In a little while she came to a modest brown wooden shack in a grove of cypress trees. The girls got out and walked towards the building.
"Wait!" Bess cried out. "This can't be the right house. Do you hear what I do?"
From the cabin came the sounds of doleful chanting and the rise and fall of a wailing voice, evidently praying.
"Sounds like a voodoo session," George observed.
The girls stood still and listened. Singsong mutterings followed the chanting.
A moment later a small boy came from the cabin and ran towards the girls. "What you all want?" he asked.
"Is this Uncle Rufus's home?" Nancy inquired.
"Yassum, it is," the boy replied. "But you cain't see him now."
"But we have an appointment with him,” said Nancy.
"Uncle Rufus had a 'mergency case," the boy said.
"Emergency case?" George asked, "Is Uncle Rufus a doctor?"
"Yassum," said the little boy. As he ran off, he called back, "Uncle Rufus is a voodoo doctor!"
The girls were amazed.
"I don't want Uncle Rufus casting any spells on me!" Bess said firmly.
Nancy was thoughtful. Finally she asked, "Do you suppose Uncle Rufus could head a group of voodoo believers who hold secret meetings on the showboat?"
George said it was very likely. "And perhaps they're deliberately haunting it so the boat won't be moved!" she suggested.
"We'll try to find out. But we mustn't make Uncle Rufus suspicious," she warned, and her friends nodded.
At that moment Uncle Rufus's "patient", an elderly colored woman, came from the cabin. She was singing a hymn. As she passed the girls she smiled at them happily but did not speak.
After the woman was out of hearing distance, Bess remarked, "She acts as if she were in a trance!"
"She sure does," said George.
Just then Uncle Rufus appeared. As if reading the girls' thoughts, he explained that when the woman had come to visit him she had been limping. A radiant expression spread over the old man's face when he added, "Now through prayer she's cured. We sang an' we prayed together."
In unison the girls said, "We're glad," but made no other reference to the woman or the subject of voodooism.
For several seconds Uncle Rufus stood looking after his "patient", then he turned to the girls. "I'se ready to take the trip now."
CHAPTER IX
The River Princess
THE CANOE proceeded along the bayou stream in leisurely fashion. Uncle Rufus paddled evenly but slowly. Now and then he would stop along the edge to point out a herb.
"Are some of them spices?" Nancy asked.
Uncle Rufus said a few were, but most of the swamp herbs were used for medicinal purposes.
Now that the old man had started talking about the bayou, he went on and on, telling about its wild life. "Take spiders," he said. "They represents the devil on this earth. They pi-son folks, an' snakes do, too. You got to be mighty careful of'em."
Uncle Rufus said that on the other hand the turtle represented great patience. "Just like God's patience with man," he added, smiling. "And a turtle knows enough not to stick its neck out an' get into other folks' business."
As the girls chuckled, Uncle Rufus suddenly called their attention to a screeching sound. "Know what that is?"
"Oh, it's a birdcall, isn't it?" George asked.
Uncle Rufus nodded. "Do you know what kind?"
"A wild duck?" Nancy guessed.
"No," Uncle Rufus replied, "but somebody's sure 'nuff tryin' to imitate one."
"Is it being used as a signal?" Nancy asked.
"Mebbe so," Uncle Rufus answered. "But it's an awful bad imitation. Nobody who knows the bayou would be fooled by that."
Just then from the opposite direction came another call, exactly the same as the first. The girls exchanged meaningful glances. Who was imitating a wild duck's cry? Suddenly Uncle Rufus chuckled and said that a couple of city boys must be playing a game in the bayou.
Nancy and her friends, although they did not say so aloud, did not come to the same conclusion. It was possible that persons were signaling with some sinister purpose—perhaps to set another trap for the girls!
Meanwhile, the canoe had already entered the narrow part of the stream. Fifteen minutes later Uncle Rufus sang out,
"The River Princess is just ahead!"
