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The Hidden Hut






 

EVERYONE ducked beneath the concealing shelter of mangroves, but Nancy was afraid her group already had been spotted.

“If Juarez was in that plane, there may be trouble for us, ” she declared.

The seaplane circled the island several times, then droned off.

“Looks bad, ” Terry said. “We’d better hurry and see what’s on the Key before the plane returns.”

Once more he and Nancy crept toward the hut, with Fran and Jack following. Fran was frightened and nervous.

“Is this what detective work is like? ” she asked. “Why, you take your life in your hands! ”

Terry said nothing, but he agreed. He had not forgotten the episode at the Wangells’!

The hut ahead was about the size of a two-room bungalow and built of heavy weather-worn timbers. “Driftwood from wrecked ships, ” Nancy mused. There was one small window in the front and a low door.

Terry knocked. No answer. He put his hand on the latch and pushed. The door opened. The four walked inside.

They stood in a small room, unfurnished except for two canvas deck chairs. In one corner lay a pile of newspapers and magazines—most of them in Spanish—and a carton of canned goods.

“Somebody’s been here recently, ” Fran Oakes whispered. She pointed to the window sill.

A half-eaten candy bar was being consumed by black ants. Beside it stood a bottle of soda, half empty.

Suddenly they heard, from somewhere in the hut, a shuffling sound. Terry motioned toward a heavy door with an old-fashioned, primitive bolt. It apparently led to an inner room, and someone was in there!

“You two girls stand back, ” Terry whispered.

As he started to open the door, a hoarse voice cried out:

“Go away! I won’t tell you! ”

Nevertheless, Terry swung the door open. Jack followed him inside. Then came Terry’s astonished voice:

“Dr. Pitt! ”

Nancy and Fran dashed forward. Seated on a cot was a haggard, elderly man, his eyes sunken but with a determined, fiery light in them.

“Thank goodness you found me, ” he said, deep emotion in his voice. “But I don’t know how you did it.”

Eagerly Terry introduced the old man to his friends. Joshua Pitt gave them a sad, wry smile.

“Welcome to my prison cell on Black Key! ”

He pointed to a small hole in the roof, too small for escape, and the meager furnishings in the room—the cot and two packing boxes which served as table and chair. One of them held several cans of food.

Dr. Pitt explained that Juarez and two other men had held him captive, trying to make him tell them where the Frog Treasure was hidden.

“Were the other men named Porterly and Wangell? ” Nancy asked.

“Yes. Porterly was here twice, Wangell only once. But I wouldn’t tell them a thing, ” the elderly professor said proudly, “no matter what they did.”

Terry asked eagerly, “Dr Pitt, did you learn the ancient secret we were trying to find out? ”

Dr. Pitt’s eyes flashed defiantly. “I know. But I won’t tell anyone—not even you, ” he announced. “No one shall ever force the secret from me.”

“But why not? ” Nancy asked, astonished.

“Because it would mean the destruction of mankind, ” the archaeologist replied.

The two men helped the elderly professor to one of the deck chairs in the outer room.

“At least tell us, ” Terry begged, “how you came to be captured.”

Joshua Pitt said that the night following the afternoon he and Terry had found the cipher tablet, he had translated the message on the Mystery Stone. He had learned that the secret was one of evil. The professor refused to say more about it.

Terry asked, “While you were making your translation, did you drop a paper with notes on it? ” He described the symbols of the frog, sun, and prostrate man.

“Yes. Those symbols are the clue to the secret.” Joshua Pitt frowned. “Because of that I decided to keep the three black keys. But in removing them from their ring, I broke one of them.”

Nancy said that she had the half-key with her. Fingering the ribbon at her throat, she explained that Terry had entrusted it to her.

“How did Juarez steal the cipher tablet? ” Terry asked.

“After I made the translation, ” Dr. Pitt said, “I hid the stone tablet under a blanket. Juarez must have been watching me. As I dozed off, I heard a noise. It was Juarez making hi escape. I knew at once what had happened and 1 started after him.”

“Why didn’t you yell? ” Terry asked.

