Кэролайн Кин - Тайна загадочной лестницы [with w_cat]

• Название: Тайна загадочной лестницы [with w_cat]
• Автор: Кэролайн Кин
• Жанр: Языкознание

Вниманию читателей предлагается книга Кэролайн Кин «Тайна загадочной лестницы».

Каждый абзац текста, на английском языке, снабжен ссылкой на литературный перевод.

Книга предназначена для учащихся старший классов школ, лицеев и гимназий, а также для широкого круга лиц, интересующихся английской литературой и совершенствующих свою языковую подготовку.

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Нэнси — дочь известного адвоката Карсона Дру из американского городка Ривер-Хайтс. Она часто помогает отцу в расследовании сложных и захватывающих дел…

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[257] "Nancy, I guess you've met Mr. Comber," Aunt Rosemary went on.

[258] "Oh, sure!" Nathan Comber said with a somewhat raucous laugh. "Nancy and me, we've met!"

[259] "Only once," Nancy said pointedly.

[260] Ignoring her rebuff, he went on, "Nancy Drew is a very strange young lady. Her father's in great danger and I tried to warn her to stick close to him. Instead of that, she's out here visiting you folks."

[261] "Her father's in danger?" Miss Flora said worriedly.

[262] "Dad says he's not," Nancy replied. "And besides, I'm sure my father would know how to take care of any enemies." She looked straight at Nathan Comber, as if to let him know that the Drews were not easily frightened.

[263] "Well," the caller said, "let's get down to business." He pulled an envelope full of papers from his pocket. "Everything's here—all ready for you to sign, Mrs. Turnbull."

[264] "I don't wish to sell at such a low figure," Miss Flora told him firmly. "In fact, I don't know that I want to sell at all."

[265] Nathan Comber tossed his head. "You'll sell all right," he prophesied. "I've been talking to some of the folks downtown. Everybody knows this old place is haunted and nobody would give you five cents for it—that is, nobody but me."

[266] As he waited for his words to sink in, Nancy spoke up, "If the house is haunted, why do you want it?"

[267] "Well," Comber answered, "I guess I'm a gambler at heart. I'd be willing to put some money into this place, even if there is a ghost parading around." He laughed loudly, then went on, "I declare it might be a real pleasure to meet a ghost and get the better of it!"

[268] Nancy thought with disgust, "Nathan Comber, you're about the most conceited, obnoxious person I've met in a long time."

[269] Suddenly the expression of cunning on the man's face changed completely. An almost wistful look came into his eyes. He sat down on one of the dining-room chairs and rested his chin in his hand.

[270] "I guess you think I'm just a hardheaded business man with no feelings," he said. "The truth is I'm a real softy. I'll tell you why I want this old house so bad. I've always dreamed of owning a Colonial mansion, and having a kinship with early America. You see, my family were poor folks in Europe. Now that I've made a little money, I'd like to have a home like this to roam around in and enjoy its traditions."

[271] Miss Flora seemed to be touched by Comber's story. "I had no idea you wanted the place so much," she said kindly. "Maybe I ought to give it up. It's really too big for us."

[272] As Aunt Rosemary saw her mother weakening, she said quickly, "You don't have to sell this house, Mother. You know you love it. So far as the ghost is concerned, I'm sure that mystery is going to be cleared up. Then you'd be sorry you had parted with Twin Elms. Please don't say yes!"

[273] As Comber gave Mrs. Hayes a dark look, Nancy asked him, "Why don't you buy Riverview Manor? It's a duplicate of this place and is for sale. You probably could purchase it at a lower price than you could this one."

[274] "I've seen that place," the man returned. "It's in a bad state. It would cost me a mint of money to fix it up. No sir. I want this place and I'm going to have it!"

[275] This bold remark was too much for Aunt Rosemary. Her eyes blazing, she said, "Mr. Comber, this interview is at an end. Good-by!"

[276] To Nancy's delight and somewhat to her amusement, Nathan Comber obeyed the "order" to leave. He seemed to be almost meek as he walked through the hall and let himself out the front door.

[277] "Of all the nerve!" Helen burst out.

[278] "Perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on the man," Miss Flora said timidly. "His story is a pathetic one and I can see how he might want to pretend he had an old American family background."

[279] "I'd like to bet a cookie Mr. Comber didn't mean one word of what he was saying," Helen remarked.

[280] "Oh dear, I'm so confused," said Miss Flora, her voice trembling. "Let's all sit down in the parlor and talk about it a little more."

[281] The two girls stepped back as Miss Flora, then Aunt Rosemary, left the dining room. They followed to the parlor and sat down together on the recessed couch by the fireplace. Nancy, on a sudden hunch, ran to a front window to see which direction Comber had taken. To her surprise he was walking down the winding driveway.

[282] "That's strange. Evidently he didn't drive," Nancy told herself. "It's quite a walk into town to get a train or bus to River Heights."

