Chapter 12 The Mystery of the Ivory Charm by Carolyn Keene
A Box of Treasure
“Dear me, what is it now?” Mrs. Gruen inquired, hurrying from the kitchen. “When you shriek like that, Nancy, you scare a body half out of his wits!”
“Just look at this paper,” Nancy cried, thrusting it into the housekeeper’s hand.
“It says something about two mail train robbers being captured. Is that what you mean?”
“No, no. You’re looking at the wrong story. Here, the one about the fire.”
By this time Carson Drew had come down the stairs.
“What’s this about a fire?” he asked.
“Oh, Dad, the old house burned down last night!”
“There are a large number of old houses in the vicinity of River Heights,” Mr. Drew smiled.
“I mean Miss Allison’s place. You know, the house I’ve been telling you about all week.”
“And good riddance in my opinion,” Mrs. Gruen declared firmly, offering the newspaper to the lawyer. “Now that the house has burned down maybe Nancy will forget about it. I declare, between her talk of solving another mystery and Coya’s claim that he’s a king, it’s a wonder I don’t lose my mind!”
“Speaking of fires, I think I smell something burning now,” Mr. Drew said, sniffing the air.
“Oh, mercy! The bacon!” Mrs. Gruen turned and fled to the kitchen.
Carson Drew quickly scanned the newspaper account. According to the story, the blaze had started during the night and was of unknown origin. A passing motorist had called the River Heights fire department but before the engines could reach the scene the building had been destroyed.
“It’s queer Jasper Batt didn’t discover the fire in time to save the building,” Nancy commented musingly. “Probably he wasn’t even on the premises.”
“From what you’ve told me of him, Nancy, he couldn’t have been a very reliable watchman. Possibly the fire started from a match or cigarette which he dropped himself.”
Nancy nodded soberly. “Or it may have been set deliberately by someone who wished to conceal forever the secrets of that house.”
“I guess the place doesn’t represent much of a loss to Miss Allison,” the lawyer said. “It would soon need to be torn down, anyway.”
“Oh, the house had no intrinsic value,” Nancy agreed. “But I can’t help thinking that someone was afraid to let it remain standing.”
“You believe Miss Allison set fire to her own house?” Mr. Drew questioned with a smile.
“No, I hardly think she would do such a thing. I really have no theory about the fire at all. But I should like to drive out this morning and look at the ruins.”
“Apparently you’ve forgotten that this is circus day.”
“No, I haven’t. We can stop at Miss Allison’s property on the way to Hanover. I’ll telephone Bess and George and see if they’ll be able to start early.”
“The plan suits me,” Mr. Drew agreed. “I’ve arranged to be away from the office all day.”
Directly after breakfast Nancy talked with her chums over the telephone, making an appointment to call for them with the car at ten o’clock. The girls were waiting when Mr. Drew and his daughter drove up at the Marvin residence, and a short ride brought them within view of the Allison property.
Disregarding Steve Roach’s recent warning not to trespass, the four walked rapidly through the woods to the clearing where the old house had stood. Now it was only a smoking ruin. Nancy’s eye roamed from the pile of debris to a lone figure working among the wreckage.
“Why, it’s Miss Allison!” she exclaimed in astonishment. “What is she trying to do?”
They hurried forward to find the woman endeavoring vainly to move several half-burned timbers which blocked the stone stairway leading down into the secret tunnel. As Miss Allison turned to face the newcomers, her eyes filled with tears.
“Here, you shouldn’t be doing work like that!” Mr. Drew said sternly. “If the timbers must be moved now, let me do it.”
“I’ve been trying for an hour to get into the tunnel,” Miss Allison half sobbed. “I am completely worn out.”
“Why not wait until some of the debris has been cleared away?” Nancy suggested.
“Oh, you don’t understand. I am afraid to wait even a day. Someone may steal my precious treasures.”
“Treasures?” Nancy asked, bewildered.
“They are hidden in the tunnel—many boxes of priceless wares. I must remove them before anyone comes. Oh, Miss Drew, if you and your father will only help me, I’ll be so grateful.”
“Of course we’ll help,” Mr. Drew said quickly. “If these timbers are cool enough to handle I think we can get into the tunnel.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to enter the passageway by means of the door in the rock?” Nancy questioned.
Miss Allison glanced sharply at the girl, but if it occurred to her to wonder how Nancy chanced to be so well informed regarding the secrets of the tunnel, she refrained from saying so. Instead, she murmured impatiently:
“No, no, we cannot enter that way.”
Fortunately the portion of the basement in which the stone stairway stood had not entirely burned and so was fairly clear of debris. In a short while Mr. Drew had dragged away the timbers blocking the passage.
“It isn’t very safe to enter just yet,” he cautioned Miss Allison. “One easily might be overcome by fumes or heat.”
“The air in the tunnel will be cool and clear,” she insisted. “I must save my treasures!”
“Then I’ll go with you,” the lawyer was compelled to offer. “But I feel that the undertaking may be a dangerous one. You girls remain here.”
Bess and George looked relieved, for they had been eyeing the great smoking hole with misgivings. Nancy, on the other hand, could not bear to remain behind.
“You’ll need me to help you,” she said to her father.
“I’d prefer that you remain above, Nancy.”
“It is no more dangerous for me than for you, Dad.”
“Oh, well, come along,” Mr. Drew said.
Leaving Bess and George behind, the three swiftly descended into the tunnel. The fumes were even more unpleasant than they had anticipated. Both Miss Allison and Nancy were choking and coughing before they reached the cooler interior of the underground passage.
Miss Allison went directly to a secret branch-off. She groped her way along until she located a rectangular stone set high up in the wall. Her hand moved deftly over it to touch a hidden spring.
