Chapter 16 The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
A False Claim
The guide stirred restlessly upon the couch as Nancy bent over him.
“Tom Stripe did it,” he mumbled. “I’ll get even!”
Mrs. Dawson ran for a basin of warm water with which to sponge a gash on the victim’s neck. A large bump stood out upon the back of Pete’s head, and Nancy suspected that the man had been struck from behind with a heavy club.
“I don’t believe he’s as badly hurt as it appeared at first,” Norman Ranny said after they had worked over Pete for some time. “If he gets a good sleep he should be all right in the morning.”
“If he isn’t, I’ll start for a doctor,” Jake offered.
Nancy and her friends were given a room for the night. Ranny and Jake, who did not mind sleeping in the open, rolled up in blankets in the back yard. It was thought best not to move the guide from the couch, so Mr. Dawson spent the night watching by his bedside.
In the morning Pete was considerably improved, though in no condition to endure the hardships of the trail. When Nancy questioned him as to what had transpired, he offered but little information.
“Tom Stripe and I have an old grudge. He got me this time, but wait until we meet again!” was all he would say.
Although Nancy disliked leaving Pete behind, she realized he could hope for no better care than at the hands of the kindly Mrs. Dawson. It seemed best that the girl go forward with her plans for viewing the newly-acquired tract of land. Mr. Dawson furnished the party with excellent saddle horses, and his wife packed a lunch for the girls to take with them.
“You’ll be perfectly safe with your new guide,” she assured Nancy, smiling in Norman Ranny’s direction. “There isn’t a better woodsman in this part of the country than he.”
Leaving the Dawson cabin, the party rode single file along a steep, rocky trail. Often their course would lead them beside some winding stream, where they paused to permit their horses to drink.
“Did you ever see such marvelous scenery before in all your life?” Bess demanded admiringly, as they paused at the crest of a pine knoll to gaze back toward the Dawson cabin. “Aren’t you the lucky girl, Nancy, to own property in such a gorgeous district as this?”
“I’ll not be very lucky if there isn’t any gold here,” Nancy laughed. “The land is so inaccessible for me it would be worthless for any other purpose.”
At noon they halted near a waterfall for lunch, and after a brief rest continued their climb. An hour later Ranny, who was in the lead, drew up his mount and waited for the girls. With a sweep of his hand he indicated a fairly level stretch of land.
“Behold your property, Miss Drew!”
With a feeling akin to awe Nancy permitted her gaze to sweep over the vast expanse of territory.
“All that—mine?”
“Land is cheap this far north,” Ranny smiled. “But it won’t be so for long—not if gold should be found here.”
“I feel like a feudal lord surveying his vast domain,” Nancy smiled. “Father must have realized what an experience this would be when he sent me up here.”
Slowly the group descended the knoll, and tied their horses to some trees near Pebble Creek.
“But where is the gold?” Bess queried in disappointment, as they walked about in the open stretches. “I haven’t seen a single nugget!”
Norman Ranny laughed heartily.
“Did you expect to find them kicking around underfoot?” he asked.
“Well, I didn’t know where to look,” Bess returned defensively.
“If you wish, we’ll pan the creek,” Ranny proposed. “I brought the necessary equipment.”
“I want the first nugget,” George cried gleefully.
The girls watched eagerly from the bank as the prospector panned for gold. At first it was exciting, but after a time the novelty of it wore off and they grew slightly tired of it.
“It doesn’t look very promising,” Bess commented wearily.
Just then Ranny took out a small object and tossed it over to Nancy.
“There’s your nugget. It isn’t worth much, but it’s gold.”
After that everyone wanted to try panning. The girls forgot all sense of time as they took turns using the man’s equipment. Nancy found a similar lump of gold, while George, by diligent effort, acquired a slightly smaller one.
“I’m the only person that didn’t get one,” Bess grieved.
“Never mind. You may have the first one that was found,” Nancy comforted.
While the girls had been engrossed at the stream, Ranny had wandered away to do a little prospecting on his own account. They came upon him working with his pick.
“Miss Drew, you may have something here after all,” he said quickly as Nancy paused beside him. “The gold in the creek doesn’t amount to much, but it looks to me as if I have struck a vein! Should that be the case, your fortune will have been made!”
“I’ll owe everything to you if I should strike gold!” Nancy assured Ranny gratefully. “I’m so ignorant about mining that I wouldn’t know the difference between plain rock and gold ore.”
“If you like, I’ll do some real prospecting here when I have more time,” the man said.
