[253] "Howdy, everybody!" he said.
[254] Miss Flora, Aunt Rosemary, and Helen showed annoyance. It was plain that all of them thought the man completely lacking in good manners.
[255] Aunt Rosemary's jaw was set in a grim line, but she said politely, "Helen, this is Mr. Comber. Mr. Comber, my niece, Miss Corning."
[256] "Pleased to meet you," said their caller, extending a hand to shake Helen's.
[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.