Nancy and her father heard a faint click. Then the woman tugged at the block and it slipped outward from its place in the wall. In the cavity were several small boxes.
“Your treasures seem to be safe where they are,” Mr. Drew commented. “I doubt that anyone would ever suspect such a clever hiding place.”
“I dare not leave the boxes here,” Miss Allison declared. “They must be taken to a bank vault.”
“Well, that may be the best thing to do,” the lawyer admitted. “It shouldn’t take us long to remove the boxes.”
He lifted several of them to the floor of the passageway, noticing their weight. It occurred to him to wonder what might be the nature of the contents, but Miss Allison offered no information and he tactfully refrained from asking her.
Nancy bent down to pick up a small package, only to have Miss Allison say quickly:
“No, I’ll take that one.”
So the girl selected another box, her father lifted one of the heavy cartons, and with Miss Allison bringing up the rear, they started with their burdens down the tunnel.
Carson Drew, who was in the lead, suddenly halted. As yet Nancy and Miss Allison had heard no unusual sound. Suddenly a loud, rumbling noise thundered through the tunnel, and a few loose stones overhead came clattering down dangerously near their heads.
The lawyer pushed his daughter and Miss Allison back against the wall, saying sharply:
“Don’t move!”
They huddled there for several minutes until the stones had ceased to fall. A thick cloud of dust filled the passageway.
“There’s been a cave-in somewhere ahead,” Mr. Drew said tensely. “Let’s get out of here before we’re buried alive.”
“We can’t leave my treasures behind!” Miss Allison cried in distress as she saw that Mr. Drew intended to abandon the boxes. “They represent a fortune!”
Considering the emergency, Nancy and her father thought that the woman was somewhat selfish to place her own interests above their lives, but knowing that it would take less time to carry the boxes than to make Miss Allison understand the need for haste, they resumed their burdens and hurried down the tunnel.
They were able to go only a short distance. Rounding a slight turn in the passageway they were dismayed to find it blocked by a pile of dirt, rock and overhead beams which had given way during the cave-in.
“I was afraid of this!” Mr. Drew exclaimed. “We’re trapped!”
“Oh, what shall we do? What shall we do?” Miss Allison wailed. “We’ll never get out of here alive.”
Sinking down on one of the boxes of treasure, she sobbed hysterically.
“The situation probably isn’t as serious as it appears,” Mr. Drew said with forced cheerfulness. “If we’re unable to dig our way out, Bess and George may soon realize that something is wrong and send help.”
“The cave-in doesn’t extend very far!” Nancy cried. She had been pulling and tugging at one of the half-buried timbers. “We’re near the main tunnel entrance and I think I can see a faint streak of light!”
“You’re right, Nancy,” Carson Drew agreed jubilantly. “We may get out of here by our own efforts yet!”
The two fell to work with a will, succeeding after some time of back-breaking labor in slightly enlarging the aperture. But beyond that point they could not budge the heavy beams.
“If I only had a few tools we’d soon be out of here,” the lawyer said in disappointment as he sank down on the floor of the tunnel to rest. “As it is, I fear we’re trapped. We must wait for a rescue.”
Nancy measured the opening with her eye. “I believe I could crawl through, Dad.”
“You’re not large, Nancy, but you’re not that small, either.”
“If you’ll help a little I think I can make it. I’ll try, anyway.”
Before Mr. Drew could protest, Nancy thrust her head and shoulders into the yawning hole. Midway through she wedged fast. She squirmed and twisted, unable to move either forward or backward. Then by sheer strength Mr. Drew pushed her through to the other side.
“Now I’ll help you and Miss Allison,” Nancy called back.
Her father’s muffled voice came to her from the opposite side of the debris.
“We could never make it. Go for help.”
Nancy ran to the main tunnel and was relieved to find it clear. She raced up the stone stairs, accosting Bess and George who were idly regarding the ruins.
“Come quickly and help!” Nancy pleaded. “Miss Allison and my father are trapped in the tunnel.”
“Trapped?” Bess gasped.
“Yes, in the branch-off. There was a bad cave-in.”
Thoroughly alarmed, Bess and George followed Nancy down into the tunnel. For half an hour they worked like beavers trying to dislodge rocks and timbers. Without tools, the work progressed at a slow pace.
“We’re all nearly exhausted,” Nancy admitted at last. “I must go for help.”
She ran back to the entrance, there to encounter Ned Nickerson, who had driven out to the Allison property to view the burned building.
“I thought for a minute that you were a ghost arising from the wreckage!” the young man exclaimed.
“Oh, Ned, we need your help,” Nancy cried. “Dad and Miss Allison have been trapped by a cave-in.”
Upon learning of the disaster, Ned did not waste precious moments asking useless questions. Grimly he followed Nancy down into the tunnel and set to work. The girls could have embraced him from sheer joy when he presently heaved aside the huge beam which barred the opening.
Miss Allison, pale and shaken, was lifted through, then Carson Drew followed.
“We must take the boxes,” the woman murmured weakly. “I’ll not stir from this passage without them!”
To quiet the woman, Ned climbed back into the hole, handing out the heavy cartons one by one to Carson Drew. The girls helped to carry them from the tunnel.
Unaware of the importance of the task, Ned handled the smaller boxes a trifle carelessly. In depositing the last container, he allowed it to drop heavily on the ground. The cover of the box split open, and the contents, a collection of semi-precious stones, flowed in a tiny river of sparkling color over the grass.
“Oh, my treasures from India!” Miss Allison shrieked in anguish. “Save them!”
“Gee! I’m sorry,” Ned muttered. “Why didn’t someone tell me I was carrying jewels?”
He turned apologetically toward the woman and was dismayed to see her sagging toward the ground in a faint.