(#25) The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (6 page)

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” said Nancy. “Please sit down, and Hannah will bring you a cup of tea.”

While Mrs. Gruen was in the kitchen preparing the tea, Mrs. Putney rested quietly.

“How did you discover—about the ranch?” she finally asked in a voice scarcely above a whisper.

Nancy remained silent as the widow slumped back in her chair. When the housekeeper brought her a cup of tea, she sipped it obediently. Presently she declared she felt much better.

“Please forgive me for having distressed you so,” begged Nancy.

“On the contrary, I should have told you sooner. Three days ago I had another message from my dear husband. He advised me to invest my money in a good, sound stock. Three Branch Ranch was recommended. That’s why I was so startled when you asked me about it, Nancy.”

“The message came to you at home?” Nancy inquired.

“No, through a medium. I heard of the woman and attended a seance at her home. It was very satisfying.”

“Who is she, and where does she live?”

The question took Mrs. Putney by surprise. “Why, I don’t know,” she said.

“You don’t know!” exclaimed Nancy. “Then how could you attend a séance in her home?”

“I learned of the woman through a friendly note which came in the mail. The message said if I cared to attend the séance, I should meet a car which would call for me that night.”

“The car came?”

“Yes. It was driven by a woman who wore a dark veil. During a rather long ride into the country, she never once spoke to me.”

“Yet you weren’t uneasy or suspicious?”

“It all seemed in keeping with what I had understood to be the general practice in such things. The ride was a long one, and I fell asleep. When I awakened, the car stood in front of a dark house.”

“You were taken inside?”

“Yes. The veiled woman escorted me to a room illuminated by only a dim, greenish light. When my eyes became accustomed to it, I saw a white, filmily clad figure lying on a couch. Through this medium, the spirit of my husband spoke to me.”

At the recollection, Mrs. Putney began to tremble again.

“Your husband advised you to invest money in the Three Branch Ranch!” Nancy said. “What else did he tell you?”

“That I should listen to no advice from any earthly person, and keep what he told me to myself. Oh, dear!”

“What’s the matter?” Nancy asked kindly.

“I’ve told too much already! I shouldn’t have revealed a word of this to anyone!”

The widow arose and in an agitated voice asked Nancy to call a taxi.

“I’ll drive you home myself,” Nancy offered.

During the ride, the young detective avoided further reference to the subject which so distressed her companion. But as she left the widow at her doorstep, she said casually:

“I suppose you did invest money in Three Branch Ranch?”

“Only a little. I gave what cash I had with me to the medium, who promised to use it to purchase the stock for me.”

“I don’t like to worry you, Mrs. Putney, but I’m afraid you may lose the money you invested.”

“Oh, I couldn’t. My husband’s judgment on business matters was excellent!”

“I don’t question that, Mrs. Putney. But I have evidence which convinces me you were tricked by a group of clever swindlers.”

Nancy then told of the letter she had received from the Government Information Service, saying no Three Branch Ranch was listed, and that the postal authorities had been notified.

“Promise me you’ll not invest another penny until the outfit can be thoroughly investigated.”

“I trust your judgment,” the widow said. “I promise.”

“And another thing. May I have the note you received telling of the séance?”

“I haven’t it. I was requested to return it to the medium as evidence of my good faith.”

“Oh, that’s a bad break for us,” Nancy said in disappointment. “Those fakers think of everything ! The letter might have provided a clue!”

“What can we do?”

“Don’t admit that you suspect trickery,” Nancy advised. “Sooner or later, another séance will be suggested and you will be requested to invest more of your money. Phone me the minute you receive another communication.”

“Oh, I will!” Mrs. Putney promised.

After leaving the widow, Nancy began to speculate on how many others in River Heights might have been duped into buying the phony stock. The first one to come into her mind was Lola White. The second was the mysterious Sadie.

“Lola probably signed up for a lot of stock, and is paying the bill little by little, out of her wages,” Nancy surmised. “I must see her at once.”

Lola was not at her place of employment. Upon being told that the girl had not appeared for work that day because of illness, Nancy drove to the White cottage. Lola was lying in a hammock on the front porch, gazing morosely at the ceiling. She sat up and tried to look cheerful.

