The Message in the Hollow Oak Page 10

  “The keys are in the ignition,” she called down. “Ned, we’d better take them and phone the police.”

  Ned agreed this was the thing to do. He pocketed the keys and the couple rode back to Walmsley. Nancy telephoned State Police Headquarters. The same officer whom she had talked to before answered.

  “This is Nancy Drew again,” she said. “I found the camper in a patch of woods about five miles outside of Walmsley. It’s on the right going toward the dig.”

  The captain was astounded and said he would send two men over at once. “You and your friend had better wait in Walmsley and meet them.”

  The time went by quickly. When the officers arrived in a car, Nancy and Ned climbed aboard the motorcycle, and led the way to the hidden spot.

  There was still no one around the camper. The troopers made a search for footprints but learned little.

  Finally one said, “I’ll drive this camper into town.” He told his partner to take the police car. Nancy and Ned walked back to the road and went off on the motorcycle.

  Everyone at the dig was eager to find out what they had learned about the intruders. The story amazed them.

  Bess murmured, “To think that those horrible men were so near us all last night! Goodness only knows where they are now. Maybe very close!”

  Burt and Dave as well as George had become intrigued with the art of digging. Theresa had explained to them how to go about it.

  After lunch Nancy asked them if they would like to continue working there instead of searching for the hollow oak.

  “Do you mind?” George spoke up.

  “Of course not,” she answered.

  Bess wanted to make some special dessert for supper and begged to be excused from the sleuthing trip.

  Julie Anne spoke up. “Art and I would love to go with you and Ned,” she said. “He’ll be here any minute.”

  Nancy said she thought this would be great. But deep in her heart she wondered if it would be. Or would a strained atmosphere develop? She did not reveal her thoughts and directly after lunch the four started off. Ned drove the old truck near the place where they had seen the spearheads.

  “Wait here,” Nancy requested. “I want to run down that incline and see if the spearheads are still there.”

  She found that they were, and was leaning more and more to the theory that Bob Snell had intended them to be a guide or signal. She returned to the others.

  “Since the row points in an easterly direction, let’s go that way to look for Bob,” Nancy suggested.

  Ned chuckled. “This is the end of our smooth ride,” he told Julie Anne and Art. “From here on expect some bruises!”

  He turned off the road, went down the incline, and through a field from which oats had been harvested. The truck bumped along. On the far side of the farmland Ned turned left around a patch of thick woods through which the vehicle could not go. Nancy spotted an overgrown footpath. The four young people climbed out of the truck and followed it.

  Suddenly they emerged at the edge of a huge rocky pit. “It’s an abandoned quarry,” Ned remarked.

  “And full of icky water,” Julie Anne added.

  Nancy was looking toward a sign near the far end of the old quarry. She hurried over to see what it said. The words had been crudely painted. The young detective caught her breath as she read:

  HOLLOW OAK AND ITS TREASURE AT

  BOTTOM OF PIT

  CHAPTER XVII

  Unexpected Plunge

  THE four searchers stared at the sign which had been stuck into the ground near the edge of the quarry.

  “It can’t be true,” Ned said. “If anyone had found the treasure, why would he throw it into the water?”

  They all gazed below. The water was murky and full of lime.

  Art went over to examine the sign more closely. Presently he remarked that it looked newly painted.

  “But by whom?” Julie Anne asked. “Nancy, what’s your theory?”

  “I have two,” the young detective answered. “One is that the printing was done by Kit Kadle. He hoped that if I got this far, my search for the hollow oak would stop here. It means he must be somewhere in the vicinity.”

  “And what’s your other theory?” Art queried.

  “That when Bob Snell was kidnapped, he was brought past here and his abductors put up the sign to fool us so we wouldn’t go looking for their hideout.”

  Nancy said she could not believe her search for Bob and for the hollow oak had ended in failure. “I’m going on farther to investigate!”

  “But which way?” Ned asked.

