was the same man who had damaged her motor-
boat 1 She thanked the officer, then hung up. The
young detective mulled over what she had just
heard.
Obviously the intruders at Heath Castle knew
she was working on the case and had sent someone
to shadow her. Would they stop there? Or was
she in danger? Her father was out of town on
business, so she could not discuss the matter with
him. Finally she went to bed.
The next morning Nancy put the key to the
front door of Heath Castle in a pocket of her
slacks, then hastened to Campbell’s Landing. She
was the first to arrive and arranged to rent a
motorboat. She was just getting it ready when
George and Bess arrived. Finally Salty showed up
in his rowboat, which he fastened securely to the
larger craft, then jumped in with the girls.
“All set!” he announced. “Cast off!”
The girls enjoyed the ride upstream; not only
because it was beautiful on the river, but because
the clam digger entertained them with songs and
stories of the sea.
Soon the girls saw the high turrets of Heath
Castle in the distance. Nancy recalled the man she
had seen signaling from one of them with a flash-
light.
“His helper was probably waiting on the
water,” she thought.
The shoreline was matted thickly with bushes,
and only a narrow beach was visible. Above it
stood a high, weather-stained wall, the river bar-
rier of Heath Castle.
“Let’s anchor the motorboat in the river and
take the little one ashore,” Salty suggested.
They untied the rowboat and climbed aboard.
With powerful strokes the sailor sent it surging
through the water. Presently it grounded on the
shore and they stepped out.
The girls left Salty, who wanted to look for
clams along the beach. The young sleuths turned
their attention to the high wall which marked the
rear boundary of the Heath estate. Only the tree-
tops above the gardens were visible. Directly in
front of the wall grew tall brier bushes.
Nancy and her friends walked along the beach.
“That boy who stole your clothes seemed to ap-
pear out of nowhere,” Nancy said. “I didn’t see
him scale a wall. He must have reached the beach
some other way.”
“You mean by the cloister?” asked Bess.
“Maybe. I’m sure there’s an opening along
here.”
Pushing ahead, she began to examine the base.
Finally, parting some brier bushes, she saw several
large stones which apparently never had been ce-
mented into the wall. She pushed against the
center one. It moved easily!
“Girls, this may be an entrance!” Nancy cried
out.
CHAPTER XIII
Treasure!
Nancy pressed against the center stone in the wall.
It moved inward to reveal a flight of eight steps
leading upward to an arched passageway.
“The cloister!” Bess and George exclaimed.
One side of the passageway was set with square
stone columns. Heavy vines grew up and over
them, forming a roof of leaves through which sun-
light filtered into the cool tunnel. The other side
was a high crumbling fieldstone wall with deep
alcoves about twenty-five feet apart.
“Just like the picture we saw in the book!” Bess
said. “Oh, what an attractive walk to the beach!”
“Now to find the hidden treasure,” George
said. “Come on!”
Hopefully the girls examined the niches along
the wall, some of which had built-in stone shelves.
In one, a statuette lay on its side; in another, a
vase had tipped over and broken.
George felt among the vines. “Nothing here-”
she started to say when Nancy interrupted her.
She held up a finger in warning.
“Listen!” she whispered.
The three girls stood still. Faintly they heard
men’s voices from the other side of the wall. They
stole along the flagstones cautiously, hardly daring
to breathe. As they reached another niche, the
deep voices came to them distinctly.
“This looks like a good spot!” one man said,
making no attempt to speak low. “Bring your
pick, Cobb.”
Nancy recognized the voices. She had heard
them the night of her imprisonment in the tower!
The men started to work with chisel, pick, and
sledgehammer. Tiny stones and bits of mortar