Chapter 24 The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
The Key to the Gold
Buck Sawtice was busily writing at a table in his tent when Nancy and her friends entered. He looked up sharply, then offered them camp chairs.
“Well, what is it?” he asked.
“I have come to see you about my land,” Nancy began.
Before she could explain the proposition she had in mind, he cut her short.
“Now don’t be alarmed because the plane hasn’t returned with your money, Miss Drew. I feel certain the pilot will arrive today.”
Nancy’s eyes narrowed.
“You know as well as I do he’ll never bring back the money, Mr. Sawtice. You have tried to trick me.”
The man’s jaw dropped at such a bold statement. He glanced quickly at Carson Drew, but the attorney’s grim expression told him more plainly than words could that the truth had been discovered.
“Nonsense,” he denied feebly. “I am as puzzled as you are over the delay in the delivery of the funds, though I have every confidence that the pilot will not fail me.”
“He will obey orders,” Nancy retorted scornfully. “I happen to know that you told him not to bring the money. However, I am willing to make a new deal with you.”
Buck Sawtice studied her shrewdly.
“You mean you’ll take less for your land?”
“I’ll give it to you for nothing—on one condition.”
Carson Drew sprang from his chair.
“Nancy, do you realize what you are saying?”
“Absolutely,” Nancy smiled.
“What is your condition?” Sawtice asked cautiously.
“That you return Pierre Chap unharmed!”
A mask-like expression froze upon the promoter’s face.
“Who is Pierre Chap?”
“You know very well who he is,” Nancy countered, “for he is hidden near this camp.”
“You are mistaken, Miss Drew. I am not a kidnaper.”
“I am making no accusations,” Nancy retorted. “However, I feel confident that if you wish to do so you can locate Pierre Chap. Should you care to accept my proposition and have him safely in camp by nightfall, I will deed over my land to the Yellow Dawn Mining Company.”
“Nancy, you will lose everything by this deal,” her father protested.
“I’ve thought it all over carefully, Father. If Mr. Sawtice accepts the proposal, I intend to go through with it.”
“Suppose I should return Pierre Chap—mind I don’t say that I can—what proof have I that you will keep your agreement?” Sawtice demanded.
Nancy raised up her head proudly.
“You have my word.”
“And do you agree to abide by this decision of your daughter?” the promoter asked Carson Drew.
“I suppose I must, though I’ll admit it goes against my grain to do so.”
“What do you say?” Nancy urged.
“If your father will sign the paper as your guardian, I’ll agree.”
“All right, I’ll sign,” Carson Drew snapped. “Now are you satisfied?”
“Quite,” Sawtice smiled. “I really admire your daughter for her shrewd business ability, otherwise I would decline the proposal. You know, had I wished I could have taken the land without obligating myself in any way.”
Carson Drew stifled a bitter retort as he escorted the girls to the door of the tent. When the four were out of earshot of Buck Sawtice they gave vent to their pent-up feelings.
“It was nothing less than stealing,” Mr. Drew declared angrily. “Nancy, I’d never have permitted you to go through with it, had I known what you proposed to do before we went into that tent.”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” the girl smiled. “I lay awake last night thinking and thinking. It seemed to me the only way to save poor old Mr. Chap.”
“But you’ll lose everything,” George wailed. “They will get all the gold.”
“According to Mr. Ranny and the surveyor, the best part of it has already been taken from the land.”
“But the nuggets really belonged to you,” Bess maintained. “Buck Sawtice has no right to take anything until you deed the property to him. Isn’t that correct, Mr. Drew?”
“Yes, it is, Bess, but up here in the woods might seems to be right.”
“I wish I could save the gold, though I don’t see how I can,” Nancy said regretfully. “After all, Pierre Chap’s life is the most important consideration. You aren’t really provoked at me, are you, Father?”
The attorney squeezed her hand.
“No, I’m very proud of you, Nancy. You have been wonderfully generous. But it infuriates me to think that Sawtice is going to win out in this affair. He should be behind prison bars.”
The attorney dropped his voice as Sawtice emerged from his tent. They saw him walk across the field, and converse with several of his cronies, whereupon the four men rode out of the camp, leading an extra horse.
“They’re going after Mr. Chap,” Nancy was confident. “Sawtice only pretended that he didn’t know where to find him.”
Carson Drew left the girls to talk with Norman Ranny.
“Now is our chance to get the gold,” Nancy whispered to Bess and George. “I didn’t dare mention all my plans when Father was here, for he wouldn’t have permitted me to attempt it.”
She then outlined what she proposed to do, and Bess and George were a trifle frightened at the daring of her scheme. Yet at her insistence they were willing to attempt to carry it through.
The girls quietly slipped away from camp. Bess, who remembered where the gold shack was located, led the way. A short distance from the building they paused to talk over the situation.
“Raymond Niles is still there on guard,” Bess observed.
