The Clue of the Broken Locket Read Free Page A

they had seen at the White Mill restaurant?
    “But why would she run away from us?” Bess asked.
    “And what did she mean about the babies?” George added.
    Nancy reminded the cousins that they were all assuming the young woman was Cecily Curtis. “We ought to know soon, one way or the other. It’s getting late.”
    When the girls reached the cottage on the lake front they looked up to the opposite end of the lake, a scant half mile away. A heavy mist shrouded it. Nancy guessed there might be hot springs in that area, which would account for the unusually heavy vapor. The moon was rising and revealed several cottages in the distance to their right.
    Suddenly Bess said, “Look up on the bluff about halfway to the far end of the lake! There’s a big house with a light in the second floor. Somebody’s staying there!”
    “Maybe,” said George, “it’s an all-year home.”
    As Nancy unlocked the door of the Baker cottage, Bess remarked, “It is eerie around this place. I’ll be glad to get back to town.”
    George said sternly, “Now don’t be imagining things.”
    “Well, if I do,” Bess retorted, “I’m in good company. Mrs. Hosking advised us not to come here and Henry Winch, who isn’t a ’fraidy cat, got enough of a scare to make him leave the lake.”
    Nancy laughed. “At least the Baker cottage is okay. No ghosts here!”
    She beamed her flashlight about the interior. The living-dining room stretched across the front of the house and was comfortably furnished. Books and magazines on low tables and a huge fireplace gave the room a homelike atmosphere. George spotted a kerosene lamp, and with matches from the mantelshelf, lighted it.
    “How cozy!” Bess exclaimed. “I’ll bet it’s wonderful in the summer with swimming and boating and everything. But why in the world would anybody want to come here alone this time of the year?”
    “Fall is beautiful,” George answered. “Maybe some people just like to look at the fall foliage.”
    The cottage was in perfect order, but the beds were not made and there was no food. Nancy built a fire in a wood stove in the kitchen and Bess prepared cocoa. George soon had a fire roaring in the fireplace and before long the chill of the cabin was gone. As the girls waited for Cecily, they talked about their experiences and conceded the day had been full of surprises.
    Finally Nancy looked at her watch. “Do you realize it is ten o’clock and Cecily hasn’t come yet?”
    “What’ll we do?” Bess asked. “We can’t sit up all night.”
    Nancy suddenly proposed, “Why don’t we sleep here? Cecily may not arrive until very late.”
    This plan was agreed upon, although reluctantly on Bess’s part. George offered to drive back to town and tell Mrs. Hosking of the girls’ change in plans.
    “In the meantime, I’ll make up some beds,” Bess offered.
    “And if you don’t mind,” said Nancy, “I’d like to do a little investigating outdoors.”
    Bess warned her to be careful. Nancy said she would not go far. “Just down to Henry Winch’s dock.”
    She rode that far with George, then got out of the car and went down a path to the dock. To one side of it was a good-sized boathouse, and with moonlight streaming into the windows, Nancy could see motorboats, rowboats, and canoes. On the other side of the dock was the confectionery store with Mr. Winch’s living quarters behind it. From the end of the dock, Nancy had a clear view of the whole lake—cottages, the large house on the bluff, and the mist-shrouded end of the lake.
    The young sleuth smiled to herself. “I wish that phantom boat would appear! I’d like to know what it looks like.”
    But there was no sign of any ghostly vessel, and finally Nancy walked back to the cottage along a path near the lake front. She heard a car coming and wondered whether it was George returning, or Cecily Curtis arriving. She hurried up to the road to find out.
    The car proved to be her own and in a moment George