Chapter 25 The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
Rushing Waters
Nancy reached the shack, and was elated to find it unlocked. She carefully selected a large stick of dynamite from among the stores of explosives, and carried it gingerly to the dam.
Balancing herself dexterously, she moved far out upon the structure, and placed the charge so that it would explode in the most advantageous place. She hesitated but an instant, and then struck a match, which she applied to the long fuse. The flame began to eat its way slowly toward the stick.
Pausing only long enough to make certain that the fire would not go out, Nancy turned and fled. She was all out of breath when she reached her friends.
“Mount, and ride for your lives!” she cried.
Carson Drew slung the heavy nugget bag over the saddle of his horse. Norman Ranny rode double, supporting Pierre Chap. They all raced for the knoll. Even before they reached it, there came a terrific blast!
“What was that?” Mr. Drew shouted, drawing rein.
“Don’t stop now!” Nancy cried, striking at the flank of his horse. “Ride on! Ride on!”
They reached the hillock in safety. Then Nancy pointed with a trembling hand to the torrent of water that was flooding down the valley, and coursing over the ground they had recently left.
“You dynamited the dam!” her father exclaimed.
“Yes, for that was the only way I could prevent Sawtice from using my property. Now it will be covered with several feet of water. The mining tools and equipment will be destroyed, but I warned the workers to stay away from the valley.”
Fascinated, the party stood upon the high ground and watched the water as it spread out over the land. The erstwhile camp soon became a lake.
“I’m glad Sawtice and his men escaped,” Nancy said soberly, “even though they are scoundrels.”
After Mr. Chap’s story had been told to the authorities, warrants were issued for the arrest of Buck Sawtice and his fellow conspirators. Tom Stripe and Raymond Niles were apprehended almost immediately, though several days passed before Sawtice was placed behind jail bars. He was scheduled to be tried for participation in many fraudulent schemes.
Shortly after Nancy and her friends returned to Wellington Lake, Annette Chap arrived by airplane in response to the urgent message she had received. She had recovered rapidly from her accident, and looked almost as well as she had the day she first met Nancy.
“I’m not very strong yet,” the writer confessed ruefully. “But I know I shall feel better after I’ve spent a few weeks at the old homestead. Grandfather Pierre and I intend to get well together.”
When Nancy saw the two of them, happy at being reunited, she never once regretted signing away her land. Of course, most of the valuable nuggets had been removed before the property was flooded. Yet had all the gold been lost, she would not have wanted things to turn out otherwise. Mrs. Donnelly insisted that Norman Ranny remain at her home with the others, for a reconciliation had been effected between the Ranny and Donnelly families, due to Nancy’s efforts.
In tracing down the unscrupulous practices of the Yellow Dawn Company, it was definitely proven that Tom Stripe had caused most of the trouble between the two women. He, too, had forged the document which had been received by the Velvet Company, and had sold considerable worthless stock. Both Mrs. Donnelly and Mrs. Ranny were overjoyed to learn that some of the money they had lost in securities would eventually be returned to them.
“Speaking of money, I never dreamed that I was holding a small fortune in my hands when Nancy gave me that bag of gold,” Mr. Drew ruminated, as they were all seated before the crackling fire in Mrs. Donnelly’s sitting room. He chuckled softly to himself. “I guess it isn’t the first time I’ve been left holding the bag!”
“How much do you suppose the gold will be worth?” Nancy queried.
“A very tidy sum,” Norman Ranny told her. “Far more than your land would ever have brought you.”
“I’ll send it to the assayer’s for you,” Mr. Drew promised. “How do you want it? In gold coins, or one huge bar?”
“I think gold coins would be more useful,” Nancy said gaily.
Pierre Chap had looked highly distressed at the mention of money. When Nancy asked him what the trouble was he confessed to the group that his entire fortune had been stolen by Tom Stripe.
“I had intended that Annette should have the money,” he said sadly. “That scoundrel forced me to tell him where I had hidden the chest. Now, even though he has been caught, I doubt if I will ever get back any of it.”
“Why, Mr. Ranny and I dug up your chest and re-buried it,” Nancy informed him. “Everything happened so rapidly that I completely forgot to mention it to you.”
After a day of rest Nancy and her chums returned to the Chap homestead with the prospector, Annette, and her grandfather. They found the chest where it had been hidden, not far from the ancient oak tree.
