“I believe so.”
“Did you know her?”
“I saw her perform many times, and admired
her dancing very much,” Mr. Drew replied.
“Why she disappeared at the height of her
career has always puzzled me.”
“Apparently she left no clues behind.”
“The case was a strange one,” her father said.
“I guess her fiance was pretty broken up over her
disappearance. I’ve always wondered if he might
have had something to do with it.” After a pause
he added, “Heath Castle might provide a key to
the mystery.”
“I was thinking the same thing!” Nancy ex-
claimed with a mysterious twinkle in her eyes.
“Tomorrow I’ll go there and take a look around
that castle and those old walls!”
CHAPTER IV
The Haunted Walk
Shortly after breakfast the following morning,
Nancy, Bess, and George drove to Heath Castle.
By studying a map of the area, they had dis-
covered a little-used road which led to the aban-
doned estate. Though this woodland route was
rough and dusty, Bess preferred it to another boat
trip.
“Hope we don’t get a flat tire,” Nancy re-
marked, maneuvering the car to avoid jagged
rocks. “How much farther is it?”
George peered at the odometer and noted that
they had traveled about five miles from the out-
skirts of River Heights.
“We’re coming to something!” she exclaimed a
moment later.
Through the trees the girls caught a fleeting
glimpse of a tall tower. The car rounded a sharp
curve, blotting it from view. Then the road
ended abruptly in front of a high, vine-covered
stone wall.
“The front boundary of the estate!” Bess an-
nounced. “There’s the name Heath Castle on the
gate.”
Nancy jumped from the car and led the girls
to the iron gate. It was fastened by a heavy iron
chain, secured by a huge padlock.
“The key I have won’t open this padlock,”
Nancy said. “It’s tor the front door.”
“Who put the padlock on?” Bess asked.
“Probably Daniel Hector, the executor,”
George replied.
“Whoever it was is determined to keep every-
one out,” Nancy said thoughtfully.
“How do we get in?” Bess asked.
“Over the top, commando style,” George
urged. “Lucky we wore jeans.”
Nancy and Bess looked with misgivings at the
sharp iron spikes of the high, rusty gate.
“I don’t like the idea of climbing over that.
There must be an easier way to get in,” Nancy
said, her gaze roving along the crumbling, ivy-
covered wall.
The girls walked alongside for some distance.
Finally they came to a spot which was a bit lower
than the gate and offered good toe holds. It was
not difficult for them to grasp vines and pull
themselves to the top. Bess was reluctant to go,
but decided to follow. The three friends leaped
down on the other side of the wall and started
through the dense growth of trees and shrubs.
It was damp and cool beneath the canopy of
leaves. There were many eerie noises. As they
progressed, Bess said she felt very uneasy.
“Listen!” she commanded tensely. “What’s
that?”
“The cooing of a pigeon,” Nancy replied.
“Come along, or we’ll all have the jitters.”
Just ahead stretched a long avenue of oak trees,
which the girls thought might lead to the castle.
They tramped through the waist-high grass and
came to a vine-tangled, fern-matted bower. Two
handsome stone vases lay on their sides, broken.
Apparently rain water had filled them and frozen
during the winter, bursting the vases.
“What a shame this place is being neglected!”
Nancy commented, pausing a moment. “Mr.
Hector ought to take care of it. Surely there must
be money in Mr. Heath’s estate set aside for that
purpose! If Juliana should come back, she would
hardly recognize the place.”
At the end of the oak-lined avenue, the girls
came to a weather-stained loggia of stone. Its
four handsomely carved pillars rose to support a
balcony over which vines trailed. Steps led to the
upper part.
After mounting to the balcony. Nancy and her
friends obtained a fine view of the nearby gar-
dens. They had been laid out in formal sections,
each one bounded by a stone wall or an un-
trimmed hedge. Here and there were small cir-