Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery Page A

detective hesitated, afraid for the boy, yet longing for the chance to prove him innocent of the charges that the sheriff would be bringing against him. Finally, she sighed and made her way to the top of the rocky cliff. She stretched out on her stomach again so she could look down into the huge ravine.
    It seemed only a few moments before Ngyun appeared in the mouth of the canyon. When no one noticed him, he began to shout at the two men. His words were jumbled, but she could make out “thief” and “gold.”
    The men hesitated only a few seconds before they dropped their picks and shovels and raced to the corral to get their horses. In no time, they had saddled up and ridden out of the corral.
    Once they disappeared around the rocks at the mouth of the canyon in pursuit of Ngyun, Nancy cautiously edged over the lip of the outcropping. Her toes sought and found a narrow ledge, and in a second she was climbing down toward the canyon floor.
    Since she slipped and slid a good part of the way, the climb took only a few minutes. Once she reached the base of the wall, she could see that the men had, indeed, been digging into the rocky soil of the cliffs. Still, she didn’t take time to study their prospecting, preferring to head immediately for the small cabin.
    Once safely inside the squeaky door, she paused to look around and catch her breath. There was little to see. A table and two stools stood by the single window, and two unmade cots were pushed against the other walls. A single, rough shelf held meager supplies and utensils for cooking and eating. There was no sign of a stove, and provisions consisted mostly of canned goods and crackers.
    Since there was not much to search, Nancy went immediately to the old, brass-bound trunk that stood beside the door. It creaked slightly as she opened it. Then she gasped. Beautiful pieces of jewelry were scattered on top of a jumble of clothing!
    Silver and turquoise were spread out in lavish array. Semiprecious stones set in imaginatively worked, silver settings made two squash-blossom necklaces outstanding. The same delicate workmanship and design were repeated in a bracelet and in the setting around the single, large turquoise of a ring. Nancy nodded to herself, confident that she had found the Bascombs’ stolen property.
    Carefully, she shifted the jewelry to look under it, hoping for some clue to the identity of the thieves. However, when the faded denims and torn, red flannel shirt were moved, she found only a battered old book. “Big Jake Harris’s journal,” she murmured. “So they took that, too, and probably set the cottage on fire to get it.”
    Nancy sat back on her heels, frowning at the contents of the trunk. Should she leave everything here and go for the sheriff? Or should she take the shirt, the journal, and the jewelry with her? It was a hard decision.
    It would be best if the sheriff saw the stolen items himself, she knew. But she was also afraid that Ngyun’s appearance might have been enough to frighten the men into leaving with the treasure. She suspected that they would come back and take the things away while she was riding to the resort for help.
    Suddenly, she heard sounds from outside—hoofbeats coming closer and closer!
    Nancy scrambled to her feet and moved to the window, peering through the dirty glass. To her horror, she recognized the riders as the returning prospectors. They were already so close she could hear their voices clearly.
    “Did you see where he went, Sam?” the blond man asked his smaller companion.
    “Little brat ducked into those rocks and just disappeared,” the darker man replied, riding into the corral. “What do you think we should do, Joe?”
    The big man shrugged as he dismounted. “Maybe nobody will believe him,” he suggested hopefully. “I heard that the sheriff was at the resort today, so the kid is in a lot of trouble over the jewelry we stole.”
    The men chuckled evilly as they closed the corral gate and stood