Nancy quickly explained what had happened, and at once she and her bag were taken into the doctor’s office.
The odor of the fumes was very evident and the physician recognized them at once. He took down a bottle of oily fluid and gauze sponges from a shelf. Soaking a sponge, he dabbed it on her eyes.
“Take that bag out in the fresh air!” he ordered.
The nurse hurriedly went off with it. The physician continued to work on Nancy. Presently she was able to see but only dimly.
“Will my sight be permanently impaired?” she asked fearfully.
“No, fortunately. If you had spilled the acid in your eyes, you would have been blinded. But the fumes merely affected them momentarily.”
The soothing medication did its work well, and in a few minutes Nancy was able to see distinctly again. She thanked the physician for his quick help.
“I’m glad I was handy,” he said, smiling. Then he sobered. “Would you mind telling me why you were carrying that deadly acid with you?”
Nancy told as much of the story as she felt was advisable. The physician’s eyebrows raised in amazement.
“So you’re a girl detective?” he said admiringly. “The man who tried to harm you ought to be jailed for maliciousness.”
Outside, Mr. Drew and his companions wondered what had happened to Nancy. She had disappeared so suddenly while they were looking at the incoming plane that they had not noticed where she had gone.
“She probably went to telephone again,” Ned said.
“Well, I wish she’d get back,” Mr. Drew remarked. “We’ll be taking off in a few minutes.”
Ned had been staring at a rather unusual sight a short distance away. A woman’s overnight bag lay wide open, and a white uniformed nurse and a policeman were examining its contents.
Ned laughed and pointed out the scene to Miss Drew. “That has all the earmarks of a mystery,” he said. “Nancy ought to be here to solve it.”
But Aunt Eloise did not smile. She had recognized the pink-flowered dressing robe which she knew belonged to Nancy, and told the others.
“What could have happened?” Miss Drew said, worried.
The whole group hurried over to the policeman and inquired what the trouble was. He replied in an impatient tone of voice, “Oh, some fool girl was carrying a bottle of deadly acid in her bag. It got uncorked somehow. A doc in the first-aid station is taking care of her.”
“What!” Mr. Drew cried. Turning to the nurse, he said he was the girl’s father. “Please take us to her at once.”
Reaching the infirmary, they burst into the doctor’s office.
“Nancy! What happened?” Mr. Drew cried.
Quickly his daughter gave him the correct details.
“The fiend!” Pietro cried out. “I’ll give up the trip and find that fellow if it’s the last thing I do!”
“That won’t be necessary,” said Mr. Drew. “The police can take care of him.”
The doctor declared that Nancy was all right to travel, so she hurried outside with the others. She could give the policeman only a hazy description of the man who had tampered with her bag, because she had seen little more than his back.
“I’m afraid that’s not much identification to go on,” Nancy said. She smiled ruefully. “Anyway, he didn’t succeed in keeping me from going to England as he probably hoped to do.”
Nancy stooped to the ground and looked in dismay at her suitcase. The acid had spilled on some of the articles and the robe was ruined. Luckily, it had not damaged the bag itself, and Nancy was able to retrieve some of her belongings.
Over the loud-speaker came the announcement: “Flight 1205. Passengers for Flight 1205 aboard!”
Mr. Drew turned to his daughter. “Nancy, are you sure you feel well enough to make the trip?”
“I’m perfectly all right, really I am,” she replied.
Pietro and the Drews said good-by and found their seats in the plane. A few minutes later the door was closed. The pilot taxied down the runway, then waited for clearance. Finally the overseas airliner roared along the ground and took off gracefully.
Nancy watched from the window as long as land was in sight. Then, as the plane went higher and higher into the clouds, she settled down to read the magazine Aunt Eloise had given her. But reading seemed to hurt her eyes and she decided not to take a chance of straining them. When evening came, Mr. Drew changed seats with Pietro. Nancy asked the clown how long it was since he had seen his father.