When they reached town Nancy directed Art to Captain Hornbeck's home. In a short time they pulled up in front of a tree-shaded cottage on a low bluff overlooking the river. A tall, weather-beaten man with gray hair stood in the front doorway. In one hand he held an arrow.

"Howdy," he said, smiling. "I heard you coming on that motorcycle. What can I do for you?"

Nancy introduced herself and Art and explained what they wanted. "Clem Rucker said you have no phone, so we couldn't call you-"

"Humph!" the captain snorted. "Old Clem doesn't know. I got an unlisted number so folks won't bother me. But come in."

He led the way into a small living room crowded with furniture. On a large table Nancy and Art were amazed to see arrowheads, shafts, feathers, and odd tools.

"I make bows and arrows," the old man said, "and use the same tools as the ancient Indians."

He showed them a stone sc.r.a.per he worked with to form the wooden shafts. "Then I fit a real Indian arrowhead to it," he added. "I've found hundreds of 'em around here."

While the young people admired the artifacts he had made, the retired captain called the towboat company for which he had once worked. The line was busy. When he came back, Nancy asked him about river pirates.

"In the old days," he said, "the Ohio and Mississippi both had their share of pirates. They were a menace to navigation."

Warming to the subject, Hornbeck told his callers that pirates used to lie in wait along the sh.o.r.e until a flatboat with a pioneer family came along. Then they would go out, capture the boat, and kill the pa.s.sengers.

"How wicked!" Nancy exclaimed.

Art asked, "What did they do with the cargo?"

Captain Hornbeck said they usually took it all the way to New Orleans and sold it.

"In those days travel overland was so slow that news of a piracy did not reach New Orleans until after the men had left there."

The elderly captain went back to the telephone and tried again to get the towboat company. This time he was successful and after a short conversation arranged the trip for Nancy's group.

"You can go aboard in the evening day after tomorrow."

"That's perfect," Nancy told him. "Thank you so much. We've enjoyed talking to you."

The elderly man walked to the door with Nancy and Art. "I hope you have fun and good luck on your trip," he said.

Before returning to the dig, Nancy called the airfield. When she learned that Roscoe Thompson was not there, she left a message requesting him to pick them up Sat.u.r.day morning and fly them to Cairo.

Art was more talkative and whistled cheerfully on the way back to the dig. Nancy was relieved that apparently whatever was bothering him had vanished. When they arrived at the farmhouse, Nancy thanked Art and then dashed inside to change into digging clothes. No one was around.

"I guess everyone's down in the pit," Nancy thought. "I-Oh!"

She had caught sight of a crudely printed note propped up on the bureau. Her name was scrawled across the top. Underneath was a message:

"You will never find the right hollow oak. I have taken the message out of it and destroyed the tree. Now the treasure it told about will be mine! Ha! Ha!"

CHAPTER IX.

Escaping Thief

NANCY studied the note on the bureau intently. Was it true that someone had found the message in the hollow oak which told of a treasure?

The young detective took a long breath. "Maybe it's only a joke," she said to herself. "Perhaps one of the girls or even one of the boys left this note to play a trick on me."

Nancy took out her magnifying gla.s.s and examined the paper for fingerprints. There were none on it.

She was still puzzled as she laid the note down and began to change her clothes. As soon as she was dressed for the dig, Nancy went to the excavation and climbed down.

The busy workers looked up and said, "Hi!" Julie Anne asked if she had had any luck reaching Ned.

"Yes," Nancy replied. "I'll tell you about it later." She changed the subject and asked, "Which one of you left a note on the bureau?"

"Note?" Julie Anne repeated. "There wasn't any note when I was in the room."

Not only Nancy's roommates but all the other girls said they knew nothing about the message that had been left for Nancy.

"How about you boys?" Nancy called out.

They in turn denied having written it. Art asked, "What did it say?"

Nancy told him and the others. Theresa looked disturbed. "This is serious. I beg of you, if anyone here did it as a joke, please own up so none of us will be worried." The whole group reiterated that they knew nothing about the strange message.

"Oh, Nancy," Julie Anne burst out, "it must have been that awful man or some pal of his!"

Theresa Bancroft said she did not like the thought of anyone sneaking around the dig. "Whoever the person is, he's very brazen to come here in the daylight. I want all of you to be very careful."

Nancy's roommates were alarmed over the situation. They were sure she had not heard the last of her enemy.

Julie Anne, after thinking this over, said, "I don't believe what's in that note. If the person had really found the message and was on the track of a treasure, he wouldn't bother to tell you. I think he left the note to frighten you away. If you don't leave, he may harm you."

Nancy turned to Theresa. "There's good logic in what Julie Anne says. I think I should go to Cairo and stay there until my friends arrive. Did Art tell you they're coming?"

"He didn't say a word," Julie Anne replied.

Art lowered his eyes. Was it possible he did not like the idea? Quickly Nancy explained about the five friends who would join her on the river trip.

"That's fine," said Theresa. "And bring them back with you after the trip. We've plenty of room. As for your leaving here today, I insist that you stay until it's time to go meet your friends."

The archaeologist requested that everyone get back to work Nancy picked up her shovel.

The boys had unearthed the fine skeleton of a man and carried it to the laboratory. Here they planned to wire it together so it could be hung up and exhibited. When the others finished work, they all trooped to the barn to see it.

The skeleton was suspended from a rod which the boys had put up. Theresa was very much pleased and said it was one of the finest specimens ever to be uncovered.

"Any museum would be delighted to have this," she remarked, "but I'm glad it will be on exhibit at Paulson University."

After dinner Nancy invited Julie Anne to go on the towboat trip.