must remove their shoes before walking on it.

George exclaimed, “Ouch! These stones are boiling hot!”

Nancy grinned. “Don’t forget we’re not far from the equator.”

The inside of the building was like a large lobby with niches and a place for the priest to stand. In one corner a man lay asleep on the floor. When Burt expressed surprise at this, a guard said that all Moslems were welcome to come in out of the midday heat and take a nap.

Back in the bus again, Professor Stanley told the students, “It is believed that the Arabs were the first foreigners to set foot on African soil. They went pretty far inland and became traders. It is through them that African art was brought to the outside world.”

After a restful lunch and a short stroll, the young tourists were ready to start on a trip to Nairobi National Park, a wildlife game preserve.

Professor Stanley announced, “All the animals roam loose. The park covers forty-four square miles and has twenty miles of roads.”

The buses had barely entered the vast stretches of grassland when Bess exclaimed, “I see a giraffe! Wow, is he tall!” The animal stood higher than the tree from which it was eating the top leaves. “I’ve seen giraffes in zoos but never one that tall.”

Burt laughed. “Maybe they come bigger in the open.”

As they rode along, Nancy and her friends saw graceful eland, sturdy hartebeest, dignified mari bou storks and ostriches. All the animals seemed friendly and unafraid. Several of them came close to the buses. The drivers turned off the road and started through a bumpy field.

“Oh, this is horrible!” Bess cried out. She was swaying from side to side and banged her elbow hard against the window. Dave put an arm around Bess to keep her steady.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Professor Stanley turned around in his seat and called back, “Our driver has spotted some lions. It is against the rules to get out of the bus and should one of the beasts start toward us, close your windows immediately. Lions do not attack unless provoked, but one never knows what may provoke them.”

George said in a low voice, “I wonder how Gwen likes all this.”

The driver pulled around a small dump of high bushes near a tiny stream and stopped. He spoke to Professor Stanley, who in turn called out in a loud whisper, “It is advisable that we do not talk. It might disturb the lions. If you will look ahead in a grassy depression near the water you will see a lion family. Papa is stretched out asleep. By the way, Papa sleeps seventeen out of the twenty-four hours every day.”

Ned grinned. “No time to be the aggressor.”

Professor Stanley smiled. “Not normally. The lioness does the killing for food and drags the antelope or gazelle back to Papa. He is the first to eat. After he has gorged himself, Mama eats her share. The cubs take what is left.”

By this time everyone was standing up and training their eyes hard on the area Professor Stanley had indicated. Presently the lion raised his head and looked sleepily at the bus.

“What a regal creature he is!” Nancy whispered.

The others agreed. Suddenly they saw something moving a little nearer the water.

“The cubs!” Nancy said.

The next moment she spotted their mother, who also seemed to be sleeping. Professor Stanley said that no doubt the whole family had just finished a big good meal.

The other two buses pulled in nearby. Gwen Taylor poked her head and shoulders far out of a window and pointed her camera at the beasts. The lion raised its head again and this time gave a loud roar. The noise unnerved Gwen and she dropped her camera.

“Oh!” she screamed. “Somebody get my camera!”

Professor Stanley called across to her, “It’s against the rules for anyone to get out of the bus in lion country.”

Gwen became petulant. “That camera is very special. It cost a great deal of money. I’m going to get it back.”

“Stay where you are!” the professor said sternly.

The driver of the bus Gwen was in refused to open the door. The girl protested so loudly that the commotion disturbed the animals. Both the lion and lioness stood up and looked balefully at the visitors.

“We’d better leave,” Professor Stanley told their driver. He called across to the other two drivers to do the same.

Mrs. Stanley, who was in the bus with Gwen, said she would try to rescue the camera. She had brought along an umbrella with a curved handle. With it she reached out the window and caught a leather strap attached to the camera. In moments she retrieved Gwen’s property. The buses backed up, turned around, and went on to other sections of the park.

George was extremely annoyed by Gwen’s actions. “If I were running this tour, I’d make her go home.”

“Oh, she’ll probably change,” Bess prophesied.

When the buses reached the hotel, Professor Stanley announced that the Emerson safari had been invited to supper at the home of an American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Northrup. Everyone was to be ready to leave at six o‘clock.

