Chapter 17 The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
A Reunion
“It’s Tom Stripe!” cried Nancy. “He’ll be killed!”
The pilot swerved the plane barely in time to avoid disaster. It lifted from the ground, and rose sharply so as to miss by a fraction of an inch the pine trees that fringed the field.
“Whew!” Ranny ejaculated. “What a narrow escape!”
“Narrow for us, and narrow for Tom Stripe,” Nancy declared, peering down at that scheming fellow on the ground from the cabin window. “I suspected he was party to a move to steal my land, and now I have definite proof of it.”
“Do you suppose he’s connected with the Yellow Dawn Mining Company?” George inquired thoughtfully.
“The company is in very poor repute up here in Canada,” Ranny said. “It buys worthless land, issues stock upon it, and sells the valueless shares to innocent buyers in the United States.”
“I’d expect Tom Stripe to be involved in a scheme like that,” Nancy returned.
She was eager to get to a telegraph office with the least possible delay, for she intended to wire her father in River Heights and tell him exactly what had happened. She felt certain that by getting in touch with the Velvet Company he would be able to establish her claim to the property.
Nancy thought with a tug at her heart-strings of the old hollow oak near the Pierre Chap cabin. She had expected Norman Ranny to take her there the following day. Now that would be impossible.
“But I’ll come back here inside of a week,” she made up her mind. “Then I’ll have a look at that famous old tree. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll learn its secret!”
At Wellington Lake the party paused long enough for Nancy to communicate with Mrs. Donnelly and dispatch a wire to her father.
“I’ll send word to Annette,” Ranny decided, “and will tell her that as soon as I can possibly reach Windham I’ll be at her bedside.”
“Wire her by all means,” Nancy urged, “Otherwise your sudden appearance might be too much of a shock for her to bear.”
“I can’t get to her quickly enough. If she in the meantime should take a turn for the worse, I should never forgive myself for having hesitated.”
“We’ll all go there in the plane,” Nancy offered. “Be ready in half an hour.”
While the girls were busily occupied at Mrs. Donnelly’s boarding house, Ranny slipped away to a barber shop. At the appointed time he stood waiting for them at the landing field, but at first glance they failed to recognize him.
“Why, you’ve shaved off your beard,” Bess gasped.
“You look years younger,” George added admiringly.
During the plane ride from Wellington Lake to Windham, the girls could not refrain from stealing sly glances at Norman. They had never suspected that he was so striking in appearance. Unaware that he was the object of so much admiration, Ranny scarcely spoke during the flight, but sat gazing moodily out of the window.
The craft soon landed at a small commercial field near Windham, and the party continued to the Good Hope Hospital by automobile. The prospector grew increasingly nervous as they came within view of the institution.
“If anything has happened to Annette,” he murmured, “I’ll not be able to bear it.”
Good news awaited the party on their arrival, however. Upon inquiry at the hospital, Nancy was informed that the authoress had been improving steadily ever since her operation.
“May I see her?” Ranny inquired eagerly.
The wire dispatched from Wellington Lake had prepared the novelist for the visit of her former sweetheart. Her first feeling of excitement had subsided somewhat, but she was flushed and eager when he entered the room.
“Norman!” she exclaimed joyfully.
“Annette!” her lover cried, crossing toward her. “Can you ever forgive me?”
Nancy and her chums, who had waited in the corridor, were convinced that the reunion was to be a happy one. A few minutes later Annette and Norman insisted that the girls enter.
“I owe everything to you,” the writer declared gratefully to Nancy. “As long as I live I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
Everyone chatted excitedly for a few minutes, when a nurse presently came to warn the visitors that they must not stay too long. When out in the corridor again Ranny said soberly to Nancy:
“Annette and I know now that our separation was the result of an unfortunate circumstance. In some mysterious way the note she left for me in the hollow oak was exchanged for another. I’d give anything to learn who played that cruel trick on us.”
“Perhaps we’ll find out yet,” Nancy told him.
Returning to the downstairs lobby, an attendant handed the girl a telegram which had just been delivered.
“I’m sure it’s from Father,” Nancy explained, tearing open the envelope. “I asked him to wire me in care of the hospital.”
She read the lengthy message, the expression on her face denoting that its contents pleased her.
“Father’s coming here by plane,” she announced. “He’s as furious as I am about this scheme to steal my land.”
“And he’s making a special trip here to help you?” Bess asked.
“Not entirely. He also intends to look up some data on the Taylor lawsuit case while he’s up North, so the trip will therefore serve two purposes.”
