The Phantom of Pine Hill (7 page)

Tom and Ben seemed startled by the question, but Tom answered. “Yes, it is. Don’t tell me you’re going to try to find the
Lucy Belle!”

Nancy laughed. “I just might do that.”

For the next few minutes Nancy and her friends studied the printed program. There was to be a succession of floats showing how Emerson had developed from a wilderness into a university town. First came flatboats on which the earliest merchants sent their goods up into the wilderness territory.

Next came the keelboats, called barges, which ran on regular schedules as the population increased.

Presently George called out, “Here comes Burt!”

She began to giggle as she saw him playing the part of a fully bearded captain in an old-fashioned uniform and cap. He was standing on a barge with one arm outstretched in front of him, directing his crew where to take their load of iron ore.

The program said that there had been a forge in the area where smelting was done. These forges formed little communities where the smith, his family, and his workers lived.

Suddenly Bess burst into laughter. “Oh, I can’t believe it! Look at Dave!”

Her friend, wearing a bushy-haired wig, whiskers, and sideburns, was in charge of an ark filled with animals! Squealing pigs, mooing cows, and neighing horses apparently were very unhappy and Dave was having a hectic time with several helpers trying to keep the creatures quiet.

“No wonder he wouldn’t tell me what part he was going to play,” said Bess. “He’ll never live this down!”

There were many other types of early river transportation in the parade, including one showing a shipment of salt. Other floats depicted a church and an early school building.

The last number was an elaborate one. On a disreputable shantyboat stood a crude shack. Through a large window, in a scene lighted by old-fashioned lanterns, a miser could be seen. He was seated at a table counting a large heap of coins.

Trailing the shantyboat was a large pirogue. The dugout was filled with Indians, and Ned was playing the part of their chief. As the boats neared the seated spectators, Ned and his party sneaked aboard the shantyboat, robbed the miser of his coins, and tossed the man into the water!

Quickly the Indians climbed back into their pirogue and headed for shore. It landed directly in front of Nancy’s group.

Ned leaped out, and giving a war whoop rushed up to Nancy, scooped her up in his arms, and raced back to his dugout with her.

“Ned, stop it!” Nancy cried in embarrassment. “Stop it!”

She tried to struggle free, but Ned’s Indian companions helped hold her and paddled off quickly. The crowd of onlookers, sure that this was part of the program, cheered loudly.

“Ned, where are you going? What are you doing?” Nancy cried out.

Ned rose to his full height and said in a stentorian voice, “Big Chief take pretty maiden to treasure spot!”

THE pirogue was quickly paddled across the cove. Nancy asked where they were going.

Ned, with a grin, said in his natural voice, “Around the corner of Pine Hill. After you girls had left the house, Mrs. Holman telephoned me. The fellows found me in the gym, where I was being made up. She said Uncle John Rorick had called and wanted to talk to you, Nancy.”

“Did he give her the message?” Nancy asked.

“Yes. He wants you girls to stay longer than Sunday afternoon—in fact, he wants you to stay until you solve the mystery.”

Nancy laughed. “He’s taking a great chance. Who knows how long we may be in Emerson?”

“That’s great with me,” said Ned. “Starting Monday we’ll be studying hard because exams are week after next, but a few dates would ease the strain on the brain!”

Nancy said she was sure Bess and George had nothing special to take them home and they would stay a few days longer, at least. Then she added, “But what does this have to do with the treasure you’re going to show me?”

Ned explained that while Uncle John was talking to Mr. Holman, he had suddenly remembered having heard his parents mention an old pine tree in connection with the
Lucy Belle.
He had been a young child at the time and did not understand what had been meant by the remark. Now he wondered if a pine tree might prove to be a clue.

“Ned, you mean to say you’ve found that pine?” Nancy said excitedly. “Oh, where? How?”

Ned answered that he recalled having seen a large pine stump embedded in the embankment just around the bend of Pine Hill. “I thought that might be the one, so my friends and I brought some digging tools to find the lost treasure.”

The paddlers put on speed and in a few minutes came to the spot. Everyone stepped from the pirogue and the boys began their work.

