Chapter 3 The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
A Desirable Paper
In glancing through the mail the following morning, Nancy was pleasantly surprised to find a brief note from Mrs. Taylor, requesting Carson Drew and herself to take dinner with her and Mr. Taylor at their home that evening.
“How nice of her to ask us!” she exclaimed in delight. “You’ll be able to go, won’t you, Father?”
“I think I can make it,” the lawyer promised. “It will give me an opportunity to talk with Mrs. Donnelly, and discover if she will make a satisfactory chaperon for your Northern trip.”
“She’ll prove satisfactory as far as I’m concerned. I know that. If what she says is true about the finding of gold——”
“I’d not put much stock in that story, Nancy. It’s not likely that a company would give away such a valuable piece of land.”
“Not if they suspected it to be extremely valuable, of course. I suppose it is foolish of me to hope, yet I can’t help but feel lucky about this property. What’s more, if Bess and George go with me, I know I’ll have an exciting trip.”
Nancy had told her chums about the proposed vacation the previous day. Both girls were very eager to go, and now when Nancy called at the Marvin home shortly after breakfast, she found them there discussing the prospects.
“All aboard for Lake Wellington!” George greeted her gaily.
“Will you really be able to go?” Nancy questioned eagerly.
“I think so. Mother has practically consented.”
“How about you, Bess?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ve been coaxing and coaxing, but my parents are very conservative. They’re afraid it’s too long a trip for three girls to make by themselves.”
“We won’t be alone,” Nancy said. “Mrs. Donnelly has promised to take us if our parents wish.”
“If I don’t go, I’ll be just sick about it,” Bess declared disconsolately.
“Cheer up,” Nancy encouraged. “I’ll have Father talk with your parents. That may help.”
The girls fell to discussing various details of the proposed trip, including the clothes they were to take along. Bess was inclined to want to pack her best dresses, but Nancy discouraged her, pointing out that they would need sturdy shoes and rough, warm garments in the woods. Presently she glanced at the clock, and was startled to see how quickly time had passed.
“I must hurry home,” she announced, rising. “I promised Hannah I’d bake a chocolate cake for luncheon. If I don’t get started with it soon I’ll never get it ready in time.”
She found kindly Mrs. Gruen, the middle-aged housekeeper, busy in the spic-and-span white kitchen.
“I thought you wouldn’t be here, Nancy,” she remarked, as the girl donned an apron. “I’d have stirred up the cake myself, only the ones I make never come out as well as yours do.”
“Flatterer!” Nancy laughed. “It was you who taught me how to bake chocolate cake.”
“So I did, but the pupil has gone beyond the master. Oh, by the way, there was a telephone call for you this morning.”
“From one of the girls?”
“No, it was from a man. He wouldn’t give me his name.”
“That’s strange. Doubtless it was a salesman.”
Nancy forgot about the phone call as she busied herself with the cake. She was to recall the incident later, however, and to speculate upon its significance.
Promptly at seven that evening the Drews presented themselves at the Taylor home, where they were warmly welcomed. Nancy was delighted to observe that her father and Mrs. Donnelly took an instant liking to each other. During dinner the conversation centered about his daughter’s newly-acquired property.
“I shouldn’t mind owning that property myself,” Mrs. Donnelly smiled warmly at Nancy. “It may turn out to be worthless, yet it presents a wonderful speculation, in my opinion. If there should be gold——”
She did not finish the sentence, for a servant at that moment entered the room to say that Nancy was wanted on the telephone. Excusing herself, the girl went to answer the call, and she was away several minutes. When she returned everyone noticed the strange expression on her face.
“Father, did you ever hear of a man named Raymond Niles?” she asked quickly, as she resumed her place at the table.
The lawyer shook his head.
“It’s strange,” Nancy went on. “He wanted to buy my property.”
“How much did he offer you for it?” Mr. Drew questioned.
“A hundred dollars.”
“He must be a swindler!” Mrs. Donnelly announced, before the lawyer could offer a similar opinion. “If the land is worth a cent it’s worth far more than that.”
“That’s what I thought,” Nancy said quietly. “I told him my ground wasn’t for sale.”
“Did that satisfy him?” her father asked.
“No. Then he also asked to see my deed. He was very persistent.”
“I’d have nothing whatever to do with him, Nancy.”
“I don’t intend to. I made him understand that I would not show the paper to anyone. I probably won’t hear from him again.”
In this hopeful opinion Nancy was destined to be greatly mistaken. The following afternoon as she was walking slowly toward the public library, a handsome young man with curly blond hair and a sophisticated smile accosted her at a street corner.
“Miss Drew, I believe?”
“Yes,” Nancy assented, trying not to stare at the youth’s clothes, which were in the height of fashion, and cut far too elegant an appearance for River Heights.
“I am Raymond Niles,” he declared disarmingly.
Nancy stiffened.
“I am sorry, Mr. Niles, but I do not care to sell my property to you.”
“Oh, I understand that, Miss Drew. But it adjoins some land which a friend of mine owns in Canada, and for a certain legal reason I should like to examine the deed.”
“I cannot show it to you,” Nancy returned, growing annoyed. “Please permit me to pass.”
Instead of standing aside, the man fell in step with her.
“I shouldn’t mind paying you a small consideration——”
“As far as I am concerned, the subject is no longer of interest to me, Mr. Niles! If you don’t stop annoying me I shall call a policeman!”
“All right, if that’s the way you feel about it.” The young man abruptly turned away. “But I’m warning you you’ll be sorry later that you didn’t deal with me!”
Nancy was somewhat disturbed by the incident, and reported the encounter to her father.
