Mystery of the Ivory Charm Read Online Free PDF

the tunnel or the house,” she declared. “Come, Rishi, show me how to enter through the rock.”
    Obediently he led the way up the steep bank to the boulder. He slipped his fingers into a crevice and pulled with all his strength. The rock did not move.
    “Strange,” he muttered. “Most strange. Rock move easy when Rishi push from other side.” He tried again.
    “Let me help,” Bess offered.
    Although the two pulled hard, it was impossible to budge the boulder even an inch. The secret door remained firmly in place.
    “It’s no use,” Bess said in disappointment, giving up her efforts and resting. “We must return to the abandoned house.”
    Rishi hesitated, apparently afraid of risking further bruises.
    “Nancy and George may be in serious trouble,” Bess said urgently.
    “Then Rishi go with you,” the boy promised quickly. “But Rishi enter house in more safe way.”
    They returned to the car. Bess started the engine and shifted into low gear while Rishi pushed the convertible from the rear. The ditch was not deep, and with a low, rumbling protest, its wheels spinning in the dirt, the car lurched onto the road again. Rishi sprang inside, and Bess drove to the spot where Nancy had left the car before.
    She and Rishi got out and ran along the twisting trail to the deserted house. In her anxiety to reach Nancy and George, Bess did not notice that Rishi was lagging farther and farther behind. Half walking and half running, she reached the place ahead of him and waited impatiently by the porch.
    “Hurry, Rishi!” she urged, trying to catch her breath.
    The boy eyed the building with obvious misgivings. “No need to go inside,” he announced evenly.
    “Nancy and George may be in serious trouble!”
    “Not while Nancy wear wonderful elephant charm. If she meet bad trouble mystic power of charm save her.”
    Rishi spoke with a conviction that Bess could not share. She was provoked by the boy’s attitude, sincere though it might be.
    “Oh, Rishi, you place too much trust in that ivory piece! I can’t believe it has any unusual powers!”
    “Ivory charm never fail,” the boy insisted.
    Bess was so exasperated, she felt like crying. She knew it would be impossible now to induce Rishi to reenter the strange house. She must investigate herself. But Bess, always more timid than her friends, was afraid to go in alone.
    She stared at the building in a torment of indecision. Suddenly from far away she heard a cry.
    “What was that?” she asked sharply.
    The call was repeated. Bess thought she heard her own name.
    With Rishi close behind, she ran toward the sound. Rounding an abrupt turn in the path, Bess nearly collided with Nancy. The girl’s clothes were torn, her face was streaked with dirt, and her arm was bleeding from a scratch.
    “Nancy!” Bess cried. “You’re hurt!”
    “You cut!” Rishi added.
    “I’m all right.” Nancy smiled. “But I’ve certainly had a strange experience.”
    “What became of George?” Bess asked.
    “Isn’t she with you?”
    “No, When you failed to return she followed you into the abandoned house. I haven’t seen her since.”
    “Then she must be somewhere in that wild labyrinth,” Nancy answered, looking troubled. “I thought I’d never find the way out myself. My flashlight smashed when I fell. I kept walking and stumbling in the dark until I came to a queer door in a rock. It sounds impossible but it’s true.”
    “I know it is,” Bess said, “because I saw Rishi come out of that same boulder. He’s been telling me a strange tale about the house having no in sides.”
    The boy’s eyes were glued on Nancy, waiting for her to answer.
    “That’s true, too,” Nancy declared. “It’s the weirdest, most fantastic place I’ve ever seen. Only I didn’t see too much of it! It was almost pitch-black.”
    “George must be lost somewhere in the tunnel you and Rishi were in, Nancy.”
    “I’m afraid of that, Bess. We’ll have to go inside and search for