"Oh, I'm so glad Joan brought them back!" Nancy declared. "I'm sure she wouldn't have taken them if that Hooper boy hadn't urged her to."
Nancy was pressing earth firmly about the bushes when her father drove into the garage. She stopped her work and ran to greet him. Mr. Drew was a distinguished-looking man, tall and handsome.
"I'm happy you're back from your trip," she said.
"Hello, Nancy." He smiled. "How's the garden?"
"Better today. The rosebushes that were taken day before yesterday are home again."
The Drews went into the house together and Nancy told him about the boat, the Fenimore problems, and the mystery of Juliana's disappearance.
"Dad, tell me all you can about Ira Heath and his son Walter," she said. "Did you know them?"
"Only by reputation. For years they operated a very successful pearl button factory. Then the business went to pieces."
"I already know that part," Nancy said. "What about Heath Castle? After Walter Heath died, who took charge of the place?"
"Daniel Hector is the executor, I believe."
Nancy's mind flew to the unpleasant customer in the curio dealer's shop.
"The lawyer?" she asked.
"Yes," Mr. Drew replied. "But I must say his sharp practice of law never appealed to me."
"Do you think Mr. Hector did everything possible to find Juliana?" Nancy asked thoughtfully.
"I believe so."
"Did you know her?"
"I saw her perform many times, and admired her dancing very much," Mr. Drew replied. "Why she disappeared at the height of her career has always puzzled me."
"Apparently she left no clues behind."
"The case was a strange one," her father said. "I guess her fiancé was pretty broken up over her disappearance. I've always wondered if he might have had something to do with it." After a pause he added, "Heath Castle might provide a key to the mystery."
"I was thinking the same thing!" Nancy exclaimed with a mysterious twinkle in her eyes. "Tomorrow I'll go there and take a look around that castle and those old walls!"
CHAPTER IVThe Haunted Walk
Shortly after breakfast the following morning, Nancy, Bess, and George drove to Heath Castle.
By studying a map of the area, they had discovered a little-used road which led to the abandoned estate. Though this woodland route was rough and dusty, Bess preferred it to another boat trip.
"Hope we don't get a flat tire," Nancy remarked, maneuvering the car to avoid jagged rocks. "How much farther is it?"
George peered at the odometer and noted that they had traveled about five miles from the outskirts of River Heights.
"We're coming to something!" she exclaimed a moment later.
Through the trees the girls caught a fleeting glimpse of a tall tower. The car rounded a sharp curve, blotting it from view. Then the road ended abruptly in front of a high, vine-covered stone wall.
"The front boundary of the estate!" Bess announced. "There's the name Heath Castle on the gate."
Nancy jumped from the car and led the girls to the iron gate. It was fastened by a heavy iron chain, secured by a huge padlock.
"The key I have won't open this padlock," Nancy said. "It's for the front door."
"Who put the padlock on?" Bess asked.
"Probably Daniel Hector, the executor," George replied.
"Whoever it was is determined to keep everyone out," Nancy said thoughtfully.
"How do we get in?" Bess asked.
"Over the top, commando style," George urged. "Lucky we wore jeans."
Nancy and Bess looked with misgivings at the sharp iron spikes of the high, rusty gate.
"I don't like the idea of climbing over that. There must be an easier way to get in," Nancy said, her gaze roving along the crumbling, ivy- covered wall.
The girls walked alongside for some distance. Finally they came to a spot which was a bit lower than the gate and offered good toe holds. It was not difficult for them to grasp vines and pull themselves to the top. Bess was reluctant to go, but decided to follow. The three friends leaped down on the other side of the wall and started through the dense growth of trees and shrubs. It was damp and cool beneath the canopy of leaves. There were many eerie noises. As they progressed, Bess said she felt very uneasy.
"Listen!" she commanded tensely. "What's that?"
"The cooing of a pigeon," Nancy replied. "Come along, or we'll all have the jitters."
Just ahead stretched a long avenue of oak trees, which the girls thought might lead to the castle. They tramped through the waist-high grass and came to a vine-tangled, fern-matted bower. Two handsome stone vases lay on their sides, broken. Apparently rain water had filled them and frozen during the winter, bursting the vases.
"What a shame this place is being neglected!" Nancy commented, pausing a moment. "Mr. Hector ought to take care of it. Surely there must be money in Mr. Heath's estate set aside for that purpose! If Juliana should come back, she would hardly recognize the place."
At the end of the oak-lined avenue, the girls came to a weather-stained loggia of stone. Its four handsomely carved pillars rose to support a balcony over which vines trailed. Steps led to the upper part.
After mounting to the balcony, Nancy and her friends obtained a fine view of the nearby gardens. They had been laid out in formal sections, each one bounded by a stone wall or an untrimmed hedge. Here and there were small circular pools, now heavy with lichens and moss, and fountains with leaf-filled basins. Over the treetops, about half a mile away, the girls could see two stone towers.
"That's the castle," said George.
Amid the wild growth, Nancy spotted a bridge.
"Let's go that way," she suggested, starting down from the balcony.
In a few minutes the trio had crossed the rickety wooden span. Before them lay a slippery moss- grown path.
"The Haunted Walk," Nancy read aloud the name on a rustic sign.
"Why not try another approach?" Bess said with a shiver. "This garden looks spooky enough without deliberately inviting a meeting with ghosts!"
"Oh, come on!" Nancy laughed, taking her friend firmly by the arm. "It's only a name. Besides, the walk may lead to something interesting."
Spreading lilac bushes canopied the trail. Their branches caught at Nancy's hair and clutched at her clothing. Impatiently she pushed them aside and held back the branches for her friends to pass beneath.
"I wish we'd gone some other way," Bess complained. "This is no fun."
"I think it is," Nancy replied. "It's mysterious here! It's so-"
Her voice trailed away suddenly. George and Bess glanced at her quickly. Nancy was staring directly toward a giant evergreen.
"What is it?" Bess demanded fearfully.