“Maybe we will,” Nancy replied. “But first we want to shop for scuba equipment.”
The girls returned to the center of Cooperstown in Nancy’s car and parked near a restaurant. Yo was just coming out of it.
He seemed very glad to see them. Grinning, he asked, “Have you met the green man yet?”
To his surprise their answer was yes. “Really? Tell me about it,” he said.
The girls related their experience and told about the man saying there was trouble at Bide-A-Wee cabin.
“It wasn’t true. It was only an excuse to get us away,” George said angrily. “Yo, have you any idea at all what’s going on up in those woods?”
“No,” the young man replied. “But I’d like to find out. To tell the truth, though, I don’t think that green guy is fooling around. He wouldn’t hesitate to harm any of us.”
“Then,” said Bess, “I for one will stay out of his reach!”
Nancy changed the subject and asked Yo where they could buy scuba equipment. He told them, then George inquired if he knew about the Cardiff Giant at the Farmers’ Museum.
“Oh yes,” Yo replied. “Wait until you see that moth-eaten old Indian.”
“Tell us about him,” Bess urged.
Yo grinned but refused. Finally the girls left him. Nancy said that before going to the sports shop, she would like to stop at the post office up the street.
“I want to see if there are any letters for us sent to General Delivery.”
Several were handed over to her. The one Nancy tore open first was from Ned Nickerson, her favorite date.
As soon as she finished reading it, Nancy exclaimed, “Girls! Listen to this!”
She read part of the letter aloud. It said, “Now I can tell you a surprise which your Aunt Eloise and I have arranged. She invited Burt, Dave, and me to come up to your cabin. We’ll be there this weekend!”
“How super!” Bess cried out. “Best news I’ve heard in ages.”
“Great!” George commented with a grin.
Burt Eddleton was a special friend of hers, and Dave Evans dated Bess.
Nancy went on, “Ned also says, ‘Be sure to have a mystery waiting for us.’ ”
The three girls giggled. “Mystery!” Bess exclaimed. “We’re full of them!”
Nancy remarked that she would give up her room, and bunk with her aunt so the three boys could use hers. “It’s lucky there are three beds in it.”
The girls went back to the street and walked to the shop where scuba diving equipment could be purchased. After choosing some they went to the car and set off for the Farmers’ Museum on the west side of the lake.
The exhibits were housed in a huge barn and several smaller buildings. The adjoining grounds were laid out as a reproduction of a colonial village with separate offices for a lawyer, a doctor, and a printer. There also were a pharmacist’s shop with old-fashioned candies, a blacksmith’s, a pioneer homestead, a schoolhouse, and a church.
In the huge barn the girls were intrigued by demonstrations of broom-making, spinning, and weaving. They walked all the way through the building. In a nearby shed stood a large unusual-looking vehicle.
“What’s that?” Bess asked, perplexed.
When the girls drew closer, they could read a sign saying that the vehicle was a snow roller. It was horse-drawn and pulled what looked like a tremendous barrel nearly the width of an old-time country road.
George remarked, “Clearing away snow in olden days must’ve really been a task. Think of how easy it is today with motorized equipment.”
“Now let’s go see the Cardiff Giant,” Nancy suggested.
Bess pleaded, “But first I want to buy some of that old-fashioned candy.”
Before Nancy and George could decide which to do, a cry rang out loud and clear in the big barn.
“Stop thief!”
CHAPTER VII
Scuba Search
As the cry of “Stop thief!” was repeated, Nancy, Bess and George raced into the great barn.
At the same moment they saw the girl who resembled Nancy. She was darting in and out among the sightseers, but Nancy caught sight of her dropping a purse into a shopping bag she carried. The girl’s own bag hung over her arm.
“She’s the one!” George exclaimed to the people around her, and put on a burst of speed to catch the thief.
As Nancy started to follow, she was jolted to a full stop by two hands that grabbed her shoulders from behind. She turned to face her accoster, a red-faced, angry woman.