“Then this is almost certain to be the shack where the gold is kept,” Nancy said with satisfaction. “Now, girls, don’t forget your parts in our little play!”
Assuming an air of innocence, the three chums linked arms and strolled out into the clearing. Raymond Niles noticed them instantly, watching intently, but the girls pretended to be unaware of his scrutiny, and meandered toward him.
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Niles!” Nancy greeted in surprise. “I was wondering where you had been keeping yourself lately. We haven’t seen you in camp much of late.”
Flattered to think that his absence had been noted, the guard bestowed his best smile upon the three.
“Is this your cabin?” Bess inquired politely.
“Well, not exactly. I sort of own a part interest in it. I look after it for another fellow.”
“I’d love to see the inside,” Nancy said wheedlingly.
“I wish I could let you do so, but its impossible. The other fellow wouldn’t like it.”
“Oh,” George sighed in pretended disappointment, “I did so want to peer inside. Of course, you don’t mind if we just look in the window, do you?”
Before Niles was fully aware of her intention, she turned toward the window.
“Here, you mustn’t do that,” he cried, starting after the girl.
This was the opportunity Nancy sought. She had noticed that Niles held in his hand the key to the padlock of the door.
“Oh, please let us go inside,” she pleaded, grasping him by the hand.
A foolish grin spread over the young man’s face.
“I wish I could, Miss Drew, but I have to obey orders.”
Nancy smiled as she quickly withdrew her hand from his. But she had the key in her possession!
“Oh, come on, girls,” she called carelessly. “What do we want to see this silly old place for, anyway?”
Taking their cue, George and Bess followed her.
“Don’t be in such a hurry,” Niles begged. “Stay and talk a while.”
They pretended not to hear him.
“Did you get the key, Nancy?” George demanded, when they were some distance away.
“I certainly did! Foolish fellow! He thinks every girl in the world is captivated by his charms.”
“What do you intend to do with the key, now that you have it?” Bess inquired curiously. “If you’re planning on getting that gold it won’t be so easy.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Nancy admitted.
The day passed slowly. Toward nightfall men were seen coming slowly down the trail. They were leading another horse upon which Pierre Chap was mounted. The old man slumped in the saddle and nearly collapsed when Mr. Drew and Norman Ranny hurried to assist him in alighting. They half-carried him to a nearby tent. Buck Sawtice did not give Nancy nor her father an opportunity to talk with Mr. Chap.
“I’ve kept my part of the agreement,” he told them. “Now you must do as you promised.”
The girl had the deed ready. In rapid order, scarcely pausing to read them, she signed the papers which the promoter thrust into her hand. Almost sullenly did Carson Drew add his signature to the documents.
“There, the land is yours,” he said bitterly, after the final sheet had been signed. “I presume it gives you intense satisfaction to cheat my daughter out of her property!”
Back in the tent where Norman Ranny was ministering to the needs of old Mr. Chap, the Drews began to regret having kept their agreement, for they were to learn that the prisoner had been most inhumanly treated by his captors.
“They beat me nearly every day,” Mr. Chap related in a cracked voice. “They tried everything they could think of to make me tell where I had hidden my money. Even after Tom Stripe learned the truth, they abused me shamefully.”
“Did Buck Sawtice have anything to do with it?” Nancy demanded.
“Yes, he was the ringleader. Everything was done according to his orders. Even on the way here the men beat me.”
“It was included in the agreement that Mr. Chap should be returned unharmed,” Nancy said bitterly. “In every way Sawtice has broken his promises.”
“If you only hadn’t signed away the land!” George groaned.
“It wouldn’t have been necessary had we been properly protected by the authorities,” Carson Drew snapped. “We are justified in taking the law into our own hands.”
“There should be some way of recovering stolen gold,” Ranny declared. “If you like, I’ll march into Sawtice’s tent with my gun and demand a settlement.”
“You would be overpowered in an instant,” Nancy said. “I think I have a better plan. I’ve already told Bess and George about it. Wait here until we return.”
The daring girls darted from the tent before they could be stopped. Racing to the gold shack, they were elated to find that Niles had left his post.
Nancy unlocked the door. With George standing guard, Nancy and Bess made a hasty search of the place. In one of the cupboards they found a heavy bag of gold nuggets.
“Quick! I think I hear someone coming!” George warned.
Nancy and her chums grasped the precious ore, and they ran as fast as they could back to the tent. She thrust the heavy container into the hand of her surprised father.
“Keep this for me! I have something more to do!”
As she was about to dash from the tent again, she paused to fling out some important instructions.
“Get Mr. Chap out of here as quickly as you can. And everyone meet me in ten minutes at the place where our horses are tied!”
“What are you going to do?” Carson Drew called after her.
Intent only upon her purpose, Nancy did not hear him. She ran up the path which led to the dynamite shack. It was her plan to change the course of the stream by blasting the power dam.
“It’s a risky thing to attempt,” she told herself grimly, “but if I succeed, Sawtice will never be able to use my property!”