The Mystery of the Ivory Charm Part 1

The Mystery of the Ivory Charm.

Carolyn Keene.

MYSTERY OF THE IVORY CHARM.

What secret life-giving power does the exquisite ivory elephant charm contain? Can the trinket really protect its wearer from all harm?

Nancy Drew finds out when the owner of the Bengleton Wild-Animal Show asks her to investigate one of the performers who may be involved in some mysterious illegal scheme.

The girl detective's a.s.signment becomes complicated when the elephant trainer's young a.s.sistant, Ris.h.i.+, seeks refuge at the Drew home from his cruel foster father, Rai.

While following clues to help the boy find his real father, Nancy learns about an eerie abandoned house. She is hara.s.sed by its strange owner, Anita Allison, and the fiendish Rai.

How Nancy uses the ivory charm, reunites a maharaja with his son, and brings the evildoers to justice will mystify readers from beginning to end.

"Nancy, be careful," Bess warned fearfully.

Acknowledgement is made to Mildred Wirt Benson, who under the pen name.

Carolyn Keene, wrote the original NANCY DREW books.

CHAPTER I.

An Angry Elephant.

NANCY sat in her father's law office, waiting for him to finish a long-distance call.

As he cradled the telephone, she said, "What's up, Dad? Another mystery?"

Mr. Drew nodded and smiled. "It concerns a member of a wild-animal show."

"Man or beast?" his eighteen-year-old daughter teased, her blue eyes twinkling.

"Maybe both," the tall, handsome lawyer replied. "That's for you to find out."

He explained that his friend, Mr. Stanley Strong, who owned the traveling Bengleton Wild-Animal Show, had asked to consult him about some suspicious and perhaps illegal proceedings.

"There will be a performance tomorrow afternoon in Tannberg," Mr. Drew went on. "Unfortunately, I can't go, and Mr. Strong said he preferred not to discuss the case over the phone. So I thought I'd send you.

"After the show he'll be glad to tell you about his suspicions. He sent me four front-row seats," Mr. Drew added, pulling the tickets out of his pocket. "Can you make it?"

"Indeed I can," Nancy replied. "I'll ask Bess and George to come." Bess Marvin and George Fayne were girl cousins who often helped Nancy. "And I can take little Tommy from down the street. He'll love the special elephant act from India I saw advertised."

"Don't let him get into any mischief," her father warned, knowing the boy's tendencies.

Nancy laughed. "I promise." She took the tickets and rose to leave.

"Good luck," the lawyer said.

His slender, attractive daughter walked toward the car. It was a sunny, warm May afternoon. Nancy's strawberry-blond hair vividly contrasted her teal-blue convertible.

As soon as she reached home, Nancy phoned Bess and George, who were eager to attend the wild-animal show. Tommy was also ecstatic over the idea. He came up to the Drew house at once to show his delight by doing a series of somersaults, cartwheels, and Indian war whoops.

"We're going to have a super time," the five-year-old blond-haired boy predicted.

The following afternoon Tommy was on hand promptly, and he set off with Nancy, first to pick up pretty, blond, and slightly overweight Bess, then boyish, dark-haired George.

"I hope we see elephants," said Tommy as the car neared Tannberg half an hour later. "Someday I want to ride one."

Nancy smiled. "There'll be a special elephant act."

As she drew closer to the fairgrounds, the group began to feel the festive atmosphere. People were hurrying toward the entrance, flags were flying, and a bra.s.s band was playing.

Nancy found a parking s.p.a.ce. "Would you like to go directly to our seats, or shall we look around first?" she asked her friends as they walked toward the grounds.

"Let's find the animal cages first," Bess suggested.

She and the others had just reached the area, when Tommy spied a vendor who was selling fresh-roasted peanuts.

"Oh, Nancy, please buy me a bag so I can feed them to the elephants."

Bess offered to do it and added, "I'd like to give some to the monkeys."

Her cousin George spoke up. "I understand it's against the rules to feed the monkeys. I guess in the jungle it's all right for them to eat the nuts raw, but here ours are too well--"

She never finished the sentence because at this moment the crowd nearby began to scatter. A huge elephant was slowly plodding down the pa.s.sageway toward them.

"Run!" cried Bess, scooting out of the way.

Nancy held Tommy's hand tightly. She noticed a handsome, olive-skinned boy of about twelve years, wearing a bright-green tunic over straight-legged white pants, hurrying after the beast. Some distance behind him was a tall slender man, dressed in a long exotic-looking gown and turban. He carried a whip and a metal-tipped stick.

George was fascinated but said, "I hope that man doesn't intend to use those things on the elephant. It will certainly get mad and might trample anyone in its path. In any case, it'll begin to trumpet."

"Trumpet?" Tommy questioned. "Where does an elephant carry a trumpet?"

The girls smiled. Nancy explained to the little boy that when elephants become angry, they swing their trunks around in the air and sometimes make loud sounds that slightly resemble those of a trumpet.

Tommy thought the explanation was funny. Just as the elephant stomped by them, it raised its trunk a bit as if sniffing the air.

Suddenly Tommy jerked away from Nancy and ran to the great beast. With surprising agility, the little boy swung his arms and one leg up onto the elephant's trunk.

"Oh!" Bess exclaimed.

Several people in the crowd screamed. It was Nancy, however, who rushed to Tommy's aid. By this time the annoyed elephant was trying to fling the boy off. Tommy clung tightly but looked terrified.

"I'll catch you," Nancy offered.

He released his hold and fell into Nancy's outstretched arms. His weight caused her to stumble backward.

When she set Tommy on his feet, he began to cry. The elephant had stopped walking and now turned his head toward Nancy and Tommy. Did he intend to attack them both?