Dr. Pitt admitted that was where he had made his mistake. Thinking he could handle the situation alone, he had not awakened the others.

“But Juarez turned the tables, ” he said wryly. “I followed him to some old woman’s house—she was a relative of Juarez. He and a Mexican pal ambushed me, packed me into a plane, and brought me here.”

“And the cipher tablet, too? ” Terry wanted to know.

“Yes. It is buried on Black Key, ” came the startling announcement.

“Do you know the spot? ” Nancy inquired excitedly.

“I have no idea, ” Dr. Pitt replied.

Nancy asked when he expected Juarez back.

“Tomorrow.”

The fifteenth! But he might come sooner, Nancy decided. If the man in the plane were a spy, Juarez would come as soon as he got the word!

Dr. Pitt’s eyes smoldered. “Juarez said tomorrow would be my last chance. He was bringing friends here to make me tell my secret by torturing me some devilish way.”

Fran Oakes shivered, and Terry, frowning, looked at his watch. He turned to Jack Walker.

“See here, Jack. We can’t leave the cipher tablet on the island. How about you and Fran taking the boat and getting the police? Bring them here as soon as you can. In the meantime, Nancy and I will hunt for the tablet.”

Jack nodded. He and Fran hurried from the hut.

Joshua Pitt turned to Terry. “Now that I’ve told my story, how about yours? I’m curious to learn how you knew I was here.”

“The credit belongs to Nancy.” Terry smiled. “She did a smart bit of detective work.”

At Dr. Pitt’s insistence, Nancy told the story herself. At the end she asked, “Why did Juarez bring you to Black Key? ”

“He knows this area well. Used to come here years ago, looking for pirate gold. I fancy Juarez is a bit of a pirate himself.”

“But why Black Key? ”

“A friend of his owned an old diary. That must be the one you were translating, Terry. Don’t you remember about the Black Falcon? There was something in the story about frogs, and Juarez got the idea it might mean the Frog Treasure and it was hidden here. But they won’t find it on Black Key because it’s buried elsewhere.”

Terry looked puzzled. “Wait a minute, ” he said slowly. “The Wangell diary made no mention of the Black Falcon nor any frogs in connection with it.”

“Juarez showed me the pages. He must have torn them out of the diary before you saw it.”

“That’s the answer! ” Terry exclaimed. “When Mrs. Wangell showed me the diary, several pages were missing.”

Pitt went on with his story. “Juarez has the two good obsidian keys, and the broken half. Heaven help the world if he ever finds the other half, and becomes master of the secret! ”

Nancy longed to know the nature of the secret, but the stern look on the scientist’s face warned her not to ask. Instead, she decided to go outside and look around for clues to the buried cipher stone.

As she reached the doorway, Nancy heard a step outside. Before she had time to slam the door, a woman rushed in. Her strong arms encircled Nancy’s neck in a strangle hold and forced her back into the hut.

Strong arms encircled Nancy’s neck in a strangle hold

 

“Now I’ve caught you! ” she yelled at Nancy. “We saw you and your boy friend from the plane.”

Terry reached for her arm, but he was too late. Three men sprang at him. While two pinioned his arms to his sides and bound them with rope, the third stood by dumfounded, as if he had seen a ghost.

“Will! Juarez! ” he cried. “It’s Professor Scott! ”

“Yeah, ” Porterly said in disgust. “You thought you’d fixed him for good, didn’t you? Get to work! ”

Nancy was bound hand and foot, then Earl Wangell tied up Joshua Pitt.

The woman pushed Nancy roughly against the wall. “I’m Mrs. Juarez Tino, ” she snarled. “Does that mean anything to you? ”

Nancy did not answer.

“Think you’re clever, don’t you? ” the woman cried. Mrs. Tino started to drag the girl to her feet, then changed her mind.

“I’ll search you first, ” she said in her brassy voice. “You still have the key we want.”

Seeing the ribbon around Nancy’s neck, she tore off the obsidian relic with a savage wrench.

“Now we have everything! ” Juarez exclaimed triumphantly. “The fortune is ours! ”


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