The Mystery of the Ivory Charm Part 4

The sentence was never finished. From inside the house came a terrific crash accompanied by the sound of gla.s.s splintering against a hard, metallic surface. Then silence.

CHAPTER VI.

A Web of Ropes "DON'T go inside!" Bess pleaded frantically. "Please don't. Something dreadful will happen to you!"

Nancy paid no attention. Boldly she flung up the window and stepped through the opening to find herself on a narrow ledge. She was startled to hear a low moan directly below her.

"George!" she called. "Is that you?"

"It's all that's left of me," a faint voice said with a groan.

Picking her way down the treacherous stone steps, Nancy descended quickly. When her eyes became accustomed to the gloom, she found George lying at the bottom, surrounded by broken gla.s.s. The girl's arms had been cut in several places.

"What happened?" Nancy gasped, mopping the blood with her handkerchief.

"Oh, I've had a horrible time!" George complained. "I got lost in a musty old pa.s.sageway. When I found it was a dead end, I stumbled back the way I'd entered. Finally I reached the top of these steps and then slipped. I clutched at something hanging on the wall. It couldn't support my weight. I crashed down with it on top of me."

"Apparently you pulled a heavy mirror loose, George. You could have been killed."

"It sure was heavy," George answered ruefully, rubbing her head. With Nancy's supporting arm around her she slowly rose.

"Can you walk if I help you?"

"I think so."

Cautiously groping their way, the girls began to climb the steep stairway. Before they reached the entrance ledge, Bess thrust her head through the open window.

"Nancy! George!" she called fearfully.

"Here we are, directly below," Nancy shouted. "George has been hurt."

"Oh!" Bess exclaimed.

"I'm all right now," George insisted.

"Bess," said Nancy, "step inside onto a narrow ledge. See if you can find a light switch."

Nervously Bess entered and stood motionless on the tiny platform. Her fingers probed the wall until she felt a k.n.o.b and turned it. Suddenly the room was flooded with light.

An amazing sight met their gaze. The house was indeed "without insides." The floor had been torn away. From the rafters of the ceiling hung several swings and trapezes, similar to those used in wild-animal acts, as well as many entangled ropes.

"What do you make of it, Nancy?" Bess asked in awe, as she descended the steps.

Nancy said she was puzzled. "This could have been a gym or even a place to train wild animals to do tricks."

George chuckled. "I can just see an elephant on a trapeze."

The other girls laughed, then Bess said, "Tigers can climb."

"Yes, tiger climb," came a voice from the open window.

Nancy glanced up. "Ris.h.i.+! Step in and take a look."

While Ris.h.i.+ marveled at the strange sight, Nancy bound up George's cuts with a clean handkerchief and rubbed her bruises.

"Rain hard outside," Ris.h.i.+ said.

"Then we'll stay here until the storm's over," Nancy suggested.

Ris.h.i.+ began to test the ropes and swings. Bess uttered a little cry of alarm as the boy swung through s.p.a.ce, hanging by his knees from the bar of a trapeze.

"He'll be killed!" she exclaimed.

Nancy warned him to be careful. "The safety net is broken," she cautioned. "And some of the ropes look very old and insecure."

"Ris.h.i.+ not take chance," he promised.

Outside the old house rain fell in torrents.

"While we're waiting, I believe I'll do a little investigating," Nancy said.

"We may as well go along," George added. "I feel okay now."

Leaving Ris.h.i.+ to amuse himself, the girls entered the secret tunnel. George found a light switch and clicked it on.

"One thing is sure," Bess remarked. "People come here. Otherwise the power would have been shut off. Why was this tunnel built, do you suppose?"

"That's what I'd like to find out," Nancy replied. "I have a feeling that so far we haven't delved very deeply into the mystery of this place."

As they moved down the tunnel, the girls came to a turn-off. Nancy paused a moment.

"I'm sure I must have taken the main branch before," she said. "Let's explore this one."

The pa.s.sage she indicated was very narrow and so low that the girls were forced to stoop. It was dimly lighted. Suddenly Bess halted, gripping Nancy's arm. "What was that?" she said.

"I heard nothing."

"It sounded like a groan."

"You must have imagined it, Bess," George scoffed. "Not that I blame you. So much has happened I could start hearing things myself."

Unwillingly Bess moved forward again, slightly ahead of the others. She had taken less than a dozen steps when she stumbled over an inert figure stretched across the tunnel floor.

"Water! Water!" a man mumbled.

Bess wanted to turn and flee but could not do so with Nancy and George directly behind her, blocking the path. They, too, were startled, yet both realized that the man had been injured and needed attention.