By this time a boy who looked like a native of India had rushed up. He stood alongside the elephant and spoke softly to him in words his listeners did not understand.

"Shnt ho jao dost!" Ris.h.i.+ said. ("Be calm, friend!") "I guess," said George, "he's talking Hindi."

Just then the man who had been running after the boy and the elephant dashed up. He spoke angrily to them and flourished the whip but did not strike either the boy or the beast. The young helper cringed, however.

The man now turned his attention to Nancy and Tommy. In English he said sharply, "Why don't you watch your boy better? He's a nuisance. You should take him home at once."

Nancy eyed the man steadfastly, then said, "I'm sure Tommy regrets what he has done. But since he didn't harm the elephant or any of the people here, I see no reason why he shouldn't stay. I'm sure he'll behave."

The animal trainer said no more to her but again turned to the boy. In English he shouted, "Ris.h.i.+, you will be punished for this! Your job is to guard old Arun, and you let him get away!" Once more he brandished the whip.

Nancy sprang forward. "Don't touch that boy!" she cried out.

The man looked at her with scorn. "I am Rai, the great Rai. This is my son. I can whip him if I want to."

"Not in America," Nancy said firmly.

The man laughed raucously. "I am not subject to the laws of your country. We are from India."

What might have become a very ugly scene was interrupted by the arrival of Rai's a.s.sistant and two guards. The situation was quickly explained to them.

One guard said, "Rai, you'd better talk the matter over with Mr. Strong. Right now I'd advise you to go back to your quarters and wait for the show."

Rai looked at the man angrily but said nothing. Ris.h.i.+ led the animal from the crowded area. Nancy and her friends hurried away. Tommy, still shaking from fright, promised he would behave.

"I'll catch you," Nancy offered.

Bess winked at George and Nancy as if to say, "Well, at least for a while!"

As they wandered along, Bess stopped at a booth where stuffed wild animals were being sold. "Look at this darling panda," she said, picking up one of the plush black-and-white-haired animals. "I'm going to buy him."

At this moment Nancy realized that someone was standing beside her and she turned to see Ris.h.i.+.

"h.e.l.lo!" he said shyly. "Ris.h.i.+ not speak English much. Thank you for help me."

"I was glad to do it," she said. "Tell me about yourself. Do you travel with the wild-animal show all the time?"

"Yes. Rai makes me."

George spoke. "Don't you go to school?"

"No school," Ris.h.i.+ answered. "Man in circus teach me."

As the group turned toward the big tent where the show would be held, Bess said, "Nancy, I don't want to carry this panda around. Suppose I put it in the trunk of your car. May I have your key?"

Nancy opened her purse and handed Bess the key case. As Bess turned toward the parking area, Tommy said, "I want to go with you."

She took his hand, and the two went off. Ris.h.i.+ followed them and Nancy did not stop him.

A moment later Nancy was glad she had not. Rai was coming back! He stopped in front of Nancy and George. "Where is my son, Ris.h.i.+?" he demanded.

The girls preferred not to tell the cruel-faced man what they knew. Instead they looked around and George said, "I don't see him."

Nancy's eyes became fastened on an unusual, beautiful carved-ivory elephant charm that the man wore on a black velvet cord around his neck. She mentioned it to him.

"It is very old and very rare," Rai replied, still with a trace of annoyance in his voice. "Besides, the charm has special meaning. The person who wears it is protected from harm. I wear it when I am around the elephants. Sometimes one of them becomes ugly."

The man strode off. In a few minutes Bess and Tommy returned, but Ris.h.i.+ was not with them. They said he had gone to prepare for the performance.

"Let's go inside," Tommy urged.

The show was even better than the advertis.e.m.e.nts had promised. The lion acts, the tigers, and the dancing elephants were enthusiastically applauded.

"Here comes Ris.h.i.+!" exclaimed Bess, as he made his entrance.

The young Hindu boy sat astride old Arun's trunk. Little by little the lad climbed to the tip of it. With a sudden flip, the elephant threw Ris.h.i.+ into the air. The boy neatly executed a somersault and landed on Arun's back while the animal continued his steady rhythmic plodding around the ring.

Every few minutes Ris.h.i.+ would repeat his performance to the delight and amazement of the crowd. Everyone clapped loudly and Tommy was on his feet, waving both arms and screaming, "Do it again! Do it again!"

When the whole show was over, everyone agreed that the little acrobat from India was the best performer. Over and over he was called to take final bows. His father, Rai, stood in the background, looking very unhappy.

"He should be proud of his son," George remarked. "Instead he acts as if he'd eaten a box of tacks."

Bess giggled. "Maybe he's jealous."

Nancy and her friends hurried to Mr. Strong's trailer-office. Bess and George offered to keep Tommy busy outside while Nancy had her conference.

"Come in!" the owner of the wild-animal show greeted Nancy. He smiled broadly. "Your father has great faith in your ability to solve mysteries. Well, here's a sticky one for you."

He went on to say that the man in charge of the elephants, named Rai, was a strange person. "He's very secretive and thinks it is perfectly all right to disobey United States laws because he's an alien. I haven't caught him in anything illegal, but I've told him many times that if he does not change this att.i.tude, he will certainly get into trouble with the authorities.

"Rai feels that how he treats Ris.h.i.+ is his own business. Once I threatened to report him. Afterward, his behavior toward Ris.h.i.+ seemed to improve. But it didn't last long."

Nancy nodded. "We saw evidence of that before the show began."

The owner continued, "Several times I've thought of discharging Rai, but I haven't done it because I'm very fond of Ris.h.i.+."

Mr. Strong said that he wanted the Drews to find out more about Rai and his background. "He apparently is in this country with proper credentials, but I feel that there's something sinister behind the whole thing."