Before Nancy could thank him for his friendly offer, a monotonous drone was suddenly heard coming from above. She peered upward, to glimpse an airplane slowly circling over a large open stretch of land.
“Why, I believe it’s going to come down,” she cried.
Fearfully they all watched as the plane side-slipped earthward. A wing barely missed grazing the branch of a pine tree, which the pilot skillfully maneuvered to avoid.
The craft struck the narrow plot, and came bumping down over the rough ground. Before Nancy and her companions could reach the ship, two men leaped from the cockpit.
“What are you doing on private property?” one of them demanded of Ranny.
“This land belongs to me,” Nancy maintained.
“Your claim is ridiculous,” the other man snapped. “I am the owner of this ground. All of you must leave at once!”
Frightened, Bess and George backed away. Ranny and Nancy stood still.
“You are rank impostors!” the prospector shouted angrily. “I’ve seen other men of your stamp before.”
He advanced menacingly, but Nancy placed a restraining hand upon his arm.
“Mr. Ranny, you may have made a mistake about this being my property,” she said. “After all, the boundaries weren’t surveyed.”
“I’ve made no mistake,” the man retorted, his lips drawn in a thin, hard line.
The two newcomers ignored the little party, and began to stake out a claim. They selected the hillside where Ranny had been digging.
“I might have known what you were after,” the prospector said in a threatening voice. “You’re nothing but low-down thieves!”
A fight would doubtless have resulted, had not another interruption come. An instant later another airplane loomed overhead. Everyone turned to look at it, as it slowly circled and presently landed beside the other ship. Several men sprang out and began to unload mining machinery and equipment from the cockpit.
“There’s no use in opposing them,” Nancy warned Ranny. “They intend to steal my property. We can’t prevent them, for they greatly outnumber us.”
She felt sick at heart as she realized how she had been tricked. Not for an instant did she doubt but that Tom Stripe and Raymond Niles were back of the scheme to steal her valuable mining land. She understood now why they had endeavored to reach the property before she did.
One of the men whom the others addressed as Buck Sawtice presently advanced toward the girls. His attitude was decidedly menacing.
“We can’t have you hanging around here,” he said curtly. “You’ll have to get off this claim. It belongs to the Yellow Dawn.”
“Is that a company or a disease?” George asked sarcastically.
“It’s a mining company, young lady. Now, if you don’t want any trouble, get going!”
Nancy signaled her companions to offer no resistance. Taking their cue from her, they followed her across the field.
However, the daughter of Carson Drew had no intention of abandoning the battle. She realized that it would be useless for her to enter into physical combat; if she wanted to defend her right, she would have to go to court.
“I must prove indisputably my claim to the land,” she reflected, thinking rapidly. “But I must also be quick about it, or it will be too late to save the gold.”
From the moment that Nancy had sighted the two airplanes, a daring plan had occurred to her. Glancing quickly over her shoulder to make sure that Sawtice and his companions did not see her, she crossed over to the nearest ship and addressed the pilot.
“Did Mr. Sawtice hire you to bring him here?”
“Yes, he did,” the aviator returned crossly. “But he misrepresented the landing place and beat me down on the price.”
“Are you under contract to wait for him?”
“No. But of course I expected he’d want me to take him back. Why did you want to know?”
“Because I must get to Wellington Lake as soon as possible,” Nancy replied. “These men are crooks and are trying to cheat me out of my property. I must get to the nearest telegraph station and wire my father. Will you take me and my chums?”
The pilot debated but an instant.
“Jump in, and we’ll be off,” he cried, opening the door of the cabin.
Nancy turned to bid Norman Ranny good-bye. To her surprise, he announced that he intended to accompany her.
“I’ve decided to go to Windham, Miss Drew. I’ve been thinking about it all day. Even if Annette has changed in her feelings toward me, I can’t bear to leave her alone in a hospital.”
“I’m glad you’ve altered your original decision,” Nancy said to him, her eyes shining.
Then she and her companions found seats in the cabin of the plane. The pilot soon had the propeller turning.
It was not until the roar and crack of the motor had rent the air that the men who had taken possession of the land realized what was happening. With a shout of anger they ran toward the aircraft. The pilot turned his ship in a narrow space. Then, taxiing to the far end of the open stretch, he came roaring down the field.
Buck Sawtice and his fellow conspirators were hopelessly outdistanced. However, the pilot was so intent upon avoiding them that he failed to observe another man who had darted from the bushes, and was now running directly into the path of the oncoming plane.
“Stop! Stop!” he shouted, waving his arms.
Nancy nearly fainted at thought of the impending tragedy.