Mystery of the Glowing Eye - Carolyn Keene [1]
“Glowing eye!” George echoed. “Sounds intriguing.”
“Yes,” Nancy agreed. “But this morning Marty called me and said I wouldn’t need to help—that she already had partly solved the case.”
“The nerve of her!” George burst out. “What did your father say?”
“I haven’t told him,” Nancy replied. “And what’s more, I’m not going to. Maybe he asked Marty to take over and—”
“Don’t be silly,” Bess cut in. “I’m sure your dad would never do such a thing.”
Nancy wanted to believe this was true. But as Bess tried to console her friend, the young detective’s thoughts drifted off. Would her father ever again discuss with her the cases that troubled him? What would it be like without a mystery for her to solve?
Tears formed in Nancy’s eyes, but she smiled and said, “Thank you, Bess. Maybe I’m just making a mountain out of a molehill.”
George put an arm about Nancy’s shoulder. “Or maybe Miss King thinks she’s a queen!” With a broad grin, George added, “Which mystery does my lady wish to solve today? Or shall we slay the wicked dragon—?”
“Enough, enough,” Nancy interrupted, though she could not refrain from laughing at the pompous expression on George’s face.
Paying no attention to her friend’s remark, George bowed deeply. “Your Highness,” she said, brandishing an imaginary sword at her cousin.
“Your Low-ness,” Bess replied. “How low will you go?”
George bent over so far that she lost her balance and fell forward. “Is that low enough?” she said, resting on her elbows and looking up into Bess’s dimpled smile.
At that instant the three girls became aware of a loud whirring noise. It grew louder.
“That sounds like a copter!” Nancy exclaimed. “And it’s right overhead!”
She dashed out the front door with her friends and looked up. A small twin-motor helicopter was descending.
“Nancy, it’s going to land on your front lawn!” George cried out, and Bess ran back inside the house.
Nancy and George watched in fascination. The rotors suddenly stopped and the helicopter plummeted the last fifty feet. It hit the grass with a thud and the door flew open.
“Nancy, it’s going to land on your lawn!” George cried out.
“The pilot!” Nancy exclaimed. “He must have been injured!”
She and George hurried to the helicopter. They could not see the pilot, so the two girls climbed up and peered inside.
No one was there!
By this time Bess had run out and joined the others. “I called the police. Was anyone hurt?” When she heard that the craft was a pilotless helicopter, she stared in amazement. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Not a soul here,” Nancy reported with a bewildered shrug.
The young detective, hoping to find a clue to the missing pilot, hopped aboard.
Nancy picked up an envelope which lay on the floor, face down. She turned it over. Her eyes opened wide in disbelief. The name on it was her own! There was no address.
“Did you find something?” George called up.
Nancy jumped down and showed her friends the sealed envelope. The handwriting, which they all recognized immediately, was that of her special friend Ned Nickerson. For a moment she could not speak.
But finally she said, “Perhaps Ned was in the copter and had to bail out!”
Bess and George were alarmed too. All of them were extremely fond of the good-looking Emerson College student. Arm in arm the three girls walked back into the house.
“Open the envelope,” Bess urged. “Maybe it contains a message for you.”
Nancy, who had been clutching the envelope tightly, slid her thumb under the flap. Inside was a small piece of paper. On it was a handwritten warning:
Beware of Cyclops.
Ned
CHAPTER II
A Suspected Forgery
NANCY sat dazed and bewildered. Bess, overcome by the thought of a tragedy, was wiping tears from her eyes.
George was the first to speak. “We mustn’t think the worst. Maybe Ned wasn’t in the copter. The note might have been planted by someone else.”
Before the others could comment, the girls became aware that the police as well as neighbors had arrived. They were swarming over the large front lawn of the Drews