[283] As Nancy mulled over this idea, trying to figure out the answer, she became conscious of creaking sounds. Helen suddenly gave a shriek. Nancy turned quickly.

[284] "Look!" Helen cried, pointing toward the ceiling, and everyone stared upward.

[285] The crystal chandelier had suddenly started swaying from side to side!

[286] "The ghost again!" Miss Flora cried out. She looked as if she were about to faint.

[287] Nancy's eyes quickly swept the room. Nothing else in it was moving, so vibration was not causing the chandelier to sway. As it swung back and forth, a sudden thought came to the young sleuth. Maybe someone in Miss Flora's room above was causing the shaking.

[288] "I'm going upstairs to investigate," Nancy told the others.

[289] Racing noiselessly on tiptoe out of the room and through the hall, she began climbing the stairs, hugging the wall so the steps would not creak. As she neared the top, Nancy was sure she heard a door close. Hurrying along the hall, she burst into Miss Flora's bedroom. No one was in sight!

[290] "Maybe this time the ghost couldn't get away and is in that wardrobe!" Nancy thought.

[291] Helen and her relatives had come up the stairs behind Nancy. They reached the bedroom just as she flung open the wardrobe doors. But for the second time she found no one hiding there.

[292] Nancy bit her lip in vexation. The ghost was clever indeed. Where had he gone? She had given him no time to go down the hall or run into another room. Yet there was no denying the fact that he had been in Miss Flora's room!

[293] "Tell us why you came up," Helen begged her. Nancy told her theory, but suddenly she realized that maybe she was letting her imagination run wild. It was possible, she admitted to the others, that no one had caused the chandelier to shake.

[294] "There's only one way to find out," she said. "I'll make a test."

[295] Nancy asked Helen to go back to the first floor and watch the chandelier. She would try to make it sway by rocking from side to side on the floor above it.

[296] "If this works, then I'm sure we've picked up a clue to the ghost," she said hopefully.

[297] Helen readily agreed and left the room. When Nancy thought her friend had had time to reach the parlor below, she began to rock hard from side to side on the spot above the chandelier.

[298] She had barely started the test when from the first floor Helen Corning gave a piercing scream!

[299] CHAPTER VI. The Gorilla Face.

[300] "SOMETHING has happened to Helen!" Aunt Rosemary cried out fearfully.

[301] Nancy was already racing through the second-floor hallway. Reaching the stairs, she leaped down them two steps at a time. Helen Corning had collapsed in a wing chair in the parlor, her hands over her face.

[302] "Helen! What happened?" Nancy asked, reaching her friend's side.

[303] "Out there! Looking in that window!" Helen pointed to the front window of the parlor next to the hall. "The most horrible face I ever saw!"

[304] "Was it a man's face?" Nancy questioned.

[305] "Oh, I don't know. It looked just like a gorilla!" Helen closed her eyes as if to shut out the memory of the sight.

[306] Nancy did not wait to hear any more. In another second she was at the front door and had yanked it open. Stepping outside, she looked all around. She could see no animal near the house, nor any sign under the window that one had stood there.

[307] Puzzled, the young sleuth hurried down the steps and began a search of the grounds. By this time Helen had collected her wits and come outside. She joined Nancy and together they looked in every outbuilding and behind every clump of bushes on the grounds of Twin Elms. They did not find one footprint or any other evidence to prove that a gorilla or other creature had been on the grounds of the estate.

[308] "I saw it! I know I saw it!" Helen insisted.

[309] "I don't doubt you," Nancy replied.

[310] "Then what explanation is there?" Helen demanded. "You know I never did believe in spooks. But if we have many more of these weird happenings around here, I declare I'm going to start believing in ghosts."

[311] Nancy laughed. "Don't worry, Helen," she said. "There'll be a logical explanation for the face at the window."

[312] The girls walked back to the front door of the mansion. Miss Flora and Aunt Rosemary stood there and immediately insisted upon knowing what had happened. As Helen told them, Nancy once more surveyed the outside of the window at which Helen had seen the terrifying face.

[313] "I have a theory," she spoke up. "Our ghost simply leaned across from the end of the porch and held a mask in front of the window." Nancy stretched her arm out to demonstrate how this was possible.

[314] "So that's why he didn't leave any footprints under the window," Helen said. "But he certainly got away from here fast." She suddenly laughed. "He must be on some ghosts' track team."

[315] Her humor, Nancy was glad to see, relieved the tense situation. She had noticed Miss Flora leaning wearily on her daughter's arm.

[316] "You'd better lie down and rest, Mother," Mrs. Hayes advised.

[317] "I guess I will," Aunt Flora agreed.

[318] It was suggested that the elderly woman use Aunt Rosemary's room, while the others continued the experiment with the chandelier.

