(#24) The Clue in the Old Album Read Online Free PDF Page B

dolls in another state the following week. She suggested that George and Bess go with her. Nancy agreed.
    At nine o’clock Monday morning, she and her friends met at the River Heights airport and boarded a plane for Jefferson. When the girls were seated and ready for takeoff a last-minute passenger rushed inside. She flopped into an aisle seat several rows ahead of Nancy, Bess, and George.
    Nancy nudged her friends. “Nitaka just got on the plane!” she whispered.
    “You mean that carrot-haired woman?” Bess asked. “She isn’t wearing gypsy clothes.”
    “The woman who stole Mrs. Struthers’ doll wasn’t wearing them at the time, either,” said Nancy. “The gypsies left the carnival, but evidently they didn’t move very far away,” she guessed.
    “Where do you suppose Nitaka’s going?” George asked.
    “I have no idea, but I mean to follow her, now that I have a chance,” Nancy decided. “If she doesn’t get off at Jefferson, I’ll stay on the plane until she does.”
    “Oh, please don’t,” Bess begged. “You might get into troublel”
    “What about the doll sale?” George asked.
    “You girls will have to go to it.” As the cousins groaned and insisted they could not do the job without her, Nancy replied, “If Nitaka is a thief and she could lead me to something important, you wouldn’t want me to give up the chase, would you?”
    “I suppose not,” George said grudgingly.
    Not once during the flight to Jefferson did Nitaka glance over her shoulder. She seemed indifferent to the scenery and devoted herself to a booklet, which she read many times.
    The girls were the first passengers off the plane when it landed at Jefferson. They kept out of sight and watched to see if Nitaka would alight also.
    Nancy had just about decided she was not going to, when the woman appeared. She hastened through the terminal and jumped into a cab.
    “Hurry, or we’ll lose her!” Nancy cried out to her friends.
    After a little delay the girls found a taxi. By this time Nitaka’s cab was far down the road.
    “Will you please try to overtake that taxi?” Nancy asked their driver.
    The elderly man was not willing to do so. As they reached the heart of Jefferson, they realized they had lost the trail of the other vehicle.
    “It turned down a side street somewheres,” the driver mumbled. “I was watching sharp, but I didn’t see which way it went.”
    “Never mind.” Nancy sighed. “Please drive us to the Jefferson Galleries.”
    It was now after eleven and Nancy feared many of the dolls might have been sold.
    “We’ll have to hurry or we’ll be too late,” she declared. “I hope I haven’t failed Mrs. Struthers.”
    Ten minutes later the girls were at the galleries. The salesrooms were thronged with customers. Nancy was relieved to learn that while nearly all the fine old silver and jewelry had been sold, few of the dolls had been.
    “Why did Mrs. Struthers want you to come to this particular sale?” Bess asked as the girls walked toward the counter where the dolls were displayed.
    “Most of the dolls are old and valuable, so there’s a chance the stolen fan doll is here, and even the one Mrs. Struthers’ daughter wanted her to find,” Nancy explained.
    She examined the dolls carefully, but found none that she wanted. Nancy asked a salesman if he had any others for sale that were not on display —any that lighted up or had gems sewed on their costumes.
    “The most attractive dolls have been sold,” he answered. “One like the one you mention was among them. A king with a jeweled robe.”
    “Just my luck!” Nancy groaned. “Who bought the doll?”
    “The woman didn’t give her name. She paid cash. Oh, there she is—leaving with her package.”
    Nancy turned and caught a glimpse of the retreating figure who was now outside the galleries. Nitaka!
    Nancy ran after the gypsy, but was too late to stop her. Nitaka entered a taxi and already was far down the street before the girl reached