“How are you today?” Nancy inquired. “No bad effects from the river?”

“I’m all right, I guess,” Lola answered. “Thanks for what you did.”

“We were just fortunate to be there when you needed us,” replied Nancy. “By the way, do you feel like telling me why you were there?”

“No, I don’t,” Lola said sullenly.

Nancy did not press the matter. Instead, she asked her if she had ever heard of the Three Branch Ranch. Lola’s eyebrows shot up, but she shook her head.

Then Nancy told Lola that her real purpose in coming to call was to ask if she were acquainted with a girl named Sadie.

“Oh, you must mean the one who works at the Save-A-Lot Market,” Lola said. “I don’t know her last name.”

“Thanks a lot, Lola. I’ll go to see her.” As Nancy went down the porch steps she added, “Keep your chin up, Lola!”

Happy that she had obtained a lead, Nancy climbed into her convertible, waved to Lola, and sped away down the street.

When Nancy inquired at the market whether a girl named Sadie worked there, a tall blonde operating a cash register was pointed out. So busy that she was in no mood to talk, the girl frowned as Nancy paused and spoke to her.

“You’re Sadie?” Nancy asked, uncomfortably aware that she was delaying a line of customers.

“Sadie Bond,” the girl replied briskly.

“I’m trying to trace a Sadie interested in buying stock in a western ranch,” Nancy said, keeping her voice low.

“You’ve got the wrong girl, miss,” Sadie replied. “I don’t have money to buy ranches.”

Nancy smiled. “Then I guess I’m looking for some other person.”

Having drawn a blank, Nancy decided that her next move should be to write an advertisement for the River Heights
Gazette.

It read:

SADIE: If you are blonde and know of a certain walnut tree, a beautiful gift awaits you in return for information. Reply Box 358.

The second day after the advertisement appeared, Nancy, with Bess and George, went to the
Gazette
office to ask if there had been any replies.

To their astonishment, nearly a dozen letters were handed them.

“Jumping jellynsh!” muttered George. “How many walnut-tree Sadies are there in this town?”

Carrying the replies to a nearby park, the girls divided the letters and sat down to read them. Several were from pranksters, or persons who obviously had no information about the walnut tree but were eager to obtain a free gift.

“Running that ad was a waste of money,” Bess sighed, tossing aside her last letter.

Nancy, however, was deeply engrossed in a letter written on the stationery of the Lovelee Cosmetic Company. “Girls, listen to this!” she exclaimed.

“ ‘I have blond hair. Do you refer to a black walnut tree along the Muskoka River? What is the gift you are offering? Sadie Green.’ ”

“We must find out more about this girl right away!” Nancy declared.

She telephoned the cosmetic firm and learned that Sadie was the telephone operator. When Nancy spoke about the letter, the girl pleaded with her not to come to the office.

“I’ll meet you in the park,” Sadie promised. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The three friends were afraid the girl might not keep her promise. But eventually they saw a young woman with long blond hair approaching.

“I can’t stay more than a minute,” she said nervously. “The boss would have a fit if he knew I skipped out!”

“Will you answer a few questions?”

“What do you want to know?”

“First, tell me, did you ever hear of the Three Branch Ranch?”

“Never,” the girl replied with a blank look.

“Did you leave an envelope with money in the hollow of a tree near the river?” Nancy asked.

The girl moved a step away. “Who are you?” she mumbled. “Detectives? Why do you ask me such a thing?” Before Nancy could reply, she burst out, “I’ve changed my mind. Keep your present!”

With a frightened look in her eyes, Sadie whirled and ran off through the park.

“That girl is afraid to tell what she knows!” Nancy exclaimed. “But we may learn something by talking to her parents.”

Inquiry at the Lovelee personnel department brought forth the information that Sadie lived with an elderly grandfather, Charles Green, on North James Street. The girls went directly there.

Old Mr. Green sat on the front porch in a rocker, reading a newspaper. He laid the paper aside as the girls came up the walk.

“You friends o’ my granddaughter Sadie?” he asked in a friendly way. “She ain’t here now.”