The Northrup home was situated on the outskirts of the city. It was a large English-type house, set in a beautiful tiered garden. Huge poinsettia plants, two stories high, grew against the walls. All the other flowers in the garden were of massive size. An attractive swimming pool was ringed with bright-red and white hibiscus.

The Northrups were a charming couple. Their host was connected with the American Embassy in Nairobi and related many interesting stories about this former British Protectorate, now being governed entirely by blacks.

The visitors divided into groups. Mrs. Northrup took Nancy and her friends down to the lowest terrace to show them a pet lemur. The animal paced back and forth in a small, barred cage.

“It’s an intriguing-looking animal,” Nancy remarked. “It has a face like a fox, a body like a cat, and a long, ringed, striped tail.”

“The only place in the world where there are lemurs is on the island of Madagascar,” Mrs. Northrup told her guests.

The Americans stayed for several minutes to watch the animal. Then all of them except Nancy went back up the steps to the house. She was too fascinated by the pet to leave.

“I’d love to own one of these,” she thought. “But I suppose it would be cruel to—”

Nancy’s thoughts were suddenly blotted out when a sack was pulled down over her head and quickly tied around her neck. As Nancy tried to grab her attacker, a piece of paper was thrust into her hand. Then she heard running footsteps.

Nancy began to suffocate. She realized that the sack was lined with plastic. She must get it off at once! But this was impossible. The knots which held the cord tight were firmly tied. Nancy knew that in a moment she would black out!

CHAPTER IX

Baboon Thief

 

FRANTICALLY Nancy tore at the cords which held the plastic-lined sack over her head. She could not do without air much longer, but her struggles to free herself were in vain.

Nancy’s struggles to free herself were in vain

 

“I must get help!” she thought wildly.

Feeling as if her lungs were ready to burst, Nancy stumbled toward the steps of the terrace. Then she collapsed to the ground. The next moment she felt hands working at the knots and the sack was ripped from her head.

“Nancy, whatever happened?” she vaguely heard Ned say.

Then, dazedly, she realized that he was massaging her back and she was gulping in fresh air. Nancy was still too weak to open her eyes, but she could hear Ned’s voice as if coming from a far distance.

“Nancy! Nancy! Wake up!” he pleaded.

Seconds later she opened her eyes.

“You all right now, Nancy?”

“Yes, I guess so,” she answered softly.

Ned told her not to try talking until she felt stronger. Finally she was able to tell him what had happened.

“Who was the rat who did it?” he asked. His eyes blazed with anger.

“I don’t know,” Nancy replied. “I didn’t see anyone. The sack was pulled over my head by someone who crept up behind me.”

Just then she remembered the paper which had been thrust into her hand by the unknown assailant. She asked Ned to look for it.

He found the crumpled paper near the lemur’s cage and brought it to where she was sitting on the grass. They looked at it together. Both gasped. The warning message read:

Nancy Drew: Give up the spider sapphire case or worse harm will come to you.

Ned stared at the paper a moment, then looked at Nancy fondly. “I agree with the writer about giving up the case.”

Nancy did not reply at once. Finally she said, “Ned, you know I never give up on a mystery.”

“But, Nancy, if anything should happen to you on this trip, how could I ever explain it to your father?”

“But you wouldn’t be responsible,” Nancy countered.

Ned looked directly at her. “Leaving all that aside, I personally don’t want anything to happen to you. Hereafter I’m going to stay close to you whether you want to be guarded or not.”

“Thanks. With you nearby I know I’ll be safe,” she said with a smile. “Well, I feel all right now. Let’s go back up to the party.”

Nancy brushed her dress. Then she tidied her hair with a comb from her purse, which had not been disturbed by her attacker.

The couple walked up the steps. As they reached the top terrace, they were met by their friends. George inquired why Nancy had not joined them. When they heard what had happened, Bess, George, Burt, and Dave became alarmed.

“It seems,” said Bess, “as if you aren’t safe anywhere, Nancy. Somebody must be following you every minute, waiting for a chance to harm you.”

Nancy smiled and said, “I hereby appoint all of you as my bodyguards. Surely no one could get at me with you five brave people surrounding me.”

George grinned. “Not with us facing outward at all times!”

Bess looked at Ned. “I think we’d better put you inside the ring too: I haven’t forgotten yet that you were kidnapped and left to starve.”

Nancy noticed Mr. and Mrs. Northrup coming toward them. “Let’s not say anything to them about what happened,” she begged, and the others nodded.

