CHAPTER XIV.

A Hopeful Discovery

WITHOUT asking the reason, George dropped her spade and ran some distance away. A moment later a large limb of the dead tree crashed to the ground.

Nancy, working on the other side of the old tree, had looked up at Bess's cry and realized what was going to happen. She feared that the dead wood might splinter and one or more pieces. .h.i.t the baby!

Jumping to the play pen, she wheeled it out of the way. She too was just in time. Chunks of wood were hurled through the air. Some of them landed exactly where the play pen had stood!

"Oh, Nancy," Mrs. Zucker cried out, "you kept my baby from being hurt!" She hugged Nancy, then picked up the infant, who had been jolted awake by this time and had begun to cry. "I-I think I'll go back to the house," the young mother added.

In the meantime George's heartbeat had returned to normal. She thanked her cousin for the warning, then grinned ruefully. "I'd have had a pretty bad b.u.mp if that old limb had ever hit me!"

Morton Zucker said he felt responsible for the whole thing. He had promised himself many times to take down the dead tree but had never seemed to have time.

"But you can bet it's going to come down fast now," he said with determination.

The diggers decided to go on with their work but to have one of them as a lookout at all times.

"I'll watch first," Bess offered, and kept her eyes on the rotted limbs of the old tree.

Nancy, George, and Morton dug furiously. Several times they hit roots. At these moments the searchers hoped they had struck a piece of the old stagecoach or at least a container holding some of its parts. But they had no luck and moved on to another location.

At noontime Bess spoke up. "Let's take a rest. I forgot to tell you girls I brought some lunch for us. I had the camp chef pack it."

She went for the package and the three girls sat down in the shade of the knoll to eat roast-beef sandwiches, tomatoes, and cake. Morton, upon learning they had brought their own food, went to the house to get his lunch. In an hour he was back and the work continued.

Time after time fragments of tools and hardware were dug up, but none of them belonged to an old stagecoach. Bess and George became weary of their task. They were just about to suggest quitting, when Morton, who had been quiet for several minutes, called out from a distance:

"Maybe this is what you're looking for!"

The three girls rushed to his side, just as he lifted up an old wheel.

"We've found it!" Bess shrieked excitedly.

The whole group dug furiously in the vicinity. Presently they unearthed a matching wheel, then a third, finally a fourth. All were in bad condition and two would fall apart if lifted up.

"Now where shall we dig?" George asked.

Morton said he thought one person's guess was as good as another. "Why don't we dig all the way around these wheels?" he suggested.

They did this and within a few minutes uncovered some rotted leather straps.

"Oh, this is so thrilling!" Bess exclaimed, putting her full weight onto the spade she was using. "I've hit something!"

Nancy helped her dig and presently they uncovered a long board. Further digging revealed rusty hinges once attached to the plank. Then came another board evidently originally hinged to the other, but now rotted apart.

"Maybe this is what you're looking for!"

At almost the same time Morton uncovered a series of long boards. He frowned, then said regretfully, "These could not have belonged to a stagecoach. This was just a farm wagon. It's my guess the wagon was wrecked at this spot or dragged here and time covered it with earth."

Bess seemed more disappointed than the others. She had felt so sure the mystery was about to be solved, the frustrated girl was almost in tears.

"This is just awful!" she said, flopping to the ground. "All this work and nothing but a busted old wagon!"

"And it's been here a long time, I'll bet," said George. "I wonder if it belonged to AbnerLangstreet."

Nancy thought it might have. "If he took his old stagecoach apart and carried the pieces away, he would have needed some kind of vehicle to cart it in."

Bess was inconsolable. "If we keep on digging, we may find the bones of the horses to this wagon," she said. "I vote we quit right now. Anyway, George and I promised to play tennis late this afternoon."

Morton said that he too would have to stop work and do the evening farm ch.o.r.es. "But I shan't stop digging entirely," he promised Nancy. "You have my curiosity aroused. If that old stagecoach is buried on this farm, I'll find it!"

Nancy was very weary herself from the arduous work and did not argue about stopping. They all trudged back to the farmhouse where Mrs. Zucker insisted they have gla.s.ses of cold milk. The girls washed their faces and hands and then sat down in the living room to cool off.

"I had callers while you were at work," said Marjory Zucker.

"Callers?" Nancy repeated.

"Yes, a man and a woman about thirty years old. They asked if this was the Robert Smith farm. Of course I told them no."

"Did you give them your name?" Nancy asked.

"Yes."

Marjory went on to say that the couple had stood near their car and watched the digging operation at the knoll. The man had asked what was going on.

"You didn't tell them?" Nancy asked worriedly.

"Oh, no," Marjory replied. "I said farmers are always digging."

"Good for you!" George spoke up.

Nancy asked for descriptions of the couple and the car. Upon hearing them, she looked at Bess and George. There was no question in any of their minds. The callers had been Audrey and Ross Monteith!

"Do you know the people who were here?" Marjory asked. "I had an idea they might have suspected it was you at the knoll, Nancy, because they asked who owned your car. When I ignored the question, they looked at each other as if they knew."

"We know them all right," said Nancy. "They're staying at the same lodge where we are. We find them-well, a little too interested in our affairs!"

"I see," Marjory answered with an understanding smile.

The three girls said good-by, adding that they might return soon. As they drove off toward the main road, Bess wore a worried frown. "I don't like it at all that Audrey and Ross Monteith were here!"

"I don't either," Nancy agreed.

CHAPTER XV.