Hidden Treasure

CAPTAIN Easterly seized the box, clapped the lid on, and threw it overboard. Breathing hard, he watched it toss about a few seconds, then start to sink. He turned to the astonished girls, a sheepish expression on his face.

“I suppose you’ll think I’m a superstitious old man when you learn why I did that. We men of the sea pick up some strange stories. There’s one in the Far East that if a certain kind of lizard crawls toward a man he’s doomed to die.”

“Oh, how dreadful! ” Bess quavered. “Nancy, we’d better leave right away! ”

“Don’t be silly, ” George scolded her cousin. “Why, that poor little lizard was as harmless as a mouse. Anyway, this isn’t the Far East.”

“Maybe the telegram will explain who sent it, ” said Nancy, ripping open the envelope.

Nancy read aloud the message which proved to be from her father and had no connection with the package. Mr. Drew had had a long telephone conversation with Mr. Ogden of the Eastern Shore Shipping Company. Mr. Ogden had been amazed to learn their long-lost clipper, the Dream of Melissa, had turned up. He was coming from Maryland in a few days to find out about it. He would be very appreciative if Captain Easterly remained in charge and Nancy and her friends stayed with him.

“That settles it, Bess, ” George spoke up when Nancy read the instructions. “We’re staying. You know what I’m going to do? Hunt up that boy who brought the lizard and make him tell me who gave him the job of delivering it.”

“I’ll bet it was either Flip Fay or old Grizzle Face, ” Bess asserted.

Captain Easterly had walked off a distance. He stood looking southward. Nancy knew he felt sad about the turn of events. She guessed that he was afraid of legal difficulties in connection with buying the clipper, and that the company would put a price on it which he could not afford to pay.

“I’m sure Dad will come back on this case as soon as he can, and work things out, ” Nancy told him.

To get the captain’s mind off his worry, George added, “Why don’t we get to work on your cabin, Captain, and repair some of that damage? ”

“You girls are a tonic for an old fellow, ” he said, smiling. “I’ll do the work myself, and you girls solve the mysteries.”

Nancy’s eyes danced with excitement. “I’m going to Provincetown. The Dream of Melissa sailed from there on her last known voyage, you recall.”

The captain looked at her quizzically. “Think you can find somebody who’s heard of her? ”

“I’m going to try.”

Bess remained aboard. As Nancy and George set off in the rowboat, Bess called, “Be careful, won’t you? ”

They promised. In town the girls separated. Nancy caught a bus for Provincetown.

As she rode along the beautiful coast in the bright summer afternoon, Nancy’s brain was in a whirl of deductions about the Dream of Melissa. Someone in Provincetown must have been waiting for Captain Rogers to return. A sweetheart, a wife? Perhaps he had children. Would any of their descendants remember the story?

When she stepped from the bus, Nancy gasped in delight at the quaint old town. No wonder so many artists came here to paint the weathered houses, the flower gardens, the little shops, the old fishing boats tied up at the wharves.

Nancy did not know where to begin asking questions. Perhaps if she wandered along the water’s edge she would meet someone who looked as though he might know a few answers.

The first person she came to was a white-haired man in a blue smock, seated on a canvas stool. He was sketching the outlines of a dilapidated shed. She watched him a moment.

“Do you paint, young lady? ” he asked as he looked up, smiling.

“Not very well, ” Nancy confessed.

From that small beginning they entered into a conversation. The painter, John Singleton, told Nancy that he had been coming to Provincetown every summer for many, many years.

“Then you must know something of the town’s history, ” Nancy said. “Did you ever hear of a clipper ship called the Dream of Melissa? Or of Captain Perry Rogers? ”

The artist frowned, as if he were trying to remember something. “Seems to me old Mrs. Mathilda Smythe has a story about a Captain Rogers—or was it Roberts? Beats me. Why don’t you go talk to Mrs. Smythe, anyway? ”

“I will, ” Nancy said earnestly, and asked where she could find her.

The artist gave the address of the elderly widow and told Nancy to mention his name. Nancy found the gray-shingled cottage and knocked on the door. In a moment a fragile old lady of eighty opened it. Nancy introduced herself, and explained why she had come.

“Oh, yes, ” Mrs. Smythe said cordially. “Please come in.”

Nancy followed her into the spotless parlor, and told her briefly about the Dream of Melissa and Captain Rogers.

“Captain Perry Rogers! ” Mrs. Smythe exclaimed. “My mother nearly married him.”

“Really? ” Nancy was excited. “Please tell me the story, Mrs. Smythe.”

The old woman sat forward in her rocking chair and cradled her hands in her lap.

