Chapter 10 The Phantom of Pine Hill by Carolyn Keene
The Camouflaged Door
A car door slammed outside the Rorick house. Nancy, Ned, and Mrs. Holman looked out to see who had arrived.
“It’s Bess and George,” the housekeeper said. “Why don’t you wait until they come in and tell all of us what you’ve discovered, Nancy?”
“I will,” she answered, as Mrs. Holman went to open the front door.
“Is Nancy here? Is she all right?” Bess asked quickly.
The woman assured her that Nancy was fine and had enjoyed being kidnapped by the Indians. The three entered the book-strewn library.
“Hypers!” exclaimed George. “Another visit from the phantom?”
Quickly Nancy explained, then told the girls of Uncle John’s request that they stay to work on the mystery.
“Okay with me,” said George. Bess nodded, but she did not look happy.
“Now tell us what happened to you, Nancy,” George urged.
Ned stepped forward and laid a hand on Nancy’s shoulder. “Meet Indian Princess Nonaviki,” he said solemnly. “She help Chief solve heap-big Indian mystery.”
Everyone laughed, but Bess said, “Oh, do be serious. What’s the discovery, Nancy?”
The young sleuth pointed to the parchment. “According to this, there was once an Indian village about a mile from here. I had a hunch today that there might be one connected with our mystery.”
Ned interrupted to say, “Nancy got this idea after a boo-boo I pulled.” He told about the fiasco of the stump.
“Why, I think the pine tree was a very good clue,” Bess said kindly. “But now you believe the gold coins may be buried in or near the old Indian village?”
“Yes, I do,” Nancy replied. “The thieves probably would have buried them as soon as possible. And then, too, those crewmen might have offered some coins to friendly Indians in return for a good hiding place. The village would be a logical location.”
“Tell you what,” said Ned. “Suppose we go out to that old Indian village after chapel.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Nancy said enthusiastically.
Ned said he would have to be excused to go back to the fraternity house. “May I borrow your car, Nancy? I’ll be back for you at seven o’clock with Burt and Dave.” She nodded.
Mrs. Holman, Bess, and George had already started to pick up books and return them to the shelves.
After Ned had left, Nancy sat down to study the old map. She was so deeply engrossed in it that Bess and George had to urge her three times to put it away and dress for the Omega dinner dance.
“I overheard some of the boys talking and I think there’s going to be a big surprise tonight,” Bess said mysteriously.
“Have you any idea what it is?” George asked.
“Not the slightest. But it’s a secret they’re going to spring on the guests.”
When they reached their rooms, Bess and George began to conjecture what the surprise might be. Nancy, lost in thought about the Indian village and the chance that at last she might have hit upon an excellent clue, did not join in the conversation, though the connecting door was open.
Again, she was the first one dressed. This time she had chosen a pale-green two-piece with a slightly full skirt. It was quite plain except for an intriguing geometric design in brilliant colors embroidered on one side of the sleeveless blouse. The trimming reached from the shoulders to the waistline.
Bess and George looked equally attractive—Bess in pink, George wearing a black chiffon with pearl necklace and earrings.
By the time the girls grabbed their wraps and came downstairs their dates had arrived. All of them whistled in admiration upon seeing the girls.
“You look super!” cried Dave. He glanced at Nancy. “Some Indian princess!”
Nancy laughed and patted Ned’s arm. “The Indian Chief looks a bit dressed up too, don’t you think?”
When they reached the Omega House, the teasing continued. The main topic of conversation before dinner was the kidnapping of the Indian princess. The fun did not stop until chimes sounded, announcing dinner.
The members and their guests went to the dining room and found their chairs by place cards. Nancy and Ned were seated directly in front of the speakers’ table.
The president of the fraternity, Chuck Wilson, sat down and everyone began to eat. It was nearly an hour later when he arose and signaled for attention.
“We’re going to have a little business meeting now,” he said with a grin. “A special one.” He called on the fraternity secretary.
A serious-faced, bespectacled youth stood up and announced that two alumni members had left sizable sums of money to the fraternity chapter.
“Now we can start building our new house,” he said gleefully. Loud applause followed this exciting announcement.
“Was this the big secret?” Nancy whispered to Ned.
“I don’t know. To tell the truth, I didn’t hear until this afternoon that some important news would be released this evening.”
When the room was quiet again, the president rose once more and said he would call on the nominating chairman to announce the officers for the following year. The committee had felt it would be interesting for the boys’ dates as well as the members to hear the results.
A husky boy, seated next to him, stood up and smiled at his audience. “I’m going to reverse the usual order,” he said, “and tell you last who our new president will be.” He read the name of the treasurer who would take office, then the corresponding secretary, the recording secretary, and the vice-president.
