“What’s that?” Carol shrieked as she backed away from the window.
“What?”
“Two eyes—staring in at me out of the darkness,” she pointed to the window.
Phyllis and Gale laughed.
“Only an owl in the tree out there,” Phyllis said. “He is often there at night.”
“Why don’t owls sleep at night?” Janet wanted to know. “Are they afraid to sleep in the dark?”
“And do deers ever blow their horns?” Carol questioned. “We better go to our own domicile,” she added at the dark glances from her friends. “Au revoir, ma chérie,” she murmured in her very best French.
From the window Gale and Phyllis watched the girls disappear in the direction of the East Campus Dormitory.
“You were wonderful tonight, Phyl,” Gale declared earnestly. “And were we surprised! When did you decide to sing?”
“Valerie talked me into it,” Phyllis laughed. “She said I should do something like that—so I would have a part in the Christmas celebration I really enjoyed it.”
“Phyllis—are you sure you won’t go home with me for Christmas?” Gale asked sitting on the bed beside Phyllis. “I would love to have you.”
Phyllis shook her head. “No. I can’t go to my Aunt’s place—I could but I don’t want to, so I’ll stay here. Besides,” she said, eyes twinkling, “David is coming. I won’t be lonesome.”
“That reminds me,” Gale said, “I meant to tell the other girls, too. Tonight when I went to the Dean’s office I had to wait a while for her. While I was waiting I tried her typewriter. Guess what I discovered!”
“What?”
“Our mysterious note was typed on her machine. What do you deduct from that? I didn’t tell her because I wanted to think about it for a while. It seems strange.”
“Her own typewriter!” Phyllis echoed.
“And she told me she bought the typewriter only yesterday!”
“It can’t be,” Phyllis frowned. “There is something wrong someplace. Whom did she buy the typewriter from?”
“She said her secretary bought it,” Gale said slowly. “I wonder if her secretary is everything she should be?”
“Certainly she wouldn’t eat candy she knew was poisoned,” Phyllis said. “She was sick from it, remember.”
“If it was poisoned.” Gale ran slim fingers through her hair. “The whole thing is beyond me. I’m not such a master mind after all.”
“We will let it wait until after Christmas,” Phyllis said.
The girls were forced to do that. Nothing more could be discovered at present and there was too much excitement with the holidays to bother about it.
CHAPTER XIII
Startling News
Gale opened one eye and peered at the clock. The next instant she was up and hurriedly dashing through her usually methodical routine of dressing. It was Christmas morning. She was home with her parents and Brent was here! Last night had been the most glorious Christmas Eve she had ever experienced. The Adventure Girls, with the exception of Phyllis of course, and Brent and the other boys had gone carolling. After that there had been sandwiches and hot chocolate in the Howard living room where they could admire the big Christmas tree. Then, when the others had gone, a long intimate talk with Brent, learning all about his work in Washington and telling him all about her college life.
Now she pictured Brent waiting downstairs and, important enough too, a lot of mysterious packages beneath the Christmas tree just waiting to be opened. With a final approving look at the laughing, gray-eyed girl in the mirror, Gale dashed out into the hallway. With a cheer she slid down the banister and landed right in Brent’s arms.
“Merry Christmas!” she said gaily.
“Merry Christmas yourself. Your Dad and I had about decided you were going to sleep all day.” He tucked her arm within his. “How about some breakfast? I’m famished!”
“Before we open our presents?” she demanded. “I should say not!”
Saint Nicholas had been more than generous in his gifts to Gale and the others. After a long time spent examining and exclaiming over what the boxes disclosed they went to church. Then a long walk home through the brilliant sunlight and a most satisfying dinner.
“You know,” Gale confessed to Brent, “I keep thinking about Phyllis. I told you what her Aunt said that day, didn’t I? Let’s go see Miss Fields. I want to ask her what she meant—if she is home.”
“As you say,” Brent agreed.