“Captain Rogers fell in love with my mother, Mathilda Witherspoon, ” Mrs. Smythe said slowly. “She was only sixteen. Captain Rogers was a good bit older, and her family opposed the marriage. But Mother and the captain were very much in love. They planned to marry secretly as soon as he returned from the voyage to India.”

“But he never came back? ” Nancy asked. Mrs. Smythe shook her head sadly. “My mother never heard from him again. She waited and waited, hoping some news would come. At last she married Father. And a fine man he was too, mind you.”

“Did anyone ever learn anything about the ship? ” Nancy asked. “Was the Melissa wrecked? ”

“No one knows, Miss Drew. from that day to this, nobody has ever found a trace of the ship or her cargo.”

The old lady rocked gently, looking into space. She pursed her lips and gave a little smile. Nancy felt she was about to be let in on a secret.

“Captain Rogers made Mother a promise.”

“What sort of promise? ” Nancy prompted.

“He said he would bring her back a priceless gift. She didn’t know what it was. But Captain Rogers was a rich man. He made many profitable voyages to the Orient.”

Nancy asked eagerly, “Didn’t your mother ever guess what the gift might have been? ”

“No, I’m afraid not. At any rate, in the stories I heard, the treasure was always something mysterious.” She smiled wistfully. “Perhaps if the Melissa had returned, and Captain Rogers had married Mother, there would be money today to pay the taxes on this house. It’s the old Witherspoon homestead, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose it.”

Nancy longed to tell Mrs. Smythe of the Bonny Scot —that it was almost certainly the long-lost Dream of Melissa. But she did not want to raise the woman’s hopes of finding Captain Rogers’ fabulous gift.

She did tell her, however, about the snuffbox with the initials P. R., and how it had led her to the story of Captain Rogers and his ship.

“If I ever find that snuffbox again, ” Nancy promised Mrs. Smythe, “I’ll bring it here to show you.”

She said good-by and hurried to catch a bus back to meet George. She could scarcely wait to tell her and the others aboard the clipper that there really had been a treasure on the Dream of Melissa.

“And no doubt it’s still there! ” Nancy finished telling George as the two girls rowed back to the ship.

“And if we don’t look out, the thieves will find it before we do, ” George said seriously. “Listen to this.”

She said that through the owner of the grocery-hardware store, she had located the boy who had delivered the lizard. At first he had not been willing to answer George’s questions. But after being told that Captain Easterly thought there was a poisonous lizard in the box, the boy had talked freely, assuring George he had not known what was in the box.

“Big, tall guy I’d seen in the drugstore when I was gettin’ a soda, come up to me on the beach, ” the boy said. “Told me he wanted to play a joke on a girl on the Bonny Scot. Paid me well for taking the box.”

George said he had not learned the name of the man who had been hanging around town, so she had accompanied the boy on a tour of the streets to find him. Having no luck, they went to the drugstore. George had learned from the description that the suspect had had a prescription filled under the name of Lane.

“Lane! ” Nancy exclaimed. “The man who kidnapped Captain Easterly! ”

“I’m afraid so, ” George said. “Our enemies are closing in! ”

When Captain Easterly heard all the stories, he became very much excited. “Those pirates won’t get the better of us! ” the skipper shouted. “Nancy, that treasure is still on the clipper. Rogers hid it so well nobody could locate it. We’re going to search her from stem to stern to find it! ”

The skipper had no suggestions about where the treasure might be hidden. It would be an every-man-for-himself hunt.

“But first, I’m going ashore and hire a guard for the night, while you girls rustle up some supper, ” he told them.

He was not gone long, and when he returned, Captain Easterly said a detective would arrive about ten o’clock and cruise around in a boat during the night.

As soon as the supper dishes were washed, the girls were ready to start their search for Captain Rogers’ treasure. The captain already was poking around in the hold.

“I was thinking, ” Bess said, “we haven’t ever really taken the chart room apart.”

“Now that’s an idea I could work on! ” George said. “Bess and I will take the chart room, Nancy, while you help the captain.”

It seemed to Nancy that the likeliest spot for Captain Rogers to hide his treasure would be in his private quarters. When she reached the cabin, the door was ajar. She was tempted to hook it open, since it was a hot, still evening, but she had an uneasy feeling that someone might sneak up behind her while she was working. So Nancy closed the door behind her and snapped the catch.

With a sense of security, Nancy approached the built-in bookcase and began to remove the volumes from one section. Behind a South Sea Island manual she found a half-filled tobacco can. Not very exciting, she thought.

