Galleon Gold

“What are we going to do? ” Nancy asked.

“Well, there really isn’t anything we can do to reach the island at the moment, ” her father said. “So why don’t I call Avery and see if we can take the medallion over to him? ”

“But—” Nancy began.

“Honey, it is possible that your holiday was to be a private one. I mean, if we’re correct in assuming that the same people sent the tickets who collected that file of clippings, they probably wanted you and me to be their only guests.” Nancy frowned. “I can understand that, but why aren’t they answering their phone? ” “Perhaps they’ve let their staff go for the summer and are shorthanded. Maybe they’re still en route from Nassau to the island.”

“You think that Bess and George are safe? ” “Of course. Now, why don’t you relax for a few minutes? You must be tired after having left home so early this morning.”

Nancy went obediently to lie on the bed in her room, but she could hear her father’s voice through the connecting door. He had no trouble reaching Mr. Yates, who obviously welcomed the call.

In a moment Mr. Drew came to the door. “Avery has invited us to his place for dinner, ” he said.

Nancy sat up, nibbling at her lip. “I’d love to see him, but what about Bess and George? ” she asked. “They’re supposed to call.”

“Then, I’ll invite him to the hotel. They have a very nice rooftop dining room here, and we can leave word with the switchboard so we can be called there or here.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Nancy lay back again.

Nancy took her time, had a bubble bath, then donned a deep coral dress that set off her fair skin and pretty eyes perfectly. She brushed her hair into curving radiance, using a couple of golden combs to secure it, then smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

Her father came into her room just as she finished. “Avery is downstairs, ” he said. “I’ve asked him to come up and see the medallion before we go to the restaurant.”

“If only it could tell us something, ” Nancy said as a knock on the door announced Mr. Yates’s arrival.

Mr. Yates looked just as she’d remembered him: a tall, slim man scarcely stooped by his seventy-five years, his blue eyes as bright and curious as ever. “Miss Nancy, you get prettier every time I see you, ” he told her as he took her hand. “Quite a young lady now, but still solving mysteries, I hear.”

Nancy colored slightly. “I just hope we’ll be able to solve this latest one, ” she said. Then she and her father told the elderly gentleman everything that had happened since the phone call about the abandoned boat and the arrival of the mysterious contest prize.

Mr. Yates listened attentively, shaking his head at the news that they’d been unable to reach anyone on Anchor Island.

“This is what Nancy found under the floorboards of the cabin, ” Mr. Drew finished, opening the worn leather pouch and letting the medallion drop into Mr. Yates’s gnarled hands.

“Oh, my, ” he breathed, touching the glowing metal with gentle fingers. He lifted it, studying both the medallion and the hand-wrought chain from which it was suspended. “This is quite a find, Miss Nancy, quite a find, indeed.”

“Do you think it’s pure gold? ” Nancy asked. “Very likely, ” he replied. “But more than that, I think you have here a genuine piece of history.” He moved closer to the lamp, studying the medallion’s scarred face. “I’ll have to do some work to bring out whatever has been engraved on this disk, but just seeing it, I’d say it’s Spanish treasure, ” Mr. Yates said. “I’ve examined a number of pieces dating from the days when the galleons plied these waters, and this compares quite favorably with them.”

“Spanish gold, ” Carson Drew murmured. “Pirate treasure? ” Nancy asked.

Mr. Yates nodded to both suggestions. “Either or both, ” he answered.

“But what does it mean? ” Nancy asked. “Can it help us find out what happened to George and Bess and the DeFoes? ”

Mr. Yates just shook his head.

“I think we should go up to dinner, ” Carson Drew suggested. “I’m starving.”

Dinner was excellent and the night view of the ocean and the resort-spangled beach stretched out below them was spectacular, but Nancy found it hard to enjoy any of it. She kept watching the time, her mind on Bess and George. Where could they be? Why hadn’t they called to say they had arrived safely? She was almost glad when her father suggested that they return to their room for further visiting.

Mr. Yates stayed only a little while longer, getting to his feet with a sigh. “I will be delighted to restore your find, ” he told them. “Shall I call you when it’s ready? ”

Carson nodded. “I’ll let you know if we’re leaving Miami, ” he said. “We’ll have to get together before that.”

“Next time you must come to my home, ” Mr. Yates told them.

“We’d be honored, ” Mr. Drew assured him. “And we’ll be grateful if you can tell us anything about the medallion, anything at all.” Once the door was closed behind Mr. Yates, Mr. Drew went immediately to the phone and called the hotel operator. Nancy listened to the conversation with a sinking heart. Her father turned to her after he replaced the receiver. “Nothing at all? ” she asked.

He shook his head. “I told her to keep trying all night if necessary.”

“Maybe we should call the airport in Nassau, ” Nancy suggested.

“If no one had met them, the girls would have called us from there, ” her father noted.

“But where can they be? ” Nancy almost wailed. “If anything has happened to them, it will be all my fault.”

“Now, now, ” her father soothed, “let’s just wait till morning. Perhaps they’ll call then and have some perfectly logical explanation.” Nancy nodded her agreement, but she found it very hard to believe. She went to bed with a heavy heart, desperately worried about her missing friends. Fortunately, she was so exhausted by her day that she slept at once, deeply and without dreams.

The ringing of the phone woke her and she stumbled out of bed, pulling on her robe as she hurried into her father’s room. He was just hanging up the phone as she turned on the light.

Mr. Drew shook his head. “That was the sheriff, ” he answered grimly. “He’s on his way over here and he sounded furious.”