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Stop!” the captain roared






The fugitive did not answer. He hunched his head into his shoulders, shoved an oar against the Bonny Scot, and the rowboat slid away into the billowing mist.

“Oh, dear, ” Nancy sighed. “I didn’t get a good look at him. Did you, Captain? ”

“No, but he’s probably a desperate character, Nancy. You were mighty foolish to come up here without me.”

“I know, ” Nancy said contritely, “but I was afraid we’d lose him.”

In the dim light Nancy could see the captain’s face break into a broad smile. He took her arm. “Now that I’ve scolded you, I want to thank you for driving him off the ship. Better get below and finish your night’s sleep, ” he added.

“Wait, Captain Easterly! ” Nancy begged. “That man may have dropped something that will identify him. By morning it might be gone.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t have thought of such a thing, ” the skipper said.

Already Nancy was hurrying toward the spot where the intruder had come aboard. She beamed her flashlight around the planking all the way to the rail. A moment later she stooped down, picked something up, and cried out:

“He did leave a clue! Captain Easterly, it’s a good one! He dropped a book of matches! ”

The skipper came running up. “A book of matches? ”

Nancy grabbed his arm. “Captain, look! It’s an ad for the Owl Restaurant in River Heights! ”

“You mean where you live? ” the captain asked, astounded.

“Yes. And that means—”

Nancy paused a moment as more evidence presented itself. Upon opening the matchbook, she had seen something scribbled in pencil.

“What does it say? ” the captain demanded, looking over her shoulder. “My eyes aren’t that good.”

“M-a-r-v-i-n.” Nancy spelled out the crudely printed name, which was followed by Bess’s address. Without doubt the matchbook belonged to the man who had stolen the Marvin jewelry. The person whom they had chased off the clipper was Fay, The Crow! Captain Easterly had been correct in his hunch. Their caller was a desperate character!

It took Captain Easterly a few minutes to follow Nancy’s reasoning. When he did, he became very much concerned.

“What was this unsavory character doing on my ship? ” he stormed. “I don’t understand.”

Nancy agreed it was puzzling. “I’m sure now that Flip Fay and Red Quint are working together. Grizzle Face notified him where we are.”

“But what are they working at, that’s what I want to know.” The captain pounded the rail. “What is on this ship that robbers and kidnappers go creeping through her like a lot of devilish ghosts! ”

Nancy gave him a puzzled smile. “I don’t know, Captain, but I’m going to find out what it is and where it is before somebody steals it! ”

“Fine, fine, ” he agreed. “But let’s not worry any more about it tonight, ” he added, calming down. “That crook won’t be back in a hurry. He knows we’re waiting for him. Go to bed, Nancy, and be sure to lock your cabin door. We’ll have a conference over the breakfast pancakes.”

Nancy went below and slid quietly into her bunk without waking the other girls. She lay there a long time thinking about the many baffling things that had happened on the Bonny Scot since the first day when she and her father had come aboard to meet Captain Easterly.

She wondered whether Flip Fay and Grizzle Face had known each other before Fay came to Boston. Perhaps they had been to sea together and had learned something that had led them to the clipper. Could it be that Fay was the “mate” that Grizzle Face had referred to on the dunes? And what about the man who had drugged and kidnapped the captain—was he Fred Lane? What had become of him?

Nancy always came back to the original question—what was the true name of the Bonny Scot? It seemed impossible to get anywhere with the puzzle until they knew that. Undoubtedly Quint, Fay, and Lane called the ship something else.

They had heard some tale about the clipper’s past which had led them to believe a treasure was concealed on it. What was the treasure? Something very small, Nancy decided, or it would have been found long ago. Something small and priceless, something...

Nancy awakened to the delicious odor of frying bacon, floating in from the galley. The bunks were empty. It must be late, she thought, jumping up.

Nancy quickly dressed and joined the captain and the girls, who were already at breakfast in the officer’s quarters. Bess and George were talkative, but Captain Easterly was silently thoughtful. He set down his cup of coffee onto the saucer with a little click of finality.

“Girls, ” he announced with effort, “you can’t stay here any longer. None of you must remain another day on the Bonny Scot! ”

“What! ” The three girls stared at him in amazement.

“It isn’t safe. Flip Fay was on board last night.” The skipper frowned. “And Nancy was up on deck chasing him.”

“Nancy, you weren’t? ” Bess shuddered.

“Hypers! Why didn’t you call me? ” George demanded.

Nancy said she would have, if she had guessed what was going to happen. She told them about the matchbook, and about her thoughts of the night before.

“We must find out if the original name of this clipper was the Dream of Melissa, ” she said earnestly. “Captain Easterly, wouldn’t a ship’s name be marked on furniture and things? ”

He gave her a shrewd smile. “You’re trying to distract me. The question before the council is, When do you girls leave? ”

Bess protested vigorously, “We’re not going, Captain. We can’t leave you here all alone with these vicious characters sneaking around.”

“That goes for me, too, ” George said stoutly.

“So you see, Captain, ” Nancy concluded, “you may as well forget about dropping your crew over the side and take up the matter of the true name of the Bonny Scot.”

Captain Easterly rubbed his face with a big red hand and looked from one to the other. “I surrender. You may stay, but I’m going to arrange for a guard to watch this ship tonight. Now about the name being on furniture—how long do you think seagoing furniture lasts? The clipper’s been scudding around this world a good many years, and I would guess that most of her original fittings have been replaced.”

“Perhaps something remains, ” said Nancy.

George rose to make more pancakes and went into the galley. She was gone an unusually long time.

“George, what’s keeping you? ” Bess called.

A moment later her cousin cried out excitedly, “Come here, everybody! I’ve found it! ”






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