Free The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene

around with ’em!” he said.
    When they reached the old man’s cabin, the girls thanked him for his help, then returned to Sunnymead in Nancy’s car. There, tea was being served on the patio and Mrs. Haver invited the girls to join the group.
    “My, but you all look mysterious,” Donna Mae remarked. “Let me guess—you’ve been in the bayou.”
    When Bess confessed that they had been, Alex added, “And I’d like to bet you’ve been to the showboat.”
    “You’re right,” Nancy admitted. Before Alex could pursue the subject, she added, “The most exciting part of our trip was meeting an alligator.”
    “Oh, how positively horrid!” Donna Mae ex. claimed.
    The story was told in detail and Nancy hoped that no further reference would be made to the showboat. But Alex had not forgotten it.
    “Well,” he spoke up, “now that you’ve seen the River Princess, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that it’s a hopeless mess. There’s no point in trying to move the boat from the bayou. It would be much too expensive.”
    “But, Alex dear, what are we going to do about a place to hold the ball?” Donna Mae asked.
    “Don’t you worry, honey,” Alex said reassuringly. “I have a splendid idea. We can turn this house into a showboat!”
    For a moment the Havers and their daughter were stunned by the suggestion. But presently, as Alex explained how all the furniture could be moved from the living room and a stage erected at one end, they became interested.
    “If we can’t have the real thing,” remarked the Colonel, “I suppose we’d better start making plans immediately to decorate this place.”
    The girls from River Heights, however, were extremely disappointed at this turn of events and took no part in the planning. They thought Alex’s suggestion a poor substitute for the Colonel’s original idea—and Nancy herself did not want to give up an unsolved mystery.
    Presently Alex left the group to look over the living room and decide how he would dismantle it. Mrs. Haver mentioned to her visitors that the family had been invited to a neighbor’s home to a dinner party the following evening. “Would you girls like to accompany us? You’re invited,” she said.
    “We’d love to, but the three of us have already made another engagement,” Nancy told her hostess.
    “Why, how nice! But I didn’t realize you knew anyone down here,” said Mrs. Haver, and Donna Mae asked, “Where are you going?”
    Nancy told them about having met Charles Bartolome, and the invitation to his home to dinner. Mrs. Haver, at first surprised, looked embarrassed when Donna Mae suddenly burst into tears and fled from the room. Excusing herself, the woman hurried after her daughter.
    “How odd,” said George. “What ails Donna Mae, anyhow!”
    “Maybe we shouldn’t have said anything about Charles to her,” Nancy suggested.
    “Do you think we ought to turn down the invitation?” Bess asked. “It seems to have upset Donna Mae terribly and we are guests here.”
    “Of course we shouldn’t give it up,” her cousin said determinedly. “This is a good opportunity for us to find out more about the mystery of the showboat.”
    As the girls quietly discussed the situation, Mrs. Haver returned and requested Nancy and her friends not to go to the Bartolomes.
    “Donna Mae is in hysterics,” she said. “Nancy, suppose you go upstairs and tell her you’ve changed your mind.”
    The young sleuth went to Donna Mae’s bedroom. Expecting to find the girl in tears, Nancy was surprised to see the bride-to-be seated at her dressing table, putting on make-up.
    “Donna Mae,” Nancy began, “I’m sorry that I—”
    “Oh, don’t be sorry about anything,” Donna Mae said airily, admiring her left profile in the mirror. “Go to the Bartolomes if you wish. It means nothing to me.”
    Nancy was both perplexed and amused by the girl’s seeming change of heart. But she was convinced that Donna Mae was putting on an act and that she