The Hidden Staircase

I

A Rude Visitor

“I declare, I don’t know what makes me so nervous this afternoon! I have the strangest feeling—just as though something were about to happen.”

As Nancy Drew expressed the thought aloud, she tossed aside a book she had been trying to read and restlessly crossed the living room to glance out of the window. She was alone in the big house, for her father, Carson Drew, had been called out of the city on an important law case and Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper, had taken her day off.

Usually, Nancy enjoyed a book, but on this particular afternoon she had been unable to interest herself in anything. For no apparent reason she felt nervous and uneasy.

As she stood at the window, her eyes rested for a moment upon an old-fashioned mantel clock above the fireplace. The timepiece aroused pleasant memories, for it had been given to her as a reward for her service in solving a baffling mystery. Nancy smiled.

“I know what’s the matter with me,” she told herself. “I’m aching for another adventure. That’s all the good it will do me, too!”

With a sigh of resignation, she again settled herself in a comfortable chair and took up her book. She had read scarcely a page when her attention was attracted by the sound of a heavy step on the front veranda.

The doorbell rang sharply. There was an electric something about the ring which was arresting, startling. Before Nancy could get up from the chair, the bell rang a second time.

She dropped her book and hurried to the door. Opening it, she stood face to face with a man she had never seen before.

He was unusually tall and thin with spindling legs which gave him the appearance of a towering scarecrow. The illusion was heightened by his clothing, which was ill-fitting and several seasons out of style. Nancy could not help but notice several grease spots on his coat. However, it was not the man’s clothing or miserly appearance which repulsed her, but rather his unpleasant face. He had sharp, piercing eyes which seemed to bore into her.

Nancy was permitted but an instant to appraise her visitor, for as she opened the door he stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. This rude action somewhat nonplussed her, but she was too polite to show her displeasure.

“I am Nathan Gombet of Cliffwood,” the man told her bluntly. “I want to see Carson Drew.”

“My father isn’t here now,” Nancy explained quietly.

“Where is he?”

Nancy did not like the brusque way Nathan Gombet had of asking questions, but she answered him politely.

“Out of town on business.”

“But I must see him.”

“I’m very sorry,” Nancy returned patiently, “but it is impossible. He won’t be back until late this evening. If you will come back tomorrow—”

“Tomorrow won’t do. I want to see him now,” he demanded.

“Can’t you understand that my father is out of town?” Nancy asked a trifle tartly, for she was beginning to be irritated. “If you want to leave a message, I’ll give it to him as soon as he comes in.”

“I don’t want to leave a message. I came after those papers. Did your father leave them for me?”

“I don’t know what papers you mean.”

“Oh, you don’t, eh? Well, your father knows all right. Just ask him about Nathan Gombet’s property rights on the river and he’ll tell you all about the nasty deal he and his friends tried to slip over on me!”

“What are you talking about?” Nancy demanded sharply. “Have you lost your senses?”

“I’ve just come to ’em, that’s what I’ve done. Maybe you don’t know about it, but I own some property down along the river. Your father induced me to sell a piece of it at a ridiculously low figure. The land is worth several times what he paid me for it. I’m not going to let anyone put over a raw deal like that. I want the deed back or my price, and Carson Drew is going to give it to me, too!”

“You don’t know what you are saying,” Nancy said icily. “My father wouldn’t cheat anyone out of a cent.”

“Oh, no!” Nathan exclaimed sarcastically. “I suppose he’s in business for his health!”

“He’s not in the business of taking what doesn’t belong to him—that’s certain!” Nancy retorted hotly. “If you have anything coming to you I’m sure it will be turned over to you just as soon as my father returns.”

“Just as soon as he returns—that’s good,” Nathan sneered. “Like as not he’s hiding somewhere in the house this very minute.”

“How dare you insinuate such a thing?” Nancy cried angrily. “I’m alone in the house.”

The instant she had divulged the information, she could have bitten her tongue.

“Alone, eh? Well, maybe I was mistaken about your father being here, but it’s the truth I’ve been telling you about those papers. He cheated me out of a pile of money.”