“I could notify the police,” he told her thoughtfully, “but that would advertise the fact that your land may be valuable. It seems to me we ought to let the matter rest for a while. In any event, you will be rid of this fellow in a few days, for soon you’ll be on your way to Canada.”
Mr. Drew had been favorably impressed with Mrs. Donnelly, and had completed all arrangements for the Canadian woman to chaperon Nancy, Bess, and George to Wellington Lake. After a long talk with the attorney, Mrs. Marvin had agreed that her daughter might make the trip. The girls were so excited they could hardly wait until the day scheduled for their departure should arrive.
Hannah Gruen, however, did not entirely approve of the proposed vacation.
“In my day girls stayed at home. It wasn’t considered proper for them to be running all over the country alone, much less to foreign places!”
“We’re not going alone,” Nancy laughed, “and one cannot really speak of Canada as a foreign country.”
“Just the same, I don’t know what your father is thinking of to let you go! It isn’t safe up there in the woods. You may get lost, or something else terrible may happen. Mark my words!”
“Mrs. Donnelly has lived at Wellington Lake most of her life, and she’s older than you!” Nancy chuckled. “I’ll send you a postcard every week so you’ll know I’m still alive and healthy.”
Two days before the scheduled departure, Raymond Niles telephoned the Drew home.
“You haven’t changed your mind about that deed?” he inquired a trifle insolently.
“No, Mr. Niles!” Nancy retorted. She hung up the receiver before he could continue the conversation.
The precious document reposed in the top drawer of a desk in Mr. Drew’s study. Nancy would have felt better about it if it had been placed in a less obvious hideaway. However, it seemed foolish to go to the trouble of taking it to the bank vault for such a brief period, since she intended to carry it with her on her journey North.
Time was growing short, and Nancy was too busy packing to give much thought to Raymond Niles. Once Bess had caught the fellow lurking about the Drew home. A dozen times a day the cousins would run over to the house to chat excitedly about the trip, or to seek advice concerning their wardrobes.
“Everything is ready,” Nancy informed Hannah as she finished strapping the last bag. “Our train leaves at seven tonight, and I’m going to the bank now for some money. If anyone should call while I’m away, tell him I’ll be back in half an hour.”
She was gone from the house longer than she had anticipated. Upon returning a little past four o’clock, she entered the kitchen to find it deserted.
“Hannah!” she called.
“Coming,” the housekeeper rejoined from the general direction of the study. An instant later the woman bustled into the room.
“Oh, Nancy, I’m so glad you’ve returned,” she began anxiously, “for I didn’t know what to do when that man came for the paper you promised him.”
“What paper?” the girl asked quickly.
“A deed you keep in the desk drawer. This chap was mighty handsome, and said he was a good friend of yours.”
“You didn’t give the paper to him?” Nancy demanded in alarm.
“Yes, I did, but he’s still in the library, for I told him to wait there. Oh, I hope I haven’t done anything wrong!”
Nancy darted toward the study. As she had feared, it was empty. Raymond Niles had tricked Hannah!
Panic-stricken at the thought of losing the valuable paper, Nancy raced toward the front door. She caught a glimpse of the man moving hurriedly across the porch.
“Wait!” she called sharply.
As he wheeled about, the girl sprang forward and caught him by the arm.
“Give me my deed!” she cried.
The man tried to thrust the document into his pocket, but Nancy snatched it from him.
“You are a trickster!” she accused the fellow. “Leave this house at once, or I’ll turn you over to the police!”
Raymond Niles muttered something Nancy could not catch. She closed the door in his face.
“I thought he was a friend of yours, or I’d never have trusted him,” Hannah said in distress. “I couldn’t have forgiven myself if I’d have let him steal that deed.”
“Don’t worry about it now,” the girl returned kindly. “It wasn’t your fault. Anyway, I saved it, and that’s all that matters.”
The few remaining hours before train time passed all too swiftly. Many friends telephoned Nancy to bid her good-bye, while an even greater number gathered at the railroad station to speed the girls on their journey. Hannah was quite tearful as she bade her young mistress farewell.
“I won’t rest a minute until you’re safe back in River Heights,” she declared.
Nancy glanced uneasily about the station platform. It seemed to her that everyone in River Heights had gathered there—that is to say, all save her father. She wondered what could be keeping him. He had telephoned her at the house, telling her he would meet her at the station; but the block signal now warned her the train was approaching, and still Mr. Drew had not appeared.
“What can be delaying Father?” she fretted. “I can’t start off without saying good-bye to him.”
At that instant Bess caught sight of the attorney driving up in a taxi. Nancy rushed over to greet him.
“What kept you?” she asked tremulously. “I was afraid you weren’t going to get here in time.”
“So was I,” Carson Drew returned, clasping her hand. “Nancy, several things have happened since I saw you last. I’m not sure but that it’s a mistake to allow you to make this trip——”
“Oh, Father——”
“I’ll not change my mind about it now, but I must warn you to be very careful. I’m a trifle uneasy over this land of yours.”
“I don’t understand.”
“There’s something going on that I don’t exactly like.” Carson Drew spoke hurriedly, for the train was almost in. “I just learned that Tom Stripe is out of jail on bond.”
“But what has that to do with my land?”
“Perhaps nothing. However, bond was furnished by Raymond Niles.”
“Indicating that they are friends and crooks.”
“Undoubtedly. Now, the association may mean nothing at all, but while you’re at Wellington Lake be on the lookout constantly for trickery.”
“I shall do so,” Nancy promised seriously.
Carson Drew bent down to kiss his daughter good-bye as the train came thundering into the station. A moment later Nancy stepped aboard, and with Mrs. Donnelly and her chums she began the long journey to Wellington Lake.