The Spider Sapphire Mystery Read Online Free PDF

although she chafed under the restraint.
    Bess and George hurried over to her and Bess said, “Oh, I hope it’s Ned and he’s all right!”
    The others did not comment. They waited breathlessly as the two policemen forced open a window and climbed into the hunting lodge. In a few seconds the front door opened and Riggi called out, “Come in!”
    “You go first,” Burt suggested to Nancy.
    She fairly leaped inside. The two officers had just whipped a pillowcase from the head of a bound-up young man lying on the floor, his face pale, his dark, wavy hair disheveled.
    “Ned!” Nancy cried and ran to his side.
    “Boy, am I glad to see you all,” he murmured weakly. Then he grinned. “I sure could use something to eat. Anybody bring along lunch?” This broke the long tension over Ned’s absence.
    The others burst into laughter and helped him to his feet. In a moment Ned’s hands, which had been tied behind his back, were freed and his ankles unbound. He wavered a little as he tried to walk but Nancy supported him until he regained his equilibrium.
    Bess opened her large handbag and brought out a box of crackers and a candy bar. She gave them to Ned, saying, “I always carry a little snack for emergency. I guess this is an emergency.” She looked sideways at George as if expecting to be either teased or chided about her penchant for snacks, but her cousin said nothing.
    “As soon as you feel like talking, Ned,” said Officer White, “tell us what happened.”
    “But please make it snappy,” Riggi added. “Your kidnappers will probably be back. It would be best if all you young people are away from here before their return.”
    It did not take Ned long to tell his story. He had been walking across the Emerson campus toward the library when a car with two men in it had stopped and the dark-complexioned driver had asked directions to the main gate.
    “I walked over to tell them and a moment later a handkerchief with something sweet-smelling was put under my nose. The next thing I knew I woke up in a cabin.”
    Ned said that when he awakened, a tall well-built African black was standing over him. “He spoke very little English and said that his language was Swahili. He told me to call him Joe.”
    “Swahili Joe!” Nancy murmured excitedly to herself.
    Ned quickly continued. “Joe was my guard and evidently felt he could manage me without my being bound up, so I wasn’t tied and could walk around.”
    Ned grinned. “I didn’t test his strength, but I did keep alert for some chance to escape. I discovered that there was a telephone in the cabin and once when Joe turned his back, I lifted the receiver to see if it was connected. There was a dial tone and this gave me the idea of trying to get in touch with you people.”
    Ned went on to say that while waiting for a chance to call, he figured out the latitude and longitude of the cabin’s location by a mountain he could see in the distance. “It’s where we go skiing sometimes.”
    “Nancy broke the 4182 code,” Bess spoke up proudly.
    Smiling his thanks, Ned continued his story. Joe had told him he was going outside for a minute, but that if Ned tried to escape he would get a good beating.
    “So I didn’t try it. Instead I dialed the number of our fraternity house. By the time you fellows came on the wire, I could hear Joe coming back, so I talked as fast as I could and hung up. Joe never suspected what I had done, because I was across the room by the time he came inside.”
    “Very clever,” Officer Riggi put in. “And now I think you young folks should leave. White and I will stay here. Just two more questions before you go, though. Ned, do you know who your abductors were and what was the reason for the kidnapping?”
    “I can answer your first question in the affirmative. My two abductors were a father and son from Mombasa, Africa. They are Indians. The father is Dhan, the son is named Jahan. They never talked so I have no idea why they kidnapped