He now paused and looked over the whole room. An eager member finally called out, “Well, who is it?”
“For your next president there was only one dissenting vote. That came from himself! Modest guy! So really by unanimous vote the next president of Omega Chi Epsilon Fraternity of Emerson University is—Ned Nickerson!”
“Oh, Ned,” cried Nancy, “that’s simply wonderful!” She grasped his hand and kissed him.
Ned looked stunned. For a moment he seemed overwhelmed. Then as cries of “Speech! Speech!” and terrific clapping rang in his ears, he got to his feet and faced his fellow members.
“You certainly caught me off balance this time,” he said. Gradually his usual composure returned and he said seriously, “Thanks, fellows. It’s going to be mighty hard filling Chuck Wilson’s shoes. You all know that. I’ll try hard, however.” He smiled. “Just don’t make it too rough for me, all of you!” He sat down.
There was more applause, then the outgoing president took charge. “Ned, I’ll turn the gavel over to you after the private induction ceremonies next week. In the meantime, my personal congratulations and good luck, brother.”
Nancy was wondering about the private induction. This was one thing she would never learn about, she knew, but it would be a memory Ned would cherish all his life. She herself was bursting with pride as everyone in the room rushed up to shake Ned’s hand and wish him well. By the time they finished, he was blushing over the compliments.
At nine o’clock a small orchestra arrived and started off with a lively dance rhythm. Soon the floor, from which the tables had been cleared, was filled with swaying, happy couples.
The wonderful evening lasted very late. But early the next morning Nancy was awakened by a knock on her door.
“Come in!” she called sleepily.
Mrs. Holman entered and apologized for waking her guest. She extended an envelope to Nancy, saying, “I thought this might be important. I found it on the hall floor. It must have been pushed under the front door.”
Nancy glanced at the crude printing of her name. Her first thought was that it might be a joke. Quickly she pulled out the sheet of paper from the envelope. When she read the note, also crudely printed, she was inclined to believe the writer meant the warning it contained. The note said:
GO HOME AT ONCE.
DANGER FROM THE PHANTOM.
Bess and George had also heard the knock on Nancy’s door and now came into her room. When they read the note, Bess became worried.
“You’ve been all right so far, Nancy. Don’t stretch your luck. I think we’d better go home after the picnic today.”
Nancy shook her head. “And disappoint Mr. Rorick? It’s my guess that whoever wrote this note overheard some conversation about Uncle John’s invitation to us to stay longer and find the phantom. The eavesdropper was hoping we would leave today.”
George voted to stay. “I’d like to catch this spy. He probably listens on the extension phones and—”
“And can go through walls!” Bess added significantly.
The girls’ remarks gave Nancy a new idea. “There may be hideaways in the parts of this house we haven’t searched. Mrs. Holman, will you take me all over so I can hunt for them?”
“I’ll be glad to, but how about you girls having some breakfast?”
This was agreed upon and the trio dressed quickly in order to do some searching before going to chapel. Nancy slipped into a pair of blue slacks and a matching turtle-neck sweater, then hurried downstairs.
Since Bess and George were not ready, Nancy and Mrs. Holman went to search the attic. Neither of them found any hidden closets, secret doors, or sliding panels. Next, they looked through the second floor without success.
“The only place left is the cellar,” Nancy said. “I’ll dash down there myself while you get breakfast.” The housekeeper nodded.
Nancy snapped on the cellar light and descended the old-fashioned stairway. The place was cool and slightly musty. Nancy found many storage closets and cubbyholes, but none revealed a hideaway.
At the far end of the cellar Nancy saw an intriguing workshop. She pulled the chain of the old-fashioned ceiling light. The room was filled with old tools, but a heavy layer of dust and many cobwebs indicated that the place had not been used for some time.
“That proves the phantom is not interested in it,” she said to herself.
Nancy began to tap the walls behind the various workbenches. There was nothing suspicious about them, but she did notice one section of another wooden wall which had nothing in front of it. Curious, she tapped it.
“This sounds hollow!” she decided excitedly.
Her deft fingers went all over the woodwork and suddenly she found a cleverly concealed latch. She tried to lift the latch, but it would not budge. To jar it loose, Nancy struck the wood next to it. A second later the door to the workshop slammed shut. Intent on what she thought she was about to discover, the young detective paid no attention to this, but tried the hidden latch again. She heard it click and gave the secret door a hard—and disastrous—yank.
The next instant the whole section of wall came toward her. It hit Nancy hard, knocking her down. She blacked out!