The Three Keys

WHEN Mrs. Tino rushed to attack Mrs. Wangell, she screamed and dashed into a closet. Quickly Juarez’s wife sprang to the lock and turned the key.

Almost simultaneously, Nancy saw Terry in the doorway. He had finally succeeded in loosening his bonds.

As Mrs. Tino flew at him in a rage, she tripped over a chair and fell to the floor, stunned. Terry rushed to Nancy’s side and untied the rope on her hands. With her hands free, she wrenched at the knots around her ankles. Then while Terry tied the woman’s ankles together, Nancy bound her wrists.

Nancy looked at him gratefully. “Thanks for rescuing me. I’ll never forget it, ” she said. “But we mustn’t delay here.”

“You’re right, ” Terry agreed.

He noticed a fishing rod in a corner. “Nancy, give me a white handkerchief. I’ll rig up a distress signal.”

It took only a few seconds for him to attach. Then he and Nancy ran from the house.

“I see a boat out there, ” Terry called. “It looks like a police launch.”

He waved the fishing pole wildly. The boat came toward them.

There were six figures on deck—Fran, Jack, and four policemen!

“That white flag handkerchief did it, ” one of the officers said when the boat docked. “We couldn’t find you.”

“Oh, we’ve been frantic! ” Fran cried. “We went to Black Key and there wasn’t a sign of you. We’ve been searching everywhere.”

Nancy knew there was not a moment to lose. Hurriedly she and Terry explained what had happened and said they must get back to Miami at once.

“We’ll take care of those women at the house, ” the sergeant in charge said. He radioed a report to headquarters, then told one of the men to take the young people to the Key where Jack had left his boat.

The fastest possible speed was made. When Nancy and her friends transferred to Jack’s craft, Terry urged him to use all the power it had, saying:

“Nancy, Dr. Anderson, and I have a date in Mexico. We must reach the treasure spot before Juarez gets there with Joshua Pitt.”

Dr. Anderson met them at the dock in Miami, anxiety on his face at their long absence. While Terry telephoned to charter a plane, Nancy told the professor what had happened. His eyes were wide with amazement.

“Do you think we can get there in time? ” he asked.

“We’d better, ” Nancy said grimly. “We have several hours. The others won’t begin work before morning.”

Dr. Anderson dashed to a telephone and got in touch with a retired friend. After a few minutes’ conversation he returned to the others.

“Miss Oakes, please tell my students that Dr. Lewis White will take over the work while I’m gone. And, ” he added, “will you get in touch with Dr. Graham long-distance at Jonsonburg and tell him the developments here? Ask him to come to Miami if possible. We’ll be in touch with him here.”

Fran promised, then fearfully said good-by to Nancy. “Oh, do you have to go? Something dreadful might happen to you! ”

Nancy assured her friend she would be in safe hands. Then she hurried to the waiting plane with Terry and Dr. Anderson.

About dusk the three alighted at a small airfield in the interior of Mexico. Three uniformed police officers hurried to meet them, and spoke in Spanish to Terry.

“They’ll have a car waiting for us at the crack of dawn, ” Terry told the others. “We’ll go by a short cut the men know to the spot where Juarez is heading.”

Nancy and the professors were escorted to a hacienda by the police. After a late supper they retired immediately in order to be fresh for the task of the following day.

They were awake before daybreak, and by the time the red sun shone over the jungle, the party was on its way.

Nancy, Terry, and Dr. Anderson climbed into a mud-spattered station wagon, while the police took the car ahead. They rode into the jungle until the path dwindled to a one-man trail.

Terry consulted the police, then translated, “The officers say we can ambush Juarez at Diablo Point.”

Single file, Nancy and the five men hurried along the trail. At a fork in the trail, the police halted. They told Terry that Juarez and his friends would have to pass there, to reach the site mentioned by Joshua Pitt. It was suggested they all hide in the undergrowth, and nab Juarez and his accomplices as they came by.

For a long time nothing happened. The jungle air was hot and oppressive. Trailing vines tickled Nancy’s neck where she lay, and gnats and mosquitoes attacked her ankles.

She began to worry. Perhaps they were too late. What if Juarez and his cronies had already reached the treasure spot! Perhaps, at that very moment, they were torturing Joshua Pitt—

Then she heard the distant tramp of feet, the sound of a voice. Peering through the dense growth, she saw men approaching. Joshua Pitt was in the lead, head bent, feet dragging. He seemed to be in the last stages of exhaustion.

Behind him came Juarez and his pals. Wangell had several tools in his hands. Porterly held a shovel and a large burlap bag.

As they came near, Joshua Pitt said in a cracked, weary voice, “I don’t know the exact location. Anyway, the secret will destroy mankind, I tell you! ”

Wangell sneered, “Then that power will be ours. And we’ll have the treasure, too! ”

“Professor, you’re lying about not knowing! ” Juarez snarled. “Do you want Nancy Drew to be tortured? ”

Terry and Nancy glanced at each other. Any second now Juarez would learn that his chances to torture Nancy or anyone else had come to an end forever.

