The Black Jacket Mystery

somebody else who wears the same kind, but a much larger size. And whoever it was broke into our clubhouse last night and stole some money and just about wrecked the place.”
    When they had finished telling him about it, the old man was silent a moment. When he spoke again, there was a brighter gleam in his eyes. “Thanks, little ladies, for coming all this way to tell me. The boy will be glad to hear what you’ve found out. And so will Regan when the poor lad gets back from the city. It’s too bad he couldn’t have heard the news before he left!”
    Trixie was eager to ask him some questions, but they had reached the barn, and he turned briskly to them as he paused at the doorway. “Sure you won’t stay for a hot drink? It’s mighty chilly.”
    “No, thanks,” Trixie told him. “We’re on our way to the lake to have a bonfire party with the boys and practice some new figures for the carnival.”
    “Well, run right along. Me, I’m going to go bring that young Dan home, and we’ll have some good hunters’ stew while I tell him what you’ve told me.”
    “I hope he listens a little better to you than he did to us!” Trixie said, smarting from Dan’s treatment. “I’m sure he will,” Honey said with a smile.
    “He’s a strange one, all right.” Mr. Maypenny chuckled. “Kinda short-tempered, but not as bad as he thinks!”
    He held their horses as they mounted, and then nodded at the half-moon in the darkening sky. “Looks like a bright, clear evening. Have yourselves some fun!”
    Trixie glanced toward the woods in the direction of the high mountains. “Did you see anything of our catamount?”
    “Almost caught up with him,” he said. “Tracked him five miles beyond Storm King and saw him only once. Took a shot, but he was moving too fast for me, covering twenty feet at a jump. I didn’t have the heart to chase him any farther, seeing that the big feller was headed away from here up toward the high peaks. Guess that’s where he’s got his family.”
    The girls looked toward the distant mountains, hardly visible in the late shadows. “I hope he stays home with them now!” Trixie said with a shiver.
    They rode off a moment later, and, though they kept looking for another sight of Dan Mangan, they didn’t get a glimpse of him.
    “I still wonder what he meant by feeling sorry for Regan. Do you suppose that means Mr. Maypenny isn’t Dan’s grandfather, after all, in spite of having the same kind of chin?” Trixie asked as they turned into the cross path that led to the lake.
    “I’m sure I don’t know. It is sort of odd that Regan had to go to the city about Dan,” Honey said with a frown. “At least, Mr. Maypenny practically said he did.”
    They found a brisk bonfire on the lakeshore, and the booths all standing, finished except for the bunting and the games and souvenirs they expected to have.
    “You are simply wonderful!” Honey told the boys.
    Trixie was walking around the largest booth, inspecting it. “I see you signed your work, too.” Her voice came from behind the big wooden structure. “Which one of you calls himself Ymca?” Her grin appeared over the top of the booth.
    “She’s got us!” Jim laughed. “You win, Trix. We did get a little lift here and there. We borrowed that one, I admit. It was left over from a party at the Y.M.C.A.! Di’s father hauled it over, as is, a while ago.”
    “Well, now I feel much better,” Trixie said. “We were just going to offer to do some extra work so you could rest after your labors. Now we’ll merely inquire where all the hot dogs and hamburgers are stacked, and how soon you’ll be serving your hungry guests.”
    “Unfair!” Mart bellowed. “You’ll cook your own, princess! All you’ve done is ride around visiting. I bet you stopped at old Maypenny’s for some of that hot chocolate that’s going to make you both look like bags of potatoes if you keep it up!”
    “At least, we’re not growing out of our B.W.G. jackets as fast as some persons!” Trixie retorted. “And that gives me a precious idea for the carnival! Why don’t you wear last year’s Sunday suit and be a clown? Those bony wrists and the jacket that doesn’t come near touching the top of your trousers should be a scream!”
    “Since Brian and I are running this carnival—” Jim began sternly.
    “Who said so?” Trixie asked pertly. “It was our idea.”
    “I repeat”—Jim scowled playfully at her—“since we strong masculine types