The Clue of the Broken Locket Read Online Free PDF Page A

father.”
    Cecily looked wistful. “I can just barely remember Daddy telling Mother the story which Amelia had learned from the orphanage official. He had tried to find the fortune, too, but no luck!” Cecily explained that her own parents had died when she was seven. From then on, she had been under the guardianship of an elderly cousin of her mother’s. Upon the cousin’s death several years ago, Cecily had been left on her own.
    “At least,” she said, “I still had my great-grand-mother’s half of the locket and made up my mind to find the fortune myself, if possible.”
    “And you came here to search for the iron bird?” asked Nancy, greatly intrigued.
    “Yes. I studied loads of maps, trying to dig up some clue. Finally I came upon a really old map, and found the name Pudding Stone Lake. I went on hunting, and learned that Misty Lake here is the very same place. The name was changed.”
    “How fascinating!” Bess said.
    George added, “And you believe the iron bird may be connected with the stone house Amelia remembered? And that they’re both in this vicinity?”
    Cecily nodded. “I have a strong hunch they are. The house on the bluff is all of stone, and looks pretty old. So last night I decided to go out by myself and get a good close-up view of the place.” She smiled ruefully. “But I didn’t get very far.”
    Cecily arose and went to her suitcase. From it she brought out the half of a small heart-shaped locket, and Simon’s note.
    Nancy’s mind was racing. She mentioned the other red-haired girl and asked Cecily if she had a relative who resembled her closely. “Maybe that girl we saw is hiding here because she’s searching for the same thing you are!”
    “I don’t know anyone who looks like me,” Cecily replied. “I have no close relatives, but I may have distant cousins whom I don’t even know.”
    Suddenly Cecily changed the subject. “Now that I’m here and all these strange things are happening, I admit I’m afraid to be alone. Would it be possible for you girls to stay here and help me solve the mystery?”
    The three grinned and Nancy said, “I’d love to. How about you, Bess and George?”
    “I’m too intrigued to leave now,” Bess answered, and George said, “I think, Cecily, that you and Nancy need a strong, athletic person around to help keep guard. Maybe I can fill the bill!”
    “Wonderful!” said Cecily. “And now I’d like to tell you my other secret.”
    She explained that she was engaged to a young man named Niko Van Dyke. “He’s a pop singer and leads his own combo which is called the Flying Dutchmen.”
    “Oh, I love their music,” said Bess, exchanging glances with Nancy and George. Now they understood why the young man who had been with Cecily had seemed familiar. They had seen Niko’s picture in newspapers and magazines.
    Cecily went on, “Niko is just starting to become famous, mostly because of his latest record. Polls show it to be a hit number, but the mystery is that his royalty payments don’t match its popularity. Niko is suing the record company for withholding his rightful share of profit.”
    “Well, I should think he would,” George said indignantly.
    Cecily said that the company denied any dishonesty. “I feel that Niko and I shouldn’t get married while the lawsuit is pending. He has little money, what with paying off loans he got for his college education and his music instruction. I have a job in New Orleans, but of course when I marry Niko, I’ll want to travel with him, and at present we just can’t afford it.”
    “That’s a shame!” Bess remarked.
    Cecily nodded. “Perhaps it’s foolish of me to be too hopeful, but I thought if I could only find that treasure, then everything would be fine and Niko and I could get married.”
    “Where is he now?” Nancy asked.
    “In Baltimore. He asked me to meet him at the White Mill restaurant.” Cecily’s eyes filled with tears. “Then he begged me to go with him to