At that moment the police leaped from the bushes, followed by Terry and Dr. Anderson. There were astonished cries, a fight, but it was over quickly. Juarez and his two accomplices were handcuffed, then the police went through their pockets.

“The black keys! ” Terry cried as one of the policemen held them out. “And the half-key, too! ”

Joshua Pitt’s gratefulness at finally being rescued was overwhelming. Tears trickled from the elderly man’s eyes.

“You are truly my friends, ” he said. “I should have shared the secret with you from the start.”

“We understand, ” Terry said. “Let’s forget that, and find the treasure. Where is it, Dr. Pitt? ”

The professor said he had been unable to figure out the exact site, because from his translation he had learned the landmark was a tall stone shaft. According to the Indians that Juarez had consulted the evening before, this no longer existed, nor any of the other clues on the Mystery Stone.

“It may take years of digging to find the Frog Treasure, ” he said sadly.

Suddenly Terry snapped his fingers. “Maybe not, ” he said. “I believe Nancy has solved the mystery for us. She pieced the story together from the photographs I took of some drawings in that old diary which the Wangells had. Let’s see—what were they, Nancy? ”

Excitedly Nancy told about the footprints leading to a large pool, with a split palm tree along its edge. Terry translated this to the police.

“Si, si! ” one said, and told them to follow him.

Presently the dense growth gave way to a small lake. There were many palm trees growing near it.

“Look for a marker, ” Dr. Pitt said, new enthusiam taking hold of him. “Maybe that stone shaft is only covered up. The top of it might be showing.”

Everyone searched eagerly. It was Dr. Pitt who finally located the marker. The top of the narrow stone monument was barely visible among the leaves and undergrowth. Into it was roughly cut the symbol of a frog!

“This must be it! ” he cried excitedly. “Let’s dig here! ”

Terry took the shovel and quickly set to work unearthing the shaft. One of the policemen stepped forward.

“Let the prisoners dig! ” he ordered.

Juarez was given the shovel. When he seemed to be lagging, the officer prodded him with his boot. Wangell and Porterly had to take their turns. The hole grew deeper and wider.

At last, several feet underground they came upon a tarnished but waterproof chest of solid silver, richly ornamented. Terry lifted it out. The chest had three separate locks, on the front, the back and the bottom, for each of the obsidian keys.

“I hope they work, ” Nancy thought fervently as Terry inserted the first one.

Terry turned it. The lock yielded. The second gave way. Fortunately, the break in the half-key was not in a vital spot and also worked.

Terry swung open the lid. The Mexicans crowded close, their eyes round with wonder.

Inside was indeed a Frog Treasure. There were frogs of various sizes, made of silver. All but a very large one were set with precious jewels: emeralds, sapphires, and turquoise.

Juarez was beside himself with rage. “It would have been our treasure, ” he screamed, “if it hadn’t been for Nancy Drew.”

Dr. Pitt eyed him contemptuously. “The treasure belongs to none of us. It is the property of the Mexican government.”

“But where is the secret, Dr. Pitt? ” Nancy asked. “The fabulous secret of antiquity that you say can destroy mankind? ”

“It will be found, ” the professor replied, “inside this large silver frog.”

Taking the finely carved relic in his hands, he showed the others the tiny mark where one foot of the frog had been attached. Joshua Pitt pulled off the foot. A greenish powder trickled out. He plugged the hole quickly.

“This substance, ” he said, “has a terrible power. We must destroy it forever.”

Terry Scott was thoughtfully taking a paper from his pocket.

“Perhaps so, ” he said. “But I hope and believe, sir, that you are mistaken.”

He showed the paper to the other scientists. It was the cryptic note containing the symbols of the frog, sun, and prostrate man.

“As you know, ” Terry continued, pointing to the figure of the prostrate man, “this symbolizes death. But it can also mean disease or human weakness. It must be considered in relation to the other symbols, particularly the symbol of the sun.”

Joshua Pitt’s eyes now had an excited, happier gleam. “Go on, ” he said.

“According to my interpretation, ” Terry said, “the frog represents the sacredness of the secret rather than a motive of evil. The secret is that this green powder can heal mankind.”

“I think you’re right, ” Dr. Anderson agreed.

For a long time Joshua Pitt studied the three symbols. At last he nodded.

“You’ve convinced me. This powder must be an ancient herb remedy. We’ll have it analyzed.”

He replaced the silver frog in the chest. Dr. Anderson picked up the treasure, and the little procession started back to civilization, where Juarez and his friends would be imprisoned, and where the scientists would announce their find to the world.

Terry took Nancy’s arm. “How does it feel, ” he asked, smiling, “to be such an important person? After all, it was you who finally solved this mystery.”

Laughing, Nancy said she was glad that the case had ended so happily. Now she wondered when a new mystery would challenge her. A strange puzzle presented itself in a short time, Mystery at the Ski Jump.

“But The Clue of the Black Keys is not yet finished, ” Dr. Anderson spoke up, a twinkle in his eye. “Not until Nancy Drew has visited my classes at Clifton. I want you to tell my students, Nancy, that the best way to discover treasure is to have an observing eye and a brave heart.”

“I wish all my students were live wires like Nancy Drew! ”

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