He paddled round a bend and the girls found themselves facing a small pond. At the far side of it, against a backdrop of moss-covered oaks, lay the old showboat.
It was about a hundred feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and had two decks. The craft had listed slightly and its lookout tower had been damaged by a falling tree.
Uncle Rufus chuckled. "I—I guess the River Princess was plenty proud in her day. Hundreds of gentlefolks used to come to see the shows."
Bess gave a great, audible sigh. "I don't blame Colonel Haver for wanting to restore the River Princess. She's the most romantic thing I've seen in a long time."
"And one of the worst wrecks," George retorted.
Nancy smiled. "I agree, partly, with both of you. But really I don't think this showboat is beyond repair. Let's go aboard and look for ourselves."
At that moment hammering started on the craft. Bess involuntarily gave a shudder and Uncle Rufus looked startled.
Nancy grinned and said quickly, "Don't worry. Ghosts rarely work in the daytime." In a louder voice she called, "Anybody home?"
A moment later a tall young man appeared on the lower deck and walked towards the railing. He was fine-featured and had reddish hair.
"That must be Charles Bartolome," Bess said in a low voice. "I've seen his picture."
"That's Mr. Bartolome all right," Uncle Rufus spoke up.
The young man, after his first look of surprise at seeing callers, smiled at the group in the canoe. "Hi!" he called.
Introductions were quickly exchanged. Under her breath, Bess murmured, "How in the world could Donna Mae ever have switched from him to Alex Upgrove?" Nancy and George shared the same feeling but made no comment.
Nancy told Charles Bartolome why she and her friends had come to the showboat and how she hoped to clear up the mystery.
"We want to have the River Princess brought to Sunnymead, so that the ball the Havers are planning will be a big success."
"I, too, would like to see the mystery solved," said Charles. He did not mention the ball. "Good luck to you all."
"We'll probably need your help," Nancy told him. "As a start, would you mind showing us round the River Princess?"
"I'd be delighted to," he replied. "I've become very fond of the old gal. But as soon as my job of restoring the showboat is completed, I'm leaving for New York. I'm going to live there permanently and continue my work as an architect."
The girls were sure they knew the reason for the move. With Donna Mae married to Alex, he would no longer want to live in the New Orleans neighborhood.
Uncle Rufus waited in the canoe while the girls climbed a ladder and went aboard. Charles led them inside to the auditorium. Fastened to the sloping floor were many rows of old-fashioned, cushioned opera chairs. A balcony, ornate in design, ran round three sides of the room, and on the fourth side was a stage. A tattered red-and-gold curtain hung down at the front of it.
Charles remarked cheerfully, "A couple of coats of paint will do wonders for the River Princess. Actually the old boat is not in such bad shape. It's just-—" The young man paused.
His listeners waited for him to go on. Finally he said, "It's just that we can't find anybody willing to work on her or move her. And the men who were clearing out this part of the stream won't continue."
"Is it because they were frightened by something which happened on the boat?"
"Oh, there have been all sorts of rumors," Charles replied. "One was that the calliope on board actually played. That would be impossible, of course. The old organ has been out of commission for years."
Charles went on to say that he himself had done some work in starting the restoration of the River Princess, but that what he had rebuilt was mysteriously hacked during the night.
"That's a shame," said Nancy.
"But I'm not discouraged," Charles replied. "I'll keep at it."
Nancy smiled, then said, "Bess and George and I have wondered if people in the area who practice voodoo may be using this place for their meetings. Do you think that's possible?"
Charles Bartolome considered this idea for several seconds, then he said, "It's possible. But why would they destroy my work?"
Nancy suggested that it might be to frighten him away. "In any case, these people would not want the showboat moved to a place where they could no longer use it, and might be using various means to discourage Colonel Haver."
The young man smiled. “Well, Nancy, it's your mystery. Come, I'll show you the rest of the boat."
