Inside illustration.
Text Differences
1. The entire first chapter of the original text is different and almost none of it takes in the revised text.
2. The old elephant's name in the original text is Old Tom; in the revised text it's Arun.
3. The boy's name in the original text is Coya; in the revised text, it's Rishi.
4. The second chapter is also utterly different. Rai is the one who gives Nancy the charm. Coya tries to get a ride on a train rather than inside the trunk of Nancy's car.
5. In the original text it's the Bengleton Circus; in the revised text it's the Bengleton Wild-Animal Show.
6. A lot of chapter 3 is also present only in the revised text. It begins to reflect the revised text when Mrs. Allison shows up and faints.
7. Chapter 4 is basically totally different between the two texts. Ned's car is in an accident that's caused by Roach. Ned and Nancy go to a ball game and Roach and the car are there.
8. The reason to go to Allison's property in the original text is so the girls and Coya/Rishi can have a picnic.
9. When the monkeys escape their cage, the revised text has a monkey landing on Nancy's head and pulling her hair. This is not done in the original text.
10. In the original text, it's guards that get the monkeys back in their cage. In the revised text it's Rishi.
11. Rishi is not with the girls and Mr. Drew when they go to see the circus elephants.
12. Ned plays more of a role in the original text than in the revised text.
13. Chapter 14 in the old text is totally unlike what happened in the revised text.
14. In the old text, the elephant Old Tom goes directly after Rai right into the manager's tent and through it. Nancy saves a girl in the path of the elephant.
15. In the old text the professor-tutor mentions Coya's progress at a party and the word gets to Allison who talks to Rai who directly kidnaps Coya from the Drew's garage.
16. When Cows Attack in the 17th chapter of the original text has no comparison in the revised text.
17. In the revised text, Ned wants Nancy to come to the college and meet a guy from India he knows. In the original text Ned wants Nancy to attend a party, but they end up going to a circus instead.
18. In the original text, the girls spot Rai and Coya on a bus.
19. The Indian guy Ned knows is Anil in the revised text, Basha in the original text.
20. After Coya is kidnapped from the professors, Mr. Drew says he and Nancy will go to Washington, D.C. on a plane to talk to someone he knows there. Fortunately, nothing this illogical happens in the revised text.
21. In the original text, Nancy and her father stay in Washington, D.C. for a couple of days.
22. In the original text, Nancy and her father receive a luncheon invitation to the White House and Nancy gets to talk to the First Lady.
23. In the original text, it's Nancy that breaks open the elephant charm to save the boy's life. In the revised text, it's the exporter, Tilak (who is Rishi/Coya's real father.)
24. In the original text, Coya makes ready to return to India, and the usurper has fled. In the revised text there's no such mention.
Synopsis: SPOILERS!
Chapter 1
1935 text: Nancy, George and Bess had been at a camp for a month. They are waiting for a train to take them back to River Heights. Another train pulls in and animals are unloaded. Rai beats Rishi with a whip. She takes the whip from Rai's hand. The boy is named Coya. The elephant is named Old Tom. Rai tells the girls' fortunes. A snake drops on Nancy.
1964 text: Mr. Drew gets a call from a wild-animal show. Suspicious things are going on. Nancy will go to a performance in his place. Bess and George go with her, along with Tommy from down the stret. Tommy gets too near an elephant (Arun) and a young boy, Rishi, is able to help. Rai is the nasty guy who seems to be in charge of Rishi. He wears a charm to protect him from elephants. Nancy talks to the owner; he has problems with Rai and how he treats Rishi. He wants Nancy to find out stuff about Rai. They get back home and Rishi is in the car's trunk.
Chapter 2
1935 text: Coya gets help to free Nancy from the snake. Rai did nothing to help her. He gives Nancy the charm. Coya tries to get a ride on the train but is caught. He asks Nancy for help.
1964 text: Raj is not Rishi's father. Nancy talks to the police. They know a man who might be Rishi's father. Nancy goes to visit him but he's in India for three weeks. Nancy talks to her father, then to the circus leader. Raj has gone. Rishi will stay with Nancy. He gives Nancy the elephant charm.
Chapter 3
1935 text: Nancy agrees to let Coya come with them and stay with them for a time. Ned is there to greet Nancy upon her return to River Heights. Mr. Drew writes a letter to Rai asking if they can hire Rishi to do work there. He gives the letter to Rishi and he tears it up when he's alone. Later Mrs. Allison shows up, wanting to talk to Mr. Drew about her property. She looks at the charm and faints.
1964 text: Rishi says Rai was always suspicious. They borrow some boys clothes from a neighbor. Rishi seems do disappear, but he was just cleaning Mr. Drew's car. Rishi can speak broken English, but he cannot write in English. Some woman shows up, looks at Nancy's charm and faints.
Chapter 4
1935 text: Roach comes in and takes Allison away. Ned arrives. He was in a car accident the previous night; it was Roach driving the other car. Roach gave him $10 to keep quiet about the accident. Ned and Nancy go to a ball game and see the car there. She talks to Roach but he says he's not Roach and never heard of a Mrs. Allison.