One of Norman Ranny’s first missions during his stay in Windham was to visit his parents. Nancy and her chums agreed that after picking up Mr. Drew at the airfield they should join the prospector at his homestead.
The young people did not have long to wait, however, for the attorney had chartered a plane very shortly after his wire had been dispatched. Nancy ran over to greet him when he stepped from the cabin.
“Oh, Father, I’m so glad you’re here,” she cried. “I think it will require all your legal skill to save my property for me.”
“That’s quite likely,” Mr. Drew returned soberly. “Since I wired you I’ve acquired some additional information.”
“You mean bad news?”
“I’m afraid so, Nancy. Look at this message I received just as I took off from River Heights.”
He produced a telegram from the Velvet Company for her to read.
“Cannot understand your communication,” it said. “Nancy Drew assigned all rights in radio contest property to Yellow Dawn Mining Company for small consideration.”
Nancy’s eyes flashed angrily as she returned the missive to her father.
“It’s an outrage! I have never assigned my rights to any company.”
“You haven’t signed your name to any papers?” Carson Drew inquired anxiously.
“I’ve signed nothing.”
“Then either your signature has been forged, or else the Velvet Company is involved in this scheme to defraud you of your property.”
“I have never heard of such high-handed robbery!”
“They haven’t stolen the land yet,” the lawyer told her grimly. “I know we’re up against a clever group of schemers, but I think we shall be able to find a way to outwit them.”
“I met one of the ringleaders,” Nancy said. “I heard him called Buck Sawtice.”
Carson Drew nodded.
“He is the president of the so-called Yellow Dawn Company. In reality he is the entire company, for the rest of the men do his bidding. Tom Stripe is one of his accomplices.”
“I knew that, because he followed me to Wellington Lake and tried to prevent me from returning here.”
Carson Drew’s face darkened.
“I was afraid he might make trouble for you. That was one reason why I dropped everything and flew here to meet you.”
“I’m glad you came,” Nancy declared, putting her arms about him, “though I doubt even Tom Stripe would dare to attempt any violence.”
“One can’t be too sure, Nancy.”
During the ride to the Ranny farmhouse Mr. Drew listened to his daughter’s account of everything that had taken place in Canada. When they heard the automobile drive up the lane, Mr. and Mrs. Ranny rushed out to greet Nancy and shower their thanks upon her for bringing their son back home again.
“We were so worried after you took his picture with you,” Mrs. Ranny said, smiling. “We realize now how foolish we were. Norman has told us of your wonderful kindness to him.”
Nancy and her friends were escorted into the house. After the first pleasantries had been exchanged, the conversation turned to more serious subjects, in which Carson Drew chanced to mention Buck Sawtice of the Yellow Dawn Mining Company.
A strange expression came into Mrs. Ranny’s eyes.
“Buck Sawtice!” she repeated.
“Yes. Do you know of him?” the attorney probed.
“He cost us our entire life savings,” Mr. Ranny said gruffly. “He and another man talked us into buying some worthless mining stock.”
“We lost everything,” his wife added. “We were forced to leave our Canadian home and come here. Now we work from morning until night, barely making enough to live on.”
“I wish I had known about it,” Norman said contritely. “I would have shared anything in my possession with you.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” his mother smiled fondly. “We couldn’t tell you about our troubles, for we didn’t know how to get in touch with you.”
Carson Drew asked if he might see one of the shares of mining stock, and the owner obligingly found a certificate for him.
“May I keep it for a few days?” the attorney requested. “It should be of help to me in my case against these men.”
“Keep it as long as you like,” the farmer said. “It is of no use to us. I can’t understand why we have saved it all these years.”
A few minutes later Nancy and her friends took their departure. Norman Ranny accompanied his newly-made friends to the waiting automobile and addressed the Drew girl.
“Will you be returning to Canada?” he asked.
“I’m not certain yet, though I believe that is the plan. Are you going back with us?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. As soon as Annette can be moved from the hospital, she is to be brought here.”
“Oh, I’m so glad!” Nancy interrupted. “I know she’ll improve rapidly under your mother’s care.”
“I feel sure she will, but she is worrying about something else. She told me today she is greatly worried about Grandfather Pierre. I promised her I would return to Canada and search for him.”
“Then of course you’ll go back with us.”
Carson Drew, who had overheard the conversation, now walked over to where they were standing.
“I think everyone is eager to reach Wellington Lake with the least possible delay. I believe we should fly there tonight. There’s no time to lose.”