"Keene, Carolyn - Nancy Drew 022 - The Clue in the Crumbling Wall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Keene Carolyn)

"Come in, come in!" the former sailor invited.
He was sitting with his feet up on a built-in table
and eating beans out of a can.

When he saw the girls, he stood up. "Ye honor
me, comin' here," he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
"But I'm goin' to have to disappoint ye. I've nary
a clam today."
"Oh. we didn't come to buy clams," Nancy re-
plied, glancing curiously at the furnishings of the
yacht. The room was small and cluttered, but
very clean. Salty's bunk was neatly made. On a
shelf above it was an amazing array of sea shells.
"I collect 'em," the sailor explained, following
Nancy's gaze. "Some o' those shells came from the
Orient, an' some from right here in the Mus-
koka."
He walked over to the shelf and pointed to a
curious specimen. "That's called the washboard
clam. It's one o' the biggest of our river clams.
And this is a whelk from the seashore. You can
get dye out of it when the critter's fresh."
"How interesting!" the girls exclaimed.
Pleased by their attention, the man showed
them other shells which were too large to stand
on the narrow shelf. One, measuring three feet
across, had come from an island in the Pacific.
Nancy grinned. "What a pearl that might
hold!" She told of her own loss, saying she was
glad the pearl was not large and valuable.
The former sailor showed the girls other treas-
ures from the sea; huge fluted specimens and
tiny, delicate shells. Amazed at the variety, Nancy
asked Salty if he had collected them during his
travels.
"No." The clam digger laughed. "Mr. Heath
gave 'em to me."
The name startled Nancy. "Not Walter Heath?"
"No. Ira Heath-Walt's father," Salty an-
swered. "He gave me the shells when he had his
button factory on the inlet."
"A button factory near here?" Bess asked in
surprise.
"It's been closed for years. It was shut down
when the supply o' fresh-water mussels gave out.
Mollusk mother-of-pearl shells are used, you
know, to make pearl buttons."
"What became of Mr. Heath?" Nancy inquired.
"Ira was born in England an' went back there
on a visit. He died in London. His son Walt was