The Secret of the Golden Pavillion (11 page)

The other young people found it impossible to figure out their cards. Finally their hostess led them one by one to their places. Bess’s Hawaiian name was Elikapeka. George’s was Keoki. “Yours, Ned,” said Mrs. Armstrong, “is Eluwene.”

Eluwene was glad to be seated next to Nancy. Burt, called Topaka, was next to George, and Kawiki, meaning, ‘Dave,’ was placed next to Bess.

“Oh, this is such fun!” Nancy exclaimed. To herself she added, “And I hope nothing happens tonight to mar this beautiful party!”

Everyone seated himself on the ground at the luau table and Mr. Armstrong proudly carried the crisply brown steamed pig to the table on a wooden platter.

“Kiyabu was going to do this,” he said, “but he has elected himself a guard of the grounds tonight.”

The feast was pronounced by everyone to be most delicious—and filling. While the group was eating dessert, they suddenly heard the soft strains of a guitar. Looking up, they saw a man in a gay yellow-and-brown satin suit walking toward them. Four hula dancers followed him.

“A little surprise we planned for you,” Mrs. Armstrong told her guests.

“How absolutely divine!” Bess burst out.

The guitarist bowed and smiled, then began to sing. The four dancers started to sway in time to the music, moving a few steps to left and right, and gracefully raising their arms.

“This is a dance welcoming you to the Islands,” Mrs. Armstrong told the mainlanders.

All too soon the party ended with the mainlanders declaring that they had never had a more festive meal nor a more enjoyable evening.

“And so romantic!” Bess declared dreamily. “Oh, I just love this place!”

Nancy was happy that her chum apparently had forgotten her fears about dangerous happenings at Kaluakua. Before going to bed, she and Ned took a stroll around the grounds and spoke to Kiyabu. The caretaker insisted that he was going to stay up all night to patrol the estate.

“How about me spelling you?” Ned offered, but Kiyabu refused.

At breakfast the next morning the caretaker reported that there had been no disturbance during the night, and he hoped that all intruders had now been discouraged.

“Ane, are you ready to do some skin diving?” Ned asked an hour later, his eyes twinkling. “Eluwene awaits you.”

Chuckling, Nancy went upstairs, put on her bathing suit, then joined Ned on the beach. After he had adjusted a transparent helmet over her head and strapped an oxygen tank on her back, Nancy slipped her feet into flippers.

Then Ned donned his equipment and the two walked into the surf. Upon reaching deeper water, they both swam downward.

“How fascinating this is!” Nancy said to herself, as myriads of small fish of various colors swam past her.

The couple presently came to a cave and paused to watch a small octopus-type creature waving its tentacles about the opening. Nancy was so intent on its maneuvers to collect food by reaching out at passing small prey that she did not notice a very large fish swimming toward her.

As she turned to swim off she was struck with horror. The huge fish, its jaws wide open, was only a few feet away. A man-eating shark, she thought!

Ned, who had become aware of the shark at almost the same moment, gave Nancy a tremendous push upwards. Then he followed her. The two twisted and turned to get out of danger, diving and rising until they eluded the shark and came to the surface. They raced toward shore, constantly looking back over their shoulders to see if they were being followed.

Exhausted and their hearts pounding, the two finally reached the beach. As they dropped down, panting, and telling each other what a narrow escape they had had, Kiyabu came walking toward them. A short distance behind him were Burt, George, Bess, and Dave. When they had all gathered around, Nancy and Ned told them about their harrowing experience.

Kiyabu all the while was looking off over the water. At last he said, “I do not wish to take away anything from your bravery, but in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands there are no man-eating sharks. They are all harmless.”

“Boy, do I feel silly!” Ned exclaimed. “Well, live and learn!”

Kiyabu said with a twinkle in his eyes, “Don’t you remember? Kaahupahau, the Queen of the Sharks, keeps the man-eaters away?”

George now spoke up. “There may not be any man-eating sharks around here, but there are some human sharks.”

She related that a man whom Kiyabu and Emma had never seen before had come to the estate right after Nancy left. He had said that Mr. Dutton had sent him because he was a dealer in antiques and was willing to buy some of the valuable objects.

“But the sums he offered for them were perfectly ridiculous,” George reported.

Burt declared that he was sure the man was not a dealer at all. “I think he was just a snooper, probably one of the Double Scorps.”

Nancy was disturbed by the information. Jumping up, she declared, “I’ve been playing long enough. I must get back to work on the mystery at once!”

Bess’s face broke into a broad grin. “Nancy, while you were gone, Dave and I did some sleuthing,” she announced proudly. “Wait until you hear what we found out!”

AFTER Nancy had showered and put on a sports dress, the young people gathered in the garden and Bess began her story.

“We decided to try surprising you,” she said. “Dave and I kept thinking about that woman who seemed to come from underneath the pavilion. So we decided to look for a secret opening.”

“And we found one!” Dave told the young sleuth. “I feel now as though I really belong on your detective team, Nancy!”

“There’s a cunningly concealed door in the foundation,” Bess continued. “It swings inward on a hinge. The door was left slightly ajar.”

Nancy was thrilled. “Did you find anything underneath the pavilion?”

“Yes, we did,” Dave replied. “There’s a three-foot space between the ground and the floor of the pavilion. I began digging in the dirt and this is what I came up with.”