Seizing one of Nancy’s wrists in a crushing grip, she shrieked, “Here she is! She’s the one! She stole my purse!”
Bess, just behind Nancy, yanked the woman’s hands away.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, her eyes flashing. “My friend Nancy Drew is not a thief!”
By this time a crowd had gathered around the group. A guard pushed his way through to confront them.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded.
“This girl stole my purse!” the woman cried out. “Arrest her! Make her give me back my money!”
“Where is the bag?” the guard asked Nancy sternly.
“I don’t have it,” she replied. “Evidently the thief resembles me very strongly. She got away. But a friend of mine has gone after her.”
The guard looked as if he was not sure whom to believe. Bess kept insisting that Nancy had nothing to do with the theft.
At that moment George returned. “I didn’t catch her,” she said. “That girl jumped into a car on the road. The driver no doubt was waiting for her. It went racing off.”
“What did the girl look like?” the guard asked her.
“Very much like my friend here, and she had on similar clothes,” George answered.
Nancy had observed this herself, and wondered whether the thief had been shadowing her. Had she deliberately planned the theft to embarrass Nancy and also give herself a chance to get away?
To the guard, Nancy said, “You’ve heard the vacation hoax story, of course?” He nodded. “Well,” she went on, “that girl is no doubt the same one who took this woman’s purse.”
The victim had been staring hard at Nancy. Now she said, “I can see the difference in the two of you. You’re pretty and you have a kind face. That other girl is very hard-looking. I’m sorry I accused you.”
“I’m glad we got things straightened out,” Nancy replied.
The guard suggested that the woman come to the museum office and tell her story to the police, whom he would summon. The crestfallen victim followed him.
“I’m glad that’s over,” Bess remarked. “For a few minutes I was afraid you were going to land at police headquarters, Nancy.”
“To tell the truth,” her friend answered, with a little grin, “I was too.”
George reminded the others that they had been on their way to look at the Cardiff Giant. “Come along!” she urged. “I want to see that moth-eaten Indian.”
The girls went outdoors and hurried to the large shed beneath which the giant lay. The three girls stared at it and burst out laughing.
“That Yo and his moth-eaten Indian!” Bess said. “The only thing about this being a giant is his size. He’s just carved out of wood and pretty crudely at that. He has an Indian face, though.”
Nancy read a sign tacked to the wall. It explained that the Cardiff Giant had been a hoax perpetrated many, many years before. A man had carved the figure, then buried it on a farm in Cardiff, New York, to age the wood. Finally he had dug it up. The man had publicized the giant widely as having been carved in ancient times by Indians. His story caught on so well that he and a partner had traveled all over the country exhibiting their “prehistoric Indian figure.”
Newspapers and various periodicals had run stories about the Cardiff Giant and the men had made thousands of dollars before the hoax was discovered.
After Bess had read the sign, she said indignantly, “Why, that faker! He was nothing but a thief!??
?
The girls moved off and went to buy the old-fashioned candy. After some more sightseeing they returned to the parking area.
As they drove through the exit gate, Yo was waiting for them. He wore a broad grin and called, “How did you like the withered old Indian?”
George opened the door to let Yo in, and replied, “You old fraud you! I guess I’ll have to give you credit for really fooling us this time. One good hoax deserves another, I suppose.”
Yo laughed and said, “What you doing this afternoon?”
“If I tell you,” said Nancy, “are you going to play another joke on us?” He laughed, and she added, “We’re going swimming.”
They dropped him off in town. On the way home Nancy decided his mysterious smile at the dock yesterday might have indicated he liked to play jokes.
The instant the girls arrived at Bide-A-Wee, they thanked Miss Drew for her secret invitation to the boys.
Bess added, “Tell us what to do to help get ready for them and we’ll start.”
“Oh, tomorrow will do. Why don’t we all go swimming? You can try out your scuba equipment and hunt for the child’s coach.”