The ticket office and captain's suite were at the bow of the boat, while at the stern, behind the stage, were dressing rooms and living quarters.
"These bedrooms were for married couples," the young architect explained. "The unmarried men stayed on the steam towboat that pushed the River Princess from place to place. The kitchen and dining room were on the towboat also."
As the tour ended on the lower deck, near the ladder, Nancy suddenly leaned over to pick up something from a crack between the boards.
"I think I have my first clue!" she cried out.
CHAPTER X
A Curious Alligator
As Nancy’s friends on the showboat watched, she picked up a glittering object from a crack between the deck boards. It was a large, gold ornamental hairpin, old-fashioned in design. Tiny diamonds and emeralds sparkled from the fan-shaped end, which was about two inches wide.
"The gold is still shiny," Nancy observed, scrutinizing the pin, "so this probably hasn't been here very long."
Bess and George, too, were intrigued. "You mean the pin might have been dropped here recently by its owner?" asked George.
As Nancy nodded, the girls noticed a strange expression come over Charles Bartolome's face. He had been staring intently for several minutes at the hairpin.
"Do you know who the owner is?" George asked him.
"Possibly," the young man replied after a long moment of silence. "A few months ago Mrs. Haver showed me her collection of old jewelry. There was a hairpin exactly like this one among the pieces."
The girls were stunned by this information. It was incredible, they thought, that Mrs. Haver would have worn the ornament to the showboat. Then who had?
"Have you any theory as to how the pin got here?" Nancy asked Charles.
"Perhaps someone stole it from Mrs. Haver and dropped it accidentally," he offered.
Bess was inclined to think that the pin might not have been dropped accidentally. "Perhaps someone planted it here on purpose!"
"But why?" George asked.
Since no one could even attempt to solve the riddle at the moment, the subject was dropped. Nancy pocketed the hairpin with the thought of questioning Mrs. Haver about it later. The young detective now asked Charles if he had heard any birdcalls earlier.
"You mean the wild ducks that were answering each other?"
"Yes, only according to Uncle Rufus they weren't genuine calls. He suggested that some boys were playing a game. But we girls thought that someone might be spying on the showboat. A confederate some distance away could have been using the call to warn someone that we were approaching."
Charles frowned. "That could be true. If so, I don't like it at all. I must admit my work kept me so busy that I didn't notice anyone around."
Next, Nancy told the young architect about the vine barrier in the stream.
"This is serious," he said. "I'll ask Uncle Rufus to search the swamp."
He called down softly to Uncle Rufus, requesting him to hunt for any persons who might be watching the group on the boat. As the old man nodded and paddled off, Nancy suggested that the rest of them make certain no one was hiding on the boat itself.
The searchers separated, with Charles offering to go down into the hold of the vessel to find out if anyone was there. Nancy took the dressing rooms and upper deck, Bess the auditorium, and George the stage.
A thorough search was made. Doors to rooms and closets creaked on their hinges as they were opened, but all were empty except for spider webs.
Bess, after looking in the theatre, wandered along one of the nearby corridors. With a start, she suddenly saw a reflection in a full-length mirror on the wall ahead of her. The frame was tarnished with age and the figure looked wavery.
"Oh!" she cried with a little shiver. Then, realizing the reflection was her own, she ran out on deck.
"This is positively the spookiest place I've ever been in!" she said to Nancy, who had just come down from investigating the lookout and second deck.
Soon George joined them, then Charles. All reported there was no evidence that anyone apart from themselves was aboard.
A few moments later Uncle Rufus returned. He reported that there was no one within a hundred yards of the River Princess. "I sure did look sharp every which way," the elderly man assured them. Then he added that he must leave soon.
"We'll be ready in a few minutes," Nancy told him. She turned to Charles and asked him if he had ever been on the showboat after dark.
"No, I haven't," he said. "In fact, I've never even been in the bayou after sundown." Then, reading Nancy's thoughts, he asked, "Would you girls like to visit the River Princess some evening with me?"