  While Nancy was thinking this over, the young people heard a crackling of twigs. Turning, they saw a huge dog bounding in their direction. Now he began to bark excitedly.

  “He looks vicious!” Julie Anne exclaimed.

  Everyone gazed around for a place to get out of his way. There was none. They had taken only a few steps when the great dog reached them. In a sudden lurch he leaped on Nancy. She lost her balance, stumbled backward, and fell into the quarry!

  Julie Anne screamed. She and the boys watched, horror-stricken, as Nancy hit the water and disappeared.

  Ned started down the steep embankment, while Art yanked a coil of wire from a pocket. Using it as a whip, he finally drove off the attacking dog. As it ran away, whimpering, Nancy’s head appeared above the water.

  “Oh, Nancy! Thank goodness!” cried Julie Anne. She was near tears.

  “Are you all right?” Ned called down.

  “Yes,” Nancy replied. “Is everybody okay? Where’s the dog?”

  “Gone,” Art answered.

  “Good. As long as I’m here,” Nancy said, treading water, “I’m going to investigate the bottom and see if by any chance there’s a tree or part of one here.” She swam around, diving now and then, but finally came to the side.

  “There’s nothing important down here,” she reported.

  Ned was at the edge of the water to assist her. She was a strange sight, dripping from head to foot with whitish water.

  At once Ned pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. “Let me wipe off your eyes.” He daubed at them, then the rest of her face, and pulled her up the embankment.

  Julie Anne had noticed a little stream of clear water a short distance from the quarry and had hastened there to wet her own handkerchief. She ran back and applied it to Nancy’s eyes, nose, and mouth. Then she burst out, “That dog ought to be tied up and never let loose!”

  Nancy agreed but said, “We’re probably trespassing on some farmer’s property and the dog was only protecting it for his master.”

  Ned suggested that they go home. “Nancy, you should get out of those clothes and wash your hair as soon as possible.”

  Dripping with whitish water, Nancy was a strange sight

  She agreed. Her sopping wet attire was not only uncomfortable but gave her a strange whitish appearance.

  “But we’ll come back here tomorrow and continue our search for Bob,” she told the others.

  Meanwhile, Art had been walking around the edge of the quarry. Suddenly his foot kicked something. Leaning down, he picked up a metal object.

  “Look!” he exclaimed. “Here’s one of Père François’s lead plates!”

  The group concluded it probably had fallen off a tree, then had been picked up and later dropped at this point. But who had dropped it and when? There was no way of finding out the direction in which the arrow had once pointed.

  “We’ll have to search in all directions at once,” Nancy said ruefully.

  Art put it into his pocket and they all trekked back to the truck. On the way to the dig, Nancy reflected upon the friendliness and cooperation of Julie Anne, Art, and Ned. Outside of Nancy’s accident, everything had been most cordial and pleasant.

  “Now I won’t have to worry any more about jealousy and tense moments,” she told herself, smiling in relief.

  As the group stepped from the truck at the farmhouse, some of the girls were just coming i
n from the dig. They stared at Nancy with her white hair and clothing.

  “What in the world happened to you?” asked one of them.

  Nancy laughed. “Believe it or not, I fell into a quarry pit. And now I’m going in for a good bath and a shampoo, then wash these clothes.”

  Bess, who had come from the kitchen, stared at her friend in disbelief. She at once offered to take care of Nancy’s clothes.

  An hour later Nancy emerged from the farmhouse in a clean pants outfit, with her hair back to its natural reddish-blond color. Meeting Theresa, she told her about the sign and her suspicion that the kidnappers’ hideout might be near the quarry.

  They were interrupted by George who was just coming from the excavation. She was obviously excited.

  “See what I dug up!” she exclaimed, exhibiting a tray of sand in which there was a circle of tiny river pearls. “These were probably once a necklace,” she explained.

  Theresa examined them. “This is an important find.”

  Bess had come out of the house in time to hear George’s remark.

