George was already at the brink, leaning forward so as not to miss any of the procedure. At that moment they all felt a great jolt. George lost her balance and went down between the barge on which they had gathered and the oncoming one!
Julie Anne screamed. “Oh, George will be crushed!”
CHAPTER XIV
Bess’s
Scheme
NED had noticed a long boat hook lying on the deck. He picked it up quickly and with Dave’s help held the two barges apart. It was hard work and they strained every muscle. Meanwhile the shouts of the boatmen had alerted the tug operator to cut his motor. The others looked around anxiously for George.
“There she is!” Nancy exclaimed in relief as her friend surfaced some distance away. George had swum underwater to safety.
“She’s coming this way!” Bess cried.
The young people rushed to the side of the barge. George was an excellent swimmer and managed to get back despite a strong current. Luckily the barge was heavily loaded and rode low in the water. The boys reached down and hauled her aboard. George’s clothes were dripping and her hair was as flat and shiny as a sleek cat’s.
The girl grimaced. “Wasn’t that stupid of me?” The others made no comment, but Bess exclaimed, “Thank goodness you’re all right!”
“Yes,” added Burt. “You had a narrow squeak.” The men on the two barges involved set up a cheer upon seeing that George was safe. One of them called, “You’re some swimmer, young lady!”
George held up her two hands in a thank-you gesture. Accompanied by Bess, Nancy and Julie Anne, she went to her cabin for dry clothes.
The boys stayed to see the rest of the operation. Soon the two barges were lashed together. The journey back to Cairo began.
About noontime they entered a lock beside the Kentucky shore. Intrigued, the young people stood at the rail watching the towboat slowly and skillfully push the triple line of barges between the concrete walls.
“The captain has to be good,” said Ned. “He doesn’t have much clearance on either side.”
“That’s for sure,” said a man, standing on the wall. He wore a yellow hardhat.
“You’re an Army Engineer, aren’t you?” Art asked him. “I know your Corps is in charge of dams and locks.”
“That’s right,” the man replied.
As they all chatted with the engineer, the
Sally
O and her tow slowly sank lower between the walls.
Finally, far ahead, the great gates swung open and the
Sally
0 rode out into the river. As the towboat passed through the opening, several other engineers waved from the lock wall.
Immediately afterward Nancy sought out Captain Boge. She asked if he could radio the Illinois State Police to find out if they had any word on Bob Snell or if Kadle or any of his gang had been caught at the old house.
“I guess we’d all like to know,” Boge said.
He turned to his radio and made the call. To Nancy’s disappointment, she heard the answering officer give negative replies to both queries.
Nancy went back to the deck and relayed the depressing news to the others. “Hypers!” George exclaimed. “Where is Bob Snell?”
A few minutes later luncheon was served. There had been no regular seating arrangements. The young people had moved around freely but Bess had noticed that whenever possible Art had placed himself next to Nancy. Later she mentioned this to Nancy, who laughed it off.
“Don’t laugh,” Bess said. “It’s serious. I was hoping Art was going to stick close to Julie Anne but that didn’t last long. I’m going to do something about this!”
Nancy begged her not to. Bess said no more, but Nancy noticed that all afternoon she made a point of searching out Art and talking with him.
“Dave isn’t going to like this one bit,” Nancy thought. “Oh dear! Why can’t things run along smoothly?”
Ned and Art stayed far apart. Nancy kept moving around to talk to everyone but little by little a strained air came over the whole group.
Apparently Captain Boge noticed this. At suppertime he said, “I want an honest answer to a question. Have you young folks been bored with this trip?”
“Oh no!” Nancy replied. “It’s been full of excitement. How could we possibly be bored?”
The captain looked down at the table pensively. “You have all become so quiet I thought maybe something was wrong.”
They all assured him he had nothing to worry about. The trip had been perfect. Apparently the captain decided to change the subject.
“Did you know a ghost can sometimes be seen at night walking on this river?”
George looked at him skeptically. “You’re spoofing.”
“You can decide for yourself,” he said.
