Free The Moonstone Castle Mystery by Carolyn G. Keene Page A

quickly. “Queer old fellow.”
    “Queer?” Nancy repeated.
    “That’s what folks say. Peter Judd used to be a train conductor. Now he’s retired and lives across the river in a little cottage. Won’t have a soul help him—he does all his own cooking and laundry work. Has his place full of railroad posters. The dishes and silver he uses are all from railroad dining cars.”
    The girls giggled. Encouraged by their interest Mrs. Hemstead added, “You couldn’t mistake his house. Right on the front lawn he has an enormous bell that was taken from an old-fashioned locomotive. Sometimes boys sneak in there and ring it. You can hear it clear across the river!”
    “I’d like to see it,” said Nancy. “Just where is his house?”
    Mrs. Hemstead said that if they went directly across the river and turned downstream for a mile, they would come to a dock with a string of railroad cars painted on the overhang.
    “That’s his place.”
    The girls thanked the elderly woman and said good-by. They went at once to a boat rental service and hired a small runabout. Nancy took the wheel and the little craft skimmed across the river. Some two hundred feet from shore, she headed downstream, planning to turn in toward Mr. Judd’s dock.
    On the way, George showed Bess Mr. Wheeler’s half-submerged motorboat.
    Bess shuddered a bit. “You had a narrow escape,” she said.
    “I wonder when the authorities are going to take the boat away?” George mused. “I’d think it would be a hazard to other boats.”
    Nancy chuckled. “Not so much as that rock we hit!”
    “Nancy, who do you think kidnaped Mr. Wheeler?” Bess asked.
    The young sleuth had a ready answer. “The same persons who kidnaped Joanie Horton. I think they were afraid Mr. Wheeler might reopen the case, bringing a fraud to light. In fact, they may think Dad had asked Mr. Wheeler’s assistance, even though he is retired.”
    They located Peter Judd’s dock and moored alongside it. As they walked up an incline to his little white cottage, they saw the retired railroad conductor working in his garden near the great engine bell. Nancy spoke to him, admiring the bell and his beautiful roses.
    Mr. Judd was cordial and invited the girls inside his home. They found it interesting, despite Mrs. Hemstead’s remarks. And Peter Judd certainly did not seem queer!
    “How did you happen to know about me?” he asked.
    At once Nancy told him about Mr. Wheeler, the accident, and the kidnaping.
    “What a low-down trick!” Mr. Judd cried, incensed. “What do you think is the reason?”
    “We can only guess,” said Nancy. “Possibly you can help solve the riddle. Do you know why Mr. Wheeler was bringing my friend George and me here? He hinted that it had something to do with the settlement of Mrs. Horton’s estate many years ago.”
    Peter Judd was thoughtful for several seconds, as if trying to decide whether or not to tell these strange girls something he knew. Finally he said:
    “I believe I do. After that young lady Joan Horton got all her grandmother’s money, she went away—nobody knew where. Suddenly I remembered something that had happened on my train a little over six months before old Mrs. Horton died. I went to Mr. Wheeler and told him about it, but he just laughed at me. But now I think maybe he has decided there was something to it.”
    Eagerly Nancy asked, “What is the story?”

CHAPTER XI
    The Tower Signaler
    NANCY, Bess, and George pulled chairs close to Mr. Peter Judd so they would not miss one word of the story he was about to tell.
    Suddenly Nancy jumped up and commanded, “Wait!” She turned and dashed toward the front door, calling as she went, “Girls, run out the back way and stop that man!”
    Mr. Judd was amazed. He did not know what Nancy meant, but he hurried to a window and looked outside. He was just in time to see Nancy take off full speed after a man who was fleeing down the embankment toward the dock. Before she could reach him, the