Inside illustration.
Synopsis: SPOILERS!
Chapter 1
1934: Nancy and her father talk. He's upset about a case. Kitty Blair is a singer. Her husband does specialty dances. He doesn't like them much, and they want to adopt two kids, Jay and Janet. The babies had been found under mysterious circumstances with fine clothes and a locket. The children are currently in a foundling home. They Blairs are coming to Mr. Drew to sign the final papers. Nancy determines that Kitty considers herself very important. Kitty says she wants the kids to have no knowledge of their past or their real parents.
The husband, Johnny, says they plan to raise them as stage kids so they can earn money when they're ten or twelve. Mr. Drew notes the Blairs real name is Sellenstein. A telegram comes after they have left, and it says not to let the Blairs adopt 'my babies.'
1965: There's a cottage at Misty Lake that Cecily Curtis wants to rent. Henry Winch keeps an eye on the place but is afraid of things going on there. Nancy and the girls go to open the cottage. They then go eat, hear a couple arguing about an 'iron bird' and then drive onto a rickety bridge.
Chapter 2
1934: Nancy drives towards the Blairs place and picks up Bess. They come across a car that ran out of gas and the people need a ride to the Blairs. They are the Dunbars. The woman is also an actress. Nancy learns the Blairs live beyond their means, and want to make a great name for themselves. Nancy finds the package of things from the twin's parents and she takes it.
1965: They stop at a bottled gas place; the guy says he's afraid of going to the cottage. They find a place to stay for a bit. The woman there tells them the legend of the sunken boat. They drive to the cottage and see a woman who says something about getting the babies.
Chapter 3
1934: Mr. Blair tosses Jay up into the air and catches him, much as Vince does in the revised text. There's a major party going on at the place. Nancy calls Hannah, asking her to bring some doll clothes that she plans to substitute for the baby clothes in a package that she's determined she will not allow the Blairs to burn.
1965: Nancy opens the cottage. The girls stay at the cottage that night. They later run into Cecily, who has a black cat named Satin. She looks like the girl they saw from the bridge. Cecily says the girl wasn't her.
Chapter 4
1934: Mrs. Blair wants nothing to do with the twins. the cook is complaining. Hannah then arrives. She's brought Nancy the doll clothes she requested. Them some woman yells at Nancy from behind.
1965: They hear a humming noise coming from a lit house nearby. Nancy waks up due to a noise outside the cottage. Cecily has gone outside. Nancy finds her knocked out and a heavy log is rolled towards the two women.
Chapter 5
1934: It's Mrs. Dunbar. Nancy switches the baby clothes bundle with her doll clothes. Blair burns the fake bundle of clothes. Their car driver brings in some logs for the fire and faints, and somehow has a heart imprint burned into his forehead. Nancy ministers to him. There's a scream from upstairs.
1965: Nancy saves Cecily. Cecily says she had relatives in the Civil War and there may be a hidden fortune. She is engaged to a pop singer.
Chapter 6
1934: Colleen has cut herself. It looks like a heart. Kitty Blair is scared something bad has happened. Nancy thinks there's some kind of connection between the old car driver and the twins. Nancy talks to her father and shows him the locket. Nancy says the babies were found during a storm. A minister arrives and walks to talk to Mr. Drew. He says some woman came to him and wanted him to carry a message to Nancy's father.
1965: The house is Pudding Stone Lodge. They go to the house. The guy there is nasty. They go to a town to shop and meet Henry Winch. They drive on a road and a guy stops them, claims to be the brother of the nasty guy at the cottage. Cecily is mistaken for another girl. Later they see the phantom ship, circa 1900 style, with people in proper costume. They hear a scream and the boat vanishes.
Chapter 7
1934: The woman had asked the minister to tell Nancy's father that the Blairs must not be allowed to adopt the twins. Nancy talks to the minister to get more information on the woman and finds out he baptized some twins. Colleen, the nursemaid, calls from the estate and says she's having trouble with the children and asks Nancy for her help.
1965: Nancy goes exploring in a small swamp and finds an old bandstand. She sees light coming from the third floor of the nasty-guy's house. A pop record Nancy has bought is a pirate copy. Nancy does more research on Pudding Lodge.