Before the girls returned to join Carson Drew at Wellington Lake where he was still busy gathering data concerning the Taylor lumber case, Annette Chap drew them aside for a little confession.
“Norman and I are to be married next week. We feel that we have waited too long as it is,” she said.
“I am so glad,” Nancy beamed. “I hope that I’ve perhaps had a tiny part in your happiness.”
“You’ve been the whole cause of it,” the novelist assured her gratefully. “As long as I live I shall never forget your kindness to me. Not only did you reunite Norman and myself, but you saved Grandfather from a dire fate.”
“I think the hollow oak did it all,” Nancy smiled. “If it hadn’t been for the message left inside it, I can’t imagine how things might have terminated.”
“Speaking of the hollow oak reminds me of another thing I have to tell you,” the woman smiled. “Norman and I plan to build our new home on this very site.”
“Near the oak tree?”
“Yes, for we’ve grown greatly attached to it. Besides, the property will be near Grandfather Pierre’s cabin.”
“Don’t you feel sad to think of giving up your career as a writer and coming back home to live?” Nancy asked presently.
Annette shook her head.
“I’d gladly give it up, if need be. However, this is an ideal place in which to write. Although I shall have to relinquish my movie contracts, there will be more time for me to write thought-provoking novels.”
“I am sure you will be very happy here,” Nancy said, smiling.
When Nancy and her friends returned to Lake Wellington they found that Carson Drew had completed all his business matters, and was eager to start back for the United States.
Before they left the North Woods the girls inquired about the condition of their former guide, Pete Atkins. Great was their relief to learn that he was well on the road to recovery.
“I wish you didn’t need to hurry away,” Mrs. Donnelly protested, as she bade good-bye to her young charges.
“So do we,” Bess and George told her in unison.
“We’ll try to come back next summer, if you care to have us,” Nancy declared. “But you must promise not to provide us with so much excitement.”
Mrs. Donnelly laughed heartily.
“I think the only way I could promise that would be for me to keep all of you locked up in one room!”
As they were en route to River Heights, Carson Drew disclosed that the trip north had been a highly successful one for him.
“I have absolute proof now that Buck Sawtice is involved dishonorably in the Marcus Taylor lumber matter,” he told the girls. “If I don’t win that case now I’m not worth much as a lawyer.”
When the train pulled into River Heights, Nancy was amazed to see that almost everyone in town had turned out to welcome home the little group. Hannah Gruen was the first one to greet the girl as she stepped from the platform.
“My! My! If it isn’t good to have you home again,” she cried, wiping a tear from her eye. “It seems as if you’ve been gone a year.”
Nancy smiled in appreciation. “I must admit it was one of the most exciting vacations of my life!”
At the time she did not realize that soon she was to become involved in an adventure just as thrilling, to be called by her chums “The Mystery of the Ivory Charm.”
“Did you bring the bag of gold with you?” the housekeeper whispered anxiously.
Nancy laughed gleefully.
“No, I’m thankful to say that Father has relieved me of that responsibility. The gold is at the assayer’s now. I won’t know for several weeks how much coin I am to receive for it.”
Shortly after the Drews returned to River Heights, the Marcus Taylor case came up for trial. No one was surprised to learn that the lumberman had been awarded a large sum in damages, for Carson Drew had gathered such a vast array of evidence that no other verdict would have been possible.
One day Nancy received a long letter from Annette Chap. The young woman enclosed a photograph of the famous old oak on the Chap property. Nancy placed it carefully away in a drawer that held some of her choicest possessions.
The letter contained considerable news. Buck Sawtice had been brought to trial. He had been convicted on many counts, and sent to prison for a long term. Tom Stripe and Raymond Niles had escaped with lighter sentences.
After discussing the events Nancy seated herself upon the arm of her father’s chair, and playfully tweaked his ear. “As my legal adviser, how would you suggest that I spend my gold?” she asked.
Carson Drew thoughtfully blew several smoke rings to the ceiling before answering. His eyes twinkled as he replied:
“I was just thinking that you might want to buy a little real estate.”
Nancy glanced ruefully at her father to see if he really was serious. Then she laughed heartily.
“Father, if anyone should ever offer me another deed, I’d run a mile!” she said. “After having had so many exciting adventures up North, I think I’ll agree to your holding title to all the property that comes into the Drew family!”
THE END