“Do you think I should tell Mrs. Flanders that Lolita and I are going to be married?”
“Not yet,” Nancy replied. “There are a lot of things to be done before the mystery is completely solved.”
As the travelers boarded the plane, Lola Flanders clung to Nancy. It had been a long time since she had made a trip across the ocean and never by plane. But the journey was a smooth and happy one.
When they landed in New York, a messenger delivered several telegrams to the plane. The stewardess handed one of them to Nancy.
Quickly she tore it open, then stared at the sheet in horror. The message had been sent by Bess from River Heights and read:
lolita badly injured. will meet you hotel coles new york with details.
CHAPTER XXIII
Dodging Spies
For a few moments Nancy sat in stunned silence. Then quickly she showed the telegram to her father, and in a whisper cautioned him not to read it aloud.
“Mrs. Flanders mustn’t see it,” she said hurriedly.
“You’re right,” her father replied in a low voice. “This is dreadful news.”
Trying not to show her agitation, Nancy helped Mrs. Flanders from the plane. The woman looked around in a dazed fashion. For a moment Nancy was fearful that Mrs. Flanders might suffer a mental relapse. But suddenly the ex-circus performer smiled and said:
“To think that I am back in the U.S.A.! Oh, it doesn’t seem possible that in a little while I’ll see my daughter again!”
“We’ll have to find out where she is,” said Nancy gently. “I don’t know where the circus is right now.”
Mrs. Flanders was trembling with excitement. When Mr. Drew went to claim their baggage, Nancy suggested that she sit down and relax.
She led Mrs. Flanders to the women’s lounge and asked the matron if she would please look after her for a few minutes. The kindly woman promised to do so.
“Please don’t let her out of here,” Nancy requested.
“Don’t you worry, miss,” the matron said. “I’ll guard her as if she was my own mother,”
Nancy hurried off to find her father. At the baggage desk, she said to him in a low voice:
“Dad, I’ve just come to the conclusion that the telegram is a hoax. Nobody in the States knew when we were flying back.”
“It’s just possible,” said Mr. Drew, “that the doctor who attended Lola Flanders may have visited the nursing home and found out that she had left for the States. He could have cabled Kroon.”
Nancy decided that the only way to settle the matter was to call Bess’s home. Going at once to the telephone booth, she placed the call. Bess herself answered.
“Where are you?” she asked Nancy.
“New York City. I just landed. Bess, did you send me a telegram?”
“Why, no,” Bess replied in surprise. “What made you think I had?”
Nancy told her that someone had signed her name to a very unfortunate message. Then she asked if Bess had heard from Lolita recently.
“Why, yes. I just spoke to Erika. Lolita is fine. Why do you want to know?”
Nancy told her about the latest developments. Bess gasped, first in horror that anyone could be so cruel as to send such a message, and then in delight to hear that Lolita’s mother had been found.
“Where is the circus playing?” Nancy asked.
“It’s moving to Melville tonight. They’ll be there for three days. That’s why Erika called me. She wanted to know if there was any news of Pietro.”
Quickly Nancy gave Bess the other details of the trip and concluded by saying that Pietro wanted to return to the circus as soon as possible and marry Lolita.
“When Erika calls again, will you please give Lolita his message.”
Returning to her father, who had just received their baggage, Nancy told him the latest turn of events. Mr. Drew became grave.
“One thing is sure. We are being spied upon. We’ll probably be followed. I suggest that we lead our pursuers a merry chase and throw them off the track.”
Nancy was agreeable to the suggestion. Suddenly an idea came to her. “I heard an announcement a few minutes ago that a helicopter’s taking off for Newark. Suppose we fly over there and then drive back to New York? Anybody who might be following us could never get there in time.”