Read (#26) The Clue of the Leaning Chimney for Free Online Page B

the sheets in Manning’s room!
    Nancy ran upstairs and got her clutch bag. Then, seating herself at the living-room desk, she took a pen from its ornate holder and quickly copied the symbols. She dried the ink on a small blotter which lay on the desk and slipped the paper into her bag.
    She was about to go into the dining room when she spotted two strange marks cunningly worked into the leaves of the peach tree. Nancy stared at the small, barely visible markings. The more she looked the more puzzled she became. Before she could copy the little symbols, Mrs. Townsend hurried into the room.
    “Nancy, come on!” she coaxed.
    “I’m sorry,” Nancy apologized. “This vase—”
    “Like it?” Helen’s mother asked.
    “Love it!” Nancy replied. “It’s one of the finest I’ve ever seen.”
    “It’s a Ming vase. My husband gave it to me for an anniversary present,” Mrs. Townsend said, leading the way into the dining room.
    Nancy followed. As she ate, the young detective kept thinking about what she had just discovered. After the birthday cake had been served, Helen began to unwrap her gifts. “Ohs” and “Ahs” greeted each gaily wrapped package. Besides several pieces of beautiful lingerie, she received an attractive figurine Bess had made in Dick Milton’s pottery class.
    “Oh, it’s lovely!” she exclaimed. “Thanks heaps, Bess.”
    There was a roar of laughter as a baseball glove from George was opened. But this was something Helen had said she wanted, months before, and no one would give it to her!
    Nancy’s gift was the surprise of the evening. She had prearranged with Mrs. Townsend that it would be brought in last. Cuddled on a cushion in a little pink basket was a fluffy white kitten.
    “Nancy, you darling!” Helen burst out. “You remembered I’ve been meaning to get one.”
    The girls gathered around to admire the kitten. Then, as the hands of the clock moved toward ten-thirty, the guests said they must leave.
    Nancy, Bess, and George went upstairs for their coats. When Nancy came down carrying her coat, she went to the desk to get her bag. She stopped short in surprise. The bag was gone!
    When Mrs. Townsend and the others came downstairs Nancy asked them if they had seen her bag. But none of them knew anything about it.
    “What could have become of it?” Mr. Townsend asked, joining the search.
    Nancy noticed that the window near the desk was partly open. Could someone have reached in and taken the bag?
    “May I have a flashlight?” she asked.
    Obtaining one from Mr. Townsend, she dashed out the front door and went around to the side of the house, followed by the others. Under the partly opened window was a flower bed. In it were footprints!
    At that moment she heard Mrs. Townsend call, “Isn’t this yours, Nancy?”
    Nancy turned. Helen’s mother was holding out the familiar blue bag.
    “Yes, that’s mine,” Nancy said. “Thank you. Where did you find it?”
    “It was lying here in the grass,” Mrs. Townsend explained.
    “Oh, I hope nothing’s gone,” said Helen.
    Nancy opened the bag, feeling sure all the contents would be missing. At first glance it seemed as if only the money in it was gone. Then she realized that the paper on which she had copied the Chinese symbols from the vase was also missing.
    Suddenly Nancy was struck by a dismaying thought. Without a word, she darted into the house. Her worst fears were confirmed.
    The Townsends’ beautiful, rare vase had vanished!

CHAPTER VII
    Three on a Clue
    NANCY stared in dismay at the vacant spot on the desk. Then she ran into the kitchen, snapped on the back-yard light, and dashed outside. Nobody was there.
    By then Mr. and Mrs. Townsend and the girls had caught up to her. “What’s the matter now, Nancy?” asked Mr. Townsend.
    As she told them about the stolen vase, Nancy experienced a sudden twinge of guilt. If the thief had not observed her copying the symbols on the bottom, he might never have stolen the vase. But