  “You mean,” she said, “that there was once a neck inside of those pearls?”

  Nancy and George laughed. George could not resist teasing her cousin. “That’s right. The lady’s head and neck were dug up first.”

  “Ugh! How can you enjoy such gruesome things?” Bess remarked, and returned to the kitchen.

  That evening after dinner the young people gathered in the living room. It had grown chilly outside and the logs in the fireplace were lighted. The farmhouse did not have a television set, but there was a good radio.

  “Let’s see if we can get some news,” Theresa said. “I’ve been so engrossed here it’s high time I caught up with what’s going on in the outside world.”

  She turned on the set. The newscaster was telling about an earthquake in Peru and the resignation of a college president. A commercial followed.

  When it was finished, the announcer said, “This station has just received a message from a ham radio operator. It may be a hoax. We cannot guarantee its authenticity but we give it to you in case you may know the person involved. The ham picked up the following broadcast:

  “‘I’m Bob Snell. Repeat. I’m Bob Snell. I’m well but a prisoner at—’

  “That was all the ham heard,” the announcer concluded.

  There was another short commercial, then the regular newscast was continued. The young people in the farmhouse were electrified by what they had heard.

  “Oh, I hope they tell more!” Nancy said excitedly.

  To the dismay of the group the announcer did not mention the ham’s message again. They assumed the police had picked it up and would investigate.

  Theresa spoke up. “This is both good news and bad news. It confirms our fears that Bob was kidnapped, but it’s a good lead for the authorities to work on.”

  “And for us too,” Nancy told her with determination.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Well-House Clue

  THE farmhouse radio was kept on. The group hoped for further word of Bob Snell which the ham operator might have sent. Over an hour passed and there was no mention of him.

  “This is nerve-racking,” Bess murmured.

  “Sh!” George warned.

  Just then another news flash came on about the missing young man. The ham operator had reported he thought the prisoner must be a ham himself and had managed to rig up a sending set.

  “But no doubt he was interrupted and his gear taken away from him,” the announcer said.

  This was the end of the news flash.

  “Bob is a ham,” Todd Smith spoke up. “He fools around with short-wave radio all the time.”

  “Then,” Ned said, “we can be pretty sure the message was genuine.” He turned to Nancy. “What do you think we should do about this?”

  “I’m afraid,” she said, “the abductors will move Bob before the police can track down the spot from which he beamed his message.”

  Art and Todd offered to ride to town on the motorcycle and telephone the police for news.

  Nancy said, “How about calling the radio station and the ham? Maybe you’ll learn more.”

  “We’ll do that,” Art promised.

  When the group heard the motorcycle coming back, everyone rushed outdoors. “What did you find out?” several of them asked.

  “I got in touch with the ham,” Art answered. “He thinks Bob beamed his message from somewhere in southern Illinois in an open area.”

  “That’s where we are!” Julie Anne exclaimed.

  Theresa said, “I suggest a day off tomorrow so most of you can try to find Bob. I will stay here with four others to guard our dig and the lab.”

  The young archaeologists planned to start out early the next morning, dividing the territory. Nancy thought that her group should go back to the quarry and start from there.

  Good-nights were being said when they became aware of an old car driving in. As soon as it stopped, Clem Rucker stepped out.

  “Howdy, folks,” he greeted everyone. “I was in town this evenin’ and picked up a letter for you, Nancy, in my box. Funny thing, it was mailed right in Walmsley yesterday. Must be from somebody you know around here.”

  Since the young detective knew no one in the area except Roscoe Thompson and this was not his handwriting, her curiosity was aroused. She tore open the letter and glanced through it. A frown creased her forehead. She read aloud:

  “‘Bob Snell is our prisoner. We will release him after you give us the contents of the hollow oak plus five thousand dollars. Leave them tomorrow morning before seven o’clock in the abandoned well house one mile west of the quarry. Do not notify the police or you will regret it.’ The note is not signed.”