He told them that many years ago a young man and his sweetheart were coming down the river in a small sailboat. In a sudden freak wind the mainsail shifted so quickly it knocked the girl overboard.
“According to the story, she was never seen alive again, but her spirit appears on the water, hoping her lover will come back to her. If you watch the Illinois shore real closely, you might see her ghost tonight. Lots of folks say they have. I’ve never seen her, but tonight might be just the right time.”
The young people did not believe a word of the legend, but they trooped to the deck in a more lighthearted mood than they had been in before. Nancy, Bess, and Captain Boge were pleased.
The whole group stayed up until midnight watching for the apparition, but did not see it. The next morning, however, Julie Anne declared she had been the girl ghost in her dreams.
“The young man in the boat who came to get me—was Art!” Everyone laughed and the other girls wondered if there were a double meaning in Julie Anne’s remark.
The young people spent another pleasant day on the boat. At nightfall they saw the familiar shoreline of Cairo ahead.
They had already packed their bags and began saying good-by to the captain and crew. As the tugboat drew alongside to take them off the
Sally 0,
the men gathered to wave.
Nancy lingered a moment to speak privately to Captain Boge. “Please don’t worry about us. We honestly had a marvelous time and I assure you we’re all good friends.” The captain squeezed her hand understandingly and wished her well.
As soon as they reached the dock, Nancy asked Ned if he would mind telephoning Roscoe Thompson, the helicopter pilot. “Ask him to meet us at Cairo. We can taxi to the airfield.”
The others waited for him. He rejoined them, smiling. “Roscoe will be there.”
By the time the group reached the field, he was waiting for them. Nancy introduced him to Bess, George, Ned, Burt, and Dave.
“It’ll be a tight squeeze,” he said, “but we’ll manage. It’s not a long ride to the dig.”
Before leaving, Nancy telephoned the State Police and learned there was no news of Bob Snell, and Kadle and his pals were still at large.
“I suppose they’ll come to the dig,” she thought. “We must keep our eyes open.”
When the helicopter was airborne, Nancy asked Roscoe if he had done any searching from the air for Bob Snell.
“Yes, but I didn’t spot anything suspicious. I sure hope somebody finds him soon.”
As the helicopter set down, all the diggers heard it and ran out to greet Nancy and her friends. During the introductions and chatter that followed, Roscoe took off. Nancy immediately mentioned Bob Snell.
“His father came out here the day you left to meet your friends,” Theresa said. “Mr. Snell is staying in Cairo and making his own investigation.”
The newcomers were besieged with questions about the towboat trip and the treasure hunt.
Julie Anne and Art joined in giving answers. Everyone was glad to hear A.C.E. Armstrong had been rescued and thought it was clever of Nancy to have tracked him down.
“He was able to clear up a good bit of the mystery,” she said. “We can start all over again looking for the message in the hollow oak.”
The group went to the girls’ farmhouse to hear the whole story over an evening snack. Afterward, Nancy saw Bess and Theresa walking up and down in front of the house together. The girl was talking animatedly and the director was nodding and smiling. Nancy wondered what the conversation was about, but Bess offered no explanation and Nancy did not prod her.
When it was time for the boys to leave, Nancy noticed that Art did not invite her friends to go with him. He stalked ahead alone. Todd took charge of them and they disappeared along the path leading to the boys’ dormitory.
There were two extra beds in one of the girls’ rooms. Bess and George were assigned to them.
Early the next morning when the boys arrived Art was on his motorcycle. Nancy explained to Theresa that she had asked him to go over to Clem Rucker’s home and see if he would rent his farm truck to her. She planned on Ned’s driving it in her search for the special oak tree.
Art roared off. He was back in a little while with the truck, the motorcycle lying in the rear. Sweet-smelling hay covered the board floor and Nancy was glad to see this, but knew it would hardly cushion the ride. It was not going to be a comfortable one.
It was a beautiful day and the whole group had breakfast outdoors. While they were eating, Nancy saw Theresa approach Julie Anne and speak to her quietly. The young detective noticed a look of disappointment cross Julie Anne’s face.