The two walked up the long hill arm in arm. The air was cold and invigorating. Gale felt she must burst with personal happiness yet she found time to think of Phyllis and wish, as often before, that there was something she could do.
The house on the hill was gray and silent, just as she had pictured it when she was at Briarhurst. The shutters were closed on most of the windows and there was a forlorn, deserted look about the place.
“I think you will be disappointed,” Brent said. “It looks as though it is closed up for the winter.”
“I hope she is here,” Gale said.
Brent used the old iron knocker vigorously. They could hear the sound echo in the room beyond. They waited several minutes before Brent knocked again. To their surprise the door was opened almost immediately and by Miss Fields herself.
“H-Hello,” Gale began uncertainly. “I want to talk to you, Miss Fields.”
“I’m sorry, I’m busy,” the woman said.
“I’ve got to talk to you!” Gale insisted. “About Phyllis.”
Grudgingly the woman opened the door farther and Gale took advantage of it to slip within. Brent followed and then there was nothing for Miss Fields to do but lead the way into the cold, dark front room.
Gale shivered as she sat on the edge of an old-fashioned stuffed sofa beside Brent. This was a terrible place, so cold and damp and dark. She wagered no sunlight had been inside the house since Miss Fields took residence there, and that was years and years. Brent reached over and took Gale’s hand in his warm grasp. It seemed to be what she needed.
“Well?” Miss Fields’ voice was frigid and she sat stiffly in her chair.
“I—that is——” Gale began lamely. “We, the girls, are anxious to help Phyllis all we can. We can’t do it without your aid.”
“Well?” Miss Fields repeated.
“We want to know why you won’t help,” Gale said quickly.
Miss Fields grew even more frigid if that were possible. She regarded Gale with the utmost disdain and Gale was glad of Brent’s presence. She felt she would have withered away under such a glare if she had been alone.
“I told you that day at Briarhurst it was impossible,” she said.
“I know,” Gale agreed, “but we want to know why. You must think we are impertinent, but you see we think an awful lot of Phyllis. Something must be done.”
“It will do you no good to question me,” Miss Fields returned. “If that is all I will wish you good day.”
“Wait!” Gale cried when the woman would have left them.
“You have no right to make Phyllis suffer because of a promise you made years ago. She can be cured and you can help! There is no promise important enough to stop that!”
A cool glance was all the reply she got.
“You’ve got to help Phyllis,” Gale insisted doggedly. She took a deep breath and looked at the woman almost pityingly. “I had no idea anyone could be so hard-hearted—so unfeeling! No wonder Phyllis hates you!”
To the utter amazement and consternation of Gale and Brent, Phyllis’ Aunt sank into a chair and covered her face with her hands.
“I know she hates me,” Miss Fields said in a dry whisper, “but I’d do anything for her.”
Gale looked at Brent and he looked at her. Was she hearing aright? Was this the cold stern woman whom they had always accused of having no feeling whatever—of being cruel to Phyllis? It seemed Gale’s words had released a spring of words that had been harbored too long.
“I’ve raised Phyllis
since she was two years old. I’ve never meant to be cruel but I’ve been afraid I would lose her,” Miss Fields continued staring at the floor. “I was jealous and afraid of the friends she made—it seemed to take a part of her away from me. I wanted to know what she was doing—I wanted her to love me.”
Gale refrained from commenting on the fact that Miss Fields had taken a mighty strange manner of showing her love for Phyllis. She listened incredibly to the story of this strange lonely woman who had raised Phyllis. It was a cry of a heart which had at last broken through the cast of steel and ice which had so long encased it. It was hard to believe that Miss Fields really possessed a genuine affection for Phyllis. But, Gale admitted slowly to herself, it might be possible for one, such as Miss Fields, to want to have Phyllis’ affection solely for herself, to be jealous of the girl’s outside activities and friends because it meant a branch of life in which she could not share. She had overlooked, in her blind striving for all of Phyllis’ companionship, the girl’s craving for friends her own age and the other interests of younger people.