1964 text: The woman's escort enters. he takes the woman to the car and drives away. Rishi says he heard Raj talk to Roach, the escort. Nancy talks to her father; the woman owns property. The girls and Rishi go there. Nancy, George and Rishi seem to vanish.
Chapter 5
1935 text: Ned confronts the guy about the accident but the guy's defiant and warns Ned not to bother him again. The group goes back to watch the ball game. Nancy's father tells her he found out about Allison's property and it's valuable. The girls and Coya are going to have a picnic, and then go to the woman's land. Then, as in the revised text, Nancy, George and Coya end up sort of disappearing, Bess goes for helps and sees the door in the cliff.
1964 text: Bess decides to go for help. She finds a door in the cliff. The car goes into a small ditch. Rishi comes out the door. They find they cannot open the door from outside. They drive to the house and Nancy appears; she had been in an underground labyrinth. They hear a crash in the house.
Chapter 6
1935 text: Bess drives into a ditch. Coya describes the house. They find Nancy. George is still missing. They re-enter the house.
1964 text: Nancy goes inside, hears George. George has been cut. The house has no actual floor. They explore the tunnel and find a man who claims to have been hit by a robber. He is Jasper Batt and looks after the property. He has papers of Rai's. Rishi is hanging from some ropes. Nancy rescues him and isn't sure if he is still alive.
Chapter 7
1935 text: They find George. George has been cut. They explore the tunnel and find Jasper. He talks about papers he was supposed to give to Allison.
1964 text: Jasper Batt claims Rishi was with the guy who hit him. He attacks Nancy. Nancy and the others escape through the tunnel. Nancy talks to her father. Ned calls and suggests a tutor for Rishi to learn English. The professor-tutor explains the nature of the white elephant. He says it is very old.
Chapter 8
1935 text: Nancy rescues Rishi from the overhead ropes. Jasper claims Rishi told the other guy to hit him. Jasper attacks Nancy. The girls and Rishi move to escape from the nut case.
1964 text: The professor agrees to tutor Rishi. The girls go back to see Batt. Mrs. Allison, the woman that came to the house, turns out to own the property. Some guy warns her about the need to sell the property. She chants something in Sanskrit. Jasper appears and threatens Nancy.
Chapter 9
1935 text: They escape. They get home and Nancy talks to her father. Ned comes over and suggests a tutor for Rishi. The professor shows up and they talk. (There's interesting information on India). He explains about the cult of the white elephant. He examines Nancy's charm and explains how some charms have things in them. Nancy, Bess and George drive to Allison's house and find her talking to some guy.
1964 text: George and Bess go to look at the cliff door. They see some guy come out and he tells them to leave and never return without permission. Nancy goes to the car. They drive and see a poster for the same animal show. Rishi has a premonition of going to India as a great man.
Chapter 10
1935 text: Allison continues to act like some New Age dropout. She starts reading from a book in Sanskrit. Jasper shows up and is nasty to Nancy.
1964 text: Allison's house burns down. The girls and Mr. Drew go to the house. Allison claims she has treasure hidden in the tunnels. Nancy, Allison and Mr. Drew go into the tunnels to retrieve the treasure, and Bess and George stay behind. The tunnel collapses. They manage to get out. One box spills, and it contains gems.
Chapter 11
1935 text: George and Bess check out the cliff door. A guy appears and tells them to leave. The girls leave and when driving see a poster for the circus. Nancy talks to the professor and he fills them in on the history of a certain part of India. Coya says he has had a premonition about going to India as a great rajah.
1964 text: Mr. Drew takes the boxes to a bank. Allision appears to be in meditation (she behaves like a total flake through the book). She claims Nancy will be reborn to be the wife of a rajah of India. The girls to to the show with Rishi. Monkeys escape and one pulls Nancy's hair. Rishi gets them back into their cage. An elephant show starts. They think they see Rai.
Chapter 12
1935 text: The paper says Allison's place has burned down. They go to the house and see Allison there. She talks about getting her treasures from the house. They get the treasures and there's a cave-in. Ned shows up to help.
1964 text: One elephant gets out of control; he smells Rai, who has mistreated him. Rishi calms the elephant. They stop at a restaurant. Mrs. Allison and Roach are there and are arguing. Rishi is kidnapped.
Chapter 13
1935 text: Allison keeps referring to her 'precious' treasure, reminding me of Gollum. Mr. Drew takes the treasure to a bank. Allison talks about reincarnation and tells Nancy's future as the wife of a rajah. They go to the circus where some monkeys escape. Guards get the monkeys back in the cage. The elephant act starts.
1964 text: Nancy calls the police. She goes to the importer's home and he still isn't there. Then she goes to Allison's property and talks to Batt. He claims a relative of his stole some papers. She goes to the guy's place and offers to buy the stolen papers. A dog scares Bess and while the guy is out Nancy takes the papers.
Chapter 14
1935 text: Nancy talks to a circus official who says rai recently quit. He had heard Rai talk of treasure and Mrs. Allison. Rai returns and talks to Nancy. He wants the charm back. He wants to meet with her in a week. Meanwhile there's word of Old Tom going on a rampage.
