Chapter 12 The Phantom of Pine Hill by Carolyn Keene
A Frightening Message
“When did this message come?” Nancy asked Fred Jenkins.
He thought a moment, then answered, “ ‘Bout half an hour or so ago. I was cleaning the first floor and answered the phone—Mrs. Holman was busy upstairs and didn’t hear it. Your father said he wanted you to get the message right away, so I asked her where you were. She told me where this place was and I figured I’d come and tell you!”
“That was very kind of you,” said Nancy. “Girls, it’s too bad to leave here, but you know how I feel about Hannah. We’ll have to go right home.”
Fred was staring at Nancy intently. “I’m terrible sorry I brought you bad news. I hope the lady will get well soon.”
As the girls gathered up their tools, Fred added, “I’ll miss seeing you all around. Kind of got used to you.”
As Nancy and her friends started toward the cove Fred walked ahead of them. In a few minutes he had vanished among the trees.
“I wonder what happened to Mrs. Gruen,” said Bess. “She seemed to be in the best of health when we left home.”
“Perhaps it was an accident,” George ventured.
Nancy’s expression was grim and she did not comment until they had reached the garden in back of the house.
“As soon as we get inside, I’m going to phone River Heights. If something did happen to Hannah, I want to know what it is.”
Bess looked at Nancy, puzzled. “If—?”
Nancy nodded. “This whole thing could be a hoax.”
“But why?” Bess queried.
“To get rid of us. The phantom could have made that phone call so we’d leave Pine Hill.”
“In other words,” George spoke up, “you’re learning a little too much here to please this mysterious thief.”
“Possibly,” Nancy answered. “But there could be another reason for a fake phone call.”
“What’s that?” Bess asked.
Nancy said that if the phantom was hunting for the same thing the girls were—the gold coins and the Rorick wedding gifts—then he might have wanted to find out where the girls were sleuthing at the moment. Knowing the setup of the Drew family, he had invented the story as an excuse for Fred to get information from Mrs. Holman.
“And the caller may have followed Fred?” George asked.
“Yes.”
By this time the girls had reached the back door. Mrs. Holman admitted them. At once she expressed her sympathy over what had happened and said she hoped Mrs. Gruen’s illness was not serious.
“I’m going to find out at once,” said Nancy, and went to the hall telephone.
She dialed the number of her home, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for someone to answer. After several rings Hannah Gruen’s voice came over the wire, clear and strong.
“Hannah!” cried Nancy. “Are you all right?”
The Drews’ housekeeper chuckled. “I never felt better in my life. Why the concern, Nancy?”
The young sleuth stammered as she told the whole story.
“Well, there’s not one word of truth in it,” Mrs. Gruen declared. “And I can’t see why anyone would have made up such a wild tale.”
When Nancy told her the theories she had, Mrs. Gruen sighed. “I only hope you’re in no danger, dear,” she said worriedly. “Perhaps you ought to take the hint and come home.”
“Oh, I can’t do that!” Nancy replied. “No phantom is going to give me orders!”
Mrs. Gruen laughed heartily. “If the whole matter weren’t serious, Nancy,” she said, “that would be an utterly ridiculous statement.”
Suddenly Nancy realized how strange her remark must have sounded. She, too, laughed but said, “And if he’s hiding somewhere around and can hear what I’m saying, I hope he knows I mean every word of it!”
Nancy learned from Hannah Gruen that Mr. Drew was out of town, but that he had phoned home to learn where Nancy was and what she was doing.
“When will you be home?” Hannah asked.
“Not for a few more days,” Nancy told her. “Mr. Rorick wants us to stay until we solve the mystery.”
Mrs. Gruen said she hoped it would not take much longer. “It’s mighty lonesome around here without you.”
“I miss you, too,” Nancy told her. Then she described Mrs. Holman and ended by saying, “She makes us feel quite at home.”
After Nancy had hung up, Mrs. Holman complained that Fred had not yet returned. “That’s just the way he is—so unreliable. He went right off to find you and left all the cleaning materials in the middle of the living-room floor!”
The girls laughed and followed Mrs. Holman around from place to place to finish Fred’s work. By the time the house was tidy, it was noon and they all moved into the kitchen. As they prepared sandwiches and salad for lunch, they talked about the fake phone message.
Mrs. Holman, now that her worry was over, became angry. “I think hoaxes are the lowest form of humor. I’d like to find out who played that trick.”
George said, “When we solve the mystery, I’m sure we’ll find out.”
As soon as the group had finished eating, Nancy said she would like to go back to the site of the Indian village. The other girls agreed to go with her.
Once more the three got their digging tools and set off, taking the same route they had followed on their previous trip.
“When we come back, let’s try a shortcut,” George proposed. “This spade is kind of heavy.”
“Good idea,” Nancy agreed. “Girls, I’ve just had a hunch that we’re going to find someone else has been digging at the village.”
“You mean since we’ve been there?” George asked.
“Yes, I do. That was the reason for the fake phone call.”
This thought spurred the other girls on. As they neared the clearing, Nancy suggested that they go forward cautiously.
“If we do find someone digging,” she said, “and can capture him, we may have the phantom right in our grasp!”
“Oh, my goodness!” said Bess. “I don’t like capturing criminals!”
George looked disdainful. “What kind of sleuth are you, anyway?”
Bess became silent and she stayed at the rear of the trio, which now proceeded single file. At the edge of the clearing Nancy held up her hand and put a finger to her lips. She hid behind a tree and motioned the other girls to do so.
“Look!” she whispered.
In the center of the Indian village were half a dozen deep holes. Nancy’s hunch had been right!
Suddenly Bess and George realized that her finger was not pointing at the freshly dug pits, but at the figure of a man disappearing among the trees across from them. He was carrying a spade and running as fast as he could.
“Let’s get him!” Nancy urged.
The three girls dropped their tools and took off after the man. He had a head start and ran a zigzag course which put him out of their sight most of the time. They could not see his face, but he was a rather slight man of medium height and had dark thinning hair. Could he be the one whose footprints Nancy had followed in the woods?
After a while he failed to reappear, but the girls kept running in the direction where they had last seen him. This brought them to the shore of the cove. They looked down the embankment. He was not in sight, but suddenly Bess exclaimed, “There goes a man in a rowboat! Isn’t he the one?”
The man was rowing hard but in reverse motion, so that his back was toward the girls—apparently to avoid identification.
“I don’t see any name or number on the boat,” said Nancy. “Do you?”
Neither Bess nor George did. But they felt sure that the way the man was acting proved him to be guilty of something. Was he the one who had phoned the fake message to the Rorick house?
Nancy heaved a sigh. “If he did find the treasure—which I doubt—we know he didn’t carry it with him, unless it was so small he slipped it into a pocket.”
George smiled. “Maybe we’ll come across a chest of gold that he dropped!”
The girls hurried back to the spot where they had left their digging tools, picked them up, and walked into the Indian village. They checked the holes made by the mysterious digger and found them empty. Then the young sleuths stopped talking and went to work with a will.
Presently George called out that she had found an arrowhead. “This place is probably full of them.”
Nancy was more fortunate. About ten minutes later she unearthed a small pottery idol. It was a bit damaged but recognizable as an Indian god.
She showed it to the others, saying, “I don’t know whether I can keep this or not. One thing I never did find out was, who owns this property.”
“I did,” said George. “The town of Emerson.”
“Then anything we dig up will be turned over to the authorities,” said Nancy. “That makes it simple.”
The digging went on. Bess wandered off some distance to work. After a time Nancy noticed her and was about to call when suddenly Bess gave a cry. It sounded more like fright than surprise.