“I realize what this—this accident has meant to her,” Miss Fields assured them. “I would help—I’ve tried to think of a way—but I can’t. My hands are tied.”
Brent leaned forward and spoke for the first time.
“Phyllis is not really your niece, is she, Miss Fields?”
Gale looked at him in surprise. This was a new angle! Phyllis not really Miss Fields’ niece? What did he mean?
Miss Fields stared at Brent. Her eyes had the hunted look of an animal caught in a trap.
“What do you mean?” she asked fearfully.
“You might as well tell us everything,” Brent pursued kindly. “We only want to help straighten matters out. Phyllis isn’t really your niece, is she?” he insisted.
Miss Fields looked down at her hands clasped together tightly in her lap. Finally she raised her head.
“No,” she said.
“I thought so,” Brent murmured. “You had better tell us about everything. All about what happened years ago——”
Miss Fields fixed her eyes on the opposite wall and started to speak. It was as if she had forgotten the young people to whom she was talking, merely repeating a story that had been lodged in her mind for years.
“Years ago I was secretary to a Doctor. He had a wife and a little girl. One day his wife was killed in a bad railroad accident. Before she died she made me promise to stay with Phyllis. The Doctor was heart-broken and partly to forget, partly to further his ambition, he decided to go to Europe to study surgery. He left his little girl with me and enough money to keep her until he should return and longer.”
“Didn’t he ever return?” Gale asked anxiously.
“I lived in his house with Phyllis for two years. Then one day I received a wire that he was returning. I thought of all sorts of things—that I might be discharged—I might never see Phyllis again. I was lonely—I had no family, and I had grown to love the little girl like my own daughter.” She looked sadly at Gale. “I brought Phyllis here. I’ve hidden her all these years——”
“Her father?” Gale asked.
Miss Fields bowed her head. “He returned to Europe after a few years—when he didn’t find us. I’ve always been afraid someone would discover who she was—that is why I didn’t want Phyllis to make friends—I was afraid. Now you know everything—what do you propose to do?”
Gale looked speechlessly at Brent. Her head was whirling with the new discovery. What a story had been here in their midst! Phyllis was the heroine of a story as incredible and fantastic as any fiction. What were they to do first?
“Who is her father?” Brent asked.
Miss Fields looked at him silently for a long moment. “Doctor Philip Elton,” she said finally.
“The famous surgeon?” Brent echoed in surprise.
Miss Fields nodded. “But no one knows where he is. When I learned Phyllis needed money for an operation I tried to get in touch with him. I was willing then to let him know about Phyllis because I couldn’t help her any more—but he could. It was impossible. He is somewhere in Europe.”
“We’ve got to find him,” Gale said excitedly. “Think what it means to Phyl——”
Brent rose. “We will start a search immediately. When he is found he can decide what is to be done,” he told Miss Fields.
Gale and Brent went out into the sunshine leaving the woman sitting alone in the cold forlorn house.
“To think of all that being hidden for years and years,” she murmured as they walked toward her home. “Because Miss Fields was so selfish. She didn’t think what it might mean to Phyllis——”
“I’ll start the search for Doctor Elton,” Brent planned. “I suppose David will want to help when he returns.”
“Do you think we should tell Phyllis now?” Gale asked. “Or do you think it would be better to wait until her father is found?”
“Perhaps it would be wiser to wait a little while,” Brent agreed.
They reached Gale’s home and entered the warm living room.
“Why don’t you take your overcoat off?” Gale asked. “You are going to stay a while, aren’t you?” she continued humorously.
Brent shook his head. “No. I’m flying back to Washington this afternoon.”
“Brent!” she wailed. “You didn’t tell me.”
“I wanted it to be the happiest sort of Christmas,” he replied. “Some day you will be going with me.”
“Some day,” she agreed.
When Brent had gone Gale curled up in the corner of the divan and watched the flames of the fire in the fireplace. She let her dreams run rampant. Some day she would be flying to Washington with Brent. She remembered what a thrill it had been flying to Canada with him last year. She remembered, too, the night of the Senior Prom when she and Brent had strolled in the garden.
