Mystery of Crocodile Island.

Carolyn Keene.

CHAPTER I.

A Risky Adventure.

NANCY Drew and her friend Bess Marvin were seated in the Drew living room, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Nancy's father.

"I wish your dad would hurry and get here," Bess said impatiently. "Nancy, have you any idea what the trip he wants us to take h all about?"

The attractive eighteen-year-old strawberry blond shook her head. "I know the place, but not the mystery we're to solve."

"Where is the place?" Bess asked.

"Florida. Dad didn't tell me what part, though."

Bess giggled. "Any part will be all right with me, as long as there's warm weather and swimming."

Nancy smiled. "Probably all of us will be glad to swim. At this time of year it can get pretty hot down there."

A ring at the front door interrupted her. Nancy hurried to answer it. The visitor was Bess's cousin George Fayne. George was a vivacious dark-haired girl with a winning smile and a great appet.i.te for adventure. She and Bess had helped Nancy with many mysteries.

"Hi, George!" Nancy greeted her Mend. "Come in."

When the two walked into the living room, Bess pointed to a shoe box George carried. "What's in there?" she inquired.

George's eyes twinkled. She took off the lid, which had several small holes punched in it. "You can see," she said, "but don't touch."

In the box lay a twelve inch baby crocodile. Since it did not move, the girls a.s.sumed it was asleep. George held up the box and tapped the underside. At once the crocodile began to wiggle! It opened its jaws wide and swished its tail.

Bess screamed. "Put the lid on and get that thing out of here!" she demanded.

George laughed. "It's not real! Nancy, your dad asked me to stop at the River Heights Trick Shop and buy a rubber crocodile. He didn't explain why."

She replaced the lid and set the box on the table. "The clerk in the store said if you tickle the trick crocodile, it will wiggle. It's meant to scare people, but it can't possibly hurt you."

Bess looked doubtful, and George went on, "If this reptile were real, the government would take it and fine me twenty thousand dollars."

"What!" Bess cried out. "That's incredible."

"Or I could spend five years in jail for possessing it without government permission."

"But why?" Bess asked.

"Because crocodiles are a vanishing species," Nancy put in. "There used to be plenty of them in this country, but now there are only a few left in Florida."

Bess's eyes opened wide. "Do you think your father is going to send us to the part where there are crocodiles?"

Nancy was looking out the window. "We'll soon know," she replied. "He's driving in now."

Carson Drew, a leading attorney in River Heights, parked his car in the garage, then came into the house by way of the kitchen. When he reached the living room, he kissed Nancy and greeted the other two girls.

"Don't keep us in suspense any longer," Nancy pleaded. "Are we going to crocodile land?"

Her tall, handsome father sat down on the couch. "In a way, yes. This is the story. An old college friend of mine named Roger Gonzales lives in Key Biscayne outside of Miami. Biscayne Bay is full of small islands, which are called keys. Most of them are inhabited, but some of the smaller ones are like jungles and n.o.body lives on them. Some twenty miles from Key Biscayne there's a key that has been nicknamed Crocodile Island. A group of men operate a crocodile farm on it. They breed these reptiles to sell to zoos or other places where sightseers can view them."

As Mr. Drew paused, Bess spoke, with fright in her voice. "And you're going to ask us to go to this alligator farm?"

Mr. Drew smiled. "Crocodile farm, Bess. There's a difference."

"There is?"

"Yes. The American alligator has a much broader snout than the crocodile, and is less vicious and active. The two reptiles are about equal in size and can grow up to twelve feet in length, but the croc weighs about a third less than the 'gator."

Bess shivered. "I don't want to meet either one."

George laughed. To tease Bess, she said, "Mr. Drew, tell us some more scary things about crocodiles."

Bess groaned.

"They like to live in large bodies of shallow salty water," Mr. Drew continued, "preferably in sluggish rivers, open swamps, and marshes that are brackish. They raise their heads when you go near them and-"

"Oh, stop!" Bess begged.

Mr. Drew grinned. "But I'm not finished. In this country crocs were formerly found around the southernmost tip of Florida, but because so many people went to live on Key Biscayne, the crocs moved into the Everglades. They have webbed feet and can walk on soft ground."

"How fast can they run?" George asked.

"Very fast. Like horses!"

"Forget it!" Bess declared. "I'm staying home. Who wants to be eaten?"

"American crocodiles occasionally do attack animals and people," Mr. Drew admitted. "A croc can twist a large animal to pieces by seizing one part of it, then turning rapidly in the water."

George grimaced. "I think I agree with Bess!"

"Don't worry," Mr. Drew said. "You probably won't meet any wild crocs. What I'm talking about is a farm where they're bred in captivity. There's a mystery connected with the place that I hope you girls can solve."

"What kind of mystery?" George asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute." Mr. Drew looked at the shoe box, "I see you did the errand, George, Thank you very much. I thought you girls might want to study a rubber crocodile to get acquainted with its looks."

He rose and walked over to the table and removed the lid. George suggested that he lift the box and tap the bottom. He did, and once more the baby crocodile wiggled its tail and opened and closed its jaws.

"This is certainly a good imitation," Mr. Drew remarked. He sat down again and went on with his story. "Mr. Gonzales has stock in the crocodile farm, which is called Crocodile Ecology Company. He doesn't live or work there, however. He's a silent partner, so to speak.

"Recently he has become suspicious that the business arrangements on the island are not what they should be, and that his partners are up to something dishonest."

