The Mystery of the Ivory Charm Part 8

"We're trapped!" Mr. Drew exclaimed.

"Trapped!" Bess gasped.

"Yes, in the branch-off. There was a bad cave-in."

Thoroughly alarmed, Bess and George followed Nancy down into the tunnel. For half an hour they worked hard to dislodge rocks and timbers. Without tools, it was difficult. Finally, however, the blocking beam was pushed aside. Mrs. Allison, pale and shaken, was lifted through, then Carson Drew followed.

"We must take the boxes," the woman murmured weakly. "I won't leave here without them!"

To quiet her Mr. Drew climbed back into the hole. One by one, he handed out the heavy cartons. The girls carried them from the tunnel.

George realized that a small box was slipping from under her arm. Just as she reached the end of the pa.s.sageway, the box dropped to the ground and split open.

The contents, a collection of precious gems, flowed in a tiny river of sparkling color over the ground and down among the ruins!

CHAPTER XI.

Bout With a Monkey "OH, my treasures from India!" Mrs. Allison shrieked. "Save them!"

"I'm terribly sorry," George muttered. "Why didn't someone tell me I was carrying jewels?"

She turned to apologize further to the woman and was dismayed to see her sagging toward the littered floor in a faint. Mr. Drew caught her, easing Mrs. Allison down gently. Her eyelids fluttered open as Nancy bent above her, but the woman did not seem to recognize the girl.

"The treasure!" she whispered. "My precious treasure!"

Bess and George began to pick up the sparkling pieces of rare stones.

"Don't worry about your jewels," Nancy said kindly. "They're safe."

Mr. Drew added, "I'll take the boxes to a bank vault if you wish."

Mrs. Allison did not appear to comprehend. A dazed, faraway look came into her eyes and she muttered incoherently.

"What's the matter with her?" Bess whispered anxiously. "I never saw anyone act like this before."

"I think she's going into a trance," Nancy declared.

As minutes pa.s.sed and Mrs. Allison made no effort to rouse herself from the state of semi-stupor, Carson Drew became impatient. He was inclined to believe that the woman made no effort to control her nerves and actually tried to create highly emotional scenes.

"Something must be done about these boxes," he observed. "I'll take them to a bank vault while you girls remain here. If Mrs. Allison isn't better by the time I return, we'll take her to a doctor."

The strange woman paid little attention as the jewels that had fallen out were gathered and replaced in the broken box. Mr. Drew asked Mrs. Allison the name of her bank. She did not appear to understand the question.

"Where shall we deposit the treasure?" he prodded. "Mrs. Allison, have you any preference as to a bank?"

"Please don't trouble me now," the woman murmured indifferently. "I am meditating."

After several attempts to discuss the matter failed, the lawyer said he would take the boxes to the River Heights National Bank.

Left alone with Mrs. Allison, Nancy and her friends tried to draw the woman out of her stupor. She did not respond until Nancy, hopeful of gaining information, deliberately mentioned Ris.h.i.+'s name. The word seemed to conjure up a strange train of mental pictures in Mrs. Allison's mind. She began to mutter again.

At first the girls could distinguish nothing, but as they bent over the relaxed figure, they caught enough to comprehend that Mrs. Allison was speaking of reincarnation.

"She's spooky," Bess commented. "Reincarnation means that after you die, you'll be reborn as another person or animal, doesn't it?"

"I'll probably be a goat!" George chuckled.

"s.h.!.+" Nancy warned. She did not want to miss a word of what Mrs. Allison was saying. The woman lapsed into another silence, seemingly disturbed by the interruption.

"You were just talking about reincarnation," Nancy prompted quietly.

Mrs. Allison made no immediate response. Her eyes had focused on the elephant charm that hung from its velvet cord about Nancy's neck. With trembling fingers the woman reached out and touched it reverently.

"The ivory charm will bring you good luck," she murmured, "both in this world and the next. After death you will be reborn-you will enter a higher sphere and enjoy a life of splendor. You, Nancy Drew, will be reborn to become the beautiful wife of a rajah of India!"

Mrs. Allison lapsed into a moody silence. She closed her eyes, and the girls carried her upstairs and outdoors. She presently fell into a natural sleep from which she awakened fifteen minutes later.

"Dear me, have I been dozing?" she asked, looking about in bewilderment. "Where am I?"

"Don't you recall the cave-in?" Nancy questioned in amazement.

"Oh, yes, now that you speak of it, I do."

"Surely you must remember that we carried out several boxes of treasure," Nancy reminded her, "and that a small container of jewels was dropped on the ground."

Mrs. Allison's blank expression made it evident to the girls that the incident had left no impression on her mind.

"You don't remember anything you said to Nancy?" George asked.

Before Mrs. Allison could answer, Mr. Drew rejoined the group.

"You're looking much better than you were, Mrs. Allison," the lawyer remarked. "Are you all right now?"

"I feel quite my usual self, thank you. If you'll excuse me, I believe I'll go to my car."

"Just a minute," Carson Drew said. "Don't you want to hear where I took your boxes?"

"Boxes?"

"Yes, the treasure we carried from the tunnel. I deposited everything in a vault at the River Heights National Bank. Here's the receipt and your credentials."

Absentmindedly the woman reached for the papers.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you for your trouble." Abruptly turning, she walked swiftly down the wooded trail toward her parked car.

"Well, is that all the appreciation we get for lugging out her heavy old boxes?" George demanded with annoyance, when the woman had disappeared from sight.

