The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene

in my ka-noo.”
    He went down under the water himself and felt around. A moment later he surfaced. He told the girls that several sharp-pointed stones had been used to weight down the vine net. These had pierced his craft.
    “Someone did this on purpose to keep us from going any farther!” George declared.
    Uncle Rufus looked startled. “You mean you all got some enemies around here?”
    “It looks like it,” Nancy agreed. “But, Uncle Rufus, maybe you know of some other reason why the vine might have been put here.”
    The old man shook his head. “Nobody in this here bayou has got anything against Uncle Rufus.” He changed the subject abruptly. “Well, I’ve got to go an’ get another boat. You ladies climb some trees, else some hungry ole alligator may bother you.”
    Bess gave a little squeal and instantly started wading toward a swamp oak.
    “Where are you going to find a boat?” Nancy asked Uncle Rufus.
    The old man said a friend would lend him one. He knew a short cut to the man’s cabin. With a smile Uncle Rufus added that he was used to sloshing through the swamp on foot. “I won’t be gone more’n half an hour,” he said.
    “Half an hour?” Bess wailed. “You mean I have to stay up in this tree all that time?”
    “I’se afraid you do,” Uncle Rufus replied.
    As he was about to start off, Nancy suddenly said, “Listen! I think I hear a boat coming!”
    They all remained quiet and presently a canoeist turned a bend just ahead in the narrow part of the stream.
    “Alex!” Nancy exclaimed.
    The young man looked up. Seeing the girls and Uncle Rufus, he called out, “What in the world is going on?”
    Quickly Nancy explained. As Alex came closer he said, “A mat of vines, you say? That’s strange. Apparently it wasn’t here half an hour ago when I went up the stream.”
    “Did you see anyone else around?” Nancy asked him.
    “No, I didn’t,” Alex answered. Then he added, “Well, all of you climb aboard and I’ll take you home. I suppose you were on your way to see the showboat?”
    Nancy confessed that they were. She expressed amazement that Alex had dared paddle up to the River Princess alone.
    The young man laughed. “Oh, I’m not afraid of ghosts,” he said. “These stories about that showboat being haunted are a lot of nonsense. But just the same, I’m convinced it would be foolhardy to try clearing out the rest of the stream and moving the showboat to the Havers’ estate before Mardi Gras time. In fact, I think it would be silly to move the River Princess at any time. She isn’t worth it.”
    “You mean the boat’s in bad shape?” Bess asked.
    “She sure is. Practically rotting away.”
    There was no further conversation on the subject until they neared the dock at Sunnymead. Then Alex remarked, “I’m going to advise Colonel Haver to call off all work and investigation. Nancy, I hope you’ll back me up. Then you won’t have to bother with any mystery and all of us can have a good time together.”
    Nancy did not reply. Instead, as the group stepped out of the canoe, she suggested to Uncle Rufus that he come inside the house. “You can bathe and borrow some clothes from Pappy Cole.”
    Uncle Rufus laughed. “Thank you kindly, miss, but I’se used to the swamp mud. I got a little bathin’ pond of my own up to the cabin. I’ll just amble along through the water till I git home.”
    He had gone only fifty feet when a new idea occurred to Nancy. Running along the shore, she caught up to him. In a low voice she said, “I’d still like to visit the showboat. Would it be possible for you to take the other girls and me some time today?”
    “Why, yes, miss,” Uncle Rufus answered. “Could you all come to my cabin when you git fixed up? I’ll be ready an’ I’ll borrow that ka-noo I was tellin’ you about.”
    Nancy asked directions and was told how to reach the cabin by car. “We’ll be there in an hour,” she said.
    When Nancy returned to the rest of her