“We’re acquaintances of Sadie,” Nancy replied, seating herself on the porch railing.

“If you’re aimin’ to get her to go some place with you, I calculate it won’t do no good to ask.” The old man sighed. “Sadie’s actin’ kinda peculiar lately.”

“In what way?” Nancy asked with interest.

“Oh, she’s snappish-like when I ask her questions,” the old man revealed. “She ain’t bringin’ her money home like she used to, either.”

Mr. Green, who seemed eager for companionship, chatted on about Sadie. She was a good girl, he said, but lately he could not figure her out.

From the conversation, Nancy was convinced that the case of Sadie Green was very similar to that of Lola White. After the girls had left the house, Nancy proposed that they drive out to the black walnut.

“I have a plan,” she said.

Nancy did not say what it was, but after examining the hollow in the walnut tree, which was empty, she looked all about her. Then she tore a sheet from a notebook in her purse. Using very bad spelling, she printed:

My girl friend told me by leaving a letter hear I can get in touch with a pursen who can give infermation. Please oblige. Yours, Ruby Brown, Genral Delivry, River Heights.

“You hope to trap the man who took the fifty dollars!” George exclaimed admiringly. “But how do you know you’ll get an answer? It seems pretty definite that the racketeers aren’t using this tree as a post office any longer.”

“We’ll have to take a chance,” said Nancy. “And if there is an answer, someone will have to call for it who answers to the name of ‘Ruby Brown.’ ”

“George and I will,” Bess offered eagerly. Nancy smilingly shook her head. “You’re well known as my friends. No, I’ll have a stranger call for the letter, so that anyone assigned to watch the post office won’t become suspicious.”

Nancy arranged with a laundress, who sometimes worked at the Drew home, to inquire for the letter each day.

“Did you get it?” Nancy asked eagerly when Belinda returned the third day.

The good-natured laundress, lips parted in a wide grin, said, “I got it, Miss Nancy!”

Taking the letter, Nancy ran upstairs to her room to open it in private. She gasped when she read the message enclosed, which was:

If you’re on the level, Ruby, go to Humphrey’s Black Walnut for instructions. If you are a disbeliever, may the wrath of all the Humphreys descend upon you!

CHAPTER VIII

The Ghost at the Organ

REREADING the message several times, Nancy speculated about the Humphreys and their connection with the black walnut tree.

Deciding it best to keep the contents of the message to herself, Nancy went to the River Heights Public Library, hoping to find a book which would throw some light on the Humphreys mentioned in the note. The name sounded vaguely familiar, and it had occurred to her that it might belong to one of the very old families of the county.

Finally Nancy found exactly the book she wanted. Fascinated, she read that a famous old walnut grove along the river once had been known as Humphrey’s Woods.

Even more exciting was the information that a duel, fatal to one member of the family, had been fought beneath a certain walnut tree. The tree, known since then as Humphrey’s Walnut, was marked with a plaque.

The article went on to say that Blackwood Hall, the family home, was still standing. Built of walnut from the woods surrounding it, the mansion had, in its day, been one of the showplaces along the river. Now the grounds were weed-grown, the old home vacant, and the family gone.

“It seems a pity to neglect a fine old place that way,” Nancy thought. “Why would—”

The next sentence aroused her curiosity.

“It is rumored that Jonathan’s ghost still inhabits the place!”

Nancy decided she must investigate Blackwood Hall, although she smiled at the thought of any ghost walking there.

But first she would find Humphrey’s Walnut. When she returned home, Nancy telephoned Ned, asking if he were free to accompany her, and told him briefly about the letter.

“I’ll pick you up in my car in five minutes!” he promised eagerly.

At Nancy’s direction, Ned drove as close as he could to the ancient walnut grove by the river. Then they parked the car and started off on foot. They examined each tree for a plaque. It was not until they were deep in the grove that Nancy spied the dull bronze marker with its tragic account of how Jonathan Humphrey had died in a duel while defending his honor beneath the shade of that tree. For fully a minute neither Nancy nor Ned spoke; then Nancy’s voice shook off the spell of the place.