The young man reached behind a nearby bush and brought out a small metal chest. He opened the lid and took out a piece of paper on which were a drawing and two identical symbols that looked a little like men. They were joined at the base.

Nancy stared at them. “Why, this a sketch of a silversword plant!” she exclaimed. “The only place in the world that it grows is in the Haleakala Crater over on the island of Maui.”

“You’re practically right,” Burt spoke up. “There also are some silversword plants in desolate sections of the island of Hawaii.”

“Anyway, it’s a marvelous clue, I’m sure,” said Nancy. “Did you find out what these symbols mean?” she asked excitedly.

George grinned. “The translation is my contribution to this clue,” she said. “The symbol is
na kanata
and that’s Polynesian for men. I asked Kiyabu and he found an old book with ancient symbols of the Pacific islands.”

Nancy was delighted with the additional find. “This is simply wonderful. Thanks a million!”

When Bess asked what the next move would be, Nancy said, “I think we should go to Haleakala Crater and try to find out if this clue was Grandfather Sakamaki’s method of giving directions to whatever treasure he secreted.”

“You mean,” George spoke up,
“Kupunakane
Sakamaki.” She chuckled. “That is Grandfather in Hawaiian.”

Nancy laughed. “George, you’ve certainly been busy. All right, this is a clue, I’m sure, to Kupunakane Sakamaki’s secret.”

“You mean, it’s a summons to the crater?” Bess asked and Nancy nodded.

Ned had said little up to this time. Now he voiced the opinion that possibly the woman in the white muumuu who had crawled from beneath the Golden Pavilion had buried the chest and it was not connected with the secret at all.

“But why would she do such a thing?” Bess asked.

“To draw Nancy Drew away from Kaluakua,” Ned replied.

“If that was her reason,” George spoke up, “surely she wouldn’t put it in such an obscure place.”

“Remember, she left the door ajar,” Nancy said.

The young people talked at length about the two ideas regarding the silversword plant and the symbols under it which meant men. Finally they appealed to Kiyabu for an opinion.

“I am sure Mr. Sakamaki Sr. put the chest there himself,” the Hawaiian replied. “He was a man who was very learned and also full of fun. I believe he enjoyed scattering the pieces of the puzzle for his grandson to put together.”

“That convinces me,” Nancy declared. “I’m going to Haleakala Crater. Who wants to come along?”

Everyone wanted to make the trip, including Hannah Gruen. Kiyabu offered to make the hotel and plane reservations, and telephone to Maui for a guide with a car to take them to the crater.

“This guide knows the mountains and the history of the volcanoes well,” Kiyabu said. “If anyone on the island can help you solve the mystery, I am sure he can. His name is Moki Kuano, but just call him Moki.”

A little later the caretaker informed the group that he had secured reservations for the following day on the afternoon plane. This meant they would be able to see the gorgeous sunset over the crater.

Luncheon was served in the garden. Nancy and her friends had just finished eating, when Kiyabu brought her a message. “The telegraph office phoned that your father will arrive by plane tomorrow morning. Would you like me to meet him?”

“Thank you very much,” Nancy replied, “but I’d love to meet Dad myself.”

Ned offered to go with Nancy to the airport. They left Kaluakua before breakfast the next morning, deciding to get a snack at the field while waiting for Mr. Drew.

The great plane was on time, and the couple watched as it circled the field and landed smoothly. Nancy had purchased a lei of bright red plumiera blossoms and stood at the fence eagerly awaiting her father.

The passengers began to disembark. As each one appeared in the doorway of the plane, Nancy looked hopefully for Mr. Drew. Finally the pilot, the copilot, steward, and stewardess alighted. It was evident that there was no one else aboard.

“Dad didn’t come!” Nancy exclaimed to Ned. “Oh, I hope nothing has happened to him!”

Ned was worried too, but said cheerfully, “Perhaps there is a message at the airlines office, or possibly your father sent another telegram.”

He and Nancy hurried inside the building and made inquiries, but there was no word from Mr. Drew. Nancy telephoned to Kaluakua and asked if anyone there had heard from her father. The answer was no.

Going to the airlines’ reservation desk, Nancy asked, “Could you find out if my father, Mr. Drew, made the reservation and then canceled it?”

The clerk made two telephone calls, then said that the lawyer had first canceled, then reinstated his reservation. “But Mr. Drew never claimed the ticket,” he added, “so it was sold to someone else at the last minute.”

“That’s not like Dad,” Nancy said worriedly to Ned as they walked away. “I’m going to telephone Mr. Sakamaki in River Heights and see if he knows why Dad wasn’t on the plane.”

She put in the long-distance call from the airport, and fortunately Mr. Sakamaki himself answered. When he heard Nancy’s story, he was astounded. “I haven’t heard of any change in your father’s plans,” he said. “But I believe I can help you find out what happened. I’ll phone a private detective I know in Los Angeles and ask him to work on the case. As soon as I learn anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Oh, please do,” Nancy begged. “I’m going directly to Kaluakua now and I’ll wait there until I hear from you.”

She and Ned hurried back to the estate. The first person they met was Hannah, who became greatly alarmed upon hearing that Mr. Drew had not arrived in Honolulu. “He’s probably being detained by some of those Double Scorps,” she fretted.

She and the others were relieved to know that a detective was going to start work immediately to find out what had happened. Despite this, a feeling of gloom settled over Kaluakua and all the mainlanders sat around talking in low tones.