Treasured Solution

“That’s far enough! ” Her father’s voice came clearly on the air, and Nancy heard two yelps of surprise from Jack and Tom.

She stopped fighting the shifting ground and allowed herself to slide back toward the beach, not daring to look over her shoulder till her feet were resting on a stable rock. When she did, she burst out laughing.

For a moment Carson Drew’s face stayed grim, then he, too, began to laugh, as did George and Mr. DeFoe. The axe gleamed brightly in the morning sun as Mr. Drew lowered it to the sand. “It was the only weapon I could find, ” he admitted. “You didn’t give us much warning, Nancy.”

“I was just afraid they’d get to the boat and wreck the radio, ” Nancy told him as Penny came panting up with a coil of rope.

“What now? ” Mr. DeFoe asked after Nancy and George tied the hands of the two bearded and weary-looking young men.

“Is there some place we can lock them up? ” Mr. Drew asked Mr. DeFoe.

“The root cellar should do, ” Mr. DeFoe answered promptly. “It’s not too big, but it has a nice stout door and I have a good padlock for it.”

“That ought to take care of them, ” Carson said, sounding pleased. “If Penny can show us where it is, why don’t you go on around to the boat and see if you can reach the authorities, Jeff. There must be a lot of people wondering about all of us by now, ”

Mr. DeFoe nodded, looking none the worse for the ordeal he and his wife had been through. “I’m just glad to see the Polka Dot again, ” he said. “I was afraid something would happen to it when they said they were going to use it to leave a false trail in Florida.”

“Why did you bring it back? ” Nancy asked the glowering men. “Why didn’t you leave it there? ”

“Tom’s boat was too small for the treasure, ” Jack answered sullenly. “I figured we’d need it.”

“Do you know where the treasure is? ” Penny asked.

For a moment Jack just sneered at her, but Tom laughed bitterly. “He doesn’t know anything, ” he taunted. “He has a map, but all we found were the caverns. There’s nothing in there. Someone got that treasure a long time ago.”

“It’s got to be there, ” Jack protested. “We just didn’t have enough time to search. We found the ocean entrance, didn’t we? And all the caves.” He turned his glare to Mrs. DeFoe, who, along with Bess, had come down to investigate. “Why didn’t you and the. mister leave the island like everybody else? ” he demanded. “You brought all this trouble on yourselves by hanging around here.”

“Let’s put you in the root cellar, ” Mr. Drew said, tugging on the rope. “Then we’ll have an expert do the looking.” He winked at Nancy.

The next hour was one of busy confusion as the men were locked away and a hasty breakfast was prepared. Mr. DeFoe came in to report that he’d reached a rescue boat in the area and that the authorities would arrive before evening. He also brought the faded, ancient map that had led Jack and Tom to Anchor Island.

“Well, Nancy, I guess it’s up to you, ” Mr. Drew said as they spread the map on a nearby table along with the medallion and the water stained rubbing of the map on it. “What do you make of it? ”

Nancy studied the map, seeing for the first time how much the island did resemble a broken anchor. She traced the coast and noted the water opening that she’d found herself in when she escaped from the men earlier.

“Their map doesn’t show the other entrance, ” she murmured. “And there’s not too much indication of the tunnels we saw last night.”

She moved the rubbing closer and began to compare the two, gradually forming in her mind a picture of the passages. There were a number of them, more than she remembered seeing as they’d explored before they found Bess and the DeFoes.

“I think we’ll have to go back into the caverns, ” she said, looking up. “There’s something here in the center that I don’t understand.”

Preparations took only a short time, and the day was warm and sunny as they all trooped along the drying road toward the cave entrance. The twine still lay as they’d left it and they lost no time in moving through the narrow and twisting passages.

When they reached the end of the twine, Penny tied on a new ball and they continued down the damp passage, relieved to find that water no longer poured into it from the leaky prison where Bess and the DeFoes had been confined. There were more side tunnels, but each was disappointingly empty.

Then, suddenly, they were at the bottom. The ocean lapped at their feet and they could see the distant light where the passage opened to the sea.

“Where is it? ” Bess wailed. “Nancy, where is the treasure? ”

“Could we have missed it in one of those tunnels? ” Penny asked.

The others said nothing, but Nancy could see that they, too, were disappointed. She took out the medallion and studied it in the flickering light of the lanterns and flashlights. There was something...

Afraid of raising their hopes falsely, Nancy moved away from them as they poked around the lower passage. She climbed slowly past the first side tunnels, then paused at the door they’d opened the night before.

She could find the tiny marks on the map that seemed to indicate the prison passage. The odd marks she couldn’t decipher were on the other side of the main passage line. The beam of her flashlight was weakening, but she slowly moved it over the seemingly solid face of the rock wall, not sure what she was seeking.

Even with extra care, she almost missed it. The years and the wearing of the dripping water had taken their toll of the chipped-in niche.

Heart pounding, Nancy reached into the hollow, her fingers grasping the lever it concealed. She pulled it, not sure what to expect.

The click echoed in the cavern stillness. A section of the wall seemed to shift and swell like a wave. Then it turned, and the beam of her flashlight touched the darkness beyond and lit it with the gleaming of gold.

Nancy opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Fortunately, George had come up to find her and she quickly called the others. Hesitantly, they all stepped around the balanced boulder that had swung aside and entered the treasure chamber.

Trunks, cases, and jeweled caskets were stacked everywhere, as were bars of gold bullion and rotted sacks of gold coins. Golden utensils gleamed when the dirt was brushed away. It was nearly an hour before any of them even thought of leaving the chamber.

“Do you think we should just leave it here? ” Bess asked, reluctantly placing a lovely emerald necklace back in the dark-wood-and- gold casket. “It’s all so beautiful.”

Nancy laughed. “It’s been safe here for hundreds of years, ” she reminded her friend. “I don’t think anyone will find it while we have lunch and wait for the authorities to come and take Jack and Tom away.”

“I can hardly wait to tell them that you found it, ” Mrs. DeFoe said with a smile. “That will let them know just how stupid they were.”

“I was lucky, too, ” Nancy reminded her. “We had the medallion and that was the final clue.” “It wouldn’t have done them any good, anyway, ” Bess stated firmly. “They couldn’t have figured it out the way you did.”

Nancy blushed as the others all agreed with the evaluation. Though she loved mysteries, she was frequently embarrassed by people’s comments after she solved them. “So what are you going to do about the treasure now that we’ve found it? ” she asked, to change the subject.

“I’m sure the Historical Society people will be anxious to see it and catalogue it before it’s removed from the cavern, ” Mr. DeFoe replied. “In fact, once we get full radio contact set up, I think I’ll see if most of our staff would like to work this summer. I’m sure we’ll be running at nearly full capacity once the story gets out.”

“More than full, ” Mrs. DeFoe agreed. “But I’d like to have the staff start right away—that is, if the four of you will stay on as our guests? ” Her eyes twinkled in the light of the lanterns, and her smile was wide as she added, “I can’t promise you as much excitement as you’ve had so far, but if you’d like to enjoy the beach and the fishing and exploring the treasure room, you are more than welcome.”

It was only a brief pang of regret that Nancy felt as she realized her island detective work had come to an end. Her next mystery, The Silver Cobweb, would be just as exciting.

She sought her father’s eyes for permission to accept the DeFoes’ invitation and was delighted when he nodded. Bess and George quickly added their agreement, hugging Nancy as they all made their way out to the welcoming sunlight.

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