10 Password to Larkspur Lane

CHAPTER XVI
Sleuthing
“SINGING horses,” repeated the guard.
“Right you are.”
Striding up to the gates, he opened them
wide. Bess guided the car between the posts
and the portals clanged shut.
The password had permitted them to enter!
Both girls heaved sighs of relief as they sped
up the gravel driveway. Halfway to the
mansion, Nancy spoke.
“Stop. No one can see us from the house yet,
and the lodge is concealed by those shrubs.”

---

Bess brought the car to a halt and Nancy said,
“Back the car off the drive into that clump of
trees, Bess. Good! Lucky there’s enough
room. Get in as far as you can. Keep on
backing—
farther. That’s fine! Now, you wait here. I’ll
return as soon as I can!”
“Don’t be too long,” said Bess, trying not to
sound frightened.
74
Nancy squeezed her friend’s hand and
slipped out of the car. As she went up the hill,
she could hear the dog down at the gatehouse
growling.
“I hope he’s still chained,” she thought.

---

Near the mansion, Nancy assumed a stooped
posture and uncertain walk.
“I must be on my guard,” she told herself.
Light streamed out onto the lawn from the
windows of the house. Staying in the
shadows, Nancy reached the walls of the
mansion and made her way around to the
back where she found an open door.
Peering through the screen, she saw a wide,
dimly lighted hallway with stairs ascending to
her left, and guessed that this was a back door
to the main corridor. She tested the screen.
It was unlatched.
“Now for a trip inside,” she murmured. “I
hope my new shoes don’t squeak.”

---

Quietly she stepped into the hall. Half a
dozen wheelchairs stood about. Two of them
had sleeping occupants, but there was no
other sign of life.
Nancy moved on tiptoe toward the broad
stairway, and had just reached the steps when
she heard the tread of feet on the oaken floor.
In a flash she darted to an empty wheelchair,
and muffled herself in the light woolen
blanket left by its last occupant.
“I’ll try to look as if I’m asleep,” she thought.
At that moment a young woman in a striped
uniform entered the hall. Nancy watched her
apprehensively, fearing that the hat and veil
would excite some comment. The nurse’s
helper, however, marched by humming to

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herself, giving none of the chairs a second
glance.
As soon as she disappeared through a door,
Nancy leaped up and dashed toward the
stairs.
A white head poked up from the nearest
chair, and a cracked voice cried:
“Hi there, my dear. The doctor seems to have
more than cured you. Why, you are young
again!”
Nancy did not pause, but with hammering
heart ran up the steps to the second floor. She
quickly glanced around, then started the climb
to the next story.

---

At the top of the stairs, she peered cautiously
down the corridor. Empty! Relieved, Nancy
tried to get her bearings.
“The south corner room,” Mrs. Eldridge had
said. “That would be to my right.”
75
Quickly Nancy tiptoed down the hall and
stopped before the last door. She bent to look
through the keyhole, but could see nothing.
Then she turned the knob.
The door was locked!
As Nancy racked her brains to think of a way
to open it, she heard footsteps on the stairs.

---

She darted across the hall and tried the handle
of the opposite door. It turned, and she
stumbled into total darkness. It was not a
room, but a small broom closet.
It was a tight squeeze. Nancy did not dare
move, for in the brief moment that the closet
door was open, she had seen that the floor
was filled with pails. Against the wall were
mops, brooms, and other cleaning equipment.
Her slightest movement would send them
clattering to the floor.
With her ear to the door, Nancy waited. The
footsteps approached, coming her way. They
stopped outside her hiding place!
For an instant she dared not breathe. Then
there was the rattle of a key in a lock, and the

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clink of china on a tray. Nancy guessed that a
bedtime snack was being brought to Mrs.
Eldridge.
Cautiously she opened the door and saw a
white skirt vanish into Mrs. Eldridge’s room.
Then came Miss Tyson’s harsh voice.
“Wake up, Mrs. Eldridge! Here is your
medicine and some food. If you don’t do as
the doctor says, it will be the last snack you’ll
taste for a long time!”
The patient groaned faintly, and the nurse
went on speaking.
“I have some nice hot consommé and toast
and rice pudding. Doesn’t that make your
mouth water? Taste it, and remember that

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tomorrow there will be only stale bread and
warm water for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if
you don’t obey our dear good Dr. Bell, who
is so kind to you.”
An idea suddenly occurred to Nancy. “If that
nurse is going to lecture Mrs. Eldridge, I’ll
have some time to act,” she decided.
Swiftly Nancy tore a strip from her veil and
slipped out of the closet to the opposite door.
It stood slightly ajar.
With the piece of net, Nancy plugged the slot
in the doorframe into which the bolt of the
spring lock fitted. Then she darted back to her
hiding place.
“I hope my scheme works,” she thought.

