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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 around 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 around 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, back of 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