Chapter 8
1934: Nancy and Bess stop at a store and buy a couple of toys for the twins. They see the Blairs in their car with golf clubs. Nancy and Bess take the babies out for a walk in their baby carriage. Then the two of them go wading. Some woman appears and kisses the babies but runs away when Bess and Nancy head towards her. The woman has a car hidden and goes to it. Nancy decides to follow her while Bess takes the babies back to the house.
1965: Nancy and Bess check out the Driscoll place and see 2 young kids. They say Uncle Vince is mean. The woman locks the kids in their room. Nancy checks the roof and is locked out. Vince unlocks the window and lets her back in.
Chapter 9
1934: Nancy follows the woman. Nancy's car hits the car the minister is driving. The minister says he got a call from the mysterious woman and he told her the babies had already been adopted. Some guy comes up in a car and rings the house bell. Nancy talks to him. He says he's a theatrical producer. He's furious that the Blairs adopted the babies and says they'll have to go back to the orphanage.
1965: Vince is nasty to her. The cottage the girls were staying in has been vandalized. Nancy goes to Pudding Stone Lodge and hears the humming sound. A male prowler is at the cottage the girls are staying at. Nancy reports to the police.
Chapter 10
1934: The producer has a contract he wants the Blairs to sign. Then a bill collector shows up and gives Nancy a bill to give to the Blairs. The cook arrives. The nursemaid is trying on Mrs. Blair's clothes and damages one of the dresses. Nancy offers to sew the gown.
1965: Niko, the singer, comes to the cottage. He saw the prowler and says he was Vince Driscoll. Cecily has gone to Baltimore to talk to someone there about the pirated records. Niko wants to marry her. Nancy tells him his record has been pirated. Cecily returns. Nancy, Bess and George return to the swamp, find an old rowboat and a gold locket.
Chapter 11
1934: Bess gives the contract to the Blairs to delay them long enough that Nancy can finish the gown. The next day George tells Nancy she saw the strange woman in the drug store. Then Rodney, the chauffeur, shows up. He wants to get something from the druggist.
1965: Nancy thinks the girl who owns the locket may have been kidnapped by the Driscolls. Nancy thinkgs they might be counterfeiters. George falls down a slope. Nancy shows the locket to Cecily and sees light from the third floor window again. Chapter 12
1934: Rodney gets baby food and medicine and leaves. Nancy, Bess and George go to the orphanage. They stop first at the Blairs and talk to Rodney and the nursemaid.
1965: Nancy thinks the light is some kind of message. She again hears the humming sound. Sshe sees two men, one of whom is Vince Driscoll. Nancy runs and the men chase her. She sees the phantom launch again. She tries to get to it in a canoe but the canoe has had a whole put into it and the boat sinks.
Chapter 13
1934: The girls later get to the orphanage. Nancy finds out the woman she is looking for had worked at the orphanage until just a few days before. A woman at the orphanage says the twins were found in a boat. The woman that Nancy is looking for seems to be going under the name Ruth Brown. Nancy sees her at the orphanage.
1965: Nancy swims to shore. She again sees the girl who looks like Cecily. Nancy gets back and takes a bath and has a midnight snack. She hears a crash in the living room.
Chapter 14
1934: Nancy and the girls give chase after the woman. The woman gets on the train and it leaves, so Nancy and the girls head towards River Heights where the train is going. The train stops and Nancy is able to talk to the woman. The woman and Nancy talk. Then they go to Nancy's place and talk to her father. Nancy realizes the woman is not the mother of the twins.
1965: Cecily and Niko are unconscious, having been hit by a big rock. Two men are running away. Nancy talks to the police the next day. She goes to Baltimore to check on the pirated record and can hear crickets on it. Ceciluy may be related to a woman named Susan. Nancy meets Ned and the other guys. They go to hear Niko sing. Niko and Nancy are kidnapped.
Chapter 15
1934: Nancy visits Rodney. He says he once had a twin sister but doesn't know where she is. The next day Nancy visits the minister. He tells her the names of the twins he christened, and it proves Rodney and the woman are brother and sister.
1965: The two escape from the car they are in. Nancy connects the sound of the crickets to the sound of the machine at the lake. She talks to the police. Ned, meanwhile, has picked up clues on his own. Nancy and the girls see Vince throwing the kids into the air and scaring them. They hear a woman scream from the house.