"Oh, we'd love to," Nancy replied.
Charles Bartolome offered to bring them to the showboat the following evening. Bess did not look enthusiastic, but managed to smile feebly. George declared it would be an interesting adventure. "Maybe after dark we'll be able to scare up those showboat spooks," she said.
At this, Bess's faint smile faded completely. She threw a withering glance at her cousin and said, "Don't sound so happy about it. It we do come across any ghosts, you can catch them all, George Fayne!"
Nancy, George, and Charles chuckled, then Nancy said, "It will be a wonderful trip. And, Charles, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep it a secret."
He grinned, gave the girls a wink, and said, "I understand. And I'm very flattered that you're going to permit me to help you solve the mystery."
"It may be a long pull," Nancy warned him.
Charles said he realized that. "But if it isn't solved by Mardi Gras time, I guess there won't be much use."
After Nancy and her friends had climbed down the ladder and were seated in the canoe, he called to them, "How about you girls coming to my home to dinner tomorrow evening before we go? I know Mother would like very much to meet you. Dad would too, but he's away for a few days."
"That's very kind," said Nancy. "I'd love to come."
"I'd be thrilled," Bess spoke up, and George added her thanks.
"Then Mother will be calling you," Charles promised.
The girls waved good-bye as Uncle Rufus started paddling down the stream. On the return trip he entertained them with stories of Negro life in Africa centuries ago.
"It was my ancestors that invented the first long-distance com-mun-i-cation," he said proudly. "We made drums that could carry sounds for miles an' miles. The folks in one place sent signals an' messages by beatin' on the drums with their hands. Then the next village would pick it up an' send the signal on to another place far away. That's how they got all the members of a tribe together for special meetin's an' for fightin' wars."
"Very ingenious," George remarked.
Not once did Uncle Rufus refer to voodooism or to the fact that he himself was a voodoo doctor or preacher.
Just before the canoe reached the area in the stream where it joined the cleared section, the craft floated over a large pad of white lilies.
"Aren't they pretty?" Bess asked.
Nancy nodded and decided to pick a few of the flowers to take to Mrs. Haver. In pulling the first one, she felt the whole root coming away. She yanked at it hard and in a moment felt the clump pull loose.
The same instant, Bess, who was watching her chum, screamed. She had seen the snout of an alligator rising from beneath the leaves. The reptile's jaws were aiming for Nancy's hand!
"Look out!" Bess yelled.
“Nancy! Watch out!” Bess screamed
CHAPTER XI
A Puzzling Attitude
BESS'S cry alerted Nancy. Just in time she saw the reptile and quickly pulled in her hand, still holding the lily plant.
"Oh!" Bess gave a huge sigh of relief.
But the next moment her fright returned. Nancy and George, too, were alarmed. The alligator, as if annoyed because he had been disturbed, turned, flipping his tail. It whacked the canoe so hard that the little craft almost overturned.
Uncle Rufus stood up and hit the alligator's head with his paddle. The elderly man succeeded in stunning the alligator by hitting the vulnerable aperture behind the reptile's ear. Then Uncle Rufus sat down and began to paddle furiously downstream.
"Whew!" George burst out. "I never want to get that close to such a beast again!"
"Nor I," said Bess with a shudder. "Oh, you're so brave, Uncle Rufus!"
The old Negro's face broke into a broad grin. "When you lives with 'gators all your life, you don't fool around with 'em!" he said.
When they reached the old man's cabin, the girls thanked him for his help, then returned to Sunnymead in Nancy's car. There, tea was being served on the patio and Mrs. Haver invited the girls to join the group.
"My, but you all look mysterious," Donna Mae remarked. "Let me guess—you've been in the bayou."
When Bess confessed that they had been, Alex added, "And I'd like to bet you've been to the showboat."
"You're right," Nancy admitted. Before Alex could pursue the subject, she added, "The most exciting part of our trip was meeting an alligator."