Nancy knelt beside him, raising the victim to a sitting position. In the dim light she could distinguish only the faint outline of his face.

"Where are you hurt?" she asked gently.

"My head-I think it's broken. I was struck by a robber and dragged in here. But I'll get even! I'll fix him!"

Tired from speaking, the man dropped back against Nancy, a heavy weight in her arms. It was a full minute before she could rouse him again.

"Who are you?" she questioned. "Tell us your name and why you are in this house."

"I'm Jasper Batt. Old Batty, some folks call me. I look after the property."

"You mean you're the caretaker?"

"Yes, I've been here since the other guy was fired."

"Can you describe the person who struck you?"

"No," the man muttered. "He sneaked up behind me. I have a good idea who it was, though."

"Tell me his name," Nancy urged.

"No," Jasper Batt muttered. "I'll track him down myself. And I'll get my papers back, too!"

"Papers?" Nancy inquired alertly.

"Valuable doc.u.ments entrusted to me by Rai."

"Rai?" the Drew girl exclaimed, believing that she had not heard correctly.

"I was to give the papers to Mrs. Allison when she came for them. If I don't, I'll lose my job."

"I'll help you recover them," Nancy said soothingly when she saw that the caretaker was becoming excited. "Only you must tell me more about the doc.u.ments."

"Nothing to tell," Batt murmured, shaking his head from side to side. "I'll get the papers myself! I'll get even with that crook!"

He struggled to his feet, only to fall back once more into Nancy's arms, exhausted by the effort to rise.

"Leave me alone," he muttered angrily, kick ing violently with his legs. "Leave me alone. Go away before I lose my job."

"The poor old fellow is out of his mind," Bess whispered. "What shall we do?"

"We must go for help," Nancy decided. "Come on!"

The three girls hurried back to the main tunnel, then made their way to the apparatus room where they had left Ris.h.i.+.

Seeing no sign of him, Nancy called his name. The only sound she heard was the steady downpour of rain.

Suddenly George gripped Nancy's arm and pointed to the overhead web of ropes. Entangled among them, like a fly in a spider's web, hung a limp body!

"Nancy, that's Ris.h.i.+!" George exclaimed.

The girls were stunned for a moment. They had no way of knowing how long Ris.h.i.+ had been hanging from the ropes. His face was so ashen-white that they feared he had strangled to death.

"We must go for a doctor," Bess gasped. The others knew this would take a long time.

Nancy's eye had been roving speculatively over the network of ropes. Several dangled from the rafters, one close to the entangled body of the boy.

If she could climb the adjoining rope she might be able to reach Ris.h.i.+ and cut him loose!

"See if you can find a knife or any sharp instrument!" she asked the girls. "Perhaps Mr. Batt has a pocketknife lying around here."

In vain the cousins searched for a knife. They were about to give up in despair when George spied a rusty old saw in a dark comer and s.n.a.t.c.hed it.

In the meantime, Nancy had managed to climb the tricky ropes. Now she was endeavoring to reach a crossbeam directly opposite the rope from which Ris.h.i.+ dangled. George and Bess watched nervously as the girl swung herself toward the structure. She secured a grip with her feet, then went up hand over hand until she was able to climb from the rope to the beam.

Without waiting to be told what to do, Bess and George tied the old saw to the end of the rope Nancy had released, and she pulled it up.

"Nancy, be careful," Bess warned fearfully. "If you lose your balance it means instant death."

Nancy did not need to be told to use caution. She knew that one wrong move would prove fatal. Yet if she was to reach Ris.h.i.+ she must take the chance.

Clinging to the rope for support and with her feet on the beam, Nancy leaned forward. She reached out until she was able to grasp the boy's jacket. Nancy pulled the limp body toward her, las.h.i.+ng him fast to the crossbeam. Next she grasped the rusty saw and severed the rope that had entangled him.

"Is he still alive?" George called anxiously.

"I don't know."

Using another rope, which Bess and George swung up to her, Nancy tied it securely around Ris.h.i.+'s body. Next she severed those that held him to the beam, then slowly lowered the boy to the extended arms of Bess and George.

"Nancy, be careful," Bess warned fearfully.

When Ris.h.i.+ was safely at the bas.e.m.e.nt level, Nancy quickly slid down one of the ropes to join her friends.

"I'm sure he's dead," Bess whispered.

CHAPTER VII.

The Tutor NANCY kneeled down, felt Ris.h.i.+'s pulse, and pressed her ear against his chest. She could hear the faint beating of his heart.