“Great idea,” Nancy agreed, “I keep wondering, if we do find it, what condition the box will be in. Maybe it has disintegrated and floated away.”
“Yes,” Bess added, “and the coach could be a sorry sight after lying in water a couple of hundred years.”
Nancy said if this were true Miss Armitage would be very much disappointed. “And I will too. Well, let’s get started.”
In a short time Aunt Eloise and her guests were swimming in Mirror Bay. The girls began hunting for the child’s Russian royal coach. They found many small items in the sand, the shale and the mud, but nothing of importance until Nancy signaled the cousins to take a look at something. They swam over quickly. Their detective friend was tugging at the wheel of an object embedded in the mud.
The three girls moved it gently from side to side so as not to break the wheel off the article to which it was attached. After several seconds they unearthed a child’s rusted stroller and brought it to the surface. Its wicker sides were gone.
When it lay on the beach, Bess looked at it, frowning. “Don’t tell me this was once a beautiful gold and white coach.”
George laughed. “It’s as bad as Cinderella’s coach turning into a pumpkin.”
Aunt Eloise looked amused. “I’d say this stroller is about fifty years old, but hasn’t been in the water over six months. Someone probably threw it out as junk.”
The girls decided they had searched enough for this session and everyone went to dress, disappointed at another failure. They came outside again just in time to witness a gorgeous sunset across the water.
“Let’s take a sunset sail,” Bess proposed.
“Great idea,” Nancy agreed. “Suppose you and George go out first, then I’ll take Aunt Eloise while you cousins get supper!”
“That was a neat trick,” George commented. “Nevertheless, I’ll say okay. Come on, Bess, let’s gol”
She and Bess returned in about twenty minutes, then Nancy and Aunt Eloise set off. Miss Drew worked the stick while Nancy manned the sheet. Enough breeze had sprung up so they were able to sail almost halfway to Cooperstown. They tacked back and pulled up to the dock of Mirror Bay Bide-A-Wee.
“Something smells wonderful!” Aunt Eloise remarked. “Bess must be preparing one of her favorite recipes.”
The appetizing dish turned out to be cheese soufflé served with tiny ham sandwiches, corn on the cob, and tomato salad.
After everyone had eaten, Bess called out, “Anyone for dessert?”
“I’m stuffed,” George admitted.
Aunt Eloise smiled. “I’m sure whatever you have planned will be delicious. Why don’t we wait until later in the evening—maybe an early midnight snack.”
All agreed but Bess refused to divulge what the dessert was. A little later they went to sit on the porch. By this time it was dusk and as usual the fireflies began to flit about.
“Have you ever noticed,” Aunt Eloise asked, “that most of the fireflies turn their lights on and off in unison? These are the males. The females refuse to follow this practice and flash on their little lanterns whenever they please. It’s sort of a flirtation.”
The girls laughed and Aunt Eloise went on to explain that entomologists say that this custom makes it easy for a male to find a mate.
Nancy spoke up. “What a perfect night for trying to find luminescent mushrooms for Karen! Why don’t we climb the mountain right now and see if we can find any? They might even be in a cave. I’ve read that mushrooms thrive in damp caves.”
George added eagerly, “I just remembered something I learned about luminescent mushrooms or some kind of fungi growing in the jungle. It seems that during wartime Japanese soldiers used to rub the palms of their hands with this phosphorescent material and could read a letter or military order by holding their hands over the sheet.”
“How amazing!” Bess said.
She was not particularly keen about going on the trek because of the green man, but since her friends were making the climb she felt compelled to go along. Nancy felt no alarm and tried to reassure Bess.
The trekkers took flashlights but did not turn them on. The fireflies lighted their way. Aunt Eloise suggested that they not talk and attract attention, so the group climbed in silence, looking for the luminescent mushrooms. They saw none.