"Oh, how positively horrid!" Donna Mae exclaimed.
The story was told in detail and Nancy hoped that no further reference would be made to the showboat. But Alex had not forgotten it.
"Well," he spoke up, "now that you've seen the River Princess, I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's a hopeless mess. There's no point in trying to move the boat from the bayou. It would be much too expensive."
"But, Alex dear, what are we going to do about a place to hold the ball?" Donna Mae asked.
"Don't you worry, honey," Alex said reassuringly. "I have a splendid idea. We can turn this house into a showboat!"
For a moment the Havers and their daughter were stunned by the suggestion. But presently, as Alex explained how all the furniture could be moved from the living room and a stage erected at one end, they became interested.
"If we can't have the real thing," remarked the Colonel, "I suppose we'd better start making plans immediately to decorate this place."
The girls from River Heights, were extremely disappointed at this turn of events and took no part in the planning. They thought Alex's suggestion a poor substitute for the Colonel's original idea—and Nancy herself did not want to give up an unsolved mystery.
Presently Alex left the group to look over the living room and decide how he would dismantle it. Mrs. Haver mentioned to her visitors that the family had been invited to a neighbor’s home to a dinner party the following evening. "Would you girls like to accompany us? You're invited," she said.
"We'd love to, but the three of us have already made another engagement," Nancy told her hostess.
"Why, how nice! But I didn't realize you knew anyone down here," said Mrs. Haver, and Donna Mae asked, "Where are you going?"
Nancy told them about having met Charles Bartolome, and the invitation to his home to dinner. Mrs. Haver, at first surprised, looked embarrassed when Donna Mae suddenly burst into tears and fled from the room. Excusing herself, the woman hurried after her daughter.
"How odd," said George. "What ails Donna Mae, anyhow!"
"Maybe we shouldn't have said anything about Charles to her," Nancy suggested.
"Do you think we ought to turn down the invitation?" Bess asked. "It seems to have upset Donna Mae terribly and we are guests here.”
"Of course we shouldn't give it up," her cousin said determinedly. "This is a good opportunity for us to find out more about the mystery of the showboat."
As the girls quietly discussed the situation, Mrs. Haver returned and requested Nancy and her friends not to go to the Bartolomes.
"Donna Mae is in hysterics," she said. "Nancy, suppose you go upstairs and tell her you've changed your mind.''
The young sleuth went to Donna Mae's bedroom. Expecting to find the girl in tears, Nancy was surprised to see the bride-to-be seated at her dressing table, putting on make-up.
"Donna Mae," Nancy began, "I'm sorry that I—"
"Oh, don't be sorry about anything," Donna Mae said airily, admiring her left profile in the mirror. "Go to the Bartolomes if you wish. It means nothing to me."
Nancy was both perplexed and amused by the girl's seeming change of heart. But she was convinced that Donna Mae was putting on an act and that she was actually in love with Charles—only too proud to admit it.
"You don't mind if we accept?" Nancy asked.
"Certainly not," Donna Mae replied. "And please tell Mother for me."
Nancy hurried downstairs. She met Mrs. Haver in the hall and gave her Donna Mae's message. The hostess forced a laugh and said, "Well, I'm glad that's straightened out.”
Just then, the telephone rang and she went to answer it. A few moments later Mrs. Haver came out to the patio where Nancy had rejoined her friends. Their hostess said that Mrs. Bartolome had called to confirm the dinner invitation.
"She'll expect you girls at seven."
Later, when Nancy was alone in her own room with Bess and George, she told them of her conversation with Donna Mae and added her own thought that the girl was still in love with her ex-fiancé.
"Then let's get them together again!" Bess declared.
Nancy smiled. "But first, let's solve the mystery. I want to show Mrs. Haver the lovely old hairpin I found."
Knowing that their hostess always rested before dinner, Nancy waited until a few minutes before seven, then went to Mrs. Haver's bedroom, and tapped lightly on the door. "Come in!" the woman called.
