A Ruse Works. HERB Baylor thought Nancy and her friends should return to the Nickersons at once

HERB Baylor thought Nancy and her friends should return to the Nickersons at once. “Take it easy, ” he advised.

The young people were glad to and went to bed early. By morning everyone felt fine. A few hours later they set off for the Real Eight Museum of Sunken Treasure, reaching Cocoa Beach by five to twelve. Quickly Ned parked out of sight of the front entrance. Nancy and her friends took up positions behind posts on the covered patio of the octagonal-shaped building.

Exactly at twelve o’clock a car pulled in near the entrance. A few moments later a second one drew up behind it. Then a third and a fourth automobile stopped. A man got out of each car and the four assembled on the broad walk leading to the building.

Nancy’s heart was pounding. One of the men was Scarlett, another was Antin!

“So Antin is one of the gang, ” she thought.

There was a heavy-set stranger. “That must be Max Ivanson! ” Nancy decided. “He looks very much like that photograph I saw.”

The last person to come toward the building was a young man.

Nancy thought, “Could he be the ‘son’ in the personals? His face looks familiar. Why do I think I know him? ” Then it suddenly dawned on her. He strongly resembled Mr. Fortin, the owner of the moss-covered mansion.

The men came closer and then stopped to talk. Nancy could hear them plainly. Each inquired about who had written the personal in Sunday’s paper. When all of them denied having done it, looks of fright spread over the men’s faces.

“I’ll bet the FBI found out about our code, ” said the heavy-set man. “I’m leaving! ”

He ran to his car and the others fled to theirs. Moments later they roared off.

“Shall I chase any of them? ” Ned asked.

Nancy replied, “Try Ivanson.”

Ned and Burt rushed off and soon were out of sight.

Meanwhile Nancy had raced inside the museum to telephone her father. She paid the admission fee and dashed into a booth. Mr. Drew was astounded at what Nancy had discovered.

“I’ll inform the police of this development, ” he told her. “They will certainly question Antin and search his room. I’ll also clue the authorities in on who the other men are that may be responsible for the explosive oranges.”

Nancy had remembered to jot down the license numbers of the men’s cars and now gave these to her father. “Good work! ” he said.

When Nancy emerged from the phone booth, Dave and the other girls stood waiting and demanded to know what was going on. In whispers she told them.

“Oh, Nancy, ” said Bess, “you’ve all but solved the case! ”

Nancy did not think so. George was eager to go to the Billington house to learn the climax.

“But we have no car, ” Nancy replied. “We don’t know when the boys will be back. Meanwhile, since we’ve all paid our admission, let’s look at the exhibits.”

A young woman came up to them and said, “You forgot to take your tapes and earphones. The tapes tell you all about the exhibits. Start on the left.”

They went back to a counter where she handed each of them one of the little boxes to hold. They plugged in the tiny earphones. The tour began.

In the center of the room stood a replica of one of the ships dashed to pieces on the Florida coast in 1715. The old-time vessel had sailed entirely under canvas and for this reason was no match for a violent tropical storm.

Around the circular wall was a panorama of the history of cargo carried aboard these Spanish vessels that sailed between the homeland and the New World. The treasures on display were from ten of the eleven vessels in the ill-fated Plate Fleet.

As Nancy listened to the tape she learned that the Spaniards had subdued the Aztec Indians and made slaves of many of them. They were forced to work their gold and silver mines and fashion the metal into Spanish coins, jewelry, and other objects. Overseers were often cruel and the slaves worked long hours.

Other scenes showed gold ingots being packed into boxes, and gold and silver coins in others. Moving on, Nancy and her friends listened carefully to the running account on their tape recorders. Many of the objects on exhibit, such as sabers and sword handles, dishes and bracelets, were encrusted with coral.

Nancy found Bess rooted to one of the glass cases. “Isn’t that pathetic? ” she asked, pointing to a small wedding ring imbedded in coral. “It’s so little a tiny woman must have worn it. Maybe she was the wife of one of the captains.”

