[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."
[353] By this time Miss Flora's audience was laughing and Aunt Rosemary remarked, "My father really must have looked funny. Please go on, Mother."
[354] "Little Everett came down the stairs and mingled with the masqueraders at the dance. For a while he wasn't noticed, then suddenly his mother discovered the queer-looking figure."
[355] "And," Aunt Rosemary interrupted, "quickly put him back to bed, I'm sure."
[356] Miss Flora laughed. "That's where you're wrong. The guests thought the whole thing was such fun that they insisted Everett stay. Some of the women danced with him—he went to dancing school and was an excellent dancer. Then they gave him some strawberries and cream and cake."
[357] Helen remarked, "And then put him to bed."
[358] Again Miss Flora laughed. "The poor little fellow never knew that he had fallen asleep while he was eating, and his father had to carry him upstairs. He was put into his little four-poster, costume and all. Of course his nurse was horrified, and I'm afraid that during the rest of the night the poor woman thought she would lose her position. But she didn't. In fact, she stayed with the family until all the children were grown up."
[359] "Oh, that's a wonderful story!" said Nancy.
[360] She was about to urge Miss Flora to tell another story when the telephone rang. Aunt Rosemary answered it, and then called to Nancy, "It's for you."
[361] Nancy hurried to the hall, grabbed up the phone, and said, "Hello." A moment later she cried out, "Dad! How wonderful to hear from you!"
[362] Mr. Drew said that he had not found Willie Wharton and certain clues seemed to indicate that he was not in Chicago, but in some other city.
[363] "I have a few other matters to take care of that will keep me here until tomorrow night. How are you getting along?"
[364] "I haven't solved the mystery yet," his daughter reported. "We've had some more strange happenings. I'll certainly be glad to see you here at Cliffwood. I know you can help me."
[365] "All right, I'll come. But don't try to meet me. The time is too uncertain, and as a matter of fact, I may find that I'll have to stay here in Chicago."
[366] Mr. Drew said he would come out to the mansion by taxi. Briefly Nancy related her experiences at Twin Elms, and after a little more conversation, hung up. When she rejoined the others at the table, she told them about Mr. Drew's promised visit.
[367] "Oh, I'll be so happy to meet your father," said Miss Flora. "We may need legal advice in this mystery."
[368] There was a pause after this remark, with everyone silent for a few moments. Suddenly each one in the group looked at the others, startled. From somewhere upstairs came the plaintive strains of violin music. Had the radio been turned on again by the ghost?
[369] Nancy dashed from the table to find out.
[370] CHAPTER VII. Frightening Eyes.
[371] WITHIN five seconds Nancy had reached the second floor. The violin playing suddenly ceased.
[372] She raced into Miss Flora's room, from which the sounds had seemed to come. The radio was not on. Quickly Nancy felt the instrument to see if it were even slightly warm to prove it had been in use.
[373] "The music wasn't being played on this," she told herself, finding the radio cool.
[374] As Nancy dashed from the room, she almost ran into Helen. "What did you find out?" her friend asked breathlessly.
[375] "Nothing so far," Nancy replied, as she raced into Aunt Rosemary's bedroom to check the bedside radio in there.
[376] This instrument, too, felt cool to the touch.
[377] She and Helen stood in the center of the room, puzzled frowns creasing their foreheads. "There was music, wasn't there?" Helen questioned.
[378] "I distinctly heard it," Nancy replied. "But where is the person who played the violin? Or put a disk on a record player, or turned on a hidden radio? Helen, I'm positive an intruder comes into this mansion by some secret entrance and tries to frighten us all."
"And succeeds," Helen answered. "It's positively eerie."
"And dangerous," Nancy thought.
[379] "Let's continue our search right after breakfast tomorrow," Helen proposed.
[380] "We will," Nancy responded. "But in the meantime I believe Miss Flora and Aunt Rosemary, to say nothing of ourselves, need some police protection."
[381] "I think you're right," Helen agreed. "Let's go downstairs and suggest it to the others."
[382] The girls returned to the first floor and Nancy told Mrs. Hayes and her mother of the failure to find the cause of the violin playing, and what she had in mind.
[383] "Oh dear, the police will only laugh at us," Miss Flora objected.
[384] "Mother dear," said her daughter, "the captain and his men didn't believe us before because they thought we were imagining things. But Nancy and Helen heard music at two different times and they saw the chandelier rock. I'm sure that Captain Rossland will believe Nancy and send a guard out here."
[385] Nancy smiled at Miss Flora. "I shan't ask the captain to believe in a ghost or even hunt for one. I think all we should request at the moment is that he have a man patrol the grounds here at night. I'm sure that we're perfectly safe while we're all awake, but I must admit I'd feel a little uneasy about going to bed wondering what that ghost may do next."
[386] Mrs. Turnbull finally agreed to the plan and Nancy went to the telephone. Captain Rossland readily agreed to send a man out a little later.
[387] "He'll return each night as long as you need him," the officer stated. "And I'll tell him not to ring the bell to tell you when he comes. If there is anyone who breaks into the mansion by a secret entrance, it would be much better if he does not know a guard is on duty."
[388] "I understand," said Nancy.
[389] When Miss Flora, her daughter, and the two girls went to bed, they were confident they would have a restful night. Nancy felt that if there was no disturbance, then it would indicate that the ghost's means of entry into Twin Elms was directly from the outside. "In which case," she thought, "it will mean he saw the guard and didn't dare come inside the house."