"Oh, how pretty you look!" she said, admiring Nancy's powder-blue eyelet-embroidered dress.
"Thank you. Mrs. Haver, I have something to show you," Nancy said. She told the woman of her discovery and held up the hairpin.
"Why, how strange—how very strange!" Without another word, Mrs. Haver rushed to her bureau, opened a drawer, and took out a jewel box. She rummaged through it and a few seconds later held up a hairpin very much like the one the young detective had found.
"For a moment I thought the one you had was mine, Nancy," she said. "These two are almost identical. I wonder who could have dropped the other one."
"So do I," Nancy confided.
For the next ten minutes Nancy discussed the strange affair with Mrs. Haver, but neither could come to any conclusion. Finally the two walked down the stairs to dinner.
Donna Mae had completely recovered her composure. Her conversation was scintillating and the Northern girls were amazed that her attitude had changed so quickly and so completely.
Towards the end of the meal, Donna Mae smiled gaily and announced, "I have a wonderful surprise for you girls. Alex has invited all of us to New Orleans for a gala time tomorrow."
Nancy, although she really would have preferred continuing her sleuthing, politely expressed her appreciation. She thought it advisable not to antagonize Donna Mae further. Bess said she was eager to see more of the city and eat at another famous restaurant.
George, for her part, was suspicious of Donna Mae's motives. Later, as the girls were getting ready for bed, she said, "Nancy, we'd better take your car. This trip to town may be a trick to keep us there so late that we won't be back in time to go to the Bartolomes' for dinner."
"You could be right, George," Bess agreed. "But you know I just can't figure out Donna Mae and the way she acts."
George remarked with a great yawn, "Donna Mae just hasn't been herself since Alex came into her life. I think it's a shame!" The girl's voice rose as she added, "She used to be such a swell person. Now she's a pain!"
"S—sh!" Nancy warned. "She may hear you."
The following morning Nancy awakened to a sunny day and the twittering chorus of birds. Going to a window, she stood there, breathing in the balmy, fragrant air and admiring the lovely gardens. Pappy Cole, a huge basket over his arm, was cutting flowers near the house.
As Nancy went into her friends’ room, the aroma of broiling ham and freshly baked corncakes wafted upstairs. "Get up, you sleepyheads," she said to Bess and George. "It's simply heavenly outside! Let's wear our skirt, blouse, and shorts sets today."
"Will do," George replied, jumping out of bed and making a beeline for the shower.
"Oh, don't rush me," Bess begged from her bed. "It's too delicious a day to hurry."
Nevertheless, the girls were dressed in half an hour and went downstairs. As soon as breakfast was over, the young people met in the driveway. Alex had the station wagon ready and hopped out to assist the passengers.
"Thank you," said Nancy, "but Bess and George and I are going in my car. We'll follow you."
A look of annoyance creased the young man's forehead. "But why?" he asked.
Bess put on an engaging smile. In a very convincing voice she said with a giggle, "You two sweetie pies ought to be alone."
To avoid any further objection, the girls hurried to Nancy's car. She followed Alex at a distance of about thirty feet all the way to New Orleans. Upon reaching the outskirts, she wondered why he did not go directly into the city. Instead, he turned and took a very circuitous route to reach the sight-seeing area.
"Nothing special here," George complained. "Just lot of old houses on a deserted street."
At that moment a small wad of paper fluttered from Alex's car window. Nancy, wondering whether he had dropped it by accident, decided on a sudden impulse to stop and retrieve the paper. She pulled to the curb and George hopped out to pick it up.
"This isn't anything special," George announced, climbing in and smoothing out the tiny sheet. "Just a funny drawing.”
The three girls gazed at a maroon-colored rectangle with a gold stripe running through it. There was no writing on the paper.
Alex had stopped and now backed up to see what was detaining Nancy. She handed the paper to him out of her window. "Did you mean to drop this?" she asked.