Next, Nancy removed the second section of books, and beamed her flashlight closely against the paneled wall. Something caught her eye; a small knot in the wood which stood out a quarter of an inch.

Quickly she removed it, inserted her forefinger in the knothole, and pulled gently on the panel. With a loud scraping sound it came loose. Behind the panel lay a carved box!

Nancy’s heart was beating wildly. Was the treasure inside? She lifted the box. It was very heavy. Setting it on the bunk, Nancy lifted the lid and gasped.

Gold coins!

Excitedly she dumped the contents of the box on the bunk. As she did so, she heard a click behind her, then a footstep.

Nancy wheeled—and stood speechless. Flip Fay was standing there!

He smirked, evidently pleased at the young detective’s dilemma. The door was still closed and locked. It seemed as if The Crow had come through the wall!

“Let out one peep and it’ll be your last! ” Flip leered, shaking a fist.

With his eyes leveled upon Nancy, he quickly crossed the cabin and stood with his back against the door.

“Now before I take that treasure, ” he said, “I have a thing or two to say to you, Nancy Drew.”

His impudent, drawling voice brought Nancy to her senses. She was more angry now than frightened. And she was determined to outwit him.

“I don’t intend to let you take anything, ” she said coolly.

Nancy tossed her head in a gesture of defiance, but she was really looking desperately around the tiny cabin. If there were only a way of summoning help!

The man’s lips curled in a crafty smile. “Don’t act too smart, Nancy Drew. Because I got a little deal to make with you. If you and your friends don’t squeal on me, I won’t hurt you.”

“And if we do? ”

Flip Fay made an angry sound. “You’ll regret it. Now move, so I can get that money.”

In that moment Nancy had seen something which made her heart leap. Hanging inconspicuously against the wall, near the desk, was what looked like a bell cord!

As if obeying Flip Fay’s command, Nancy moved away from the bunk. She leaned against the desk and pulled the cord. Was it in working order? Would it summon the captain—somebody —to her aid?

Flip Fay pawed through the coins as if he were looking for something else. He eyed Nancy once more.

“Open your hands! ” he commanded. Seeing they were empty, he cried out, “You must have dropped it! You’ve tried to get the best of me for the last time! ”

“What do you mean? ” Nancy asked, sparring for time.

Fay glared at the girl, hate in his eyes. “Maybe you think I don’t know who told the police about me in River Heights, and again in Boston. You found my ring.”

“You stole Mrs. Marvin’s jewelry, ” Nancy retorted.

“What if I did? That’s peanuts compared to the prize on this old tub.”

Fay hurriedly put the coins into the box. He seemed to be thinking, trying to decide on something. How Nancy wished she could read his thoughts! Once more she pulled the old bell cord.

“No, ” Flip Fay said aloud, as if answering a question in his mind. “You’re smart, Nancy Drew, but not smart enough for me. You’ll never find out how I come and go on this ship.”

“Why not? ”

Nancy wished she could trick him into telling.

“You and your blundering old captain are going to be left with your mouths hanging open, ” Fay bragged.

Nancy answered quietly, “Even if you don’t tell me, it won’t do you a bit of good. You think you’ll escape, but that’s where you’re wrong. The police are after you, Flip Fay—in River Heights, in Boston, and here on Cape Cod too.”

She saw his fists tighten. He made an ugly sound.

“The police know you’re wanted for West Coast robberies, ” she continued. “You’re The Crow, and they’re combing this state for you. Maybe they won’t get you today. But they’ll get you tomorrow or the next day.”

Nancy would have kept on talking—anything to gain time. But there were quick footsteps in the passageway outside. Fay clamped a heavy hand on Nancy’s shoulder. The other hand closed against her throat.

“Not a word—d’you hear? ” he whispered hoarsely.

Someone tried the locked door, then knocked. “Nancy, are you all right? Nancy—? ”

It was George. She had come in answer to her friend’s summons! If only Nancy could speak to her! But Fay’s hand tightened threateningly.

George tried the door again, hesitated, then hurried away.

Flip Fay stepped back. “See what I mean? ” He gave Nancy a leering smile. “You girls are no match for Flip Fay. So you’d better think over what I told you. Call off the police. Tell ’em you made a mistake—or take the consequences! ”

“I’ll—I’ll do as I please, ” Nancy gasped. “This ship is being guarded. If you try to escape—”

“You’ll do as I tell you, Nancy Drew, and give me the ruby! ”

Desperate, the young detective had been edging toward the door. She must distract his attention and get out.

“The treasure! ” she cried suddenly, pointing toward the gold coins.

Fay whirled around. In that split second Nancy turned the key in the lock.