After fifteen minutes had gone by and nothing had been unearthed, one of the boys said, “I guess those old war-whoopers—or the crewmen—made away with everything worthwhile.”

The others laughed, but Ned urged him not to give up yet. “Don’t you want a share of the wampum?” he asked.

The boys widened their location of operations. They were silent for some time, during which Nancy ambled around, trying to reconstruct the scene of the sinking
Lucy Belle
and the survivors getting to shore. Was this a likely place for them to have landed? she wondered.

Suddenly one of the boys yelled and Nancy turned to see why. “Look!” he exclaimed, and held up an anchor.

The others rushed forward to examine it. The anchor was covered with rust, which the boys began to chip off with their tools.

Secretly Nancy felt that the anchor was too small to have been used on the
Lucy Belle.
Nevertheless, she watched eagerly and finally an indistinct name came to light. It was Rover.

The finder rubbed his perspiring brow. “All this work for nothing!”

Ned conceded defeat. He told Nancy he was sorry to have misled her, but that he had been sure he had discovered a good clue.

Nancy smiled at him. “Don’t feel bad,” she said. “I enjoyed being kidnapped by Indians and it has given me an idea.”

“I hope it’s a better one than mine,” Ned said disconsolately.

He and his friends were a sorry-looking sight. They were hot, dirty, and tired. Dust and mud had spattered on their grease-painted bodies and those who had not removed their wigs were now wearing them askew. Nancy found it hard to keep from laughing.

“Let’s go back to the gym,” said one of them.

“Okay,” Ned agreed. “Hop in, Nancy.”

She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, since I’m so close to the house, I think I’ll walk through the woods.” She took her car keys from her bag and handed them to Ned. “Would you mind giving these to Bess and George and telling them where I am?”

Ned looked at her for several seconds, then said, “You’ll be safer if I go with you. That phantom may be spying on you again.” He handed the keys to one of the other boys. “See that Bess and George get these, will you?”

The pirogue pushed off and the couple climbed the embankment. As they started through the pine grove, Ned said, “What is this great idea you mentioned?”

Nancy replied that she had been thinking over the historical facts she had gleaned from the pageant and concluded there were many Indians not far from Pine Hill during those days.

“That probably means they came from their village to the water. Some of their braves may have found loot washed ashore from the ship and carried it away with them.”

“Maybe,” said Ned. “Can’t you see some Indian maiden wearing Miss Abigail Rorick’s wedding dress?”

Nancy laughed. “Just the same, I’m going to try to find an antique map of this area and see if an Indian village is marked on it.”

“Where are you going to look?” Ned queried.

“In Uncle John’s library.”

Ned said, “Suppose you tell me what you think might have happened after the sinking of the
Lucy Belle.”

“Well,” Nancy began, “if the Indians stole valuable cargo, they might have buried it so they could pretend innocence.”

“That sounds logical,” Ned said. “Go on.”

“It’s also possible that the survivors of the Lucy Belle, fearing they might be attacked by marauders, hid their reserve cargo underground near the Indian village. That would be an easy spot to find again.”

“Well, I certainly wish you luck,” Ned said. He grinned wearily. “I’m glad you’re not going to ask me to do any more digging tonight. But when you find that map let me know.”

He took the lead on the way to the house, but suddenly both he and Nancy stood stock-still. From somewhere in the grove came an ear-piercing shriek of terror.

“Where did that come from?” Ned asked worriedly.

“Someone may have been attacked!” Nancy exclaimed.

She lay on the ground to listen for footsteps. Nancy heard them receding in the direction from which she and Ned had come. The couple ran that way but saw no one. Finally Nancy stopped and put her ear to the ground again. She could no longer hear footfalls. Swiftly she and Ned searched the grove but found no sign of a victim.

“More likely he got a glimpse of you and was terrified that he had seen an Indian warrior,” Nancy teased.

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Ned said, “if your phantom made that outcry just to scare us away.”

“I wonder where he went,” Nancy mused.

