Chapter 23 The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
Treachery
They regarded her coldly. Aware that something was wrong, Nancy sought the sheriff, who spoke to her in terse sentences.
“It was nothing but a hoax. We had a hard ride, only to find that no one had been imprisoned in the cave. Most likely Chap’s safe in his cabin now.”
“Tom Stripe probably didn’t tell the truth about the hiding place, but I feel confident he knows that Pierre Chap has been imprisoned some place.”
The sheriff paid slight heed to her words. He was weary from the long ride, and hoped that he might find some excuse for abandoning the entire expedition.
Nancy was mortified at the mistake she had made. Now that Pierre Chap could not be found, it would be impossible to arrest Tom Stripe. She felt discouraged at the failure of her plan.
“Surely you aren’t going to abandon the search for Mr. Chap?” she queried.
“Save for the ridiculous story Tom Stripe told you, what proof do you have that he has been kidnaped?”
“His house was boarded up, and I found a note in the oak tree.”
“The message probably was put there for a joke.”
“But it wasn’t a joke that I found——”
Just in time Nancy caught herself, and refrained from divulging the discovery of the chest of money.
“Oh, go away and don’t bother me,” the sheriff said a trifle crossly.
Nancy tried to talk with some of the men and explain to them how she had made the mistake, but they did not seem to care to listen to her.
“Such an unreasonable lot,” the girl complained later to Bess and George. “Instead of wreaking vengeance on Tom Stripe for the trick, they let him go free, and then blame me for it all!”
Norman Ranny was equally discouraged when he returned to camp. He declared that he would set out alone and search for Pierre Chap.
“I thought when I sent for Annette that if she were to come here she might find her grandfather safe and well,” Nancy told him. “Now, if she should arrive to learn that he is still missing, it may prove to be a great shock to her.”
Since it was unlikely that the airplane which Buck Sawtice had dispatched to the city would return that evening, Nancy and her friends made plans to camp on the site. They had brought only the barest necessities with them, and spent a most uncomfortable night. When morning dawned there was still no sign of the airplane.
Mr. Drew and his daughter were troubled at the delay. Buck Sawtice, on the other hand, did not seem the least bit disturbed. He kept his men busy removing gold from the surface vein.
“I don’t like the way they’re carting off my nuggets,” Nancy complained. “After all, I haven’t sold the land yet so they’re really stealing from me.”
“There’s nothing we can do, I am afraid,” her father told her. “The sheriff doesn’t seem disposed to protect our interests here of late.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Nancy said ruefully.
At noon one of the sheriff’s men sighted a distant forest fire from the knoll. He reported it to his companions, all of whom prepared to ride away to fight it.
“Sorry we can’t stay,” he told Carson Drew, “but there’s nothing for us to do around here, anyway.”
“That depends upon one’s viewpoint,” the attorney retorted.
Save for Norman Ranny and his friends, the Dawsons, everyone had deserted the camp. Buck Sawtice could not conceal his pleasure as he watched the men ride away.
“They weren’t really doing us any good,” Mr. Drew commented to Nancy when the two were alone, “although the psychological effect of their being here was worth while.”
She nodded soberly.
“Now that the sheriff has gone, Buck Sawtice may try a few tricks.”
“That’s it exactly. I don’t like the way he’s acting.”
“He seems entirely too confident about something. I can’t understand why the plane hasn’t returned with my money.”
“Neither can I. It begins to look a trifle suspicious.”
All that day the party waited. It was irritating to watch the miners at work, removing gold ore and nuggets which they chanced to find, but Nancy and her friends held their peace.
“If that plane doesn’t arrive here by morning, I intend to have a show-down with Sawtice,” Carson Drew told Ranny. “I’m beginning to think we’ve been tricked.”
Nancy could not sleep that night, she was so worried about Pierre Chap. She gave little thought to her own problem, but tossed restlessly in her blankets. Finally she dressed herself and left the tent.
It was a pleasant moonlight night. Everything was quiet about the camp.
“I’ll take a short walk,” Nancy decided. “Perhaps that will make me tired enough to want to sleep.”
She had gone but a short distance through the trees when she beheld the silhouettes of two men directly ahead of her. Creeping up closer, she heard them talking animatedly together in French.
“I’m sticking with Sawtice,” she heard one of them say, “for he’s a shrewd old fox. Why, I know for a fact that he never intends to pay Nancy Drew for this land. He told the airplane pilot not to bring along any money.”
“So!” the other chuckled. “In a few more days we’ll have most of the nuggets from the creek. Nancy Drew and her father are like two blind cats—they see nothing! Never once have they suspected Sawtice of locking the gold in a shack less than half a mile from here. Soon he will have enough, and then off we’ll go to a richer field while they sit here patiently waiting for the money!”
The two men laughed heartily at the joke, and moved away. Nancy cautiously followed them, and could hear them speaking again.
“It was a good joke the way they swallowed that story Tom Stripe told them about imprisoning Pierre Chap in the cave! The sheriff’s men went riding all over the country, never suspecting that Chap was secreted almost within a stone’s throw of the camp!”
The conversation ran on, finally changing to a less interesting subject. Convinced that she could learn no more, Nancy returned to her tent. The walk into the woods had certainly brought her no peace of mind. Until dawn the girl lay awake, thinking and planning.
Long before her chums were awake, Nancy was abroad. She hiked a short distance upstream, and came to a high dam, which she spent the greater part of an hour inspecting. Not far away there was a shack in which dynamite was kept. A sign warned all persons to keep away. Nancy surveyed the building with interest, but did not attempt to enter it.
She returned to camp to find her father up and dressed, and immediately told him everything she had overheard. Bess and George came over to hear her story.
“I did a little exploring this morning,” Nancy explained. “I thought I might find the shack where the gold nuggets are kept, but all I could see was a place where dynamite is stored.”
“Why, I recall seeing an old shack not far from this camp,” Bess said. “George and I were doing a little prospecting when we noticed the place. We would have investigated it, but Raymond Niles was around.”
“Did he seem to be guarding the cabin?” Nancy questioned.
“Why, come to think of it, that might have been what he was doing. He looked relieved when we walked away, didn’t he, George?”
“Yes, he did. Maybe he’s keeping watch over the gold nuggets!”
“Can you point out the building?” Mr. Drew asked the girls.
They assured him that they could do so.
“I have a feeling that Pierre Chap may be imprisoned near the gold shack,” Nancy declared. “If we can locate the latter, we may be able to find him.”
“Even if we should find the shack, it might not be easy to secure the release of Mr. Chap,” Carson Drew said thoughtfully. “We are greatly outnumbered by the miners.”
“And they watch our every move,” George added. “Bess and I can’t stir a step from camp without being followed. Nancy is spied upon the same way, too.”
“I am completely disgusted with the way the sheriff failed us,” Mr. Drew commented. “I dispatched word for him to return, but I have no hopes of his doing so.”
“We can’t afford to wait,” Nancy said quietly.
“No. By delaying we will play directly into Buck Sawtice’s hands. Yet I can think of no plan to outwit him.”
Nancy leaned forward and lowered her voice.
“I have one,” she announced.