“I’m fascinated by your lemur,” Nancy told the couple. “Did you bring it from Madagascar?”

“No, a friend brought it. She travels a great deal. She is particularly keen on safaris.”

This gave Nancy an idea. “By any chance have you or your friend ever heard of a guide named Tizam?”

Mrs. Northrup looked surprised. “Did you know him?”

“No,” Nancy replied, “but I had the pleasure of meeting his sister Madame Lilia Bulawaya. We heard her sing at Emerson College and she told us about her brother.”

Mrs. Northrup said that her friend, Mrs. Munger, had mentioned the sad fate of the guide. “The story is he was attacked by a lion.”

“Yes,” Nancy answered, “but Tizam’s sister believes he may still be alive. She asked us to try to find out what we can while we’re traveling around Kenya.”

“Would you like to meet Mrs. Munger and learn more about what happened on the safari?” Mrs. Northrup asked.

“Yes, indeed,” Nancy replied.

Mrs. Northrup offered to telephone her friend immediately and make an appointment.

“Our group,” said Nancy, “is leaving tomorrow morning for Treetops Inn. We’ll be staying there overnight. May we see Mrs. Munger when we come back?”

“I’ll try to arrange a meeting two days from now,” Mrs. Northrup said. She went off to telephone but soon returned. “Mrs. Munger has invited you and your friends to tea that day.” Nancy thanked her for making the arrangements.

A few hours later she and the others said good-by to the Northrups, thanking them for their delightful hospitality. Everyone slept soundly and was up early for the next part of their safari. All of them looked forward to staying at Treetops Inn, built into the branches of enormous fig trees. From there, they would watch wild animals come to the nearby water hole.

The drive was long and hot. A stop was made at the Outspan Hotel, where they had lunch and deposited their main baggage in a large room. Only flight bags were allowed to be carried for their overnight stay at Treetops.

In the middle of the afternoon, the three black-and-white-striped buses traveled up a winding road through a woods and came to a halt at a fence. Everyone climbed out and a tall gate was opened for the visitors. Some little distance beyond stood a man in a belted khaki suit, a stout rifle slung over one shoulder.

“This is Mr. Zucker, our White Hunter,” Professor Stanley called out.

“Please form a circle,” said the man, who had a broad British accent.

The Emerson group gathered in front of him,

“We have between quarter and half a mile to walk to reach the inn. I must caution all of you to be as quiet as possible. Otherwise you will scare away the animals.”

Bess, looking nervously at the rifle, asked him, “Do you have to use that very often?”

“Not often.” The hunter held out the rifle to show that it was larger than the type usually carried by hunters. “This is the only rifle,” he said, “which can pierce the hide of a rhino or an elephant.”

“You mean they attack sometimes?” Bess queried.

“Sometimes. Keep your eyes open, and again I ask all of you not to talk. When we reach the inn, you are to go up the stairway and remain inside the building until tomorrow morning. It would be too dangerous for you to be on the grounds.”

George glanced at Gwen Taylor. Hal had hold of her arm and was whispering into her ear. No doubt he was reassuring her and warning the girl to do exactly as she had been told.

The hunter turned and the Emersonians followed him in silence. Their eyes darted to the partly grassy, partly wooded area on either side of the path. They saw nothing scary—merely timid gazelles.

Treetops Inn was the most unusual hotel Nancy and her friends had ever seen. There were extra supports besides the tree trunks to hold the weight of the large building. A small wooden stairway led to the first floor, leaving the ground area free for the animals to wander beneath.

The visitors were amazed at the size of the place. There was a center section containing a lobby, a lounge, and a large dining room. To left and right were corridors and here and there a tree branch blocked the path, forcing guests to climb over it to continue down the hallway. The inn had two stories, with long porches on both levels and an observation roof.

As soon as the girls had been assigned rooms, they took their cameras and went to the lower porch. In front of it was a large water hole. Professor Stanley, walking by, told them it was saline and this was one reason the animals came there to drink. The girls chose front-row seats a little distance from one end of the porch.

“Look who’s here,” George whispered.

Seated in a wicker chair at the very end of the porch was Gwen Taylor. Next to her was a wooden partition which separated the porch from the front bedroom area. She was alone and was reading a book which lay on her lap. Apparently Gwen had no interest in the animals that came to the water hole.



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