But even over-riding all her rosy dreams was the astounding news she had heard about Phyllis that afternoon. It was like a fantastic fairy story. To think that Phyllis was the daughter of a famous surgeon, really a wealthy girl who had been hidden away in this small town all these years by a strange, selfish woman who claimed affection for the girl. Think what it must have meant to Phyllis’ father—to return to his home to find the woman, whom he had entrusted with the care of his little girl, had disappeared taking his daughter with her. It must have been heart-breaking! But think what a reunion there would be when they met now—after all these years! How would Phyllis receive the news?
Gale pictured all sorts of ways to bring Phyllis and her father together yet the one which actually was to happen was even more dramatic.
Gale went to the telephone and put a long distance call through to Briarhurst. A few minutes later she heard Phyllis’ voice.
“Merry Christmas!” Gale said gaily. “How are you? What did you do with yourself?”
“David hired a sleigh drawn by two horses and we had a long ride in the country,” Phyllis said happily. “It was glorious.”
They talked for a few moments and then Gale hung up, feeling satisfied that Phyllis had really enjoyed her Christmas after all. She had said nothing of her interview with Miss Fields, that would come later. Gale even doubted if she would tell the other Adventure Girls yet. It would be a secret between herself and Brent and David until Doctor Elton was found and could be produced.
She went back to her position before the fire. In ten days she would be going back to college. Then to pick up the threads of mystery concerning the Dean. This would be the spring term. Her riding lessons would start and she was anxious for them. Her only regret was that Phyllis would not be able to join her. Perhaps if her father was found and there was an operation performed Phyllis would eventually be as active as she had been. But not now!
Gale opened a book and nibbled on a chocolate caramel. She was perfectly content with her present position. A book was always a treasured companion to her. She could find much delight in following the adventures of a printed h
ero and heroine. Their adventures were always more dangerous, more glamorous than events in real life.
But alas, her composure and peace were not to last. There arose a loud clatter outside and the doorbell pealed long and loudly. Gale resignedly, smilingly, closed her book. Only the Adventure Girls would make so much noise.
CHAPTER XIV
Discovered
“Look!” Carol pirouetted gracefully for the benefit of her friends.
“I’m speechless,” Janet said appreciatively.
“Wait until I get my sun glasses,” pleaded Phyllis. “I’m dazzled.”
Carol was arrayed in the scarlet lounging pajamas she had received for a Christmas present. The Adventure Girls were all gathered in her and Janet’s room viewing the display with mingled exclamations.
“And wait——” Carol murmured diving into the closet.
“More to come,” Madge said shaking her head. “If it is as terrific as those pajamas, don’t show it to me. My nerves won’t stand it.”
“My riding habit,” Carol said proudly.
Janet laughed. “All you need now is the horse.”
“I’ve heard they have a merry-go-round in the next village park,” Valerie put in. “Perhaps they would let you practice there.”
Carol made a little face at her. “Just the same, I am all prepared.”
“What time is it?” Phyllis asked suddenly. “Heavens! I have to go. I promised Adele to go with her to the Glee Club meeting this afternoon.”
“Ah, our singer is blossoming out,” Janet said gleefully. “What did I tell you!”
“I’ll go with you,” Gale said. “I have to see Professor Lukens about our Chemistry assignment tomorrow.”
The two girls went down to the campus. Gale saw Phyllis safely to the Glee Club meeting before she went on to the Chemistry Hall. The corridors and rooms were for the most part empty. She went to the classroom where the Professor often spent his afternoons going over papers. He was not there so Gale went on to the laboratory.
At the door she drew back hastily into the corridor. Someone was in the room but it was not the Professor. It was Miss Horton, the Dean’s secretary, and the girl was fussing with the lock on the cabinet where the experimental materials were kept. Gale watched her cautiously through a crack in the door. The glass doors were suddenly opened. A small glass vial found its way from the closet into the pocket of the girl’s coat.
The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls Page 286