The Black Jacket Mystery

and then Regan denied that he had been out near the lake today. He had been annoyed enough last night when she had tried to find out who had been talking to him in the tack room. She still had to tell him about having spilled the contents of his letter file. If he suspected that she had read part of his letter—wow! He might get angry enough with her to go to the Wheelers and tell them that she had been prying into his private affairs.
    Brian had drawn a rough map of the lake, and he and Mart had their heads together over it, trying to decide just where the booths should be for the carnival and where to stage the ice show.
    “Keep everything in the lee of the hill where the wind won t hit,” Mart advised.
    “And be sure to have one booth for hot chocolate and coffee—” Honey reminded them.
    “An’ ice cream.” Bobby clapped his hands. “An’ tell Regan to bring the sperimen.”
    “The what?” Mart looked to the girls for their explanation.
    “He means experiment,” Honey laughed. “Bobby thinks Regan’s brought home some kind of an experiment, and he is hoping it isn’t a snake!”
    “Not this time of the year, Bobby,” Brian explained to his small brother gravely. “The snakes all go into their little nests under the big rocks, and they go to sleep till the ground warms up again. They don’t like ice and snow.”
    “Oh!” Bobby seemed relieved. He knew that anything Brian said was true. He couldn’t always depend on Mart or Trixie. They liked to tease him. “I’m glad,” he said.
    “You see? Honey told you!” Trixie laughed. “Nobody ever heard of a sperimen snake.”
    “Oh.” Bobby smiled at Honey. “I thought it was you said so, Trixie.”
    “Ha!” Mart chuckled. “Talk about casting aspersions on a certain persons veracity!”
    Trixie gave him a withering glance and hooked her arm in Honey’s. “I hope that dictionary you swallowed gives you indigestion, smarty-pants. Come on, Honey, lets leave the uncouth savages!” And she added, with a Western twang, “Come along, gal, and help Moms rustle up some grub for the hands!”
    “Ki-yi-yippy-ay-yay!” Mart gave a cowboy yodel as the girls snatched up their jackets and scarves and hurried toward the door. “Hey, where you going so fast? Are you leaving Little Tornado on our hands?”
    Trixie sighed. “I wouldn’t think of it. Come on, Bobby.” And in spite of his wriggles and protests, she and Honey had him zipped into his overcoat in a few seconds and were on their way home along Glen Road.
    After the first few unwilling yards, he began running ahead, cheerfully kicking up the fallen snow and trying to catch the new flakes in his mouth as he ran.
    Trixie and Honey followed at a more dignified pace, arm in arm, enjoying the gentle touch of the snowflakes on their pink cheeks and pinker noses.
    “I could hardly wait to tell you,” Trixie confided, “but I’m almost sure that Regan went up to see Mr. Maypenny today before he came home. Maybe Mr. Maypenny knows about the experiment, whatever it is.
    Honey was surprised. “What makes you think Regan went to see him?” she asked, and her hazel eyes got wider and wider as Trixie told about hearing the car.
    “What on earth could the experiment be about?” Honey frowned.
    Trixie shrugged. “Well, whatever it was, it didn’t take Regan and Tom very long to take care of it in town. I hope it’s all fixed up now.”
    And a few minutes later, as she and Honey and Bobby all tramped into the kitchen, it seemed that it had been “fixed up.” Mrs. Belden was talking to Miss Trask on the phone.
    “I’m so glad to hear it,” she was saying. “It appeared to me that that was the best thing for Regan to do, and I’m glad he decided to try. It’s too bad we can’t do more, but we have to think of how the others might—” She broke off abruptly as Trixie came in with Honey. Then she went on lightly, “But I must stop gabbing. My starving infants have just arrived, and I’m afraid they’ll have to be fed.” After a few more laughing remarks, she hung up the receiver.
    The others? Trixie thought. Wonder if that means us. But she knew better than to ask her mother.
    “Has Miss Trask heard from Dad and Mother?” Honey asked her hostess eagerly.
    “As a matter of fact, that’s why she called, dear. They won’t be home for ten days or so, and if you wish, you may stay right here with us till Jim gets back from his field trip”—Mrs. Belden smiled—“or