The Secret in the Old Attic by Carolyn Keene Page A

into the secret section of the Dight plant, we’ll be able to compare the two methods.”
    Nancy and her father were welcomed cordially by Mr. Booker, who was eager to conduct the Drews through his plant.
    “First I’ll show you the Gossamer Garment Room,” he declared, leading the way.
    The Gossamer Room contained several bolts of filmy white silk material like that used in the scarves Nancy had seen. Others were in various colors, while a few were patterned with artistic and unusual designs.
    “They’re beautiful!” Nancy exclaimed.
    Clever designers had fashioned some of the materials into attractive dresses, which hung row upon row in dustproof glass cases.
    “I’ve never seen anything so lovely!” Nancy said. A pale-yellow evening gown caught her eye. “What a stunning dance dress!”
    In texture it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. “The material is strong,” she said, “yet it looks delicate enough to dissolve at a touch of the hand!”
    “That’s why we call it gossamer,” Mr. Booker said proudly. “I’ll show you how it’s made. You must promise, of course, never to reveal my secrets!”
    “You can trust us!” said Mr. Drew.
    The factory owner unlocked a heavy metal door and led his callers into a room where two men sat at tables, engaged in a most unusual occupation.
    “This is my spidery,” Mr. Booker explained. “Here I breed orb weavers under glass. They provide me with the silk threads I need for my material.”
    “You actually use spiders!” Nancy gasped.
    “Yes.” Mr. Booker smiled. “They are very useful to man when one understands how to put them to work.”
    Nancy watched curiously. One of the men was holding a spider in a pair of forceps. The little insect was exuding a filmy thread from its spinneret. With his other hand the man was winding the silk onto a spool.
    “The spiders work fast,” Mr. Drew remarked.
    “One of them can spin a web half a yard across in less than an hour,” Mr. Booker revealed. “Now I’ll show you how we make the thread strong enough to be woven into cloth.”
    Nancy and her father were escorted to the room where the secret chemical formula was mixed. Not only did Nancy look at the solution in the various tubes, but she took particular note of the peculiar scent it produced.
    “I’d be more likely to recognize the odor than anything else. If this chemical is being used at the Dight factory, maybe I can identify it that way,” Nancy thought.
    Mr. Drew inquired if this was the department where Bushy Trott had worked.
    “Yes,” Mr. Booker replied, “he was in this section. He came to me highly recommended as a chemist. Because he left my employ abruptly, I suspect that he was sent here as a spy.”
    Mr. Drew told the manufacturer there was plenty of evidence now against the rival concern.
    “We’re still trying to check on Bushy Trott,” he said. “The next step will be to find out how Lawrence Dight is making his silk material’
    “If only I could get into his factory again!” Nancy remarked to her father as they drove away from the Booker plant.
    “Couldn’t you arrange for another trip with your friend Diane?”
    “She’s scarcely a friend, Dad. But I’ll think up a way,” Nancy promised.
    After dropping her father at his office, she had an inspiration. If her scheme worked, she would get into the factory!
    On impulse she drove directly to the Dight home to put her plan into action. The spacious grounds were located at the edge of the city and were screened from the road by a high, ivy-covered fence. Nancy turned into the winding driveway and coasted to the big white house.

CHAPTER IX
    A Blue Bottle
     
     
     
    HOPEFULLY Nancy rang the bell at the Dight house. She was eager to carry out her plan. Diane opened the door.
    “Have you come to see me?” Diane inquired curtly.
    Nancy smiled graciously and replied, “You have a little sister, I believe.”
    “Jean’s seven.”
    “Then she’s only a little bigger