The Happy Valley Mystery

you know,” Jake Burton, the other thief, added.
    The two men confessed to stealing sheep not only from Happy Valley Farm but also from half a dozen other farms in three surrounding counties. They would shear the sheep for the Wool, slaughter them, and sell the carcasses to owners of frozen-food lockers.
    “Then it was stolen lamb we ate at the barbecue!” Trixie said triumphantly.
    “There’s a reward out for their capture,” the sheriff said as the prisoners were led out of his office. “I’d think it should be awarded to the two girls and the lad who tracked them down.”
    “If there is any reward,” Trixie said, “I think the money should go toward Ben’s new car and boat, don’t you, Honey? Jim?”
    They agreed heartily. Their spirits were so high that they would have agreed to anything. Outside, when the group climbed into the station wagon, they saw that a crowd had gathered, cheering and waving.
    “You’d think we were heroes or something,” Mart said.
    “See, Trixie,” Brian said. “You said he’d be taking some of the credit when it was all over.”
    “I don’t want any credit for anything,” Trixie said. “Anyway, Mart looked like the biggest hero in all the world to me when he came after us in that boat with Mr. Gorman.”
    “Back to the farm now,” Mr. Gorman said.
    “We have to do a little shopping first,” Trixie said. “I want to find something to take to Bobby.”
    “He’s crazy for a real glove and a hardball,” Mart said.
    “My twin sisters will want dolls,” Diana said. “I saw some Indian dolls in a window. I’ll get Indian suits for my twin brothers. Mrs. Gorman has given us jam for our mothers.”
    “We can’t take very much on the plane,” Jim said. “We’ll have an hour between planes at the airport in Chicago, anyway. Let’s go.”
    It was late afternoon when the yellow station wagon sped along Army Post Road, back to Happy Valley Farm. There they found the yard full of cars and a crowd of cheering young people.
    The word of their peril and rescue had gone out far and wide. Now the word of the capture of the thieves had been added.
    Dot was there. All the rest of the gang they had met at the skating rink were there. It seemed as though all the members of the Rivervale High basketball team | were there—even the coach.
    “You ran us out last night, Mrs. Gorman,” one of the boys said, “but we’re going to stick around now. We don’t have heroes and heroines around here every day.”
    Trixie and Honey, overwhelmed, clung close to Jim, who just stood there, looking self-conscious. “Heck, we didn’t do anything except save our hides,” he said.
    “And track down the thieves,” Mart said proudly.
    “Tell us all about it!” a red-faced man said, pushing his way through the crowd. “I’m from the Des Moines Register and Tribune,” he said. “I’ve got a photographer here— Mike! Over here! Get some pictures of them. Half a dozen,” the reporter said. “One of the puppy in Trixie’s arms. Get pictures of all the kids from New York. Now the Gormans. Oh, come on, Mrs. Gorman, who cares if you’re wearing an apron? And Ben... where’s Ben? There, Ben, Mike’ll take you with the collies.”
    Ben rebelled. He strode off across the field, Tip and Tag yelping after him, past a bunch of bleating sheep. Mike, not to be discouraged, fitted a telephoto lens on his camera and got a picture of Ben and the sheep.
    “That’s good,” the reporter said. “I wanted the sheep, anyway. They’re what started the whole thing. Now, kids, tell me all about it.”
    Trixie, Honey, and Jim, despite their protests, had to tell the story of their hours on and in the water. Then the reporter got the details of the search that led to the capture of Jake Burton and Raney Miller.
    “Wait till you read it in the paper,” Mr. Gorman said when the press car had driven away. “You’ll never recognize it. He’ll make it sound like the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.”
    Eventually the crowd thinned out. Mrs. Gorman extended her dinner to include Ned and the Hubbell twins. Later, happily visiting, the Bob-Whites forgot all about the time. The hour grew late. They were to take the plane at nine o’clock in the morning. Not one of them had even thought about packing. The record player was going. The television set was turned on. Tip and Tag and the red setter puppy Moses were running around the room, pushing and tumbling one another. Even the kittens and