Part 1 (1/2)
The Haunted Bridge.
CHAPTER I.
Invitation to Mystery.
”SORRY, miss, but I wouldn't go near that bridge for a million dollars,” said the young, freckle-faced caddy.
”Why, Chris?” Nancy Drew asked him.
She had just driven her golf ball over two hundred yards into a patch of woods bordering the sixteenth hole. A rustic footbridge stood at the far side of it.
”Because the place is haunted, that's why.”
Nancy, a slender attractive girl of eighteen with reddish-blond hair, was intrigued. She requested more details. Before Chris could answer, the other girls who were in Nancy's threesome walked toward her with their caddies.
”What's up?” asked George Fayne, a trim-looking brunette with short hair and a boyish name.
”The bridge in there has a ghost guarding it,” Chris replied. ”Isn't that right, fellows?”
The other caddies nodded and cast wary glances among the trees.
The third girl, blond, pretty Bess Marvin, gasped. ”A-a real ghost?”
”That's right, miss,” Chris told her. ”You'd better not hang around here.”
Nancy smiled. ”What will the ghost do to me?”
”Who knows?” Chris retorted, and started to move off. ”He sure wouldn't let you take your ball, and he might strike you. Come on! Take a penalty stroke.”
”I guess we'd better,” Bess agreed. ”There's a foursome right behind us. Shall I signal them to play through?”
”No, we may as well go on,” Nancy decided.
Her caddy was obviously relieved. ”You couldn't have played from behind all those trees, anyway,” he said.
”It's a shame,” George commented. ”You had such a great score up to now, Nancy. I hate to see you lose a stroke.”
Nancy's curiosity about the haunted bridge distracted her attention from the game, and she scored a disappointing double bogey for the hole.
”Oh, you should have had a par,” George murmured sympathetically.
Nancy smiled. ”I've learned never to count my score until the last hole is played.”
Nancy smiled. ”What will the ghost do to me?”
”You'll certainly qualify for the tournament,” Bess insisted. ”That is, if you don't let your mind wander off on the mystery.”
The three girls were spending a few weeks at the Deer Mountain Hotel as guests of Nancy's father, Carson Drew. He had come there on legal business. The summer resort with its many sports activities was a contrast to the comparative quiet of River Heights, their hometown, and the girls were enjoying every minute of the vacation.