AN EERIE TWIN-TOWERED CASTLE of white stone on an ice-bound island on a frozen winter lake, a nearby English manor house haunted by a flute playing ghost who roams the halls at night accompanied by a wolf, and a mysterious kidnapped girl from the p...
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
PHOTO above: Hardy Boys #1, 1940s edition
The final threads of the mystery are solved ...
The reunion of Lorraine Symington with her parents was a wonderful event to witness, and all who did knew they never would forget it because of the roles they each had played in bringing it about.
First, she met up with her father on the path leading through the woods to the Ice Castle. For a moment, she looked at Ned Dana and Rutherford Symington with questioning eyes as they approached. They were both dressed in heavy outdoor clothes and covered with snow. Then, her eyes settled on her father and, with an excited voice, she cried:
"Dad! I'd know you anywhere! You haven't changed much at all!"
She ran up to the handsome shipping magnate and threw her arms around him, laughing at his shocked expression.
"My daughter!" he barely breathed, as he wrapped his arms around her. "Do you remember me?"
"Yes, I do! Oh, it is a long story, but we had to seek shelter from the storm in one of the anaktwas, and Lettie was in it! Eddie Arrow had apprehended her and bound and gagged her, and then left her in there. At first we thought she was the remains of a dead Indian, but when she started to move and groan it scared the daylights out of us. It was such a severe fright that it caused my memory to return!"
She went on to explain how she had lost her memory on the day of the kidnapping under similar circumstances in one of the anaktwas.
"My poor dear," Mr. Symington sighed. "It has been a rough road you have had to travel. But now that you are back home again, from this day forward everything shall be wonderful."
He turned to look at the girls. "Miss Briggs, I shall be forever indebted to you for your help in restoring my daughter's memory. Choosing not to go back to Starhurst today proved to be a monumental decision."
Lettie beamed happily, hardly looking at all like her usual unpleasant self.
Mr. Symington then said to Jean and Louise, "And, of course, I'll never be able to express my gratitude to you girls, and to your aunt and uncle too, for it is through your efforts that the mystery of Lorraine's disappearance has been solved and she has been returned to us."
The Dana girls looked demurely away in embarrassment. Uncle Ned walked over and put his arms around their shoulders. "I know I speak for my sister Harriet, too, when I say that we are all very happy to have been able to help."
"This is Uncle Ned," Jean said to Lorraine. "And Aunt Harriet is back at the Ice Castle with your mom. Shall we go surprise them?"
