The Secret of the Wooden Lady Read Online Free PDF Page A

either Flip Fay or Grizzle Face.
    “My feet hurt,” Bess groaned. “Let’s sit down.”
    “There’s a museum,” Nancy said. “Let’s go in. Maybe we’ll see some figureheads; even the one from the Bonny Scot.”
    She led the way, and was delighted to find a long room lined with carved figures from old ships. The attendant, Donald Blake, was glad to tell the girls something about his treasures.
    “This young lady,” he explained, “sailed around the world ninety times, it’s said. That’s better than most sea captains do!”
    The face of the figurehead was calm and composed. “She’s ridden out storms and maybe even battles without a qualm!”
    “This man looks like a pirate,” George remarked, pointing to a fierce-looking, mustached figure, wearing a cocked hat and a sword.
    “Good guess,” said Mr. Blake. “He came from a Spanish pirate ship.”
    Nancy told Mr. Blake about the lost figurehead of Captain Easterly’s clipper. “You don’t happen to know anything about it?” she asked.
    “I don’t,” Mr. Blake answered. “But this book may give us a clue.”
    He picked up a heavy volume from a desk and thumbed through the index.
    “No Bonny Scot listed,” he said. “Do you know when and where she was built?”
    “So far we haven’t found out,” Nancy replied.
    “Her figurehead may not even be in existence,” Mr. Blake warned. “Some of the early American figureheads rotted away because the woodcarvers used soft wood instead of hard elm or oak.
    “At times a crew would remove the whole figurehead if they were afraid she’d be battered to pieces in a roaring sea,” he continued. “Those old-timers thought a great deal of their wooden ladies. Well, I hope Captain Easterly finds his figurehead.”
    The girls thanked him and returned to the ship, hoping to see the captain. But the clipper was still deserted.
    “I wonder what can be keeping him.” Nancy frowned. “He said he’d be here this morning.”
    “Let’s go somewhere and have a nice cold soda while we’re waiting,” Bess begged.
    “I agree with you!” said George.
    “You two go,” Nancy decided. “I’ll wait here.” George did not think they ought to leave Nancy alone on the ship. “Too many strange things are going on,” she said, “and after all we came to Boston to protect you.”
    “I’ll be perfectly all right,” Nancy assured her.
    The girls left. Nancy looked about the captain’s cabin, once again admiring his orderly housekeeping: the gleaming brass hinges on the mahogany wardrobe, the bunk neatly made up and covered with a blue homespun spread. She noted a flashlight and a book on the little shelf over the bunk and saw that Captain Easterly, too, had been reading about figureheads. She reached for the book, then paused.
    Had she heard someone on board? Captain Easterly? ... No.... Nancy decided she had imagined the pad of footsteps. She took down the book and leafed through it.
    The volume was titled The Ten Greatest Pirates of History. Nancy stopped at the chapter about an Indian Ocean ruffian who maintained a spy ring in the leading ports of the Orient. His underlings, the story said, learned about rich shipments of cloth and precious stones and would send messages to the pirate chieftain. Then the brigands would lie in hiding in some secluded island cove, waiting for their prey.
    Nancy wondered whether the Bonny Scot ever had had such a misadventure.
    Again Nancy thought she heard a noise and strained her ears to listen. “The pirate story is stirring my imagination,” she thought.
    Suddenly Nancy froze, her spine prickling. There was someone behind her! Someone had come softly along the passageway and into the cabin.
    Nancy whirled, but before she could see the person, a coat was thrown over her head and powerful hands pushed her into a closet and slammed the door.

Mark of a Thief
    NANCY tore the coat from her face. She was in : mall dark space, surrounded by clothing 01 .ooks and hangers. It must