The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes.
CHAPTER I.
Mysterious Heirloom.
"NANCY, la.s.s, would ye fly off wi" me to the land o" bagpipes and kilts?" Mr. Drew asked her with a grin. "And how do you like my Scottish accent?"" he teased.
His daughter burst into laughter. "It"s ver-r-ry good!" Nancy replied. "And will I be wearin" a kilt and dancin" to the pipes?" she countered, trying to imitate her father.
"You"ll be solving a mystery," Mr. Drew answered in his natural voice. "The mystery of a missing heirloom-an heirloom of great value which was supposed to come to you, but has been mislaid or lost."
Nancy"s eyes opened wide with interest. "It"s for me? And it"s in Scotland?"
Mr. Drew, a lawyer, explained that Nancy"s maternal great-grandmother, Lady Douglas, who lived in Inverness-shire, had recently written to him. She intended to turn over her large house and estate to the National Trust of Scotland. This had been founded to preserve old castles, ruins, and other places of historic interest.
"In the case of the Douglas property, the transfer cannot be made until a number of relatives have signed releases," Mr. Drew went on. "Lady Douglas has asked me to get these signatures and also donations for an endowment from interested members of the Douglas family in the United States. In order to do this, I must go to Scotland and find out more about the case."
"The heirloom-" Nancy began, but was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. "Excuse me, Dad. I"ll see who it is."
The caller was Ned Nickerson, a college student who often dated Nancy. He had just returned from a trip to South America.
"I want to come over and tell you about it," Ned said.
"Oh, have dinner with us," Nancy replied. "Ned, it"s wonderful to hear from you!" She laughed. "This will be sort of h.e.l.lo and good-by. Guess what! I"m flying to Scotland!"
"That"s great!" Ned answered, then said, "Well, I"ll see you at seven."
Nancy returned to her father and told him about the call. "Now, please tell me more about my heirloom," she begged.
Mr. Drew smiled. "I don"t know what the heirloom is-your great-grandmother didn"t say. She only mentioned that it was missing."
At once Nancy was intrigued. "Was it lost in the house?"
"Lady Douglas didn"t give any further details."
Nancy looked into s.p.a.ce for several moments. Finally she said, "Could it have been stolen?"
"I suppose so," her father replied. "Now, I"ll tell you about the trip to Scotland. In the first place, I must confer with lawyers in Glasgow, then Edinburgh. After that, we"ll go up to Douglas House."
"It sounds terribly exciting!" said Nancy. "And it will be such fun going on a trip with you and also solving a mystery." She grinned. "Especially since I"ll be looking for something that I know hardly anything about. And Douglas House is probably very beautiful."
Mr. Drew agreed. "I have been to Douglas House only once, and everything was very handsome. I can understand why the National Trust will be happy to open it to the public as a place of historic interest."
The lawyer said he would like to do a little work before dinner, so he went into his first-floor study. Nancy entered the kitchen, where the Drews" pleasant-faced housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, was just taking a lemon meringue pie from the oven.
"That looks luscious!" Nancy remarked.
Hannah Gruen had been mother and counselor to Nancy ever since the time she was a very young child, when her own mother had pa.s.sed away.
The housekeeper looked fondly at Nancy. She was proud of the slender, attractive, t.i.tian-haired girl whose penchant for solving mysteries had brought fame and respect to the Drew household. From The Secret of the Old Clock to the revelations in The Moonstone Castle Mystery, Nancy had spent a great deal of her later teen-age years helping people uncover mysteries which were troubling them.
For the next hour, Nancy and Hannah Gruen talked about the proposed trip to Scotland and what clothing the girl should take. Nancy recalled to Hannah the almost unbelievable, fairy-like tales about her great-grandmother"s life as the wife of a member of the House of Lords.
"To think that I"m going to see her at last!"
Hannah Gruen smiled. "I hope that heirloom is something small. This house is so full of trophies and objects from all over the world there isn"t a corner left for another one!"
"Maybe we"ll even have to move the piano out!" Nancy teased.
Just then the front doorbell rang and Nancy went to answer it. Ned Nickerson stood there, a wide grin on his handsome face. Nancy thought that next to her good-looking, athletic father, this special friend of hers was the nicest man she knew. He stood high in his cla.s.ses at Emerson College, played football, and recently had been sent on a special a.s.signment to South America in connection with his courses.
"Hi!" he said. "I left my car right back of yours on the street. Okay? Would you like me to put yours in the garage?"
"After a while, yes," Nancy answered. "But first, come and tell me all about yourself."
When they were seated in the living room, and Ned had described some of his exciting trips into the jungles, he remarked, "Nancy, in case you get lonesome in Scotland and want a mystery to solve, I can tell you about one."
Nancy"s blue eyes sparkled. "What is it?"
Ned said that he had recently read in a newspaper about a ring of thieves who were stealing sheep and lambs in the Highlands of Scotland. "The authorities are baffled, so here"s your chance, Nancy. You may as well solve the case of the poor gimmersl"
"The what!" Nancy asked.
"A gimmer is a young female lamb. Incidentally, how long will you be away, Nancy?"
"Dad didn"t say. In fact, I doubt that he knows himself."
Ned gave a great sigh. "I"ll have to talk to your father about getting you back here by June tenth. My fraternity is giving a big windup party for the season," he announced. "You just have to be there."
"I ought to be able to make it," Nancy replied. "It"s now the middle of May." She smiled broadly. "I"ll do what I can to speed up my sleuthing."
"Good!" From a pocket Ned took out a small package and handed it to Nancy. "A souvenir from South America," he said.
The gift was a very unusual pin made of wood carved to represent a laughing monkey.
"He"s adorable!" Nancy said, as she pinned the monkey on her blouse. "Thanks a million, Ned."
"The natives say it will bring good luck to the wearer," Ned informed her.
"Well, that"s what I"ll need if I expect to solve two mysteries in Scotland," Nancy told him, and explained about the missing heirloom.
Later, as they were finishing dinner, the telephone rang. Nancy excused herself to answer it. An excited girl"s voice came over the wire. "Oh, Nancy, you"ve helped me win the most wonderful prize!"
"Bess Marvin," Nancy said to her blond, slightly plump but very attractive friend, "what are you talking about?"
Bess did not answer the question directly. "It"s for two and you have to share it with me!"
"I? How? What is it?" Nancy exclaimed.