Nancy asked, "And this Mr. Gonzales has requested that we investigate Crocodile Island?"

"That's right," her father replied. "However, he doesn't want his partners to know it, so you girls are not to visit his home or his office, or even phone him. Roger Gonzales is afraid his partners are spying on him, and in some way may find out he's starting an investigation."

Mr. Drew told the girls they should pretend to be just tourists. "I'd even suggest that while you're there you act like silly young girls, so that the Crocodile Ecology people won't catch on. The last thing you want them to know is that you all have high detective IQ's,"

Bess laughed. "That'll be easy enough for me. I can act silly any time, but Nancy will really have to play the part."

Mr. Drew asked to be excused, "I must get back to my office for another case."

After he had gone, the telephone rang and Nancy hurried to answer it in the hall.

"Is this the Drew home?" a man's voice asked.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"The River Heights Trick Shop. I want to speak to the girl who bought the crocodile."

Nancy motioned to George and handed her the receiver.

"h.e.l.lo?" George said.

"Are you the girl who bought the crocodile?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You're in great danger!" the man told her. "The boy who was working here gave you a live one by mistake."

"What!" George cried out.

"Bring it back right away," the man ordered. "If you don't, the police will arrest you!"

George was aghast. She could be put in jail for five years or be fined twenty thousand dollars!

Nancy, who had overheard the conversation, looked toward the box on the table. Her father had not bothered to put the lid on after examining the crocodile. Now the reptile was climbing out of the container!

It opened its jaws wide. Though the crocodile was only a baby, there was no doubt about its viciousness. It could easily snap off someone's finger!

Just then the other girls in the room noticed that the crocodile had escaped from its container. As Nancy dashed toward it, George froze and Bess screamed in fear!

CHAPTER II.

New Names.

MRS. Hannah Gruen, the Drews' housekeeper, heard the commotion and rushed in from the kitchen. By now the baby crocodile lay at the edge of the table, making low hissing sounds.

Hannah backed away in alarm, even though she usually had plenty of courage when confronted with a crisis. A middle-aged woman, she had brought Nancy up after Mrs. Drew's death, when Nancy was three years old. Since then kindly Mrs. Gruen had fostered the girl's natural instinct to face danger without flinching.

"Wh-what on earth is going on here?" Hannah asked.

Before anyone could answer, Nancy's bullterrier Togo slipped into the room behind the housekeeper. As soon as he spied the little reptile, he began to bark wildly. He jumped up in the air, trying to reach the crocodile with his paws.

"Don't hurt it!" Nancy exclaimed. She grabbed Togo by his collar and tried to keep him from nipping the little creature.

"I'll take Togo," Hannah offered.

Nancy walked up to the table and turned the shoe carton on its end. Then, with the lid, she gently pushed the crocodile back toward it. Apparently the dog's barking and yapping had frightened it, and the little reptile willingly crawled into the box.

"Thank goodness!" Hannah Gruen said with a sigh of relief as Nancy put the lid back on.

"I'm glad that's over!" Bess added. "If one little baby can scare us like that, what'll we do when we get to a farm full of great big crocs?"

Mrs. Gruen laughed. "No doubt the reptiles are kept in pits and can't get out," she said. "Don't worry, Bess."

Togo continued to bark and jump, so Nancy led him outside and put him in his run. The dog had helped her many times in her detective work, which had started with The Secret of the Old Clock The Secret of the Old Clock. Recently she had unraveled The Strange Message in the Parchment The Strange Message in the Parchment.

Meanwhile, Hannah had found a st.u.r.dy cord to secure the shoe box. When Nancy returned to the living room, she suggested that tie three girls go downtown and deliver the baby crocodile to its owner.

"I second the motion," Bess said. "The sooner we get this creature out of here, the better I'll like it!"

When they reached the store, Bess stayed in the car, while Nancy and George went inside the shop. The owner, Noly Reareck, greeted the girls with a look of relief.

"You have no idea what a load you've taken off my mind," he said. "You see, I have a license to keep Crocky as a pet and have agreed to keep it in suitable surroundings and never to abuse it, kill it, or sell its hide."

Mr. Reareck explained that it was unfortunate the little reptile had been sold to George. "I had to go to the post office," he said, "and asked a neighborhood boy to watch the shop for a few minutes. He decided to play a joke on me. Instead of selling you a rubber crocodile that can be made to wiggle and open its mouth, he gave you my pet. It's a good thing you told him it was for Carson Drew, or I wouldn't have been able to trace it. I'm mighty relieved that Crocky didn't bite anyone."

Bess, who was waiting in the car, wondered why the girls did not come back and walked into the shop. George explained about the switching of the crocodiles, then Nancy asked Mr. Reareck where the young reptile had come from.

"Crocodile Island in Florida," he said.

The girls looked at one another in amazement "Crocodile Island?" Bess blurted out. "Why, that's where-"

She stopped suddenly because George stepped on her toes. Nancy was relieved. If Mr. Reareck had any connection with Crocodile Island, she did not want him to know about the girls' mission.

The three thanked the shop owner and left Nancy dropped Bess and George off at their homes, then returned to her own house. With Hannah Gruen looking on and offering advice from time to time, Nancy chose a wardrobe to take on the trip. Among her summer clothes were two bathing suits, a terry-cloth beach robe, and a jump suit.

After she finished packing, Nancy learned from Hannah that her father had come home. She went into his room, where he was reading.