[319] Helen and Aunt Rosemary went into the parlor and waited as Nancy ascended the front stairway and went to Miss Flora's bedroom. Once more she began to rock from side to side. Downstairs, Aunt Rosemary and her niece were gazing intently at the ceiling.

[320] "Look!" Helen exclaimed, pointing to the crystal chandelier. "It's moving!" In a moment it swung to the left, then back to the right.

[321] "Nancy has proved that the ghost was up in my mother's room!" Aunt Rosemary said excitedly.

[322] After a few minutes the rocking motion of the chandelier slackened and finally stopped. Nancy came hurrying down the steps.

[323] "Did it work?" she called.

[324] "Yes, it did," Aunt Rosemary replied. "Oh, Nancy, we must have two ghosts!"

[325] "Why do you say that?" Helen asked.

[326] "One rocking the chandelier, the other holding the horrible face up to the window. No one could have gone from Miss Flora's room to the front porch in such a short time. Oh, this complicates everything!"

[327] "It certainly does," Nancy agreed. "The question is, are the two ghosts in cahoots? Or, it's just possible, there is only one. He could have disappeared from Miss Flora's room without our seeing him and somehow hurried to the first floor and let himself out the front door while we were upstairs. I'm convinced there is at least one secret entrance into this house, and maybe more. I think our next step should be to try to find it—or them."

[328] "We'd better wash the luncheon dishes first," Aunt Rosemary suggested.

[329] As she and the girls worked, they discussed the mystery, and Mrs. Hayes revealed that she had talked to her mother about leaving the house, whether or not she sold it.

[330] "I thought we might at least go away for a little vacation, but Mother refuses to leave. She says she intends to remain right here until this ghost business is settled."

[331] Helen smiled.  "Nancy, my great-grandmother is a wonderful woman. She has taught me a lot about courage and perseverance. I hope if I ever reach her age, I'll have half as much."

[332] "Yes, she's an example to all of us," Aunt Rosemary concurred.

[333] Nancy nodded. "I agree. I haven't known your mother long, Aunt Rosemary, but I think she is one of the dearest persons I've ever met."

[334] "If Miss Flora won't leave," said Helen, "I guess that means we all stay."

[335] "That's settled," said Nancy with a smile.

After the dishes were put away, the girls were ready to begin their search for a secret entrance into the mansion.

[336] "Let's start with Miss Flora's room," Helen suggested.

[337] "That's a logical place," Nancy replied, and took the lead up the stairway.

[338] Every inch of the wall, which was paneled in maple halfway to the ceiling, was tapped. No hollow sound came from any section of it to indicate an open space behind. The bureau, dressing table, and bed were pulled away from the walls and Nancy carefully inspected every inch of the paneling for cracks or wide seams to indicate a concealed door.

[339] "Nothing yet," she announced, and then decided to inspect the sides of the fireplace.

[340] The paneled sides and brick front revealed nothing. Next, Nancy looked at the sides and rear of the stone interior. She could see nothing unusual, and the blackened stones did not look as if they had ever been disturbed.

[341] She closed the damper which Helen had left open, and then suggested that the searchers transfer to another room on the second floor. But no trace of any secret entrance to the mansion could be found.

[342] "I think we've had enough investigation for one day," Aunt Rosemary remarked.

[343] Nancy was about to say that she was not tired and would like to continue. But she realized that Mrs. Hayes had made this suggestion because her mother was once more showing signs of fatigue and strain.

[344] Helen, who also realized the situation, said, "Let's have an early supper. I'm starved I"

[345] "I am, too," Nancy replied, laughing gaily.

[346] The mood was contagious and soon Miss Flora seemed to have forgotten about her mansion being haunted. She sat in the kitchen while Aunt Rosemary and the girls cooked the meal.

[347] "Um, steak and French fried potatoes, fresh peas, and yummy floating island for dessert," said Helen. "I can hardly wait."

[348] "Fruit cup first," Aunt Rosemary announced, taking a bowl of fruit from the refrigerator.

[349] Soon the group was seated at the table. Tactfully steering the conversation away from the mystery, Nancy asked Miss Flora to tell the group about parties and dances which had been held in the mansion long ago.

[350] The elderly woman smiled in recollection. "I remember one story my husband told me of something that happened when he was a little boy," Miss Flora began. "His parents were holding a masquerade and he was supposed to be in bed fast asleep. His nurse had gone downstairs to talk to some of the servants. The music awakened my husband and he decided it would be great fun to join the guests.

[351] "I’ll put on a costume myself,' he said to himself. He knew there were some packed in a trunk in the attic." Miss Flora paused. "By the way, girls, I think that sometime while you are here you ought to see them. They're beautiful.

[352] "Well, Everett went to the attic, opened the trunk, and searched until he found a soldier's outfit. It was very fancy—red coat and white trousers. He had quite a struggle getting it on and had to turn the coat sleeves way up. The knee britches came to his ankles, and the hat was so large it came down over his ears."