George walked up. She had heard Bess’s remark and said, “I can’t find much sympathy for those people. They were just plain thieves.”

Nancy commented, “They certainly ruined the Aztec civilization, which in many respects was far above that of their conquerors.”

Before leaving the museum, Nancy and her friends went into the gift shop. The articles for sale fascinated them. Everyone bought pieces of jewelry made from gold or silver dug from the bottom of the ocean.

Nancy purchased a lovely necklace of pieces-of-eight coins for her Aunt Eloise in New York. She decided on a bracelet made of silver coins for Mrs. Billington, and a large piece-of-eight pin for Hannah Gruen.

After the young people had looked at everything in the shop, they left the building. Ned and Burt were just returning.

“Any luck? ” George asked.

“No, ” Ned answered. “All the men disappeared in the next town. We couldn’t find them or their cars.»

“Let’s go home, ” Nancy urged.

Bess insisted that they eat lunch before going to the Billingtons’. The boys found a lunch stand. Everybody was ravenously hungry except Nancy. She tried to hide the fact that her curiosity was getting the better of her but her friends sensed it.

“I’ll eat this hamburger as fast as I can, ” Bess told her.

Nancy laughed. “Don’t get indigestion! ”

She ordered a lobster-salad sandwich and declared it was the best she had ever eaten.

“No dessert! ” Ned spoke up. “I know Nancy’s itching to leave and I am too! ”

When they pulled into the driveway of the Billington home, a police car was there. Nancy and her friends hurried into the house.

There was wild confusion in the living room. Tina was screaming at a policeman that her husband was innocent of any wrongdoing. Antin was shouting that he was the victim of a frame-up.

At that moment a policeman and an FBI agent came down the stairs. The FBI man was carrying a bomb which he said had not yet been activated. The officer held supplies used in constructing homemade bombs. Nancy and her friends were told that Tina and Antin were attempting to move their possessions out when the officers arrived.

After advising the couple of their constitutional rights, the agent asked, “Mr. and Mrs. Resardo, if you’re innocent, how do you account for these things? ”

Instead of replying, the couple tried to make a dash for the front door. They were quickly stopped and brought back, but refused to admit anything.

Nancy whispered to the detective, “May I ask the prisoners a question? ”

“Yes, go ahead. But of course they don’t have to answer without having their own lawyer present.”

The young detective looked directly at the Resardos. “Who set the fire in Mr. Billington’s grove? ” There was no response.

She tried another approach. “Is Max Ivanson a pal of yours? ”

This question startled the Resardos, but they remained silent. Seconds later the prisoners were taken to jail.

Hannah Gruen gave a great sigh. “I’m glad they’re gone, ” she said. “Imagine their making bombs right in this house! ”

“Please don’t talk about it! ” Bess begged. “It makes chills go up and down my spine.”

She wandered outdoors, more upset than she wished to admit. Dave had followed her and suggested that they all do something pleasant and get away from the mystery for a while.

“Like what? ” she asked.

Dave thought for a moment, then said, “How about going to the Webster house to see if it has dried out yet? ”

Bess liked this idea and so did the others. They climbed into the rented car and Ned slid into the driver’s seat.

When they reached the Webster place, Burt said, “We couldn’t see much of the grounds in the dark last night. Let’s walk around now.”

The boys were intrigued by the unusual trees in the garden, particularly the sausage tree. Everyone went over to it.

Suddenly they heard snarling in the jungle on the other side of the fence. The young people shrank back just as the leopard came running from the direction of the cages.

“He’s loose again! ” Bess cried out.

Directly behind the animal was Longman with his whip. He kept snapping it against the ground and shouting to the beast. The leopard paid no attention. Snarling and hissing, the agile beast climbed the fence.

The next moment he made a flying leap across it and landed in the sausage tree next to the young people.