Chapter 16
1934: The nurse shows up at the Drews. Nancy shows he the locket. Rodney then shows up. She informs them they are brother and sister.
1965: Vince grabs the kids and goes into the house. Nancy finsd an iron flamingo. The group takes it and finds a pre-Civil War message about the fortune. Nancy works out a plan. Cecily will pretend to be the other girl and Vince and his equally thuggish brother will chase her, giving Nancy time to check out the house.
Chapter 17
1934: Nancy gets a call from the Blair's house. Colleen says the babies have had a bad fall. She, Ruth and Rodney all go to the house. When they get into the house they can hear the babies screaming.
1965: Ned tosses a stone through the opened window and the stone is tossed back, indicating someone is there. Nancy talks to the police, but the guy she talks to doesn't really seem to care for her.
Chapter 18
1934: Colleen never called the doctor. Colleen was spending time with her boyfriend rather than watching the babies. Nancy finds Colleen had also been taking time out to dress up in Mrs. Blair's fancy clothes. The producer shows up. Colleen steals some jewelry from Mrs. Blairs purse and plants it in Nancy's car.
1965: They make their plans. Ned and the other boys will follow the truck of pirate records while the girls will go to the beach and try to find the secret entrance to the house. They find the door and overhear two of the crooks talking about the illegal things they have done. Ned and the other guys end up in a ditch.
Chapter 19
1934: The producer leaves and the Blairs go upstairs to look at the babies. Nancy tells them how the babies were hurt. Ruth says she'll accept the position caring for the kids if it's offered to her. She also warns Nancy Colleen may make trouble for her. The next day Rodney visits and says Colleen was fired. Nancy plans to follow up a clue on the boat the babies were found in.
1965: The guys get the car out of the ditch. The state police stop the truck with the records. Nancy gets the hidden door open and Susan is there along with more records and a movie projector. Susan and Cecily are cousins. Susan is the mother of the twins, her kids having been kidnapped after a terrible car accident Cecily was in. The group works its way to the house but is caught by the crooks.
Chapter 20
1934: Nancy, Bess and George go to visit the guy who found the boat the babies were in. Nancy finds the other part of the locket in the wreck of the old boat. The guy says he found a newspaper in the boat so it gives them a location of a city to check. The locket also has some initials on it. Colleen and her boyfriend land nearby and Nancy hears Collen saying something about Nancy getting in trouble soon.
1965: Ned, Bess and George arrive and rescue the twins. The girls are untied. The police arrive and capture the entire lot of crooks. Susan tells them about how she was treated by the Driscolls. Susan, Nancy and the others search the house for the hiding place of the treasure and they find it, a good part of it being gold coins.
Chapter 21
George tumbles into the river and Nancy saves her. Nancy talks to Hannah and she tells her that Mrs. Blair wants to see her and her father right away. When they get there Mrs. Blair says she's been robbed. Nancy sees some curtains move.
Chapter 22
She finds a shyster lawyer there. The shyster lawyer later gets articles put into newspapers that imply Nancy is a thief. The producer talks to Nancy.
Chapter 23
Nancy picks up George and Bess, but her car has a flat. The shyster lawyer drives up next to them. They find the locket. Nancy takes off in a garageman's car and he takes off with George and Bess in Nancy's car once it's been fixed. Nancy sabotaged the shyster's car so he can't follow her. The mechanic had saved a woman's life a year ago.
Chapter 24
The woman had been hit by lightning. She recovered, but was never the same afterwards. He knows where she lives. Nancy and the girls go there. They are chased by the shyster but throw him off the trial. Nancy is able to determine that the woman is the twins mother. The woman is about to jump off a cliff.
Chapter 25
Nancy tells her about finding her babies. It turns out she's the wife of the producer. The woman tells Nancy how she ran away from her husband. They get to the house. Ruth has brought the babies there. The woman says she'll need someone to help her with the babies so Ruth will still be able to be with them. The producer shows up and makes up with his wife. The Blairs arrive later. They had been basically fired for not living up to the contract (by attending practice sessions.) Mrs. Blair signs away all rights to the twins. Mrs. Blair also says she knows Nancy did not take the diamonds.
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