Once more the couple turned toward the house. When they reached it a few minutes later, they discovered that Mrs. Holman had not yet returned from the pageant and the house was tightly locked.

“She should be along soon,” said Nancy. “Let’s sit down and wait.”

Wearily she and Ned flopped onto the steps of the rear porch. It was not long before the housekeeper drove up in a friend’s car. She smiled upon seeing Ned and suggested that he take off his disguise before going back to town.

He laughed. “If I keep this up, poor Uncle John won’t have any clothes left!”

He went upstairs, took a shower, and a little while later appeared in clothes which Uncle John evidently wore when he was working in the garden.

While he had been changing, Nancy had suggested to Mrs. Holman that they open both padlocks on the library door and look in. As they entered, Nancy exclaimed in horror:

“Oh no!”

Mrs. Holman wrung her hands. “It’s the phantom again!” she exclaimed. “Every door and window in this house was tightly locked before I left!”

Ned joined them. “Wow-ee!” he exclaimed, then frowned. “Whoever did this must be desperate to find what he’s looking for.”

“The question is, was he successful?” Mrs. Holman asked.

Nancy did not reply. She had noticed a rolled parchment on the floor beside Mr. Rorick’s desk. Quickly she went over, picked up the parchment, and opened it carefully. Engraved on it was a very old map showing the Emerson area in the eighteenth century. Nancy’s face lighted up.

“Here’s what I was going to search for!” she said excitedly.

A CAR door slammed outside the Rorick house. Nancy, Ned, and Mrs. Holman looked out to see who had arrived.

“It’s Bess and George,” the housekeeper said. “Why don’t you wait until they come in and tell all of us what you’ve discovered, Nancy?”

“I will,” she answered, as Mrs. Holman went to open the front door.

“Is Nancy here? Is she all right?” Bess asked quickly.

The woman assured her that Nancy was fine and had enjoyed being kidnapped by the Indians. The three entered the book-strewn library.

“Hypers!” exclaimed George. “Another visit from the phantom?”

Quickly Nancy explained, then told the girls of Uncle John’s request that they stay to work on the mystery.

“Okay with me,” said George. Bess nodded, but she did not look happy.

“Now tell us what happened to you, Nancy,” George urged.

Ned stepped forward and laid a hand on Nancy’s shoulder. “Meet Indian Princess Nonaviki,” he said solemnly. “She help Chief solve heap-big Indian mystery.”

Everyone laughed, but Bess said, “Oh, do be serious. What’s the discovery, Nancy?”

The young sleuth pointed to the parchment. “According to this, there was once an Indian village about a mile from here. I had a hunch today that there might be one connected with our mystery.”

Ned interrupted to say, “Nancy got this idea after a boo-boo I pulled.” He told about the fiasco of the stump.

“Why, I think the pine tree was a very good clue,” Bess said kindly. “But now you believe the gold coins may be buried in or near the old Indian village?”

“Yes, I do,” Nancy replied. “The thieves probably would have buried them as soon as possible. And then, too, those crewmen might have offered some coins to friendly Indians in return for a good hiding place. The village would be a logical location.”

“Tell you what,” said Ned. “Suppose we go out to that old Indian village after chapel.”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Nancy said enthusiastically.

Ned said he would have to be excused to go back to the fraternity house. “May I borrow your car, Nancy? I’ll be back for you at seven o’clock with Burt and Dave.” She nodded.

Mrs. Holman, Bess, and George had already started to pick up books and return them to the shelves.

After Ned had left, Nancy sat down to study the old map. She was so deeply engrossed in it that Bess and George had to urge her three times to put it away and dress for the Omega dinner dance.

“I overheard some of the boys talking and I think there’s going to be a big surprise tonight,” Bess said mysteriously.

“Have you any idea what it is?” George asked.

“Not the slightest. But it’s a secret they’re going to spring on the guests.”

When they reached their rooms, Bess and George began to conjecture what the surprise might be. Nancy, lost in thought about the Indian village and the chance that at last she might have hit upon an excellent clue, did not join in the conversation, though the connecting door was open.