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N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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“I’ve hit it!” she thought excitedly.
CHAPTER IV
A Switch in Jobs
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1653 112 129 1562 16 882 091 5618
—
C a l li ng m ee ti ng
The numbers with the marks above or below
them stymied Nancy completely. Most of the oth-
ers fell neatly into place and spelled:
“Calling meeting,” Nancy repeated. “But
where? And by whom?” She yawned, weary from
her long concentration. “My brain’s too fogged to
figure out anything more,” she told herself. “I’ll
tackle this another time.”
The next morning Nancy and her father en-
joyed a leisurely breakfast. He praised her for
hitting upon the key to the code but agreed that
solving the rest of it would be difficult.
“Keep at it,” he advised, smiling fondly at his
daughter. “By the way, I won’t be home to lunch
or dinner today because of this Clifton case.”
“I thought I’d visit Joanne and try to cheer her
up,” Nancy said. “Do you, by any chance, know
anyone who’s looking for an office girl?” she
added.
Mr. Drew shook his head. “No. I’m afraid I
don’t. But if I hear of anything I’ll let you know.”
“I feel that Joanne isn’t the type to be in the
hectic business world,” Nancy remarked. “If it
weren’t that she wants to help her grandmother, I
doubt that she’d even try for a city position.”
After Carson Drew had left for his office. Nancy
busied herself around the house, helping Han-
nah. When the housework was finally done,
Nancy settled herself in an easy chair and delved
into the code book once more. But she found no
new hints to help break her own set of numbers.
Nancy, Bess, and George had planned to start
for Riverside Heights early in the afternoon, so
as soon as the luncheon dishes had been cleared
away. Nancy was off to pick up the other girls. By
two-thirty they had reached Joanne’s rooming
house.
The landlady answered Nancy’s knock on the
front door and informed her that Joanne had left
two hours before to see about a job. She would
be back at three o’clock. The woman invited the
girls in, but the living room looked so dark and
dreary that they preferred to wait outside in the
car.
“It’s too bad Joanne has to stay in a dismal
place like that,” Nancy remarked, “especially
when she’s accustomed to farm life.”
“I sure hope she finds something,” Bess added.
“Maybe luck will be with her today.”
Within fifteen minutes the girls spotted Jo-
anne at a distance. She did not notice the car, and
unaware that she was being observed, walked
slowly toward the rooming house, her head
drooping dejectedly.
“She didn’t get the job,” George murmured.
“I feel so sorry for her.”
As Joanne approached. Nancy called to her. Jo-
anne glanced up quickly and mustered a smile.
“No luck today?” Bess questioned.
“None at all,” Joanne answered with a sigh.
She came over to the car and stood leaning against
the door. “I tried half a dozen places, but I
couldn’t land a thing. I’ll just have to try again
tomorrow.”
In the face of such spirit on Joanne’s part, the
girls could do nothing but encourage her, though
secretly they feared she would have no better luck
the next day.
“How about coming for a short ride?” Nancy
invited.
“I’d love it,” Joanne accepted eagerly. “It’s so
hot and stuffy in my room-” She hesitated, then
added, “Of course, I guess it is everywhere these
days!”
Nancy took a road that led out of the city and
soon they were driving past cultivated fields of
corn and wheat. Gradually, Joanne became more
cheerful.
“It’s so good to be out in the country again!”
she declared, gazing wistfully toward a farmhouse
nestled in the rolling hills. “That place looks
something like Red Gate Farm, only not half
so attractive. I wish you all could visit me there