The Happy Valley Mystery

Gorman said. “I just meant for Hank to draw the water. We want to do something!”
    She herded Honey and Trixie ahead of her. “Heat the coffee, Diana,” she called back. “As soon as they get into some dry clothes, they’ll need food and lots of it... and then rest.”
    “We’ve been roosting up there on top of that barn so long we don’t need any rest,” Jim said, “but, oh, boy, dry clothes and food!”
    “Someone give the little puppy some warm milk, please,” Trixie said. “We found him out in the river, floating on a chicken house.”
    “Come on, Moses,” Mart said and picked up the puppy.
    “That’s a perfect name for him,” Diana said, laughing and crying at the same time. “Moses!”
     
    When the castaways finally came down to the kitchen, Mrs. Gorman had banished everyone except
    Ned and the Hubbell twins. They all sat around the big kitchen table, everyone talking at once.
    “What took you so long to come after us?” Honey asked.
    “We didn’t think about the boat on top of Ben’s car,” Mart said. “We were hunting for you in the jalopy. We thought-let’s not talk about it, shall we?”
    “All right,” Trixie said. “Then I’ll tell you something mighty important.” She described the two men she had seen on the high point near the woods, the truck filled with bundles of wool, and the shorn sheep s carcass that had floated near them.
    “Then you really did see a light off in the woods,” Mr. Gorman said. “I didn’t believe it could possibly be true at first, but you were so sure. I told the police about it today when I went to Valley Park. Sheriff Brown just laughed at me. I’ll go call him. He won't laugh now.”
    “The worst thing about all of it,” Jim said, “is losing Ben’s jalopy.”
    “Well, gosh, Jim,” Ben said, “if you think I’d ever give that a thought...
    “When my daddy and mother hear about what almost happened to us,” Honey said, “they’ll get Ben the finest car to be found in the city of Des Moines.
    “Wouldn’t I look funny in a fine car?” Ben said.
    “Trixie’s Uncle Andrew will replace Ben’s car, Mr. Gorman said. “When I think of how I've made fun of him for keeping that boat on top of his car! He ought to get the Carnegie medal for keeping it there,” Mr. Gorman added vehemently.
    ‘Amen!” Trixie said. “Oh, Ben, how glad we were to have that boat when the bridge went out!”
    “A boat’s a handy thing,” Ben said. “Say, where is it now?”
    “Fastened to the window on the haymow of the red barn,” Trixie said. “It’s underwater now. Ben, when you get your new car, there’s going to be a new boat fastened on top of it, if we have to dip into Bob-White funds to get it. When I think of what might have happened....”
    “Don’t!” Mrs. Gorman begged.
    “Well, Gumshoe Trixie tracked down the sheep thieves, after all,” Mart said. “Belden and Wheeler, private detectives, always get their man!”
    Somehow, no one felt like laughing. Even Mart couldn’t enjoy his attempted joke. The price of Trixie’s triumph this time had been almost too high.
     

The Missing Clue • 19
     
    IT WAS LATE when Jim came up to the house and Trixie and Honey came into the kitchen the next morning, Saturday. Trixie was the latest of all.
    She found the kitchen in an uproar. Moses was barking as the kittens spat at him. The kittens won, and Moses retired to shelter behind the big cookstove.
    “That puppy should have been named Jeremiah, Mr. Gorman said. “He wailed all night. Didn’t you hear him?”
    “I couldn’t have heard Gabriel blow his horn last night,” Trixie said. “Poor little puppy. He was lonesome. I should have taken him up to my room.”
    “He isn’t lonesome anymore,” Mrs. Gorman said as she put a plate of steaming pancakes in front of Trixie. “Ben has adopted him—unless, of course, we find his owner. He says he’s going to make a hunting dog out of him. He will, too. Moses is a fine puppy, and Ben can train any animal. He’s even taught squirrels to climb up on his shoulder to find nuts in his pocket.”
    “Ben’s awfully nice not to have made a fuss about his car and boat. He loved that old jalopy. Mr. Gorman, did the sheriff go out after those men on the point?”
    “Yes,” Mr. Gorman answered. “Took them to Valley Park and put them in jail there. That jail itself ought to cure them of sheep-stealing.”
    “I’m sure sorry that I got Honey and Jim into so much danger,” Trixie