"I don't believe Mrs. Allison is entirely herself," Nancy said. "She's been talking wildly, Dad."

"I doubt that she understood what I was telling her," Carson Drew added with a troubled frown. "At any rate, I hope she doesn't lose those papers."

"Perhaps we can catch her before she leaves and explain matters again," Nancy suggested, following the woman.

They all ran to the roadside but Mrs. Allison had driven away. Mr. Drew glanced at his wrist.w.a.tch and said it was not too late to attend the wild-animal show.

"I'd like to take Ris.h.i.+," said Nancy. "Do you think he might be recognized, though, and there'd be trouble?"

"Let's chance it," her father suggested. "We might pick up a good clue."

When Ris.h.i.+ received the invitation, he was happy at first, then sobered. "Ris.h.i.+ afraid to meet Rai."

"I'm sure he isn't there," Nancy replied. "Mr. Strong promised to notify us if Rai returned."

"Then Ris.h.i.+ go," the Indian boy said. He changed his s.h.i.+rt and they all set off for the show.

The town of Hanover was crowded with cars, and the streets near the fairgrounds, where the huge tents had been erected, were jammed with people. While Mr. Drew parked the car, the others walked into the grounds. Soon they heard the first strains of carnival music and were approached by vendors of popcorn, balloons, and toy animals.

"The show will soon be starting," Nancy said, her antic.i.p.ation mounting.

They could not hurry, however, as they moved along the lanes of caged wild animals. The three girls with Ris.h.i.+ elbowed their way through the throng, clinging to one another to avoid being separated.

As they approached the monkey cage, the crowd became even denser, drawn by the comic antics of the animals. It seemed hopeless to find Mr. Drew in such a mob.

"Oh, I see him!" Nancy cried presently. "Over there on the opposite side of the cage. Dad! Dad!" she called to him.

Before the girls could reach him, the crowd grew wildly excited, pus.h.i.+ng and shoving in an attempt to move away from the vicinity.

"What's wrong?" George asked, clinging tightly to her friends.

She was told by a bystander that a careless guard had left the monkey-cage door unbolted, and now a dozen of the mischievous little animals were escaping. One athletic monkey perched himself atop the cage, two others clung to the outside wire network, while the rest began to terrify the crowd by leaping from one onlooker to another.

"Oh!" Nancy exclaimed.

One monkey had landed on her head and began pulling the girl's hair.

"Ouch! That hurts! Get off!" she cried out, trying to grab the frisky little animal.

All he did was squeak and pull harder. At first Bess and George giggled at the funny sight. But then George pulled the monkey's tail. This was not to the animal's liking, and he quickly abandoned his fun.

Ris.h.i.+ had become separated from the girls but now he returned in a flash. With a skill the bystanders could not believe, he coaxed the monkeys in a gentle, persuasive voice back into their trailer cage. The crowd cheered as he rejoined his friends.

The boy was embarra.s.sed and said, "Ris.h.i.+ want to go now."

Nancy took him by the arm and hurried away, with Bess and George trailing them. They met Mr. Drew beyond the monkeys' cages. Nancy could not resist teasing her father.

"Dad, I'm surprised you'd deliberately unlock a cage door. Were you trying to get in with the monkeys?"

"At least no one has fed me any peanuts yet," Mr. Drew answered, grinning.

The show was just starting and Nancy's group hurried to locate their seats.

"I wish the elephant act would start," Nancy said to her father. "I can't wait to see who is in it."

"Your wish is about to be granted." Mr. Drew smiled. "Here they come now."

Nancy leaned forward. She caught a fleeting glimpse of the elephant trainer as he entered the big tent in full regalia.

"Is that Rai?" she whispered tensely. "It looks like him!"

Had Rai perhaps secretly returned without notifying Mr. Strong? Had he changed places with one of the handlers?

Ris.h.i.+ shrank down beside her and buried his head. "He mustn't see me!"

CHAPTER XII.

A Startling Discovery THE three jumbo elephants, guided by their trainer, had entered the ring directly in front of the section where Nancy and her friends were seated. The man turned to bow low to the audience.

"That isn't Rai, after all," Nancy murmured.

Hearing this, Ris.h.i.+ raised his head, and watched in fascination as the huge animals performed a series of perfectly executed stunts. In the final number, they climbed up on one another's backs to form a pyramid, as acrobats do.

As the applause died away, the beasts got down and lined up for a bow. The clapping was thunderous. Then, as the animals were about to trot from the ring, there was a sudden change from their placid att.i.tude. The largest one stopped, raised his trunk, and began to trumpet loudly.

"Something is wrong!" Ris.h.i.+ cried. "That's old Arun!"

By now the elephant was making a beeline for a certain block of seats. The trainer was yelling at the animal. Guards were shouting, "Look out! He'll crush you!" and trying to keep the other beasts from stampeding.

Then someone yelled, "Arun smells Rail He hates him!"

Ris.h.i.+ was already stepping across his friends' feet to get to the aisle. He reached it, leaped down the steps, and vaulted into the arena.

Nancy was alarmed. If Rai saw him, he might claim the boy and take him away before Ris.h.i.+ could find his rightful father!

She dashed after him but this was not necessary. Rai had left his seat hurriedly and scooted up the stairway to an exit. He disappeared.

By this time Ris.h.i.+ had reached the angry elephant and between trumpetings called softly to him. Old Arun stopped knocking over chairs in a front-row box and trying to step up among the panic-stricken, fleeing viewers.