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

"Not much. It was built-"
"Hannah!" Nancy exclaimed. She was facing
the window. "Look-in the yard!"
"What is it?" the housekeeper asked, peering
through the glass. "Oh, what a shame!" she cried
out. "All the hollyhocks are snapped off in the
middle and the daisies are flattened into the mud
from the rain!"
"That's not what I mean," said Nancy. "Look
at the flower border where my new rosebushes
were."
"Why, they're gone!" said Hannah. She stared
in amazement at two holes filled with rain water.
"The bushes were dug up," said Nancy, "and
stolen!"
"Probably by the same thief who took plants
from some of our neighbors," Hannah remarked.
"There's been a rash of these thefts lately."
"I'll report it when I go to headquarters this
afternoon," Nancy said.
While she set the table and heated soup, Han-
nah made sandwiches. By the time the two had
finished their lunch, the ground had dried a lit-
tle and the sun was out.
They hurried into the back yard to inspect the
damage. Except for the rosebushes, no plants were
missing. Nancy could not find any clues to the
thief. She and Hannah began cleaning up debris
from the storm. Suddenly they heard the familiar
song of one of River Heights' well-known ec-
centric characters.
"Here comes my old friend Salty down the
street!" Nancy laughed, shaking off her somber
mood.
The good-natured, elderly man, once a sailor,
had received his nickname from Nancy when she
was a little girl. He had introduced himself to the
Drew household as Boatswain Bostwick Bumple-
ton, "home from the salty seas."
Nancy had tried to say his whole name but
sometimes mixed it up. Once she addressed him
as Bumple Boat and another time as Humpty
Dumpty Bumpleton, much to his amusement.
Finally the little girl settled on Salty and her
nickname stuck to him.
The man's cart bell tinkled merrily, and a
moment later the jolly, weather-beaten sailor
wheeled his wagon around the corner of the drive-
way. Spying Nancy and Hannah, he sang again:
"Clams by the bushel,