The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene

interesting lead.”
    “Good. Nancy, how would you like three hearty young men and two smart girls to join you?”
    Nancy almost shouted for joy. “You mean you and Burt and Dave and George and Bess can come here?”
    Ned said this was exactly what he meant. “You say the word and we’ll hop a plane.”
    “Come as soon as you can,” she urged. “Fly to St. Louis and take a helicopter from there. My interesting clue is that pirates stole the treasure which Père François was carrying and hid it in a cave along the Ohio River. It the story is true, there’s a good chance the treasure has never been found because all the pirates were lost in a storm.”
    Enthusiastically she told about the Ohio River towboat trips. “Would you and the others like to take one and hunt for the treasure?”
    “Sounds great,” he replied. “Suppose you make all the arrangements and then call me when you want us to start. Only don’t make it too long. I’m itching to get out there.”
    Tingling with happiness, Nancy came out of the phone booth. Just then Art rode up. Excitedly she asked, “Would you possibly have time to dash into Cairo and back?”
    He looked at his wrist watch. “Yes, if we hurry. What’s up?”
    Nancy swung onto the motorcycle and it roared down the road. She told Art the news that her friends were going to fly out to help solve the mystery.
    When Art made no comment, she said, “You’ll like them. I know you will.”
    He had become glum, but replied, “At any rate I’ll like Bess and George.”
    The remark amused Nancy, but as time went on and Art did not respond to her remarks as he usually did, she became puzzled. Then suddenly Nancy wondered, “Could Art be jealous of Ned?”
    Deciding the thought was ridiculous, she put it out of her mind. It was true she and Art had been together a good deal the past few days but the friendship was casual.
    As they neared Cairo after a ride with an almost one-sided conversation, Nancy decided that her hunch had been right. Art had hardly spoken the whole time. Obviously he was not thrilled by Ned’s expected arrival! An idea of how to take care of the situation came to her.
    “Art,” she said, “do you think you and Julie Anne could get away from the dig for a few days and go on the towboat trip with the rest of us? I’d love to have you come.”
    Art brightened considerably. “I’m sure we could get permission. Thanks a lot.”
    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 scraper 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 shore until a flatboat with a pioneer