---

76
As Nancy stepped back and pulled the door
shut, she bumped against a broom. The
handle fell forward. Quickly Nancy caught it
and another broom which toppled.
For a moment she clutched the wooden
handles in the dark, her heart pounding.
Then, very cautiously, Nancy propped them
against the wall again.
“Oo! That’s all I need!” she murmured. “One
noise and I’ll be trapped!”
Miss Tyson remained to threaten Mrs.
Eldridge a few minutes more, then left the
room. She closed the door, and apparently
thinking it was locked, hurried away.

---

Nancy listened for her to go downstairs, then
ran to the door across the hall. Her trick had
worked! The bolt had failed to lock! Nancy
pushed the door open and stepped into the
room.
“Mrs. Eldridge,” she said softly.
The old lady was propped up in bed, with
two pillows behind her back, contemplating
her bedtime snack. With a sigh she pushed
aside the tray on her lap.
“Mrs. Eldridge,” Nancy whispered again,
coming closer to the elderly woman.
The patient looked up and gave a sharp
scream. Nancy flew to her side. “Don’t be
afraid! It’s Nancy Drew, the girl who spoke to

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you through the fence,” she whispered,
quickly lifting the veil.
“I’m sorry! I—I’m nervous,” the old woman
gasped. “They have tried their best to frighten
me so often. How in the world did you get
in?”
“Don’t worry about that. The thing to do now
is for you to get out of here. I hope no one
heard you scream.” But as she spoke, she
heard someone running down the hall.
“I heard Mrs. Eldridge scream,” came Miss
Tyson’s voice.
“What of it?” said a second speaker.
“I suppose I’ll have to chase into her room
again,” the nurse said irritably.

---

“I wouldn’t bother,” came another voice.
“But I can’t let anything happen to her,” said
the nurse.
“She hasn’t signed yet?”
“No.”
Nancy looked around the room. There was
not even a clothes closet to hide in!
77
Mrs. Eldridge groaned. “Oh child! What will
you do?”
As the doorknob turned, Nancy dived under
the bed. It was very dusty there and she lay
motionless, almost afraid to breathe.

---

Nancy could see a pair of white leather-shod
feet stride into the room and pause at the foot
of the bed, a few inches from her nose.
“You screamed!” Miss Tyson said angrily.
“Why, Mrs. Eldridge?”
“Oh, did I?” the patient asked in a weak
voice. “I am sorry.”
“Whether you are sorry or not makes no
difference!” Miss Tyson snapped. “There are
other patients in the house whom you upset
by carrying on that way. Why did you
scream?”
“I am really very sorry,” Mrs. Eldridge said,
trying to find some excuse for her outcry. “It
won’t happen again.”

---

“I asked you why,” the nurse said sharply.
There was no reply.
“Answer my question!” exclaimed the nurse,
stamping her foot and raising a cloud of dust.
Nancy pressed the hat veil to her face, trying
not to sneeze.
“The—the consommé is very hot,” Mrs. El
dridge said. “I burned my tongue.”
“A likely story.” The nurse sniffed. “The
broth is not as hot as all that after being
carried up from the kitchen. No, that is not the
truth, Mrs. Eldridge, and I intend to find out
your real reason.”

---

“Oh, Miss Tyson,” begged the patient, “don’t
scold me.”
“I had to make a special trip up here on your
account.”
“That’s too bad. I’m sorry.”
“Well, why did you scream? What have you
been doing?” rasped the nurse.
“Nothing,” replied the old lady. “I haven’t
been out of bed.”
“You’ve been acting funny ever since this
afternoon. You’re up to something!” Then the
nurse added in a bullying tone, “You know
what I’m going to do?”
“What?” asked Mrs. Eldridge.

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78
“Search this room!”

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