Next the director walked over to Art and began to talk. He scowled but seemed to agree with Theresa. A few minutes later he came up to Nancy and said, “Sorry, but Theresa won’t excuse me today. I have to dig.”
Presently Julie Anne told Nancy their leader had made the same request of her. Nancy wondered if Bess had had a hand in this or whether Theresa had decided her students had had enough time off.
“I’ll bet Bess is playing Cupid again,” Nancy thought.
All her friends from home were intrigued by the excavation and went to watch the diggers at work. Julie Anne waved to them from below.
“Show us how you do it,” Ned called to her.
She showed him, then suddenly said, “I’ve found part of a painted skull.”
It was a slightly curved piece of reddish bone about two inches long.
“This is a good find,” said Theresa. “It still bears traces of the red clay with which the Hopewell Indians painted the skulls of their dead.”
“It could just as easily be an Algonquin skull,” Claire said authoritatively. “I’ve heard they had some strange customs. Sometimes they mixed their bones into the burials of earlier people.”
Theresa looked at the girl sharply. “That story is absolutely untrue. Where did you hear it?”
Cornered, Claire admitted that she had forgotten. “Then,” said Theresa, “you should know better than to repeat such a story!”
Claire turned on her heel and walked away. Julie Anne winked at Nancy as if to say, “Little Miss Know-It-All didn’t get away with it this time!”
Nancy told Theresa she and her group should leave at once to start their hunt. A box was quickly packed with sandwiches, fruit, cake, and bottles of soda. The three couples rode off in the open-back truck, with Ned at the wheel and Nancy beside him. She pointed out the direction, retracing the route Clem had taken.
Suddenly the sky grew dark. Large drops splashed against the windshield. There were cries from the riders in the back. A downpour followed and the narrow lane turned to slippery mud.
Nancy looked around frantically for shelter. Below, at the foot of a steep bluff, she spotted a tumble-down red frame building.
“There’s an old railroad station!” she exclaimed. “We can go in there!”
Just then Ned swerved to avoid a boulder in the road. The heavy truck skidded out of control and slid down the muddy embankment straight for the old depot! There were screams from the rear.
“Hang on!” Ned yelled.
Crash!
The truck came to a halt with the cab inside the station. Plaster and boards rained down on it. The riders in the back scrambled out and hurried to the front.
“Nancy, Ned! Are you hurt?” George cried. Bess was white-faced with fright.
“We’re all right, I guess,” Nancy said shakily as she and Ned got out of the cab.
Ned gave a wry grin. “I don’t think we did this old depot any good.”
“It was a wreck to start with,” said Burt.
The boys looked over the truck and found it undamaged. Meanwhile, Nancy searched the abandoned station on a hunch Bob Snell might be imprisoned there. She found only a broken cabinet in the ticket agent’s office and a 1929 train schedule.
“It has stopped raining,” said Bess.
“Then let’s go!” Burt urged.
The girls found clean rags under the truck seat and wiped off the wet hay in the back. Then they all climbed in and Ned backed out of the broken wall. He drove along the grass-covered railroad tracks until he came to a gravel road leading back to the bluff.
Before long, Nancy recognized where they were. Straight ahead was the first hollow oak with the lead plate on it containing the name Père François, and the date, followed by an arrow. It was noon by the time they reached the area where the second tree was located. But it was on the other side of a deep creek.
“I guess we came out of our way,” Nancy remarked.
“I’m starved!” said Bess. “Let’s sit down here by this nice shady stream and have our lunch.”
“Sounds good to me,” Dave spoke up.
The three couples climbed out of the old truck and walked toward the water to wash their hands. Burt was the first to finish. As he turned back toward the truck he saw two little boys peering into the cab. Thinking they might know the best spot to drive across the stream, he hurried toward them. Instead of waiting for Burt, the two ran away as fast as they could.
“I guess they’re shy of strangers,” he thought with a smile, and waited for the others to join him.
Nancy, first to get there, reached into the cab for the box of food. The string which had been tied around it was gone. Quickly she took off the lid and looked inside.