In a little while Nancy and her friends approached the area where they had encountered the green man. There was no sign of him and they heard no voice. Bess had just begun to feel secure against danger when suddenly she grabbed Nancy’s arm in a gesture of fright.
CHAPTER VIII
Bess’s Fright
QUIVERING with fear, Bess could not speak but she pointed to the girls’ right. Some distance away, in the dark forest, they saw the green man enveloped in his weird green light! His face looked more ghoulish than ever. Nancy and her companions stood rooted to the spot, waiting for his next move.
Nancy was asking herself, “Does he know we’re here? If so, is he hoping to scare us away? But why?”
The green light suddenly went out. The man vanished.
“He couldn’t have gone far,” the young detective said to herself. “I’m going to find out where he is.”
She signaled the others to follow her as she made her way along swiftly but noiselessly. Everything went smoothly for about a hundred feet. Then Bess, who was reluctantly bringing up the rear, stumbled over a tree root and fell down.
Involuntarily she gave a little cry. The others stopped walking and looked back. Bess was picking herself up and waved that she was all right. Nancy hoped that if the green man had heard the sound, he might think the cry had come from some night animal.
“It did seem like an owl,” she told herself.
Nancy’s hopes were in vain. A few seconds later the same voice the girls had heard the evening before called out, “Who’s there?”
Aunt Eloise and the others stood stock-still and did not reply. There was no further sound from the unseen man. A few seconds later Nancy decided to take a chance and go on.
George and Aunt Eloise followed, but Bess remained in one spot, paralyzed with fear. Just as she made up her mind to push forward, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and a strong hand clapped over her mouth.
Bess struggled to get away from her captor. She tried to scream but could make only gurgling sounds, which her friends could not hear. Her abductor began to drag her down the mountain.
Since there had been no outcry, Bess’s friends were unaware of the girl’s plight. A few moments later, however, Nancy heard scraping sounds behind her. Turning to find out what was making them, she realized that Bess was not with the group.
Aunt Eloise and George looked also and together the three began to retrace their steps. Bess was not in sight. Where was she?
Nancy whispered worriedly, “I think someone has kidnap
ped Bess! Those scraping sounds are being made by her heels as she’s dragged down the mountain!”
The searchers turned on their flashlights and hurriedly followed the sounds. The abductor stayed on the trail. In a few moments Nancy saw Bess ahead of them. A masked figure was clutching her around the arms and had a hand clapped over her mouth.
“Stop that!” Aunt Eloise shouted, running as fast as she could over the uneven ground.
At once Bess’s captor dropped her, turned, and ran pell-mell down the hill. As Nancy and the others rushed toward Bess, the young detective kept wondering why the man had taken that route.
“Could he be the green man, or someone in league with him?”
There was no time for further speculation. By now the kidnapped girl was sitting up and declared she was all right.
“But my legs are too wobbly for me to stand yet,” she confessed.
“We’ll carry you back to the cabin,” George offered.
“I’ll be all right,” Bess insisted. “That guy didn’t harm me. Give me a few minutes to collect my wits. I’ve had a pretty bad scare.”
“I’ll say you did,” Aunt Eloise agreed. “We’ll sit here for a while. When you feel like talking, tell us exactly what happened.”
Nancy spoke up. “I’m sure neither the green man nor his cohorts will expect any of us to go back to that area. I’d like to sneak up to it and see if I can learn anything.”
As Aunt Eloise started to object, Nancy added, “I’ll be careful, really I will. It isn’t far from here and you’ll know where to find me if I don’t return.”
Miss Drew finally consented but insisted that Nancy return within ten minutes. Otherwise they would investigate.
“I’ll be here,” her niece promised.
Nancy turned off her flashlight and disappeared among the trees. Instead of going up the regular path and turning right, she took a shortcut directly to the area where they had seen the green man. Within a short time she was at the spot and stood still to listen. Were her ears deceiving her or had she heard voices?
“Yes, I did,” she said to herself.
From somewhere nearby she could clearly detect a subdued conversation.