"I have a theory," Nancy replied. "I think from what the notes say that Great-uncle Abner took his stagecoach apart piece by piece and lovingly buried them somewhere day after day."

"But wouldn't they have rotted away by this time?" George argued.

"They might have," said Nancy, "but I have a feeling Mr. Langstreet would somehow have protected the stagecoach, particularly if it contained something valuable."

Bess asked if Nancy was going to dig up the Zucker farm to try finding it.

"I may," the young sleuth replied. "But even if we find the coach, the clue in it may not be of any value to the town of Francisville."

"Why not?" Bess asked.

Nancy said that anything located on the Zucker property would belong to them as owners.

Bess and George groaned. "Why, Mrs. Strook would be heartbroken!"

"Yes, I'm afraid she would," Nancy replied. "But we'll have to-Oh!" she cried out.

The car wheel had been almost wrenched from her hand by a sudden violent tremor of the ground. This was accompanied by an explosion not far away I

CHAPTER XI.

The Cave-in

"It's an earthquake!" Bess cried out, as Nancy swerved her car to keep it from going into a ditch. "Please let's stop and get out!"

Nancy turned off the engine and the three girls hopped to the road. There was no further tremor of the earth.

"There must have been blasting some place near here," George remarked.

The girls climbed into the convertible again and Nancy drove on. About half a mile farther along they found a crowd of people gathering. The center of the explosion seemed to have been at this point and everyone was trying to find out the cause.

"Folks have no business using dynamite or bombs without permission," said an irate man, "and I happen to know that not a soul applied for a license to do this."

Nancy and her friends joined the search in a long field for the person or persons responsible. As they hurried along Bess asked if Nancy had any theory regarding the explosion.

"We're not far from the end of one of those housing developments," the young sleuth whispered. "This might have been a bomb scare to get people to move out."

"You mean," said George in a low voice, "that somebody like Judd Hillary or one of his backers might have done it?"

"I'm not making any accusations," Nancy replied. "But I think it would be a good idea if we keep our eyes open for suspicious-looking persons."

The three girls did not notice any such person at first, but just as the group reached a tremendous cave-in of earth caused by the recent explosion, they saw Judd Hillary. Nancy and her chums edged near him. He was talking to a group and wore a self-satisfied smirk.

"Now maybe this'll drive some o' those newcomers away," he was saying.

Bess winked at Nancy, who walked up to the man. "Mr. Hillary, just why are you against progress in this community?" she asked.

The man became livid with rage. "You already know the answer and besides you don't belong around here. Why don't you get out and stop snoopin'!"

This crude remark angered Nancy. "No, I don't live here," she said. "But I do have a lot of sympathy for people who are in danger."

"Yes," George broke in, "instead of feeling relieved that no one was hurt by the explosion, you seem delighted that it happened. You say you don't want newcomers here because of higher taxes, but there are some people who think you have other reasons for keeping them out which you're not telling!"

Judd Hillary fell back as if he had been stunned. He seemed at a loss for an answer and a frightened look had come over his face. But he recovered quickly. Throwing back his head, he said disdainfully:

"You got no business talkin' like that. I don't have to say any more. Your friend here has had a couple of warnings. Now I'll give you one: Leave this place before you get hurt!"

At that moment two men stepped forward and took hold of Judd Hillary's arms. As they began telling him that this was no way to talk to young ladies who were spending a vacation in the neighborhood, Nancy whispered to her friends to follow her. She threaded her way through the crowd, saying, "Maybe those two hijackers are in this with Hillary! Let's look for them!"

The girls circled the crowd from the rear but did not find the two suspects. Nancy was about to give up when George spotted two men she thought might be the hijackers running toward the road. The girls darted after them. But before they could get close enough to identify the two or read the license plate of a car into which they jumped, the men drove off at top speed.

"Here come the police," Bess spoke up.

Four officers alighted from a squad car and hurried toward the crowd that had gathered at the site of the explosion. Nancy and her friends followed the policemen. But the officers announced that everyone who could not give them any clue as to who had caused the explosion was to leave.

"I guess that includes us," said George.

"Maybe not," said Nancy. "Our clue about Hillary and the hijackers is a pretty slim one, but I think we should tell the police my suspicions."

She waited until everyone else had gone, then told the officers who she was and what was in her mind.

"Thank you, Miss Drew," one of them said. "I'll report this to the chief. I heard about the stagecoach hijacking. You may have a good clue this time too."

Nancy nodded and the three girls left. Once more they climbed into Nancy's convertible and headed for Mrs. Strook's home. They found the elderly woman in a highly nervous state over the explosion. Nancy tried to rea.s.sure her, saying everything was all right now.

"But it was most frightening," said Mrs. Strook. "And come, I want to show you what happened."

She led them into her dining room where there were several triangular shelves in a corner. On some stood prized pieces of antique gla.s.s and porcelain. But many others had crashed to the floor and broken into hundreds of pieces.

"Some of these were priceless," said Mrs. Strook. "They have been in my family for several generations."

The girls expressed their sympathy and George added practically, "I'm glad it wasn't you, Mrs. Strook, who fell and was injured."

Nancy smiled and said, "I have a nice surprise to tell you about. Suppose I make some hot tea and we'll sit down and talk things over." While Nancy fixed the tea, the other girls swept up the broken pieces of porcelain.

After the elderly woman had had a cup of tea and some homemade cookies, she declared she felt calmer and wanted to know what Nancy had to tell her.

"I hope it's a clue to my great-uncle's stagecoach," she said wistfully.

"Yes, it is," Nancy replied. From her purse she took out one of the strange notes found under the floor at the Zucker farm and handed it to Mrs. Strook. "Is that Mr. Langstreet's handwriting?" she asked.

"Why, I believe it is," the woman answered. "I can easily prove it. I have been doing some searching here and came across a letter which Great-uncle Abner wrote to my grandmother not long before he disappeared. I'll get it."

Nancy had not shown Mrs. Strook the reverse side of the note with its morbid words. The young sleuth decided to wait until later before discussing this.

When Mrs. Strook returned from the second floor, she was holding a small letter written in a cramped hand and now very faded. Quickly the two signatures were compared.