This is a story based on archeological and the history of the Native Americans in the Hopewell area and near that area.
Nancy learns about a message in an old oak tree that is supposed to lead to some kind of treasure. She also learns that there is an archeological dig going on in the area where the tree is supposed to be, so she joins the dig and is later joined by George and Bess and Ned and his friends.
The problem is that there is some creep named Kit Kadle that wants that message for himself and he's willing to do about anything to stop Nancy from getting to it first. The work at the site uncovers various bones and other Native American artifacts. The story gives a general idea of how a dig is run but leaves out a lot of the more minute procedures that have to be followed.
(There also doesn't seem to be a lot of concern on the part of the diggers about the bones they are digging up once belonging to living people and that they are, in essence, robbing the graves of the dead. Granted, the material will be studied and then end up at a museum, but, if I were running the dig, I would have had a Native American shaman from a related tribe performing a cleansing of the area first, at the very least.)
The message in the oak tree was left by a missionary who went from village to village. The trees seem to be leaving a directional pattern for Nancy and the others to follow, but creepy KK and his henchmen pop up all the time and show they are really nasty, albeit someone incompetent.
It's a good story although it would be interesting to see how it would be modified, if at all, if it was revised with today's sensibilities in mind.
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