The Happy Valley Mystery

that lighted window you thought you saw off in the woods... back of the place where I was treeing the possum.”
    “Yes?” Trixie asked, immediately alert. “We did see it, and we saw someone pull the shade down, didn’t we, Mart?”
    “It couldn’t be,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I hunt in the woods all the time, and I fish in the river at this end of the woods. Been doing it for years. Nobody has ever cut through the grapevines and hazel brush to get very far back in that jungle. The ground belongs to the state, you know. It’s really Walnut State Park.”
    “We have heard stories about people living back in there,” Mrs. Gorman reminded him.
    “They did about a hundred years ago, yes,” Ben agreed. “You see, Trixie, the way I heard it is this: Just after the Civil War ended, a bunch of men, led by some escaped convicts, gathered their families together and settled along the banks of the river. They made their living by operating illicit stills.”
    “Then the government caught up with them,” Mrs. Gorman said.
    “Yes.” Ben nodded. “And no one knows quite what happened. I have heard that they went farther back into the deep woods. Even if they did, no one has seen anything of them or their descendants since that time.”
    “People have seen lights in there before,” Mrs. Gorman reminded him.
    “It was nothing but will-o’-the-wisps over the swampy land,” Mr. Gorman said. “Say, I almost forgot something.” He reached into his shirt pocket and drew out a handful of tickets. “Dan Schulz’s boy Ned sold me these. There’s a basketball game at Rivervale this afternoon, with a barbecue and dance afterward. I thought you might all like to go.”
    “We’d love it,” Trixie said, and she forgot all about Walnut Woods for the moment.
    “It’s to raise money for their school. It starts around two o’clock, I think. Rivervale High has a pretty good team,” Mr. Gorman said. “Ned plays center. He’s been wanting to meet Jim and Brian and Mart... you girls, too, I’m sure.”
    “I’m not so sure about the girls,” Mrs. Gorman said as she put away the breakfast dishes the girls had finished washing and drying. “Ned never seems to have much on his mind but hunting and basketball and football... skating, too, I believe.”
    “He’s what the girls would have called a ‘sheik’ when I was your age,” Mr. Gorman teased. “Tall, dark, and handsome.”
    “Let’s just hope he can play basketball,” Jim said. “Say, Mr. Gorman, it sure was swell of you to get us those tickets.”
    “Don’t mention it,” Mr. Gorman answered. “We won’t need the station wagon today, and if you think you can manage it and find your way to Rivervale, you may use it.”
    “Thanks a lot,” Trixie said. “Ben, wont you come along with us?”
    “Too much studying to do,” Ben answered. “But thanks!”
     
    The Bob-Whites gave the horses a quick run around the farm, up the road to Waterworks Park, and back. Then, after a light lunch, they piled into the station wagon and were off.
    The girls wore sweaters and skirts, for Mrs. Gorman said it was all quite informal, and the dance would be in the gym. In view of what was to happen later on, it was just as well that Trixie, at least, didn’t dress up.
    The Bob-Whites found seats right down in front, near the center of the court. A dozen or so Rivervale High players, with huge R’s on their jackets, were warming up.
    It wasn’t hard to tell which of the players was Ned Schulz. He was the tallest, the darkest, and the handsomest. Automatically Honey smoothed back her long hair, and Diana batted her curly lashes for a better look at him.
    Trixie, though, followed Ned’s quick, perfectly timed progress around the floor, and, as the ball left his hands, arched into the air, and ripped through the basket, she whistled in quick admiration.
    Ned heard her and, realizing that these were his neighbor’s out-of-town visitors, came up to introduce himself.
    “We’re waiting for the gang from Indianola High,” he said. “Something must have held them up.”
    “It’s been fun watching the warm-up,” Trixie said enthusiastically. “You have some neat players.”
    “Thanks. Do you... any of you fellows play back home?” Ned asked. “Where is it, now, someplace in New York?”
    “Sleepyside Junior-Senior High,” Trixie said. “Jim and Brian and Mart all play.”
    “Do you girls play, too?” Ned asked. “Say, wait a minute till I see what