1964 text: The girls examine the papers. Rishi is the direct heir of a maharaja. Allison was involved in his kidnapping and was working to put some guy into power. Two guys talk to Batt and reveal that the fire was arson. Nancy talks to her father and then talks to the professor to set up a trap for Allison. Ned calls and says he knows a guy from India.
Chapter 15
1935 text: The elephant charges through the manager's tent. Old Tom hates Rai. Nancy saves a girl in the path of the elephant. They later stop at a place to eat and see Allison and Roach together. The professor praises Coya, but the word gets back to Mrs. Allison. She tells Rai. Rai kidnaps Coya.
1964 text: Nancy goes to a party. Anil is the guy from India she meets. Her charm is stolen. Rai is the one who took the charm.
Chapter 16
1935 text: They find out Coya has been kidnapped. Nancy talks to Batt and he tells her how his papers were taken by Peter Putnam. She goes to talk to him, the dog scares the other girls, the guy goes out after it, and Nancy takes the papers.
1964 text: Nancy goes to the professor's place. Allison shows up. She claims Rishi had died. She claims never to have heard of Rai. Nancy pretends to go into a trance and gets Allison to confess. Mr. Drew calls and Allison attacks the professor and flees.
Chapter 17
1935 text: The girls have a picnic of sorts and examine the papers. It has the same history as the revised text papers. Some cows come after the girls and they flee, leaving the papers. Nancy goes to retrieve them.
1964 text: Ned arrives. Rishi shows up. Nancy tells Rishi about his real past. The professor decides to sleep. Rishi describes how Rai mistreated him. The next day the professor says Rishi has disappeared. Mr. Drew calls the FBI.
(One cultural note. This was before 911, apparently, so in today's world Nancy would have called 911 to get help for the professor. Also, he has been attacked and hit in the head. Wouldn't the right medical thing to do be to make sure he got to the hospital and hadn't sustained a head injury? Also, I don't think he should be going to sleep until he has his injury checked out medically.)
Chapter 18
1935 text: Nancy recovers the documents. At Allison's place they see guys talking to Batt. They are insurance investigators and say the fire was arson. They talk to the girls and Batt gets angrier and angrier. Nancy talks to the professor and they set up the trap for Allison. Ned calls, wanting Nancy to attend a party. Instead she wants him to attend a circus to see if she can spot Coya. Later the girls spot a bus with Rai and Coya on it.
1964 text: Mr. Drew and Nancy head to the importer's house. They talk to the guy. Mr. Drew calls the bank to stop Allison from taking the boxes. Nancy spots Allison in a park and calls the police. The woman jumps from a bridge.
Chapter 19
1935 text: It turns out not to be Rai and Coya. Ned calls Nancy about another party. There is an Indian student at the second party, Basha. Nancy's charm is stolen.
1964 text: Nancy swims and saves the woman. The police shows up and arrest Allison. Rishi is still hidden somewhere. Rai and Batt are supposedly guarding him, but no one is there. Nancy and George go the next day to the house. They find Peter Putnam, Batt's relative who stole the papers, there. Rishi has been moved to his place so Nancy and George go there but are caught. Rai plans to kill Rishi.
Chapter 20
1935 text: Nancy goes to the professor's place. Allison shows up. She claims Rishi had died. She claims never to have heard of Rai. Nancy pretends to go into a trance and gets Allison to confess. Mr. Drew calls and Allison attacks the professor and flees.
1964 text: Rai has the ivory charm. The police arrive along with the importer. The charm contains an antidote to a poison that Rai gave Rishi so Rishi's live is saved.
Chapter 21
Coya appears. They help the professor. They tell Coya about his real past. Coya will stay with the professor. Coya still gets kidnapped, again. Then Mr. Drew says he and Nancy will go to Washington, D.C. to talk to a friend of his there who helps on international problems. (What? This makes no sense. Just call the guy on the phone. They should be staying where they are to help the search for Coya.)
Chapter 22
They fly to Washington D.C. and are assured of aid from U.S. and British government officials. (Remember, at this time India 'belonged' to England.) Mr. Drew plans to send a wire to the bank in River Heights so they won't give Allison the boxes. They get a letter from the President's wife inviting them to a luncheon in the White House. They go and Nancy gets to meet the First Lady. While at the hotel they are called to check on two suspects picked up in Washington, D.C., but neither is Allison. Then they finally get to return home. In a park Nancy sees a woman on a bridge.
(No wonder they threw this entire chapter out of the revised text, other than the part of Allison on the bridge. It's really basically nothing but filler.)
Chapter 23
Nancy calls the police then returns to the park. Allison jumps into the river. Nancy saves her. Plicemen arrive and arrest Allison. Nancy and George go to the Allison property. They see Jasper. He enters the door in the cliff.
Chapter 24
Nancy gets in and finds Peter Putnam in the tunnel. He tells her whey Coya has been taken. They go to Putnams but are spotted by Rai. He captures the girls.
Chapter 25
Rai plans to kill Coya. Detectives arrive and capture Rai. Nancy takes the charm. Nancy opens the elephant to find a liquid that she gives to Coya that saves him. Coya is to return to India. The usurper has fled.
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