The Secret of the Wooden Lady by Carolyn Keene Page A

“But I see your point about getting the clipper out of Boston Harbor. If we could move her at once, before anyone had time to spread the word she was going ...”
    Nancy could see the idea growing in his mind. “I’ll send the boys here to talk to you,” she offered. “You could give them directions about preparing for the trip. The girls and I could buy the supplies.”
    The captain’s eyes twinkled. “You’re a good persuader. Nancy. If we pulled out about dusk, with no fuss and confusion, I’ll wager those sneaking rats would be mighty surprised.”
    The skipper said he would have to notify the Coast Guard, and get a tug to tow them out into the open water. When Nancy left him, he was calling for his clothes and a telephone.
    Nancy returned at once to the hotel and found Ned, Burt, and Dave having breakfast with the girls. She told them that Captain Easterly was willing to sail the clipper to a secluded Cape Cod port. Dave said they would have to work like beavers to make the ship ready.
    The three girls set out to purchase food and other supplies for the trip.
    When they returned to the hotel, Mr. Drew was waiting for them. After greeting the group, he said to Nancy:
    “Captain Easterly is going to be disappointed in my title search. I had no luck in New Bedford. Then I began to suspect that the original name of the clipper was not Bonny Scot —but whatever else it might have been, no one I’ve talked to seems to know. And no measurements matched those of the Bonny Scot.”
    “You’re not giving up, Dad!” Nancy exclaimed.
    “You know me better than that.” He smiled. “I’m flying down to New York, where, I’ve been told, there are a great many old records. But what have you been up to, Nancy?”
    She told him what had happened to Captain Easterly, and about their plans to move the Bonny Scot. She promised to let her father know when they arrived at their destination. Mr. Drew said he would meet them in a few days, and hurried away to catch his plane.
    Nancy telephoned Lieutenant Hennessy to ask if he had had any success in tracing Flip Fay, Grizzle Face Quint, or the man who had drugged Captain Easterly.
    “No luck so far,” the officer reported. “They’ve steered clear of that boardinghouse.”
    The girls packed, and sent their bags separately to the ship, because Nancy thought a lot of lug gage arriving at the clipper at the same time might arouse suspicion.
    When they reached the dock, the girls found Captain Easterly completely recovered and the boys hard at work. The captain gave Nancy and George the job of sewing up a rip in the main skysail. Bess, who planned to do the cooking, set off to fix up the galley.
    To Captain Easterly’s delight a heavy fog rolled in at five o’clock. When the tug came alongside, the Bonny Scot slipped quietly away from her berth under cover of the mist.
    “Wonderful luck!” the captain said to Nancy, who was beside him at the wheel.
    A short while later, when they were under full sail, the mist began to lift. Suddenly Nancy thought she saw smoke curling out of a hatch. Not wanting to alarm the captain, she hurried down the companionway, along the passage, and looked into the hold.
    The Bonny Scot was on fire!

CHAPTER IX
    Stowaways
    NANCY dashed back to Captain Easterly and told him about the fire. Grimly he signaled for the fireboat, then dropped anchor.
    Nancy raced off to give the alarm to the boys. They gathered fire extinguishers and hurried below.
    Ned was first into the hold. “If we can keep the fire from spreading, we’ll be all right!” he shouted. “Dave, catch it over there near those oil drums!”
    Nancy dashed back to the deck to see if a fireboat was coming. Hearing its whistle, she started back to the hold. Nancy got as far as the lowest step of the main companionway when she saw the dark figure of a man disappear around a corner.
    “Ned!” Nancy screamed. He did not hear her in the excitement of fighting the fire.
    Her heart pounding,