The Mercer Boys #7 First Classmen and #8 Indian Gold

In the Mercer Boys #7, The Mercer Boys as First Classmen, the Mercers and their friends begin their final year at Woodcrest.  After a football game, Don overhears a strange conversation about whether a man has well water.  He recalls the conversation later after the city's water supply is jeopardized when the dam is blown up.  Don and his friends search for the men who had the conversation as more acts of sabotage occur.

This book is not compelling.  I didn't care about whether the dynamiter was ever caught, since the acts of sabotage never cause any real damage.  Nobody's home or business gets flooded badly, and nobody goes without water for very long.  It never mattered at all to me.

It's silly how one or more of the boys get locked up by the culprits three different times during the story.  The plot truly does go in circles.

This is still a good book, but it is nowhere near as interesting as the other books in the series.

In the Mercer Boys #8, The Mercer Boys and the Indian Gold, Dr. Morgan is seeking the lost treasure vault of the Ozarks.  In the days of the Spanish expeditions, the Spanish took over the Indian mines in the Ozarks.  The mines contained a central storage area, a vault full of priceless gold treasure.  When the Spaniards learned that the French were entering the Mississippi valley, the treasure vault was sealed.  Nobody knows the present location.  One man had clues, but he is believed to be deceased.  Dr. Morgan was told the clues before the man's death, and Dr. Morgan plans to search for the vault.  Don, Jim, and Terry join Professor Scott and Dr. Morgan on a treasure hunt in the Ozarks.

Gaither Mountain is mentioned in this story, and one of Capwell Wyckoff's stand-alone books is titled The Mystery of Gaither Cove, which is set at Gaither Mountain.

I find it fascinating how modern these old books sound at times.  In this passage on page 157, Terry's usage of "cool" doesn't sound odd to a modern reader until he explains the context to Jim.  He sounds ahead of the times when he first uses the word.

"He may be some special friend of Ralph Plumley's," Terry observed.  "Anyway, he's something of a shady doctor, and they are engaged in a shady game.  So the whole thing ought to be cool!  See the point, Jim?"

"No!" said Jim coldly.  "I don't see any point."

"Shady doctor, shady game, the whole proposition is a cool one!  In the hot summer time people go in the shade to get cool, see! So—"

"Any joke that has to be explained as elaborately as that one is a total failure," said Jim, crushingly.

This is an excellent book.