  “Oh!” Julie Anne exclaimed. “This is dreadful!”

  “Now we really have something to work on,” George remarked. Nancy nodded.

  Julie Anne said, “Nancy, surely you aren’t going to give those abductors five thousand dollars!”

  “Of course not. Even if I could, I wouldn’t.” She suggested that they leave a dummy sack containing paper and a few stones in the well house.

  At once Claire Warwick spoke up. “I’m sure the whole thing will be a wild-goose chase. Nothing has convinced me that Bob was really abducted. He probably is just playing a joke on us. You’re wasting your time. It is more important to stay here and dig.”

  With that she went into the farmhouse without saying good night to anyone.

  Bess turned to Nancy. “You don’t think there could be any truth in her conclusion, do you?”

  “No,” Nancy replied. “Bob wouldn’t play such an idiotic joke.”

  “That’s right,” Art added. “He’s too nice a guy to worry his parents and friends.”

  “We must get this note to the police,” said Theresa, and Nancy agreed, despite the warning against doing so.

  “I’ll run you down to State Police Headquarters on the highway,” said Clem. “Hop in.”

  Nancy, Ned, and Theresa accepted his offer and thirty minutes later the four were seated before the desk of a brisk young police captain. He studied the note carefully, then listened intently to Nancy’s plan about leaving the dummy sack.

  “This ransom note could be a hoax,” he said, “but we’ll check it. Miss Drew, I think that you and your friends should deliver the sack as you suggested. I’ll keep my men hidden in the woods. If the kidnappers think the police are around they won’t go through with the deal.”

  The details were arranged and everyone agreed, though Theresa was concerned about the danger.

  “Don’t worry,” Nancy said confidently. “We’ll be cautious.”

  Next morning everybody was up very early. Nancy and her friends from home ate a quick breakfast, then piled into the truck, taking the dummy sack which the boys had fixed the night before. The others waved good-by and called, “Good luck!”

  A short distance from the quarry, Ned parked the truck. Then the three couples he
aded in a westerly direction. Burt and George walked a little to the left of Nancy and Ned, while Dave and Bess went to the right.

  The instructions in the letter proved to be correct. Exactly one mile from the quarry they came upon an old well house. It had originally been part of a farm home but now there were only ruins of a burned house and barn.

  “The abductors certainly chose a secluded spot for the ransom,” Nancy said.

  She and Ned hurried forward. The other two couples watched from a distance, then they all converged. Cautiously Nancy and Ned led the way to the small, shadowy well house. It was empty. As Ned laid down the sack of paper and stones, Nancy looked around. On the far side she noticed a crumpled paper on the floor. Nancy picked it up to see if anything was on it.

  “A message from Bob!” she cried. “Listen! ‘Was a prisoner here but am being moved. I don’t know where. Hollow oak not located.’ ”

  “What a find!” Ned exclaimed. “I wonder how long ago he wrote this.”

  “Let’s hope,” George put in, “that we’re so hot on the trail, those kidnappers haven’t been able to take Bob far away.”

  Everyone was excited and now began to hunt outside for clues to the direction the kidnappers had gone. Dave was the first to spot two sets of footprints leading in a northeasterly direction. Did the prints belong to two abductors who might have been carrying Bob, or to Bob and one abductor?

  “I believe one set is Bob’s,” Nancy remarked.

  “We must follow them, of course,” said Ned, “but somebody ought to stay here and stake out the well house.”

  George and Burt volunteered to keep watch. “I’ll bark like a dog,” said Burt, “if the kidnappers show up.”

  “Okay,” Ned replied. “Besides, you’ll be safe enough because the police are supposed to be hiding around here.” He frowned. “They’re doing a good job, if they are. There’s not a sign of them.”

  Nancy set off with her friends. A short distance away the footprints ended but tire tracks took their place. The two couples followed them. The marks went straight for some distance, then curved abruptly around a hill.